Shopify's Future of E-Commerce Report
There are 3 big trends that Shopify highlighted in their 2022 report. It’s mostly bad news, but new opportunities for merchants to adjust and evolve. Coincidentally your livestream selling can address all 3 trends.
- Rising customer acquisition costs
Paid advertising is getting very expensive. Especially with the iOS 14 release from Apple, it makes it very hard to track ad spend.
The cost per click for paid search ads increased by 15% recently. With privacy laws that limit marketers’ ability to target ads and consumers who are better at blocking ad interruptions, it’s becoming tougher to get a decent return on advertising spend
Shopify recommends investing in and creating a strong brand to make performance marketing more effective and make a foundation for sustainable growth. It also recommends diversifying your sales channels so you’re not so reliant on FB or Google ads. Livestream selling helps to both raise brand awareness and creates a new channel for you to sell. - Death of third-party cookies forces brands to rethink personalization
In addition to the privacy laws mentioned above, the death of cookies is coming and will further prevent personalization. Apple and Firefox already automatically block third-party cookies. And Google Chrome will eventually implement third-party cookie blocking in late 2023.
With automated personalization options limited from 3rd party cookie data, Shopify recommends investing in community to build customer trust and data.
“As brands look to strengthen relationships with customers, many have turned to community building. Brand communities have been rising in prominence over the last several years, and for good reason: Communities increase customer retention and brand awareness, and decrease customer support costs."
Your activity on Facebook (your private group, your live sales) is an easy way to build this community. - New commercial opportunities emerge on the biggest social platforms
Ecommerce is migrating to social media platforms, which are presenting new ways to engage customers. Video in particular is key to unlocking the power of social commerce.
Leading brands are focusing on social-first approaches like livestreams and personalized product recommendations during a Facebook live.
“Sales through social media channels around the world are expected to nearly triple by 2025.”
“Social commerce will only get bigger, with more than one-third of Facebook users planning to make a purchase directly through the platform in 2022. And video has become a clear powerhouse”
Shopify recommends merchants create live commerce experiences tailored to their audiences, whether it’s Facebook lives if your audience lives there or Tiktok videos if your shoppers are on Tiktok. They recommend choosing a livestream platform that lets customers purchase without leaving the social channel they’re already on. Fewer clicks means less friction and a greater likelihood to convert.