2021-05-21
Pandemic has accelerated the digital revolution. Online ordering became commonplace, customers got used to this hybrid way of life, with physical stores and catalogs on Instagram or other platforms. The numbers reveal that there was less consumer loyalty, since not all organizations responded in these times, so there was more diversity, the potential customer looked elsewhere, giving priority to those who delivered the product on time but also safely, valuing packaging and care.
Businesses and companies sought to be more present in the virtual world, the one we were forced to explore because of the duty of confinement and to protect the health of each one of us. We consumed more than ever in a futuristic way, with a scroll, a click, with a visit on the Internet. The future is here, ladies and gentlemen.
Even if the vaccine and deconfinements return us to life as it was, there are certainly habits that are here to stay. Now, of course, companies have to step forward. How can they build customer loyalty in these times? What will the next e-commerce times be like? Have marketing strategies changed? What about the type of customer service, will it have to be rethought? What about the role of remarketing?
"The leap taken by e-commerce in 2020 has no return," considered Gonçalo Soares da Costa, CEO of Mercadão, in a text in Dinheiro Vivo. "The pandemic context led to experimentation and experimentation led to the strengthening of confidence in this channel and the understanding of its advantages. (...) Consumers will continue to want to buy from the comfort of their home: the ease, safety and convenience of the purchase will continue to be factors that motivate the use of the online channel."
The author of the text also revealed figures that confirm the paradigm shift: a study by DS Smith showed that 64% of people bought more online during the first confinement (89% of that slice revealed that they will continue to buy as much or more). Already 91% said they trust online shopping.
So we have to surf the wave, continue to innovate but consolidate the mechanism, reinforcing more and more the consumer's trust and that golden link. Social networks play an important role, because they show who we are and what we offer, but it is not directed to that specific person. So how do you work on loyalty?
· Know the customer well - analyze the data provided and his last purchase - and his needs
· Get better at customer service
· In addition to offering a good online experience, behave like a reference: be sublime
· Communicate news to old customers, value and reward this connection
· Create exclusive actions or promotions for customers who buy frequently
· Create or rethink your loyalty program
· Staying close after the sale
"Marketing has faced several challenges in the last year, due to the pandemic," confirmed Barbot's Marketing Director Sofia Miguel in an interview with "Jornal de Negócios". "No one was expecting that suddenly the world would close in. Suddenly, strategies had to be changed and adapted to a new reality. That was the big challenge, that is, to maintain proximity with the consumer through new platforms and keep our emotional connection, even in a virtual way."
What's coming then? "I predict that digital tools will continue to grow, namely social networks, whether the more traditional ones like Facebook or LinkedIn, or those that have recently emerged, such as TikTok. Brands will continue to focus their attention on digital, because it's through it that we'll be able to stay connected to the public."
For this there is also a bet on remarketing, which has to be used with tweezers so as not to be intrusive. That is, remarketing is what the name implies: repeating the action with a particular customer or potential customer who has shown interest in a product. Essentially, it aims to reactivate a customer through campaigns, encouraging them to take action. Of course, once again, it is necessary to know the consumer well: an email can remind him that he left X products in the cart, encouraging him to close the purchase. Or showing him some promotion that may interest that person. If we know that few times a visit to the company's website translates into a purchase, that is where the remarketing tweezers come in, to close that transaction, speaking directly to that potential buyer, making him feel special. Remarketing is, in essence, a digital follow-up.
Digital customer service has also gained strength recently. If a phone call seems increasingly uncomfortable for many people, there are many other solutions on the table: e-mail, chat available on the website (or even that opens automatically on the Facebook page), SMS, there is also self-service (the brand helps to direct the customer to the resolution of the problem without the intervention of a representative) and, of course, social networks, which not only often respond directly to customers with questions or complaints, but also open and allow direct and private messages. Some have gone further, such as Science4you, which created a service that made digital sales as close as possible to the customers who are looking for it, that is, it implemented a video live chat in its online store, offering the consumer a personalized service while visiting the brand's website.
