The coronavirus crisis is keeping online retail busy. Some industries are benefiting, some are struggling with enormous losses in turnover. Whether the coronavirus crisis has generally boosted online retail, or subdued buying sentiment continues there as well: customer needs have definitely changed. For operators of webshops, that is a reason to rethink and adapt their own shop.
Retailers now have to understand – and our experience with our customers shows this too – that they must adapt their own shop to the new circumstances. Customer buying behaviour has changed: shops that offer luxury goods are currently struggling more than usual. A clear reluctance to buy can be felt here. On the other side, many everyday goods are in the spotlight at the big players, such as Amazon.
But that in particular also means an opportunity for many retailers. Namely when they can position their offer between these two extremes. That also includes making the purchase as simple and convenient as possible for the customer. Put briefly: usability is in the foreground more than ever.
So how does your own shop need to be optimally set up in order to hold its own in times of corona?
The online shop should be designed to be as simple as possible. Clear paths, clear categories, no unnecessary pop-ups, no excessive upselling measures such as conversion optimisation through vouchers or the like. The customer should get to the goods as quickly and simply as possible. As few steps as possible to checkout are the order of the day.
For the moment, webshops should do without making customers create an account or subscribe to newsletters. That way you may still keep engaging customers and hopefully turn them into satisfied regulars. But generating actual business now has to come first.
Online shop operators urgently need to secure a reliable shipping provider. Fast and secure shipping currently provides the decisive advantage over the competitor. Extremely delayed deliveries will only lead to a high return rate, because the customer then has no choice but to order elsewhere.
Large baskets and bundling offers are appealing, but in the current situation they only work when everything really is available and the delivery date can also be kept. Guaranteeing delivery dates (and of course keeping them) should matter even more than usual right now.
The network is at times under a heavier load than usual. Online shop operators should therefore pay more attention to performance than usual. Especially when the shop is accessed on mobile devices. Only fast and reliable processing currently leads to a completed purchase. If necessary, tracking tools or similar tools that reduce performance have to be left out.