As we reported last year, research by the Retail Gazette stated that 17.2 million British people planned to switch to on line shopping permanently; Speciality Food Magazine also advised that the UK’s Internet use had surged to record levels, confirming the new shopping behaviour was becoming entrenched. Other experts estimated that Covid accelerated online shopping by 5 years in the UK.  Having discovered the ease and convenience of ordering online and home delivery this shift is no knee jerk reaction – it is a fast forwarding of a natural progression which has happened in months instead of years.  92% people polled said they intended to continue online shopping as it offered greater product range, more opportunities, product information and demonstrations and, of course, ease and convenience.  Therefore dynamic calls to action on line remain fundamental and, where possible, omni channel marketing, e.g., a joined up approach, also continues to be important.

1.     Perfect your online alter ego:

So tip one is take the time to perfect your business’s online alter ego, and accept that investing money and time in your digital presence pays, especially as more and more consumers are shopping on line and using social media to discover and engage with brands.

2.     Perfect the omnichannel experience

If you are a retailer think about how you can tie together your digital and physical (shop) presence as opposed to thinking about digital activities being completely separate. If you are a producer – If your product categories permit, use Face Book and Instagram shop fronts to highlight your ranges to social media searchers/shoppers.

3.     Take control of your data/new privacy regulations/a loyalty scheme

Find a way to own your data – this is more important now than ever as new privacy regulations are requiring more protections for on line data – e.g., Google has said it will be removing third party cookies, which help websites remember information, from 2022. This means targeted advertising will become harder, data you do not own will become less effective, and the data you do own will become increasingly valuable.  So the more data/relationships you have with your clients or customers the better.  The outcome of this means you should appreciate your current customers and established connections more – this is where a loyalty scheme fits in. Loyalty schemes allow businesses to talk to their customers regularly, improve sales, and ensure sustainable growth – build a community you are responsible for and own, saving you money on advertising and making growth future-proof in a world where third party data is starting to disappear and owning data is increasingly valuable.

Brand e Marketing

January 2022