How To Boost Your E-commerce Business This Holiday Season?

The e-commerce industry in India has changed how business is conducted. A variety of market niches are online to increase the ease of people and reduce the distance between them. Approximately 150 million people now purchase online due to the buying habits shifted by the pandemic. The global e-commerce industry is further anticipated to increase by 21.5% in 2022 to reach US$ 74.8 billion and is projected to reach US$ 350 billion by 2030.

“E-commerce and mobile commerce have dramatically changed the way brands reach customers, making it faster and easier for customers to make purchases on the fly while avoiding the hassle of going to the store.”

–          HIL DAVIS, Co-founder of J. Hilburn

As the holiday season is right around the corner, you are expected to increase yearly sales by up to 40%-50%. But this is also the time to face the competition. There are certain steps that you need to take if you want to stay ahead of your competitors. People living near or far are waiting for the deals to be grabbed and to surprise their family and friends.

Don’t wait! Get Started!

Top Tips To Enhance Your Store For The Holiday Season

Get Prepared for Incoming Traffic

The busiest days for online stores are the holidays. There is always incoming traffic for your products, and nothing could be more detrimental than a site outage at a crucial moment, so make sure your supply is full.

Check up with suppliers early to make sure you’re adequately stocked, especially for potential gift goods. Do not let your customers wait or get disappointed that their must-have gift is out of stock or on backorder.

Also, work on the speed and security of your website. Revenue is directly related to the speed at which your website loads. Your site must be stable and scalable to be able to meet the demands of your visitors. Check the most recent statistics with your e-commerce provider to determine your level of coverage. Review your integrations with external parties. Don’t add anything after testing them to make sure they can manage the load.

Surprise & Delight Customers

The holidays are the ideal time to retarget past visitors and draw in new ones to your website. Create a reason for your traffic. You must first have a solid sales plan to start the holiday season. 

  • Choose gift baskets, ana r exclusive specials and consider the marketing approach to delight your customers. 
  • Increase the number of your sales channels. There are other places to share holiday happiness than your e-commerce shop. Think about additional sales channels.
  • Include BIOPS (buy online, pick up in-store) for consumers who like online shopping but need their purchases the same day, BOPIS is a fantastic solution.
  • Enhance your delivery strategy in order to be ready for the increased traffic.
  • Outsource 3PL as they are quick and also allow you to concentrate on your business-related tasks rather than shipping queries.

Prepare Strategic Holiday Marketing Campaigns

Choose a lovely festive theme and decorate the homepage of your website accordingly. The entire website does not need to be redesigned. With design adjustments, you may improve your website to offer seasonal enchantments and meet the expectations of your visitors. Work on just the primary parts and use your creativity to the fullest. 

You can set up a timer to count down the days or till the end of your holiday campaign. This tactic increases the festive atmosphere by creating a sense of urgency that the holiday is approaching and that customers need to make their purchases as soon as feasible.

Personalization increases your chances of increasing sales. Keep in mind that individuals do not spend time reading impersonal advertisements. Construct your campaign in a way that makes people feel that the offer is just for them.

Increase Customer Assistance & Experience

Consumers today want to be able to get what they require quickly and with as little hassle as possible. That implies that your website must offer solutions that are tailored to their particular demands and a smooth checkout process. 

Is your online shop capable of the task?

Let’s look at some essential ways you may improve your website to offer seasonal enchantment and meet and exceed client expectations:

  • Increase the quality of your retail experience
  • Streamline your merchandise strategy
  • Personalize the shopping experience
  • Help them find the desired products
  • Improve checkout
  • Allow multiple payment options

Create a Flexible Return Policy

According to a poll, 96% of customers will return to businesses that make exchanges and returns as simple as possible. So, make sure that your return policy is clearly visible. People purchase at Amazon because they are familiar with their return procedures. Nobody likes dealing with returns, not consumers and definitely not retailers. 

You can also enhance your cart conversion if you highlight the fact that your shop will accept returns for items purchased during the holiday season. Building trust is key, so make sure your return policy is completely open-book and equitable.

How Can We Help?

ANS Commerce is a full-stack e-commerce enabler that provides high-end solutions and services to help businesses increase their revenue and achieve their goals. We are a team of dedicated professionals skilled in assisting clients from scratch. Whether you are a growing business or are new to digital services, we will guide you, enhance your knowledge, and help you create your own space in the online world.   

  

How Can Augmented Reality Enhance the Customer Experience in the E-commerce Industry?

