Is E-Commerce Inspiring Shoppers? Not Really.

In Europe, a whopping 67 percent of shoppers want more than just a great shopping experience, they want to be inspired. Despite this, only 29 percent of European consumers say that online retailing inspires them.

The overwhelming consensus shows that e-commerce isn’t as inspiring to brick-and-mortar, and more than half (57 percent) of shoppers say that a lack of inspiration or a poor online shopping experience is driving them away from e-commerce.

So what can retailers do about this? According to a report from Study and Epinion, it’s time for retailers to transform the offline shopper experience and their behaviour online.

“As a retailer, you need to inspire shoppers. True inspiration should be built on emotional engagement and a personalized shopping experience. By focusing on these two pillars, retailers can drive long-term customer loyalty,” explained Jesper Lykke Nielsen, the Director of Digital Business at Epinion. “They need to understand the full buying journey of online shoppers, and create inspirational content targeting the majority of browsing shoppers, instead of the small percentage looking to buy.”

Which retailers are actually inspiring their shoppers online? While it may not be surprising, Amazon is leading the way when it comes to inspiring its customers. In fact, 51 percent of European shoppers say that the retail giant is the market leader for inspiration. Six out of ten shoppers in Europe will use Amazon as their go-to platform.

What makes Amazon so inspiring? With a very bare website design, it’s not so much about the emotion it produces, but rather its functional inspiration. In this case, retailers should focus on filling the gap left behind by Amazon, which is an emotional connection to its customers.

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

To do this, retailers need to start building unique brand stories, establish trust with open communication and transparency and keep the customer connected in other ways. “By building online platforms designed to inspire and communicate unique brand stories, retailers can connect with shoppers on an emotional level and increase shopper loyalty,” said Nielsen.

In Australia, consumer confidence remains high, even with ongoing lockdown measures state by state. While 20 percent of shoppers expect their online spend to decrease over the next month, a massive 80 percent of shoppers plan to spend the same or more in the next month. This is the perfect opportunity for retailers to gain a better understanding of what their customers want, their purchase patterns and their behaviour.

According to the latest Trajectory Report, there has been very little change in these figures, which indicates that online shopping as a trend is set to stay. Fashion remains the highest category for total online spend, securing 33 percent of shopper’s last purchases.

You can find out more about Australia’s online shopping habits by checking out the fortnightly Trajectory Reports, which provide a robust and reliable source of benchmarking data that you can trust.

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