As we begin another year in the pandemic, we took a closer look at the 2021 trends across JEBCommerce’s family of clients. From surprises of 2021 to program edits that we see heading strong into 2022. Let’s dive in!
Online Shopping Continues to Be Strong
Consumer spending continued with strong trends towards online shopping. At-home delivery habits and typical quick delivery turnaround turned shoppers into holiday planners. The security of having a gift in hand, versus potentially getting caught on in the global supply chain challenges drove consumers to shop earlier and more consistently in Q4. With online deals starting as early as October, consumers shopped over more days versus on Black Friday and Cyber Monday only. Overall Cyber Monday shopping was down 1.4%.
Specific to JEBCommerce, here are some stats on our clients’ activities in Q4:
- Beauty client: 60% increase
- Travel client: 178% increase
- Men’s Grooming client: 85% increase
- Tech client: 61% increase
- Retail client: 120% increase
- Home Goods: 188% increase
Website Usability
The increased competition of brands shifting to an online presence, in many cases, ONLY online, an efficient shopping cart experience is more paramount than ever. More and more products are launching with a direct to consumer strategy, especially Challenger brands. We are happy to see eCommerce and Usability teams working together to ensure an optimal outcome as it relates to click to browsing to consideration to purchase.
For clients who may not have a usability team or the bandwidth to conduct an in-depth audit of their stores, JEBCommerce’s Conversion Rate Audit (CRA) service is coming soon. It’s specially-tailored to identify areas of opportunity among dozens of e-commerce-focused criteria throughout the customer journey.
We start by getting to know the needs of the business and its customers both through interviews and the raw data. Then, the website is run through a comprehensive battery of tests, including a 79 point technical assessment, a usability and best practices evaluation, and live user testing. This information is used to paint a comprehensive picture of the site from the customer’s perspective, and a plan of action for improving the experience.
Coming soon in Q2!
Buy Now, Pay Later
One of the largest movers in terms of 2021 shopping trends was the shopping cart use of Buy Now Pay Later (aka BNPL). Similar to the old school memories of buying something on layaway, use of BNPL jumped 29% during Cyber Week. Companies like Klarna, Afterpay and Affirm help increase conversion rates for shoppers who want the financial options for payment. We foresee this area of commerce to be just as strong in 2022. JEBCommerce has strong relationships with the majority of BNPL companies and look forward to strengthening partnerships in 2022.
Influencers
The internet creates a meritocracy of opportunities for anyone who wants to build a following. During the early stages of Influencer Marketing, individuals worked their Instagram numbers, asked for YouTube followers, staged professional photos and did everything possible to gain traction within a community. In some cases, lightning struck the Influencer’s activity at ‘just’ the right time. Whether it was early adoption of a platform or pure luck, brands and companies came running with deals, partnerships and sponsorships.
At JEBCommerce, we know how to get the right affiliate partnership to extend their love of your brand or service to their community. Likewise, we have the experience and the contacts to continue this strategy to an Influencer network. Whether it’s the nano influencer who isn’t active on a social platform to the larger influencer who has a robust TikTok following, we are developing an integrated solution for client influencer needs. We are also partnering with other pieces of clients’ marketing mix to ensure social media and PR strategies are integrated across the affiliate network. We are incredibly excited to roll this out to our clients in 2022!
Action Items
Let’s set you up for success! Here are our top to-dos for you to check off in your Affiliate Marketing 2022 Roadmap.
- Is your supply chain optimized? Do you foresee any seasonal hot sellers that may cause more demand over other items?
- Speaking of top sellers, make sure all marketing channels are aware of what is selling and optimize your marketing practices in real-time
- Create a Consumer Journey map. How are consumers finding you? What is the path they take to learn who you are and how they can purchase your products? Once on the website, is there a specific drop off?
- How quickly can you ship your product to the consumer? Is there a way you can build trust with the complete shipping process, from leaving a warehouse to tracking to front door delivery? How can you build trust with the consumer to shop with you versus a competitor?
We see you, 2022!
It’s an incredible privilege to be a part of our clients’ online journey. Day in and day out, our teams immerse themselves in various industries, build strong relationships with our publisher network and find new consumer avenues. Our team is incredibly service driven – we thrive on it. We are thankful to continue supporting our clients in 2022!