Technological innovations have brought great variation in the shopping experience of people. From offline to online, further different browsing options at various sites have made it easy for people to make purchases just by sitting at their place. However, the sensory experience was still a big challenge, which made replace and return more prominent.

Well, with Augmented Reality in the queue, things are no longer the same. With this technological advent, people can actually sense their products. It allows customers to experience the services or preview their items and acquire in-depth and comprehensive information about their items of choice—from the comfort of their homes.

According to the report, the augmented reality industry is expanding and is worth $30.7 billion, with roughly 810 million active smartphone users.

What is Augmented Reality?

AR (Augmented Reality) is a technology that overlays a computer-generated image over the user’s real-world perspective to give them a more accurate representation of reality. This entails incorporating digital data (sounds, pictures, and text) into the user’s current surroundings.

The idea is to blend the virtual and real worlds and offer the user a sense of seamless integration. These virtual assets might be in the form of 2D or 3D images, music, films, and so on.

“I do think that a significant portion of the population of developed countries, and eventually all countries, will have AR experiences every day, almost like eating three meals a day. It will become that much a part of you.” 

— Tim Cook

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality: What Is the Difference?

Augmented reality and virtual reality are two concepts that are sometimes used interchangeably since they have many similarities but also some variances. Virtual reality (or VR) requires the user to wear a headset with earbuds that totally replaces the actual environment with the virtual world. Virtual reality aims to remove the user from the current world as much as possible. 

Quick Tip: Although virtual reality has business uses in product creation, teaching, architecture, and retail, the bulk of VR applications are now centred on leisure, particularly gaming.

Augmented reality, on the other hand, combines the virtual and real worlds. Most apps use the screen of a smartphone or tablet to do this, with users directing the phone’s camera towards an area of interest and the screen displaying a live video of that scene. The display is then filled with helpful data, such as servicing instructions, navigation data, or diagnostic data. 

Quick Tip: AR is more commonly used in entertainment applications, but now it is also being used for providing expert assistance, transforming shopping experiences and predictive maintenance. 

Augmented Reality in E-commerce

AR has piqued the curiosity of investors, businesses, and the general public in recent years, particularly when Mark Zuckerberg purchased Oculus. Many web companies, such as Sony, Samsung, and Google, are now investing heavily in augmented reality.

E-commerce is expected to take a huge leap with this technology as augmented reality can bridge the gap between conventional brick-and-mortar retailers and current e-commerce companies. Customers may see the product as they would see it in person using augmented reality. It’s a breakthrough that gives online shopping a more genuine feel while also increasing e-commerce sales by enhancing the shopping experience.

This [Retail] is a sector where AR is revolutionising the way we shop by bridging the gap between digital and physical worlds. A radical store re-invention will offer retailers new ways to increase convenience and personalisation, and consumers the opportunity to experience re-envisioned shops. 

–Muchaneta Kapfunde

The Benefits of Augmented Reality

Here’s why augmented reality is more important—and how they’re already helping early adopters.

Personalized Experience

AR allows customers to see how items appear on them. They show what sizes might fit them, or illustrate the real size of a product in their area, as well as other features that address the issues with online shopping. Instead of seeing mannequins wearing the items in an online store, buyers can view themselves in all of the ensembles to evaluate which ones would look best on them.

Reduced Return Rate

AR offers consumers the unique option to test before they purchase since it provides an immersive experience with 3D visualizations, virtual try-on, and product demos. As a result, augmented reality technology aids in the battle against high return rates by allowing customers to make an informed purchase, resulting in a decrease in return rates.

Improved Customer Satisfaction

AR’s immersive experience allows e-commerce firms to not only interact with new customers but also to create a long-term and trusted relationship with them. This technology helps boost consumer interaction with e-commerce firms, leading to increased sales.

High Conversion Rate

It is one of the most notable advantages of augmented reality in e-commerce. If users have a clearer picture of the product they are going to buy, they are more likely to convert. Augmented reality in e-commerce allows store owners to provide a more immersive and engaging product experience, which leads to higher conversion rates.

Those who browse sites that use augmented reality (AR) technology are more likely to make a purchase. So, bring it to your store and leave the rest to us. 

Role of ANS Commerce

At ANS Commerce, we assist businesses in enhancing their brand’s position through higher sales. We assist organisations in focusing on their core competencies while also delivering other services such as performance marketing, marketplace management, warehousing, and fulfilment. We give e-commerce consultancy for the brandstore through technology interventions so that they are aware of the present gap and may use the best industrial practise to optimise the funnel.

We also assist businesses with our core product, Kartify, which provides the foundation for establishing an online presence without any hassle. You can request a DEMO now.

