Introduction
Online Retail business is a growing business & it is very clear when we look at some of the statistics related to the industry such as:
- 80% of People in America have made an ecommerce purchase in the last month alone.
- 23% anticipated increase in YOY in online ordering.
- 2018 is expected to see $23trillion in e commerce sales, a 6 % increase from the past year.
The difficult part of these statistics is they place a lot of pressure on companies to do all possible to attract and then convert visitors either on-line or in store into customers. An E- commerce CRM will help you drive & improve conversion rates and it helps the retail industry to soar high.
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SuiteCRM E-commerce CRM – Best Open source Free E-commerce CRM (fynsis.com)
Necessity of E-Commerce CRM in Retail Industry
- Use an E-Commerce Customer relationship management to update Your Customer Profiles.
A cornerstone of marketing plans is the creation of more than one client profile to guide your marketing efforts. Profiles are general representations of groups of target customers. For instance, an energy drink company can produce a client profile around teenage buyers of their beverages to focus their marketing message on that subset of their audience.
- Aggregate User Behavior to Customize Your Email Marketing.
Email marketing has among the highest returns on investment, but that does not mean it’s foolproof. Consumers are increasingly frustrated by a flood of emails they receive on a daily basis. 78% of consumers have unsubscribed from brands that were sending too many emails & making the customer in comparison to e-mails with a marketing intent.
This requires the use of customized, targeted approaches to e-mail marketing whenever possible. Employing an ecommerce Customer relationship management gives you the capability to send emails to clients based on distinct actions that they take on your website.
For example, if a client has added an item to their cart, which they afterwards abandoned, you may use that action to activate a follow-up email to remind them of their purchase. This kind of tailored messaging is far less invasive than an email without any client associated information. A customized/personalized email shows that you’re being conscious about their style by simply sending them a message that’s applicable to their interests Rather than bombarding them.
- Keep a Record of Customer Service Requests
Tracking customer concerns, questions, or complaints is another key feature of an e-commerce CRM. It is ideal to use your CRM software for noting down the various aspects of customer behavior and tracking the major reasons as to why they have contacted your customer service staff earlier.
This type of information is a great resource when that customer reaches out with another question or piece of feedback at a later point. Past customer service notes, prior purchases, and all other information can be referenced immediately by your team so that you can address the current problem or concern with full knowledge of other issues that the customer has had in the past.
- Use Social Media Re-targeting More Effectively
Did you know that all of the customers that you have today represent only a fraction of the revenue that you could have gotten for your store? Many visitors will show up at your store and browse for a bit, only to get caught up in another task or get otherwise distracted. They end up leaving your store without making a purchase, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t interested in buying something from you.
- Target Your Customer Base on Their Preferred Platform
Mobile is becoming an increasingly large platform for e-commerce, with transactions estimated to take place on mobile devices by 2020. You can use your CRM to take advantage of that fact by targeting your marketing message to customers using a medium that they would be more receptive to on mobile
Role of E-Commerce CRM in addressing the end users of retail industry
Online or Offline?
When comparing the impact of online versus offline touch-points that create the first trigger moment, of note is that 52 percent of consumers cited at least one offline channel as a source of awareness, and 59 percent of the people answered that online channels are best.
Retail websites or online shops were the most common source of initial awareness, cited by nearly a third of consumers, and online advertisements were cited by 15 percent. 22% of the customer population referred to physical shops were rated as the second most popular source of awareness in shopping.
Millennials were not only more likely than the older generations to be influenced by online sources such as social media or peer reviews – they were also more likely to be influenced by offline channels. Millennials formed the clutch of 25 percent more likely than Baby Boomers who prefer recent online purchases in a shop. It is found that nearly 50 percent more likely to have talked to a friend about it, and more than twice as likely to have seen someone with it.
Why and where they shop online
The most prominent reason for the consumers to shop online is the high degree of convenience that they get and they can shop during any time of the day (cited by 58 percent as a top reason). This is followed by having the ability to compare prices (54 percent), or to find online sales or better deals (46 percent). All age groups reported the same top three drivers. However, when it came to locating harder to find items, Baby Boomers reported having a higher motivation for shopping online (26 percent of Baby Boomers versus 20 percent for Gen X, 17 percent for Millennials, and 20 percent overall).
Earning trust
When it came to earning trust, consumers said that protecting their data and information was most important (63 percent). Although Millennials were the generation least concerned about data protection, it still ranked high as a priority for earning their trust (“cited by 56 percent of Millennials, 66 percent of Gen Xers and 71 percent of Baby Boomers”,KPMG Audit Results).
Keeping consumers loyal
Excellent customer support was the number one loyalty-earning attribute, cited by 65 percent of the respondents. The second-most successful loyalty strategy was providing exclusive promotions and offers (cited by 45 percent), followed by loyalty or membership programs (37 percent). It is evident that the top three loyalty drivers were consistent and effective in influencing across all generations, with Baby Boomers ranking higher on customer support (74 percent) than Gen Xers (66 percent) or Millennial (59 percent).
Taking a deeper look at the differences by generation, younger consumers tend to be more loyal to companies that offer personalized interactions (customized promotions, anticipation of needs, having a sense of community, one-on-one engagement in social media, online games and other interactive experiences, as well as concierge services).
Conclusion
The article reveals the role of E-Commerce CRM in the retail industry and it enlightens us on the importance and necessity of E-Commerce CRM in enhancing the business of the retail industry.
