3 Ways Retailers Can Prioritize an E-Commerce Strategy

It’s hard to believe we're in the eighth month of the pandemic. As we settle into, dare I say, a “new normal,” many are reflecting how much has happened and what we could have done differently in our business or personal lives. A “black swan” event like the current pandemic leads us to live in fear, from contracting the virus to its impact on our businesses.

For global brands, the disruption of the retail industry hit them hard. All consumers were forced to stay inside, annihilating in-store traffic. Brands realized how vulnerable their businesses were, and prioritizing an e-commerce strategy became their best hope. In fact, e-commerce sales have climbed to 30 percent of total sales in the last three months, compared to 14 percent of all sales in 2019 alone.

To compete and remain top of mind for consumers, brands must meet them where they are — online and in their homes. The fear of being in public spaces isn’t going away any time soon. As a result, many consumers will continue to shop online.

As marketers ramp up their e-commerce marketing strategy, it’s essential they have the proper tools and resources in place to accommodate consumers through a personalized one-to-one message. A broad, one-size-fits-all message on traditional media like TV and billboards won’t cut it as consumers seek more personalized ads catered to their interests. A successful e-commerce marketing strategy leverages in-depth data to deliver a product-specific, personalized marketing message that leads the consumer to the brand’s website for purchases.

To efficiently implement a personalized e-commerce strategy, brands need to invest in data infrastructure and modern technology that achieves three things:

1. Automates and scales the content creation of ads around the globe.
2. Micro-segments consumers through artificial intelligence and/or machine learning capabilities to determine which product to deliver to specific consumers/segments.
3. Leverages an omnichannel approach that increases consumer engagement throughout the customer journey and across all channels, such as social, email and native.

At a time when marketing budgets are shrinking left and right, some may hesitate to adopt new technology and practices. However, the benefits that come with an e-commerce marketing strategy and automating creative production far outweigh the drawbacks. A recent study by Jivox indicates global brands that leverage a dynamic creative optimization (DCO) approach, which encompasses the above features, saw significant savings and an overall increase in consumer engagement.

Brands that pivot to an e-commerce marketing strategy see an increase in consumer engagement because they adjust their approach to meet the consumer where they are — online and at home. Brands cannot sit and wait for consumers to walk into their stores because, unfortunately, that’s likely not going to happen for quite some time. Leveraging automation, data and an omnichannel approach, brands set their e-commerce marketing strategy up for success.

Diaz Nesamoney is founder, president and CEO of Jivox, a company that provides a technology platform for data-driven personalized advertising and marketing.