In about a week, the busiest time of the year for retail will begin. In order to be informed about recent changes in the industry, I recently had the opportunity to attend Shopping Guru Day presented by Google Toronto. It was an interactive day bringing together several agency representatives from Montreal, London (ON) and Toronto, where the objective was to discuss the latest shopping trends and innovations in Canada.
SHOPPING TRENDS IN CANADA
The day started with a flurry of statistics on consumer buying habits. With the arrival of Black Friday , Cyber Monday and the holiday season, it is essential to be aware of the changes in your target's buying habits that occur during this busy period.
Here are the highlights that stood out to me.
- In Canada, in 2015, only 5.9% of retail purchases were made online, which ranks us 9th in terms of the extent of purchases made on the web. According to e-marketer projections , we should reach 8.2% in 2018. Unsurprisingly, England is the country with the highest rate where 14.4% of retail purchases are made online. It is therefore essential to take omnichannel into account when measuring our media and site performance in general in order to better understand the role of the Web in the decision-making process of your customers.
- The holiday shopping season is getting longer and longer. In fact, 47% of internet users will start their holiday shopping before Cyber Monday (November 30) and 44% of internet users will take advantage of post-holiday sales . If your strategy isn't in place yet, now is the time to get started!
- The volume of smartphone searches increased by 115% between June 2014 and June 2015 . Although conversion rates are usually lower on mobile, it is important to be present on this channel, which is often the first interaction.
- In-store traffic, also known as “ foot traffic ”, decreased by 55% between 2010 and 2013. However, the value of each store visit has doubled! This means that when people come to the store, they make bigger purchases . With the era of online window shopping, we are really moving from foot traffic to finger traffic .
- In North America, 81% of Internet users will shop spontaneously on their mobile . Internet users then browse on various platforms (social networks, blogs, etc.). Being present on the Web in a fun way is a good first point of contact with the Internet user.
CONSUMER JOURNEYS AND MICRO-MOMENTS
Consumer buying behavior has changed a lot over the past 25 years. With the Web and mobile, it is important to be present at the key moments of the consumer journey ( customer journey ).
Here are the 3 micro-moments when you are most likely to have a positive impact on your potential client:
- I want to know
- I want to go
- I want to buy
Knowing that 77% of consumers do not have a particular store in mind when looking for a product , being present when the user is looking for information online and offline can have a significant impact on the consideration of your mark. It's never too late to influence the purchase, especially during the holiday season!
I WANT TO KNOW
82% of consumers use their phone to make purchasing decisions when shopping.
With the abundance of information that Google offers, Internet users learn more about products before buying them. The earlier your brand is present in their decision-making process, the greater the chance that Internet users will consider you.
If your site is not mobile responsive , don't despair! Tactics such as shopping campaigns with your product feed , location extensions on Google My Business, and more can educate people about your stores and products.
If your site is mobile, don't forget the SEM linked to high funnel search intentions and in-market targeting to encourage Internet users to visit your site!
I WANT TO GO
Search volume for “near me” queries has increased 34x since 2011 .
With Google Map and other mobile Apps, it is essential that your stores are referenced. In addition, when they go to stores, Internet users do not want to travel for nothing and want to find the right product now .
Ikea is an example of an interesting site on which Internet users can find out the quantity of products available in each of their branches.
Availability of products on the IKEA website.
One of the new features presented by Google will allow us to go further: we can now use a product feed containing the store's inventory. Just like Shopping Campaigns, it will be possible to link the feed to the Merchant Center and use it in our campaigns!
I WANT TO BUY
Combining Shopping Campaigns with traditional Search ads maximizes a brand's presence on search engines.
Just like at the grocery store, the concept of shelf space is also present on search engines, i.e. it is very important to be at the right height in order to be clearly seen by consumers. Whether on mobile or desktop , this position is essential to maximize your performance. The use of shelf space is all the more important when the environment is competitive.
Shelf Space, Google AdWords
New products such as price drop cards make it possible to present more information on price reductions, or even expandable shopping ads which offer advertisers the possibility of capitalizing on space in search engines while allowing consumers to " save” steps. It is also possible for consumers to purchase a product directly from Google after clicking on the ad.
Price Drop Card, Google AdWords
People are more and more engaged by advertisers, even if they are not shopping. It is therefore essential to be present at all times of the consumer's journey, whether it is at the time of inspiration, of going to the store and at the time of making the purchase online.
The paradigm shift from foot traffic to finger traffic is strongly linked to the daily hold of mobile as the main source of information. Indeed, it is not tomorrow the day before that we will stop wanting to try this little black dress. But that doesn't mean we won't compare models and prices before setting foot in the store!
