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Marketers have always been at the forefront of change. At the beginning of the year, the focus was on trying to innovate and stay ahead in a new decade where every industry, region and customer experience is being disrupted. Technologies such as AI, along with increased customer expectations, presented both incredible opportunities and hefty challenges. And now marketers face even bigger changes that are forcing them to rethink everything. Amid a global pandemic, 2020 has been a year unlike any other in retail, with consumer behavior changing in unforeseen ways and retailers struggling to navigate this reality. As the holiday season looms ahead, the stakes have never been higher and the environment never more unpredictable. Businesses today stand at the precipice of a third wave of growth. But for years, companies have just relied on their sales and traditional channels. Today, they need to achieve an incremental competitive advantage. As the most competitive time of the year, the holiday season, is fast approaching, marketing teams around the world are preparing their campaigns. In fact, many consumers said they’ve started their holiday shopping already, or will in October.
The world of retail is rapidly shifting online, leading to an explosion of data across multiple business functions. In fact, according to McKinsey and Company, the coronavirus pandemic alone has accelerated e-commerce growth by 10 years in less than three months. Companies have witnessed 104% growth year-on-year. The southeast Asian countries are leading the way, along with Latin America, China, and India.
Many businesses that traditionally have been operating through offline mode for decades have crossed over and joined the e-commerce bandwagon, as their sales were affected due to changing preferences of customer purchasing in these trying times. A survey by Research Encoders reveals that 48% of the customers in residential apartments preferred to online shopping for their daily groceries than venturing out. Ever since the Corona virus pandemic in the country, more and more consumers have been shopping online to get things delivered at home. The primary reason being a reduced exposure to crowded markets and protection to their family.
The upcoming festival season from Navratris to the Christmas holidays, is expected to boost the e-commerce revenue by 75% - from $4 billion in 2019 to $7 billion in 2020, with e-commerce penetration at less than 5% in metro cities and less than 1% in non-metro cities. In the coming months, be ready to witness an exponential growth in the e-commerce industry as companies like Facebook are providing platforms for small and medium businesses to trade in online marketplace.
Consumer behavior is constantly evolving—and brands are increasingly turning to different channels to attract new audiences. Forward-thinking marketers can gain an edge by leveraging their partnership channel, and optimizing their processes with partnership automation technologies. These organizations will seize untapped opportunities and gain market advantage more than their peers.
But despite the vast amount of data available to retail marketers, it’s often not actionable.
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