Smart CX Investments for Smarter E-Commerce Experiences
Smart CX Investments for Smarter E-Commerce Experiences
The E-Commerce marketplace enjoyed a banner year in 2020, exceeding expectations that has continued into 2021 and is showing no signs of slowing down. In 2020, a record 2.05 billion people globally shopped online, and that number is expected to increase to 2.14 billion by the end of 2021.
Recent research conducted by Rightpoint revealed that this increase in e-commerce numbers is particularly salient within the American market this year. Consumers estimated that 40% of all their shopping is currently being conducted online—increasing to 50% among Millennials and members of Gen-Z. The numbers present clear evidence that an e-commerce presence is no longer a nice-to-have for brands: It’s essential to their evolution in supporting new consumer behavior.
Capitalizing on this trend requires more than a platform—brands must also realign their marketing and connected service experiences to a place where they can fully support the e-commerce journey.
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Learn why marketing automations are necessary. The mission with e-commerce is to scale quickly, and scale requires the automation of certain critical tasks, such as email marketing or posting to social media channels. For this, companies turn to marketing automation, which involves utilizing MarTech software that can execute repetitive tasks or automate the brand’s reaction to individual consumer behaviors.
Discover the importance of starting with a goal. Marketing automations are intended to scale activities that improve KPIs, so the first step is to define the goal of the automation: increase engagement/clicks, increase conversion rate, increase basket size, etc.
Understand the benefits of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Many marketing automation platforms and tools have built-in AI/ML capabilities. This is key for program effectiveness as they become more complex. While AI/ML isn’t necessary to get started with automations, there are several benefits as a program grows in maturity: decisioning, testing, and personalization.
Find out why companies are investing in Self-Service Portals. The halo of CX investments around e-commerce is not just about marketing and driving CLV. There’s an equally important need to drive scale around service while maintaining a level of personalization. As a result, brands are introducing chatbots and other virtual agents. Rightpoint found that 18% of CX executives are investing in chatbots. The concept of “self-service portal” can sound complex, but like marketing automations, there are levels of maturity.