Digital Marketing ‘Essential For O2O Retail’

It is no secret that an increasing number of people are ditching the high street in favour of online shopping, with e-commerce sales expected to account for more than 12 per cent of global transactions this year, eMarketer predicts.

However, while online shopping is growing at a fast rate, businesses should not just focus on its e-commerce functionality but its web design and digital marketing strategies too.

This is due to the growing importance of online-to-offline (O2O) retail, with lots of consumers searching for what they want on the internet before heading to the shops to purchase it.

Wayne St Amand, CMO of Nielsen Visual IQ, told Marketing Week: “Consumers expect a seamless experience, whether they’re shopping on their mobile phone or in your store.”

In Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) countries, many shoppers are beginning their retail journey online, and typically use both the high street and shopping websites to make purchases.

Whether they look at webpages to find product information, check prices, search for promotions, create online shopping lists, or research social media to help with their decisions, they are relying more on businesses’ online presence when it comes to their retail choices.

Mr St Amand added: “The challenge for EMEA marketers is staying one step ahead of consumers who are digitally savvy and increasingly online. Connecting online and offline via multi-touch attribution is critical.”

Therefore, it is important companies have attractive and effective websites to entice shoppers and give them all the information they are looking for.

Having a strong social media presence is also useful, as many shoppers find products after they are advertised on networking sites.

So important is digital marketing that online retail giant ASOS has announced its plans to “upweight” its expenditure in this area to boost consumer engagement, double influencer activity investment, and get more influential figures on social media to advertise for it.

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