One Rockwell, New York’s leading e-commerce agency experienced in design and technical solutions for fashion and lifestyle brands, hosted a webinar on optimizing and adapting your e-commerce business. Key takeaways from the conversation are:
Immediate Priorities
Focus on MVP and core products.
Stay nimble and flexible.
Over-communicate – not just with your customer but with your internal team, supply chain, logistics and warehouse partners so that the online business can run efficiently. You can then communicate any disruptions with your customer, avoiding a backlash if delays or issues arise.
Ensure that online transactions are seamless so customers can feel confident in their purchase.
Give extra consideration and thought to all your digital touch points from website to email marketing. Those are the only ways you can resonate with your customer at this moment.
Policies and Procedures
Rethink customer service policies.
Be very clear in any changes to your shipping policies, especially if there will be delays.
Have more flexibility with product returns for sale and non-sale items.
The investment in flexible policies will translate to positive customer engagement.
Consumer Experience Online
Consumers want functionality – over 80 percent want to be able to pay in installments.
Free shipping – consider bringing your threshold down to free shipping for all purchases, regardless of price.
Offer a live chat on your website; consider transitioning your in-store sales associates to online live-chat customer service support.
Talking to your customer should be less focused on selling and converting; speak to them from a level of understanding.
Sizing is important. Present clear images on different size bodies and clear product descriptions and fit. If you don’t have a variety of images, send products to your staff to take photos of themselves wearing it at home.
Technology Third Party Features
Bringing key pieces of an in-store experience to your customer at home:
This is Shopify Centric but there are alternatives offered through partners like Klarna .
Partner Promotions like Bold Commerce have built a partner page that specifies partner promotions during COVID-19.
Marketing Promotions
There is no one rule of what’s working. Experiment with what is right for your brand.
Give consumers a reason to shop. Whether it’s a percentage of sales that goes to a charity or a buy-one, donate-one offer, consumers are looking for meaning behind their purchase.
You can’t afford to do nothing. You have to find the right way to contribute to what’s going on and speak to your customer in a genuine way, whether that’s hosting a style session on Instagram Live or making masks for medical workers. There are many ways to contribute.
Have a cohesive voice but use appropriate messaging for each marketing channel.
Co-branding to build community: collaborate with likeminded brands for a giveaway to reach a new audience and create more awareness.
Offer customers an incentive like a promotion code to leave a review online
Where to Spend on Marketing
Reassess where you need to spend your marketing budget to aid in brand engagement and awareness.
Brands are not necessarily spending less on marketing but are rearranging their dollars to focus on channels that are working right now.
Reach out to past customers to see how they have been enjoying their purchase.
Referral and affiliate networks are an important investment to consider right now
Create a Google form to do some user research. Share with customers to see what they want now and in the future.
