The evolution of shopping

When looking for the best way to achieve brand objectives, we shouldn’t think channel or medium first, but rather consider what will give the customer the best possible experience of this activity.

Take, for example, shopping and how it offers a different experience depending on the means used. Within an e-commerce space, shoppers can choose from a variety of products from a variety of brands and retailers all in one place. They can read reviews and research products. The shops are always open, and products are sorted and highlighted according to what they like.

Looking at this at face value, it seems that online should be your go-to means of shopping. However, people still shop in brick-and-mortar stores. Why? Simply, the online shopping experience — rather ironically — lacks connection. You are experiencing it (mostly) alone, you are not sharing the experience of buying that new outfit with a friend or having lunch in between or having a tactile experience with the products.

Focus on the shopping experience

So, which shopping experience do you choose then? Short answer: you don’t; you do both. But it doesn’t have to stop there.

The future of marketing features even more integration in the shopping arena, combining the best of different brand experiences to create new ones. So, in the example of differing shopping experiences, how could you integrate more of the real-world shopping experience online? Will friends go shopping together in the metaverse? Will artificial intelligence shop assistants be able to help you online as a real-world one would, or advise you on a style or product?

Social media has evolved over the years into a gateway for commerce with shoppable content being integrated into feeds. But what about the other way around? What about the shopping sites integrating social media? Allowing shoppers to connect with other shoppers online is the next logical step. It also opens a whole new world of purchase decision influences, influencers and potential point-of-sale communication.

Conversely, brick-and-mortar stores could learn from the online experience. Seamless integration of reviews and always-open anchor stores would bring some of the best bits of online shopping into the real-world experience. And going a step further, could store windows become shoppable interfaces?

It is already no longer enough to simply compete in commerce on brand, product or price alone. Just like “goods” or “services”, experiences are tradable commodities that have their own intrinsic value. That’s not to say that goods and services are not as important, it just means that smart brands that create innovative experiences in the purchase decision journey and, ultimately, sale will have another avenue to create value that consumers are willing to pay for.

Wherever our shopping experiences take us across all channels, one thing is clear: commerce is shifting and evolving at an exponential level. To survive, corporates need to become more agile to keep up with smaller businesses whose survival is dependent on their ability to adapt. This adaptability is the only way to keep up with the ever-changing whims of consumers, the global economic landscape and shifting social values. As marketers, we need to become a new hybrid of problem-solvers that look to unexpected places to create new experiences for our insatiable consumers.

Matthew van der Valk is the executive creative director at VMLY&R