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The retail e-commerce sector is expected to reach R56,84bn this year, according to Euromonitor International. Brands and businesses wanting to capture a share of this market during the Black Friday season need to focus on reimagining the commerce experience, says Scott Thwaites, head of emerging markets for TikTok Global Business Solutions.
One of the most significant changes in the past two years, he says, has been experience. “There is no commerce without experience because, in essence, commerce is an exchange. It is the experience of that exchange that has fundamentally changed throughout the years.”
Thwaites says a new era of marketing has begun, with a paradigm shift that has changed the way brands and consumers connect.
“The days of brands interrupting a user’s content experience with irrelevant messaging are almost behind us; consumers now need an exchange that is interactional and collaborative. The experience is being reimagined, evolving from buying and selling goods to an exchange of knowledge, advice and support.”
This, he says, encourages collaboration among communities for more authentic shopping experiences, resulting in higher rates of customer delight, which encourages users to share their discoveries via word of mouth.
He says that in a cookie-less, Web 3.0 trust-deficit world, commerce needs to focus on bridging the gap of trust and connection, using its core building blocks: interactions.
Pointing out that there have never been as many opportunities in the commerce space as there are today, he adds that there has also never been as much competition.
“Navigating this ultracompetitive and almost saturated environment requires a profound understanding of the wants and needs of shoppers and the opportunities that will shape the future of commerce,” says Thwaites.
Businesses today, he says, have the opportunity to reinvigorate their customers’ digital shopping journey by bringing back the intimate and shared experience of commerce.
It’s not only retailers that are getting in on the Black Friday action, so too are service-based organisations.
Brand-focused digital agency ByDesign says service-based businesses are trying to make their products more digitally tangible and offering them online as a package. Calls to action are less fluffy and are adapting from “learn more” or “find out more” to a sharper “apply now”, “register” or “get deal”. It says service-based organisations are starting to dangle more carrots in front of digital customers by offering free extras, which include free consultations and extra programmes or courses, in addition to the packaged services.
Service-based organisations are not shying away from social media, with services offered in more visually captivating ways. Discount prices are being displayed, to book within limited time periods, for example, while technology such as AI and drone video footage is creating realistic expectations between consumers and businesses about service offerings by showcasing services for the near future.
The big take-out:
There have never been as many opportunities in the commerce space as there are today, but there has also never been as much competition.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
E-commerce gears up for Black Friday
The retail e-commerce sector is expected to reach R56,84bn this year, according to Euromonitor International. Brands and businesses wanting to capture a share of this market during the Black Friday season need to focus on reimagining the commerce experience, says Scott Thwaites, head of emerging markets for TikTok Global Business Solutions.
One of the most significant changes in the past two years, he says, has been experience. “There is no commerce without experience because, in essence, commerce is an exchange. It is the experience of that exchange that has fundamentally changed throughout the years.”
Thwaites says a new era of marketing has begun, with a paradigm shift that has changed the way brands and consumers connect.
“The days of brands interrupting a user’s content experience with irrelevant messaging are almost behind us; consumers now need an exchange that is interactional and collaborative. The experience is being reimagined, evolving from buying and selling goods to an exchange of knowledge, advice and support.”
This, he says, encourages collaboration among communities for more authentic shopping experiences, resulting in higher rates of customer delight, which encourages users to share their discoveries via word of mouth.
He says that in a cookie-less, Web 3.0 trust-deficit world, commerce needs to focus on bridging the gap of trust and connection, using its core building blocks: interactions.
Pointing out that there have never been as many opportunities in the commerce space as there are today, he adds that there has also never been as much competition.
“Navigating this ultracompetitive and almost saturated environment requires a profound understanding of the wants and needs of shoppers and the opportunities that will shape the future of commerce,” says Thwaites.
Businesses today, he says, have the opportunity to reinvigorate their customers’ digital shopping journey by bringing back the intimate and shared experience of commerce.
It’s not only retailers that are getting in on the Black Friday action, so too are service-based organisations.
Brand-focused digital agency ByDesign says service-based businesses are trying to make their products more digitally tangible and offering them online as a package. Calls to action are less fluffy and are adapting from “learn more” or “find out more” to a sharper “apply now”, “register” or “get deal”. It says service-based organisations are starting to dangle more carrots in front of digital customers by offering free extras, which include free consultations and extra programmes or courses, in addition to the packaged services.
Service-based organisations are not shying away from social media, with services offered in more visually captivating ways. Discount prices are being displayed, to book within limited time periods, for example, while technology such as AI and drone video footage is creating realistic expectations between consumers and businesses about service offerings by showcasing services for the near future.
The big take-out:
There have never been as many opportunities in the commerce space as there are today, but there has also never been as much competition.
Plan for a very different Black Friday this year
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Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.