Conversational Commerce: How the Trend Has Shaped E-commerce?

Today, it has become essential for every industry to stay ahead of the most recent trends to survive, grow and fight upcoming contingencies. The e-commerce industry has revolutionized the way people shop today. But the point of focus is ‘How can we surpass the customer experience?’

Customers are the most important assets of any business, and it sometimes becomes difficult to interact with them, leading to unsatisfied customers.

Do you want your customers to develop full trust in your brand? But the question is how? Well, the only answer is Conversational Commerce! 

“Conversational Commerce serves as a liaison between businesses and their customers!”

Not only does Conversation Commerce help you customize your customer’s experience, but also makes it easier for you to interact with them, creating a great impact on every touchpoint in your customer’s journey. With modern conversational commerce systems, customers & brands can interact and transact together across a variety of channels. This intuitive interface makes buying more convenient for customers, giving them a seamless and personalized experience.

Let’s dig deeper into the real definition of conversational commerce and check the two main systems brands have been using to serve their customers!

Conversational Commerce Systems

1. Chatbots

Chatbots are excellent solutions to support real-time customer service. It makes the sale process user-friendly, decreasing the gap between online and traditional shopping experiences. They provide you assistance at any time with integrated live chats and detailed FAQs.

2. Voice Assistants

We all know to what extent, Alexa and Siri have made our life easier. Not only are they used by urban households, but also help brands formulate their business plan. Not to mention, collecting reviews has never been this easy for businesses. 

6 Reasons why you should use Conversational Commerce?

Conversational commerce generates profound benefits for many brands. You can make the most of conversational commerce by adding a conversational approach to the way you market and sell your offerings. To know more about this strategy, let’s read on to find the benefits of Conversational Commerce! 

1. To provide 24*7 support

Retailers can collect information through a support system while a chatbot solves the queries of the customers. A chatbot needs to be maintained once it is set up. But once businesses integrate a chatbot, they give their brand the opportunity to connect with each and every customer 24/7 without hiring a large number of customer representatives. Though a human touch to the support is necessary, you can use the bots to cater to the initial level complaints.

2. To send order tracking deets

Integrating your brandstore with messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Hike, etc is a great way to send order updates to your customers. Additionally, you can also send new offers, discounts, etc via instant messaging. You can consider this as one of the advantages of conversational commerce. When people come across exciting offers, they often circulate them among their friends, making your promotional strategy viral. 

Quick tip: Want to satisfy your customers by sending order tracking updates but don’t know how to? Kartify brandstores are integrated with WhatApp, enabling alert-based messaging and WhatsApp chatbots! To know more about it, request your free DEMO now! 

3. To give accurate solutions to customers’ queries

If a customer walks into a store, they can get help from the in-store staff, asking about the quality of the product, warranty, etc. Imitating this type of experience online hasn’t been as easy and efficient. But with conversational commerce, you can make sure you solve all the queries of your customers. In addition to sending recommendations based on what is trending, stores can answer customers’ questions enabling them to make the right, convenient and suitable choice.

4. To increase customers satisfaction

Consumer satisfaction is the heart of any brand. A satisfied consumer is more likely to come back and promote your brand to others. Conversational Commerce makes the customer feel at ease when they are in your e-store. With customer care being automated, it not only saves the waiting time of the user as the bot answers their queries but also ensures they are satisfied with the quick help.

5. To reduce the Cart abandonment rate

The only downside to online shopping is customers’ scepticism towards the product quality. They generally fill their carts but don’t end up making the purchase, leading to a high cart abandonment rate. In such cases, bots come into play. A chatbot helps you solve customer queries with the best alternatives. For instance, you want to buy a pair of shoes, but you are sceptical about the material used in it. A bot can solve the query in such a case, making you purchase the product. 

Is cart abandonment crippling your online business? Read more to know how to reduce the cart abandonment rate! 

“Eventually, if the customer is happy the growth of the business is guaranteed!”

6. To remove manual and repetitive work

Whether it is an online retail store or a traditional store, you can’t escape from customers’ dilemma. But in the case of an online store, it becomes hectic and monotonous for the support team to clear each and every query. Here comes Chatbots in the picture with automated responses to manage hundreds of conversations simultaneously so customers don’t have to wait in line for a response. 

Conversational commerce presents a huge opportunity for brands and retailers to enhance the customer experience and maximize sales across channels. It has become more important than ever because of its conversational style of interaction as it can enhance personalization and warmth in the online shopping experience. 

Now that you know everything you need to know about conversational commerce, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and request a free DEMO, integrating your online store with chatbots through Kartify!