The Acceleration of Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is a hot topic in ecommerce right now. There are millions of online consumers creating and reinforcing new purchasing behaviors and habits. In-store shopping is slowly being replaced by ecommerce as a new and different shopping landscape continues to evolve. Major brands have been pushed to rapidly overhaul their digital commerce experiences to keep customers spending and smaller retailers also feel the need to build their digital presence in a crowded market. 

Outer Aisle, which is known for its bread made of cauliflower, is one such brand. The company recently launched a mobile app and the strategy behind it is to create a destination for their community and make their products available and deliverable directly to consumers. 

“Innovation and community are at the heart of our brand. Since the start, our goal has been to set trends––not follow them––and with the launch of the OA app we are excited to fuse these two together and observe where users take this new online shopping experience” said Vasa Martinez, Chief Marketing Officer of Outer Aisle. 

In February, Lowe’s underwent a major ecommerce makeover to grow it’s digital experience and improve on their slower annual growth compared to competitors like Home Depot. The website’s makeover has added features such as one-click check out and personalized product collections in an effort to create a more seamless shopping experience. Lowe’s hopes its full digital transformation will bring its website more into alignment with its competitors and will continue to roll out improvements over time.

Many brands are also adopting livestream selling. Clinique hosted a livestream on its site featuring “Game of Thrones” star Emilia Clarke. The event showed the actress going through her skincare and makeup routines with each product popping up on the screen as she described them. While watching, users are able to click to purchase directly on the site, with the livestream still on the screen as they pulled up the items. The event was also promoted on Emilia Clarke’s personal Instagram for additional engagement.

Livestreaming and social selling ecommerce are relatively mature in China and are gaining momentum in the US as brands and retailers further refine the use of social media platforms to engage with consumers and boost sales. The president of home accessories business, Mendale Textile, achieved $3.5 million worth of sales for his company on a four-hour livestream in March.

The pandemic is amplifying livestreaming success. If the social media world has taught us anything, it’s that people love to share their experiences online.

Why is digital transformation essential to your business?

Last week it was reported that there were a total of 256 million digital buyers in the United States. This figure is projected to increase to 278.33 million online buyers in 2024. The USA has a population of around 330 million, making this a staggering percentage (84%!) of the country.

We have been experiencing the shift toward digital commerce for some time, but it is now being accelerated by COVID-19.  Prior to the pandemic, ecommerce sales already represented the bulk of overall retail sales growth in the US; $600 billion in online sales accounted for 56 percent of overall retail growth in 2019. Today, social media is taking center stage in terms of communication for many retailers. In March 2020, Facebook and Instagram saw a 40 percent increase in usage, with views for Instagram Live and Facebook Live doubling in a single week. 

In response, many retailers are taking note and re-prioritizing their marketing investments around digital communications to create a better customer experience. Consumers say they plan to continue shopping online even when all stores reopen, according to a McKinsey report earlier this month. Ecommerce continues to grow across all product categories according to the report.

The customer experience impacts the lifetime relationship between your brand and your customer, which includes touchpoints like customer service, social connection, product quality, post-purchase, and feedback services. It’s important how memorable these experiences are for your customer. 

Ecommerce will continue to grow, and companies should continue to invest in digital transformations now more than ever to provide great customer experience online, not just in-store. Digital transformation is no longer a nice-to-have, but a mindset that all brands need to adopt to survive.