It’s irrefutable that digital, eCommerce and the way we interact online has drastically changed in the past couple of years. There are new roles and functions that have emerged for brick and mortar, mobile, and digital channels that simply weren’t around ten years ago.
Now it’s all about understanding these new roles and figuring out how to evolve and get ahead of the competition. To do so, brands need to differentiate themselves digitally, establish a clear purpose for every channel, and provide a dynamic customer journey.
More digital users with greater impact.
Since 2019, there’s been more demand, more frequency, and more users than ever before.
There are now over 3.9 billion internet users worldwide.
Many of these users are relatively new to the internet. For example, a 65 year old who used to visit a brick and mortar store for his groceries, now prefers to order online for curbside pickup.
This shift to online has created a simplification and downsizing of brick and mortar stores, with many brands focusing on having an experiential flagship location and removing themselves from malls and shopping centers.
Because of this, brands need to focus on their digital strategy to maintain their unique brand experience since shoppers aren’t getting it in stores. This requires a mindset shift.
Digital can no longer be an afterthought or second priority. Digital is how you can differentiate yourself and generate loyal and returning customers. —Brian Strauss, Global VP, Solution Consulting
Create dynamic experiences that go beyond personalization.
To connect with your customers online you need to go beyond personalization and create dynamic experiences instead.
Using advanced digital analytics tool, like Contentsquare, you can understand what the user is doing, where they are in the customer journey, and predict what they might need. This allows you to proactively offer help during the customer journey, similar to if you saw a customer in-store hesitating or looking confused about a product.
Just because a customer is browsing your online shop, doesn’t mean that personal level of customer experience should be lost. It’s okay to let the customer know you are there and ready to help. For example, if they are in the checkout process trying to put in an expired promo code, have a pop up offering a new one with the same or better discount.
Marketing and customer service departments can work together to create a dynamic and proactive site design. Around 80% of all contact with customer service covers the same five questions. So how do you proactively answer these questions on your site and incorporate the answers or solutions into your site design? Save your customers the hassle of contacting customer service, and share the most important information upfront.
Experience is human.
Ultimately you want your online customer journey to be human. Even though we are talking about digital and technology, we are all human and that should be the core of the experience. So, stay hyper-focused on your online customer journey and concentrate on what makes your business unique. That is how you can differentiate yourself through digital.
To hear more ways you can differentiate yourself digitally, watch Contentsquare’s Global VP of Solution Consulting, Brain Strauss give a presentation on just that at CX Circle on-demand here.