Social shopping. Livestream shopping. Creator collaborations. Social proof. Third-party sales in a marketplace model. By implementing these five eCommerce growth hacks, you can give your business an edge and make the most of the 2023 eCommerce landscape - even in challenging conditions!
It's no secret that eCommerce is booming. In 2023, it's estimated to reach a staggering $6.3 trillion in global sales. That's plenty of money up for grabs!
However, traditional marketing tactics like digital ads are becoming more and more costly, privacy laws are making it difficult to access customer data, and the upcoming recession could put a damper on the industry.
So, if you're looking to get ahead of the curve and capitalize on this growth, then read on.
1. Social shopping
Instagram. Snapchat. Pinterest. Tik Tok. Which one is a good fit for your business?
Studies have shown that users now spend an average of 15% of their waking lives on social platforms, and it turns out these hours are being used for much more than simply socializing - a third of internet users in the US are already making purchases through social networks!
Brands that are nailing social shopping:
Everlane @ Instagram
Everlane is a sustainable fashion brand that has embraced Instagram's shopping features with success. They have quickly adopted product tagging and an entire dedicated, instant-checkout Instagram store. This allows their customers to shop seamlessly by viewing and browsing products without moving between multiple apps or sites.
Anthropologie @ Pinterest
Anthropologie, a fashion and home decor brand, created a digital-only catalog on Pinterest. Users can browse Anthropologie's selection and pin their favorite items to create a digital pinboard for either immediate or future purchases. Since then, the number of searches for "Anthropologie home décor inspiration" increased almost elevenfold in one year, while those for "Anthropologie mirror" rose 375%.
Ulta Beauty @ Snapchat
Snapchat's catalog-powered AR shopping lenses have enabled Ulta Beauty to offer customers a more engaging and actionable experience. In just two weeks of launching its Snapchat AR lenses, the beauty retailer achieved impressive results with $6 million in sales and over 30 million product viewings. The use of Snapchat's AR lenses has allowed shoppers to try on various products right on their phones, as well as receive real-time product information before deciding to purchase - providing convenience while still maintaining a personalized feel.
Kylie Cosmetics @ TikTok
Kylie Jenner, founder and creator of Kylie Cosmetics, is no stranger to integrating her social media channels with online shopping experiences. Kylie Cosmetics has teamed up with Shopify in order to make the Kylie Cosmetics TikTok account shoppable. This means that customers can shop directly from Kylie's creative lip tutorials or makeup looks from the comfort of their own homes without leaving the app. The integration simplifies the buying process for Kylie’s followers by putting all items used in a video directly beneath it so that users can click, purchase, and pay for products within minutes.
2. Live shopping
The combination of live video and eCommerce is a fun, interactive way that allows brands to engage with their audience while promoting and selling products directly via a live stream.
Basically, it's the good old home shopping channel concept, known in the US since the 80s, except it's on the internet and delivers a much more engaging experience.
Live shopping is a rising trend, especially in the Asian market, where it already reached $171 billion in 2020. However, it's gradually expanding to western countries as well and is predicted to make up 10-20% of all eCommerce by 2026.
Examples of brands successfully using livestreams to sell their products:
Petco
Petco, a popular pet supply store, uses live shopping to provide pet lovers and pet parents with memorable experiences. For example, the brand hosted a live pet fashion show combined with a dog adoption drive featuring actress and model Arielle Vandenberg. This livestream was highly successful and was seen by more than 900,000 people, leading to an increase in sales worth double the cost of the event.
KitKat Australia
KitKat Australia launched an innovative live shopping experience, “Live from the KitKat Chocolatory”, during the holiday season. During the livestream, KitKat’s chocolatiers highlighted new products, talked to special guests, and provided exclusive offers for viewers. KitKat also included a shopping feature in the livestream; viewers could type a keyword into the comment box and receive a Messenger notification with a link to purchase the product online. KitKat’s live shopping experience successfully created brand awareness while giving customers an easy and engaging way to shop.
Aldo
The Montreal-based footwear brand, Aldo, partnered with celebrity stylist Mimi Cuttrell and Los Angeles-based entertainer Nate Wyatt to host a livestream shopping pilot and showcase their new spring 2021 collection. Aldo saw an impressive result from the event, with 17,000 page views in the first five days after the show and 12 minutes six seconds of average viewing time on Aldo’s website. Furthermore, the company enjoyed a 308% engagement rate in terms of people liking and commenting on the show. Aldo says that there are ways to make the experience last longer than just the livestream, through features on the website and social media channels. Even after the event has ended, people are still talking about it and viewing it. Two weeks later, they were still getting sales from it. Third-party livestreaming platform, Bambuser, states that normally 75%-80% of sales and views happen in the following few weeks after the event has ended.
Window shopping in New York City
Window shopping just got an upgrade in New York City this holiday season with the introduction of livestream commerce and digital media technology. From November 23rd, consumers are able to watch live shopping events in actual store windows featuring music star Gloria Estefan's new holiday album. This livestream experience also allows viewers to purchase items from their phones by scanning QR codes on the NYC windows.
3. Creator collaborations
Influencers or Content Creators, who have organically built their own audience, have an intimate relationship with their followers, making their product recommendations highly effective.
