While the COVID-19 outbreak has impacted eCommerce in a variety of ways, one that could have the most lasting impact is the massive influx of first-time online shoppers. Online stores that can manage to capture these customers’ loyalty now can position themselves to reap the benefits of those customer relationships well into the future – and that makes it especially important for them to offer each shopper an excellent experience.
To gauge the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on online shopping behaviors and attitudes, we recently conducted a survey of 1,100 consumers. Fourteen percent (14%) of respondents said they had tried shopping online for the first time as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Of these new online shoppers, roughly half (48%) said they expected to continue shopping online after the end of the outbreak.
In addition to customers shopping online for the first time, our survey indicates that most consumers (56%) have increased their online shopping due to the coronavirus outbreak. And of the shoppers who have increased their online shopping during the crisis, more than half (59%) say they plan to shop more after the crisis than they did before it.
Unauthorized ads threaten relationship with price-sensitive shoppers
With so many new customers shopping online during this dynamic period – both those using eCommerce for the first time and those increasing the frequency, variety, or scale of their purchases – it is crucial for retailers to lay the groundwork to keep them coming back.
But while retailers know they need to offer new customers a great experience, many are not fully aware of the impact of Customer Journey Hijacking, an expensive problem in which consumers visiting eCommerce websites view injected ads designed to divert them to other websites. By appearing during an average of 20% of online shopping sessions, these unauthorized ads decrease eCommerce conversion rates by up to 5%.
And Customer Journey Hijacking is especially harmful in light of the coronavirus outbreak, because today’s customers are highly price-sensitive. We saw this focus on price in our recent survey, after we asked respondents to rank the influence of five different factors on their online purchase decisions: price, the product’s brand reputation, the online store’s brand reputation, fast and convenient delivery, and how user-friendly the online store’s website is. More than half (51%) of all respondents said that price was the most important of those five factors, while another 24% ranked price as the second-most important factor.
We also used the survey to find out how consumers’ sensitivity to price would impact their reactions to injected ads. Specifically, we asked respondents about how they would react if, while shopping for a product in an online store, they encountered an ad for a similar product at a lower price being sold by a competing online store. More than half of respondents (53%) said they would either “definitely” or “probably” click on the ad, while another 33% said they would “maybe” click. Only 4% said they would “definitely not” click on such an ad.
In this environment, each time a new visitor to your online store sees an unauthorized ad promoting a competing store or product, there is a real risk that the ad could cost you both an immediate sale and what could have been a long-lasting and profitable customer relationship.
Increasing sales revenue from first-time digital shoppers
With eCommerce websites replacing physical stores for so many shoppers, this is a critical time for retailers to stop losing their online sales revenue to injected ads – especially given the challenges facing today’s businesses as a result of COVID-19.
That is why we at Namogoo are allowing top online retailers and eCommerce companies to use our Customer Hijacking Prevention solution at no cost for a limited time. By blocking injected ads in real-time, our solution offers an immediate conversion rate increase of at least 1.5%. And, because our cloud-based technology can be set up remotely and rapidly, there is no need to wait for any on-site installation.
Most importantly, with so many new online shoppers now in the process of choosing their favorite eCommerce websites, preventing Customer Journey Hijacking puts you in control of the shopping experience you offer – so you can win back stolen revenue and start building new customer relationships, free of distractions.
