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surveyed online shoppers abandon a shopping cart at least once a week, does your ecommerce store have automated abandoned-cart notifications set up? Or promotion support and marketplace integrations? Evaluating your current website can help identify areas of weakness and allow changes to be made before the peak period. Personalise your customer experience While some might call it the ‘Amazon effect’, over time Australian consumers have come to expect a certain level of personalisation in their shopping experience. Whether by leveraging data, using AI to ‘suggest’ relevant products, or focusing on fast checkout and delivery, that company’s use of data and analytics to create a personalised shopping experience set the standard for online retail in Australia. At its core, personalisation in ecommerce means using that data to deliver a tailored retail experience, one that not only follows the consumer across various platforms, but is also seamless and unique to their preferences. For Australian retailers, analysing the unique shopping behaviour of their customers and using this to deliver relevant content and product recommendations will be key to making the most of a peak sales season. From behavioural and contextual customer data to business-related data such as margin and inventory, retailers can proactively serve relevant products to customers and inspire them to buy beyond their original intention. Optimise the path to checkout and beyond Customer experience accounts for the entire shopping process: from the second the consumer lands on your site to the moment they receive their product (or even return their purchase). However, when it comes to the conversion process, retailers mostly add too many unnecessary steps. In the world of ecommerce, every additional click of the mouse or tap of the screen could result in a lost sale. Given that the process should be as simple as possible, a clear plan in terms of selling, shipping and fulfilling orders is key. Consider your payment options. While PayPal might account for 54 per cent of online purchases, data shows that offering at least six payment options is a competitive necessity. When a customer is ready to enter their payment information, the last thing they want to see is that you don’t provide their payment method of choice. Enabling multi-currency functionality allows customers to transact in their local currency. This improves customer satisfaction, increases conversion rates and gives brands complete control of pricing. If not by red sleigh, how will products arrive? Understand and prepare for the fact that during the holiday season – from November onwards – you’re likely to experience an increase in orders. To prepare for this heightened traffic, retailers will need to determine how to handle shipping. Optimal delivery time is considered to be between one and five business days, with the ability to offer fast delivery options an influential factor for 76 per cent of surveyed shoppers. Increasingly, options such as click and collect also enable a more effective and efficient shopping experience. It’s crucial to set the right delivery expectation with shoppers from the outset. While leveraging free shipping can increase the average value of your order, data shows that 43 per cent of surveyed online shoppers are still prepared to pay up to $20 for their preferred delivery option. Ultimately, it’s about giving shoppers a variety of choices in shipping methods and being clear from the outset about delivery dates and expectations of any delays. Manage your inventory and returns Inventory management can play a vital role in the success of a holiday period. Look at your sales data from the past two years to create detailed demand forecasts. This year’s retail landscape has been unpredictable, and the upcoming holiday period is likely to be the same. Real-time inventory tracking – manually or through the integration of an order management system – will help you navigate supply and demand challenges. While no retailer enjoys the idea of product returns, it’s crucial to view the returns process as an added opportunity to win back customers (and potentially acquire new ones who discovered you from a gift). Offering consumers the ability to return products for free can be a key point of differentiation. In fact, 62 per cent of surveyed shoppers are prepared to switch online retailers to have this as an option. While many retailers treat the returns process as an afterthought, it’s a crucial part of a customer’s overall experience and should be considered an extension of the overall brand experience. 2020 success may hinge on holiday preparation Preparing for the holiday period is unfortunately not something that can be done overnight or rushed the week before. It’s a process that needs to be considered well in advance so that the online offering can be tweaked and adjusted as needed. For many Australian retailers that may have struggled through 2020, milestone dates such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday present an opportunity to convert consumers into loyal, long-term customers. Ultimately, it boils down to one crucial element: customer satisfaction. Success in ecommerce in 2020 means putting the processes and foundations in place to send your consumers away with the feeling that their expectations have not only been met, but exceeded. With the right strategy in place, you’ll be able to offer shoppers a better experience overall, while improving conversion and brand loyalty for the long term. ECOMMERCE About Shannon Ingrey Shannon Ingrey is the Vice President and General Manager APAC at BigCommerce. With more than 15 years of global ecommerce experience, Shannon leads BigCommerce’s regional operations, including oversight of all local marketing and sales activities as well as working to grow the business. About BigCommerce BigCommerce is a leading software- as-a-service ecommerce platform that enables merchants to build, innovate and grow their businesses online. With a unique combination of easy-to-use, enterprise-level features and flexibility, BigCommerce powers more than 60,000 B2B and direct-to-consumer online stores across 120 countries. OCT, 2020 RETAIL WORLD 69