However, for some businesses, collaborating with big-name celebrities might not be within the budget. Fortunately, some micro-influencers also have highly engaged communities that could work just as well to promote your brand and products.
Examples of super successful collabs between eCommerce brands and content creators:
BECCA Cosmetics & Chrissy Teigen (@chrissyteigen)
BECCA Cosmetics is a high-end cosmetics company that creates makeup products focusing on "a natural, effortless and subtle look". The company recently partnered with social media influencer, Chrissy Teigen (40M followers on Instagram), to introduce a new makeup palette "Becca X Chrissy". To announce the collaboration, Teigen shared an Instagram video detailing the versatile palette of twelve rosy tan and bronze neutral shades; the video was met with collective excitement from fans and quickly gained nearly 5 million views. It was then followed by thousands of videos by Chrissy's fans reviewing the product and posting their excitement about it.
Tom’s of Maine & micro-influencers
Tom’s of Maine is a toiletries brand that only uses all-natural ingredients in its products. The company launched a campaign to increase brand awareness, and what better way to do that than by collaborating with influencers? Tom's chose to focus on micro-influencers, as they were looking for more organic engagement rather than paid promotion. After the influencers shared Tom's natural toiletries in their posts, Tom's experienced a snowball effect that reached 4.4 million potential customers in just three months.
4. Social proof
A great way to build social proof and trust is through user-generated content (UGC). Brands can leverage it to showcase their products in a relatable, real-world context.
One way of doing this is by featuring posts from social media on the brand's social profiles while tagging both the users and the products they are showcasing.
Additionally, brands can embed these posts into a gallery on their website to create an engaging visitor experience. These images can be further enhanced with tags that allow visitors to buy products directly from the images in the gallery.
Brands that are doing a great job using User Generated Content:
#AsSeenOnMe by Asos
Asos was one of the first to launch user-generated content campaigns such as "As Seen on Me" back in 2014. As customers purchase clothing from Asos they can post pictures of them wearing their garments using the hashtag #AsSeenOnMe. Asos achieved higher penetration rates and increased sales due to enhanced trust in their products that came from viewing 'social evidence', such as actual consumers wearing their garments. As a result of this strategy, Asos saw an increase in the number of active consumers by 25%, and an average shopping cart value growth rate of 2%.
The Lid Flip Challenge by Chipotle
Chipotle is one of the most popular user-generated content examples and has found success in targeting Gen Z customers. The restaurant chain recently ran a creative Challenge for TikTok users to help raise awareness for its free delivery offering on Cinco de Mayo. Over 111,000 videos were submitted within the first six days of the challenge, resulting in a record-breaking online sales day. Furthermore, Chipotle also saw an increase in app downloads as well as an increase in delivery orders among its target demographic. Overall, more than 300 million people have seen Chipotle's hashtagged videos.
Glossier
Glossier offers product discounts and other incentives to customers who post videos about the products they like. As a result, anyone who likes wearing makeup can become an influencer for the company. Thanks to this initiative, Glossier has more than 500 ambassadors worldwide.
“Our customers are our number-one mouthpieces and evangelists. They are doing exactly what we hoped they would. They are interpreting Glossier.”- Glossier founder Emily Weiss
#CLUSEwatches by Cluse
Cluse, founded in Amsterdam, is an innovative and chic brand offering timepieces primarily targeted at women. Cluse engaged its consumers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with the hashtags #CLUSE and #CLUSEwatches, prompting them to post pictures and videos of their Cluse watches. The user-generated content was then collected by Photoslurp and presented as a Lookbook on Cluse's website, as well as a carousel featured on Cluse's product pages. Each uploaded image or video is linked back to Cluse’s designated product page, plus the profile of the person who posted it. This campaign provided Cluse with 19,000 photos and videos from their online community and resulted in an impressive 19% increase in conversions.
5. Third-party sales in a marketplace model
By bringing in new brands and thousands of new products into your existing eCommerce store and selling in a third-party marketplace model, you have the potential to unlock growth through exciting new arrivals, increasing average order value, and stimulating repeat purchasing.
2 out of 3 online customers are already shopping through marketplaces, and this number is predicted to grow. So it is high time to consider joining the marketplace party.
It is not only the largest retailers like Amazon, eBay, or Walmart that are prospering by following this model. With shoppers searching for more unique experiences and items, niche marketplaces have become vitally important and successful.
Using Vendo allows you to start a marketplace eCommerce business in a dropshipping model with quality, domestic brands onboarded as sellers from Shopify, WooCommerce, or other platforms within minutes.
Key advantages of turning your eCommerce store into a multi-vendor marketplace:
- Increase customer loyalty and retention by offering the convenience of one-stop shopping across many brands and product categories with a single order and payment
- Increase average order value by offering customers products complementary to your own inventory
- Boost sales and scale your business with thousands of new products in a dropshipping model without any extra costs of inventory procurement or management
- Onboard tens of new Shopify brands to your marketplace in minutes
- Achieve a long-tail audience expansion to multiply organic search traffic with a blue-ocean SEO strategy
- Gain a new superpower to quickly experiment with new product categories and expand your current audience with new customer segments interested in these new categories
- Turn eCommerce competitors into partners by adding brands as your marketplace sellers
Start a Free Trial now and evaluate Vendo to unlock your eCommerce growth!
