Technology & software

Age of super-shoppers

In the wake of Black Friday and Cyber Monday Rory Dennis, founder and GM at Amplience explore the rise of the “super-shoppers.”

The Black Friday 2014 weekend was the first of the “super-shoppers” – consumers who research and buy across multiple devices and digital touchpoints on a regular basis. With the elevated number of visitors to e-commerce sites over Black Friday sales, any retailers whose online presences are not fully optimised experiences will lose out on vital sales opportunities. So what can retailers do to ensure they are prepared to convert shoppers into loyal returning customers?

Anywhere access

Retailers need to ensure that the right content is available across all channels, especially with the proliferation of mobile devices. Mobile commerce is taking online shopping by storm. In fact, Forrester predicts that by 2018 m-commerce will account for 49% of online sales. Adaptive user experiences – content that automatically adjusts to different consumer devices – help retailers give shoppers the consistently good multi-channel experience they are expecting. This means that the retailer’s site will adapt to the physical parameters of any mobile device and deliver a high-quality experience, complete with updated navigation options that cater to mobile users.

From the user perspective, these content changes happen seamlessly, and usually they “just work.” It’s certainly easy to take elements like this for granted, but the advanced technology making it possible on the backend deserves some recognition. When consumers have a wealth of offers to shop online, a shopping experience that is efficient and seamless can make or break a sale.

Enhanced interactions

Over peak sales times like Black Friday where nearly all retailers are offering massive discounts online, product images should stimulate, seduce and drive the imagination of the customer. Shoppers should be able to imagine holding, using and owning the product when they interact with digital product media.

With the increasingly high screen quality offered by today’s devices, retailers that don’t offer deeply engaging brand-led experiences with stunning, interactive imagery and video across all consumer devices will certainly lose out over peak sales periods.

With the significant changes that the online and mobile shopping experience has gone through in recent years, the advent of advanced e-commerce technology has delivered a superior user experience. No matter how shoppers choose to interact online retailers need to ensure they are prepared for the onslaught of super-shoppers to their sites.

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