What: A “take-out menu” presenting new shopping experiences.

Why is it important: The article gathers new and/or noteworthy tools and technics to enhance omnichannel customer engagement and experience.

Seeking uniqueness

Octane AI is a personalization tool designed for Shopify players, equipped with features such as quizzes, which can help retailers learn more about each customer. There are several other models that are emerging, including THE YES, which offers 100% personalized fashion recommendations around your favourite brands every single day. The more you engage with the suggested items by choosing "YES" or "NO," the more relevant your feed will become.

In China, Taobao (owned by Alibaba) automatically generates a continuously enhanced interface for each user: product lists, livestreams, recommendations, etc. In contrast to the traditional search-based shopping, users consume this feed even when they have no intention of buying a product, as a form of entertainment in its own right. The psychological experience of the "bottomless bowl" reportedly tricks users into consuming up to 73% more than when the products are spread over several pages.

Boosting the online customer journey

As there has been a substantial increase in the usage of mobile devices, communicating via SMS can be effective, particularly since it enjoys a 98% open rate and has a 209% higher response rate when compared to phone, email, or Facebook. However, the effectiveness of this medium performs in combination with other channels such as emailing.

Fueling content marketing strategies

One good example is the Great Jones cookware brand. The company has strategically shifted from a destination to purchase pots and pans, to a content site. Apart from its strong social media presence, the brand has launched Potline a year ago, which is a direct SMS line that is non-automated, and provides real-time recipes via text messages. Here, the approach is relational before being transactional.

Convenient Personal Shoppers

Threads also offers a fully personalized luxury shopping experience via WhatsApp. This approach is to move from conversations to conversions. To justify this claim, the brand explains that 25% of their first thousand customers placed an order within four weeks.

Another example worth mentioning is Goody, which simplifies the process of sending a gift by streamlining it to texting. The brand has managed to seamlessly execute a digital unwrapping experience that makes the gift-giving process even more memorable.

Videos on steroids 

Combine livestreaming and e-commerce and you get live-shopping, enabling real-time interactions between buyers and sellers. It comes in interactive mode, and is dynamic, hyper-scenarized, and often broadcast in prime time. Stimulated by Covid-19, the process is omnipresent in China and increasingly widespread in the West.

Shop until you Drop

Drops are essentially a successful recipe that relies on exclusive products, limited access, a short time frame, powerful collaborations and, very often, gamified experiences. Among the most emblematic examples, is NTWRK, which combines drop curation and live events. This year, the brand launched Transfer, which is a two-day virtual festival combining online commerce and entertainment.

Online together

A few Shopify apps, such as Moonship and PowerBuy have emerged, which facilitate a group purchase experience. Furthermore, e-commerce is gradually incorporating several community aspects, such C2C chats: Howtank or TokyWoky offer chats that can be integrated on an e-commerce site, which enables consumers to direct questions towards other people browsing at the same time. Video co-browsing solutions - Surfly or Acquire - are becoming increasingly useful. In fact, with Hero, it is possible to follow the online journey of the consumers in real time.

Word-of-mouth

The Ibbü site allows specialists to share their expertise - for a fee - with consumers who need advice when shopping online. Similarly, The Expert allows users to book appointments for video consultations with interior designers or architects. Curated, allows you to shop with unbiased experts and get personalized advice on products. Several studies have demonstrated that ultimately, you spend more when you shop with friends.

Retailers making a serious play for gaming

Traditionally, brands used to launch in-game campaigns or enter into exclusive partnerships with popular games. Today, there is a big market for fashion brands as consumers are increasingly looking to dress-up their avatars. For example, Marc Jacobs, Valentino or the Gucci x Northface dressline on Pokemon GO. In parallel, we are also witnessing the rise of a new generation of games that fall under the “retail-by-design” category such as Drest, where players can act as stylists and create various looks on an avatar. Based on how your peers rate your creations, your score is determined and the associated rewards can be used to purchase virtual and IRL clothes from more than 160 brands - including Prada, Stella McCartney, Valentino and Gucci – which is enabled through a partnership with Farfetch. Several other apps work on a similar principle, including Attire or Covet.

E-commerce websites as channels for brand’s games

In China, this specific phenomenon is exploding. From 2018, almost all e-commerce platforms - including Taobao, Tmall, JD and Suning - have launched their own versions of mini-games. Once consumers begin playing the game and encounter the predetermined breakpoints, they can move to the next level only by performing certain engagement-based tasks. Another effective strategy involves enticing the player with rewards, particularly discounts, which are offered to encourage purchase.

Retailtainment a deep dive into the new shopping experiences