Amazon’s recent acquisition of Whole Foods has many online grocers quaking in their boots. And while the brand’s increasingly monopolistic growth is understandably daunting, there’s a lot to be gained from observing and analyzing this expansion. Namely: things that work for Amazon might just work for other online retailers, too.
Take membership. Companies like Amazon that offer an attractive rewards scheme for their member users will in turn be rewarded with a higher conversion rate — 10 times higher according to a recent ContentSquare study. Amazon has perfected this approach with Prime — a membership program that has the effect of a conversion multiplication machine. But Amazon doesn’t have the monopoly on membership, and studies show that any business that develops its member base will see more visits, more purchases and more revenue. Our study found that members view 148％ more pages than unlogged visitors, and generate 55.57％ more revenue.
MEMBERS VIEW 148％ MORE PAGES THAN UNLOGGED VISITORS, AND GENERATE 55.57％ MORE REVENUE.
And then, of course, there’s knowing your customers. Digital giants like Amazon invest heavily in understanding the needs and desires of their users in order to offer a personalized online shopping experience. But next-gen UX analytics and experience insights offer all digital businesses the tools to interpret why and how customers use their platforms. Understanding could mean anything from letting Bob share his baby shower registry through Facebook, to knowing Matilda likes to pick up her groceries in-store after 5pm. And given that in-store pick-up customers spend on average 6％ more than eCommerce customers, this is the kind of data you want to have at hand.
Which leads us to the heart of the matter: digital experience. The digital age is first and foremost the age of convenience. Customers today are unwilling to stick with complicated, clunky platforms. When it comes to sites, they’re looking for simple, sleek and flawless journeys. Forms that take ages to fill out are a massive deterrent. Shipping can also be a hurdle, and evidence shows that shipping costs are responsible for highcart abandonment rates — 28％ of shoppers give up on their purchases because of unexpected shipping costs.
We at ContentSquare have developed a platform that provides businesses with reliable and actionable insights into their customers’ digital experience. By flagging friction points and highlighting stumbling blocks along the customer journey, our data-driven solution allows businesses to really focus their efforts when it comes to digital optimization. And a seamless, intuitive platform is a prerequisite to a healthy conversion rate.
To get you started on your journey, we’ve put together a report that outlines everything you need to know and do to compete with the industry trailblazers. We’ve listed some of the online grocery must-haves and don’ts, and folded in some very telling data we collected in an industry study based on over 37 million user sessions.
Welcome to the brave new world of grocery shopping, and help yourself to a slice of the pie.
