The dynamics of retail consumption

Do you know why some people prefer to shop online rather than go to the mall? First, because it is more practical, especially for those who like to compare prices. Second, for the convenience of a full time operation, which allows the acquisition of products and services at any time and place. And third, by the prices, which are often better than in retail stores. This explains why e-commerce has been growing both in recent years, as evidenced by some data released by Ebit| Nielsen. According to the survey, the sector's revenues were R$ 26.4 billion in the first half of 2019, which means a gain of 12% compared to the previous year. The number of orders increased by 20%, reaching R$ 65.2 million, and the number of consumers increased by 18%. Thus, e-commerce offers a high sales potential, configuring itself today as a great option for brands. Only of course there are challenges too. One is the need to focus on the customer experience, so that the purchase is really satisfactory. This can be guaranteed, for example, with variety of products and multichannels that complement each other, such as purchasing a product through the site to be removed in the store. Another challenge is that brands need to overcome the fear that some consumers have of shopping online. To do this, you need to provide efficient security mechanisms and detailed information at all stages of the process. And a third point is the delivery time of the products, which is still much longer than when making the purchase, on the spot, in the store itself. A good solution in this case would be a self-delivery service. How does e-commerce work for retail? This term refers to all business transactions that are carried out through online tools, such as virtual stores, that work in two ways: companies can have their own websites or sales portals or market their products in a platform common to various brands, known as marketplace. In the case of retail, this e-commerce is called B2C (Business to Consumer). In the marketplace, the portal is responsible for the process of collection and guarantee of delivery and quality of products. So, this can be an interesting alternative for companies, which just need to register and catalog their products. However, they lose a lot in the ite differentiation, which today is highly valued by people. In addition, the marketplace makes it easy to compare the different prices of the same type of product, which can keep a person away from your brand. In general, e-commerce is much more than creating a website. It fully digitizes two basic processes: sales and customer service. And this reflects in the automation of other related areas, such as marketing, finance control and product inventory. Thus, we can say that it facilitates and streamlines sales management, bringing logistics to the focus of the commercial strategy of companies. With this, it is clear how important it is for companies to invest in a quality e-commerce. And there is more: with the development of technology, in recent years, new modalities are emerging, bringing even more practicality to consumers. Get to know some of them in detail, in order to know which one is best for your brand! Mobile Commerce With the popularization of smartphones and 3G and 4G networks, mobile purchases have increased significantly in recent years, including in Brazil. In 2019, there was a 36% increase in revenues and 42% in the volume of orders in the first half, compared to the same period of the previous year, according to data released by Ebit| Nielsen in the 40th edition of Webshoppers. The relevance of M-commerce to brands is also revealed by the level of satisfaction of these consumers: 90%. Thus, investing in the creation of "mobile first" sites (which are appropriate for online platforms) is no longer an option for companies — it has already become a necessity, and that tends to grow even more if we consider that mobile phones are coming more and more in the hands of future consumers. In addition, mobile devices symbolize another advantage for brands: they are widely used in their spare time and can take consumers to e-commerce pages, driving impulse purchases. For this, the sites must be adapted for Android and IOS smartphones, with option of access via browser, fast loading, reduced data consumption and good usability. Cross Border, New One of the most challenging modalities for brands, Cross Border consists of e-commerce across borders, that is, when consumers from other countries shop on Brazilian websites and vice versa. This is a growing market, but it still poses a series of difficulties for companies, such as logistics operation and distrust of international consumers regarding the origin of Brazilian products. In addition, there is strong competition that Brazilian brands have to face from foreign companies, because often - because of the devaluation of the currency and the high collection of taxes in the country - our brands do not get competitive prices for their products. And these issues are not easy to resolve. On the other hand, according to data from Ebit| Nielsen, the number of Brazilians who made at least one purchase on international sites has been growing in recent years, having reached the value of R$ 23.1 million in 2018. Thus, some brands are designing strategies to reverse this scenario, for example, seeking partnership with international payment and marketplace companies, to facilitate and give more credibility to their financial transactions in other countries. Omnichannel, New Year This is a strategy originating from retail and represents the connection of the company's sales channels in order to offer in e-commerce the same shopping experience that consumers find in the physical store. In this way, omnichannel optimizes processes, integrating the marketing, sales and customer service sectors —and it is precisely in this convergence that it stands out from the multichannel strategy, in which each platform communicates in a different way with the Consumers. On omnichannel, the data customers provide to branded platforms and devices is accounted for to deliver a complete experience. And, for this, it is necessary that the messages, goals, objectives and design of all channels of service of the brand are thought in an aligned way, avoiding noises in the communication, ensuring the success of the purchase and, consequently, increasing the chances of loyalty of the customer. With the growth of e-commerce, consumers are already accustomed to finding retail stores in the digital world. Thus, online sales present themselves as a very interesting option for brands, allowing a greater reach of audiences at a reduced cost. Therefore, companies that have not yet adapted to this new reality need to be attentive. And those who have already established themselves in the market can seek alternatives to overcome the challenges imposed by this type of trade that came to stay.