Amazon is truly a market leader when it comes to e-commerce and e-commerce store. eBay and Alibaba came along, they had their own slice of the pie. But whenever it comes to setting trends, Amazon sets trends. If there is any doubt, last year’s move to the cloud by Amazon Web Services (AWS) made them the first cloud service providers to have PCI DSS compliance standards.
Amazon Go and Amazon Alexa! The market leaders came up with two last attacks on the industry in the year 2017. As if, they still need to prove their superiority over the market. Amazon grabs a whopping 44% market share in US e-commerce for the year 2017. Couldn’t you just kick back and sit back, reap the rewards of the authority you’ve built over the years?
Why would they keep innovating?
One – Because they can. Two – They have to! As I recall, one of my former clients in the e-commerce industry was appreciative of how good Thanksgiving sales were this year. Appreciation for hard work makes you feel good. Yet there was something unsettling even about the recognition I received.
I went back to compare the customer’s sales figures. And I myself was not happy with the results. Most of the small and medium sized eCommerce owners make this mistake. We mostly compare the sales numbers on an absolute basis, meaning Thanksgiving 2016 and 2017. Well, if this number goes down, doomsday is near. However, if this number goes up, there’s a lot more to look at before declaring a “Happy Thanksgiving.”
The total market size in 2016 for eCommerce retail sales worldwide was $1.8 trillion. At the end of this year, the amount expected for it is $2.29 trillion. A clear 27% increase in market size. In 2016, US e-commerce retail sales over the Thanksgiving weekend were $12.3 billion. This year, we crossed a little over $14.5 billion. That’s about 18% growth.
Isn’t it obvious that their sales grew by the same amount? If it’s less, you really haven’t done it right. If it’s better, you’re in the better half of the equation.
Change is imperative!
Amazon realized that a faster delivery network through its own local warehouses would make the concept of e-commerce more acceptable. But, now that concept has taken a 360-degree turn with Amazon Go. Plus, Amazon literally built an assistant to automate shopping with Alexa.
The e-commerce platform demands a change. Most product managers find that simply changing the design of product pages instantly increases conversion. But, only for a short period. Soon the new design becomes redundant, his sales back to average numbers. Because the demands of online consumers are quite complex than those of offline consumers.
Consider the scenario of offline consumers for a mega mall. The frequent visitor expects to find the catalog of his desires in the given space. The physical limits also play a very important role when making a continuous change in the presentation of the products. The online space has no limits as such.
The buyer within the online store can find the products using the search bar or simply land on the product directly. The magic of algorithms presents a unique advantage for online stores over offline stores. But, that also presents the problem of abundance. Once the potential buyer lands on your product, what you display, how you display it, and what small changes make a big difference in conversion is a science unto itself.
Amazon or even Facebook, for example, make continuous changes to critical elements of their interface. Once just the status message box is now a Product within the Facebook space. It is a feature-rich element within Facebook. And, every week would see some innovative changes to the Facebook status update field. The continued need for A/B testing and data availability is exciting for the online space.
Data Driven Changes – Not the ones you like!
Whether you’re doing better than the average ecommerce site or not, changes driven by data, and data alone, are essential. Online tracking tools are very powerful. They can help you identify problem areas in your business with micro precision. All you need to do is find the best solution, test it, analyze the data again. And there you have it!
The total size of the eCommerce market is expanding rapidly. Recent changes suggest tight integration between offline stores and online sites. More and more web-to-print product customization shops are popping up online. To retain your customers online, you need to find a way to make them fall in love with your brand. And the only way to do that is by providing a great shopping experience.
Find out today how to improve your web store to provide a better shopping experience from your site. Understand your audiences and A/B test before launching. Use the data and make better decisions for your web store.