Top Ecommerce Trends to inform your 2017 marketing strategy
These massive trends will change Ecommerce marketing this year
We are now well into 2017. If you are to develop a winning ecommerce marketing strategy you'll need to start planning now. Ecommerce continues to grow rapidly, but with the huge market acting as a magnet to brands large and small, competition will ramp up faster than the total growth of the market. This means customers will be harder to win, easier to lose and fussier on price and user experience.
如果你想研究一套成功的網(wǎng)購營銷策略，2017年開初你就該開始計(jì)劃了。雖然網(wǎng)購持續(xù)快速增長，但是伴隨的市場(chǎng)也像磁鐵一般吸引著大大小小的品牌涌入，隨之而來的競爭也就越來越激烈。這也意味著消費(fèi)者越來越難迎合，更容易失去，對(duì)價(jià)格和使用體驗(yàn)更加挑剔。
To avoid falling behind the ever more fierce competition, you will need to both be aware of and benefit from the latest trends in ecommerce. These megatrends are global, have huge implications, and are not going to go away anytime soon. Ecommerce marketers will have to integrate them into their planning to be successful?in 2017. And if any of you think you can get away without creating a detailed plan -?remember that 77% of marketing professionals think a planned approach focusing on analytics and continues optimisation is the most effect way of managing digital marketing, whilst only 14% thought a relatively unplanned, reactive approach was best.
【這段好廢不翻譯了】
So make sure to consider these enormously important trends when creating your marketing strategy for 2017.
Trend 1. eCommerce Growth Shifts to Asia 趨勢(shì)1網(wǎng)購增長向亞洲偏移
In the early days of eCommerce it was the US that was the major driver of eCommerce growth. eCommerce has since become a global phenomenon,?but the US has still been the most important market and key to driving growth. The chart below shows how consistent annual growth rates of around 10% have driven an explosion in US eCommerce sales over the past fifteen years.
開初的時(shí)候，美國市場(chǎng)是網(wǎng)購增長的主要市場(chǎng)，雖然現(xiàn)在網(wǎng)購已經(jīng)成為了全球的趨勢(shì)，但是美國依然是增長的主要市場(chǎng)和關(guān)鍵。下圖就是美國在過去的15年里持續(xù)的網(wǎng)購增長，并且保持將近有10%的增長。
Although growth rates still remain strong, the US market isn't all that far off saturation point, so we can expect sales starting to plateau or the growth rates to at least slow slightly. This contrasts with Asian markets, especially China, where eCommerce sales are expected to continue their huge growth. The chart below showing the predictions of eCommerce sales growth shows China driving the overall growth, accounting for a huge chunk of global eCommerce sales. China's growth is so rapid that total eCommerce sales there are expected to double between now and 2019, adding $1 trillion dollars worth of additional sales in just three years!
盡管增長非常強(qiáng)勁，但是美國市場(chǎng)似乎也將近接近平靜，在之后的幾年，預(yù)估增長的曲線將會(huì)比較平緩或者將會(huì)放緩。與美國相反的則是中國，在預(yù)期中依然會(huì)保持較快的增長。下圖是中國整體的網(wǎng)購增長。中國的增長如此迅速帶動(dòng)了整體網(wǎng)購的增長，并且在現(xiàn)在到2019年，預(yù)估增長將會(huì)范圍，三年里將會(huì)增加額外的銷售額達(dá)到1萬億。
Key Takeaway:
The huge shift in eCommerce growth towards Asia has massive?ramifications for eCommerce brands. To take advantage of the trends they'll need to go international with their eCommerce- something easier said than done. The beauty of eCommerce is you don't necessarily need any physical infrastructure to start selling to a new country. With shipping rates cheap, international delivery becoming common and websites making borders increasingly irrelevant, it's not as hard as it once was to break into new countries and markets. However, that should not invite complacency. Well translated websites, strategies in tune with local expectations and the use of no VAT charges to subsidise delivery costs are all of critical importance.
網(wǎng)購增長轉(zhuǎn)移到亞洲的趨勢(shì)同時(shí)帶來了網(wǎng)購品牌的多樣性。要想抓住網(wǎng)購增長的趨勢(shì)，向全球化發(fā)展，首先就得有相應(yīng)的網(wǎng)購平臺(tái)，或者是展示網(wǎng)站。網(wǎng)購的魅力就是你不需要任何實(shí)際的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施來實(shí)現(xiàn)在另外一個(gè)國家進(jìn)行銷售。特別是現(xiàn)在的運(yùn)費(fèi)越來越便宜，國際航運(yùn)便利，網(wǎng)站讓一些的界限變得越來越模糊，在過去，打破新國家和市場(chǎng)的隔閡是非常不容易的。盡管如此，卻依然不能有任何的懈怠，翻譯好的網(wǎng)站，符合本地需求的經(jīng)營策略，免運(yùn)費(fèi)等成本都是非常重要的環(huán)節(jié)。
Trend 2. Mobile users continue to increase- but still aren't converting. Or are they? 趨勢(shì)2. 無線端用戶不斷增長但是卻轉(zhuǎn)化不高，是這樣嗎？
You don't need me to tell you about the shift to mobile over the past five years. Mobile devices now make up over half of all web traffic and continue to grow in importance. This won't come as a surprise to anyone marketer that hasn't been in a coma since 2010.
用戶往無線端轉(zhuǎn)移在過去五年尤其明顯，這是不言而喻的。無線端現(xiàn)在的流量已經(jīng)超過網(wǎng)頁端流量的一半，并且還在不斷持續(xù)增長。
But it may surprise you that a very big chunk of customers still aren't happy with purchasing on a mobile device. Over half prefer purchasing on a PC, and many have privacy and security worries.
在2010年無線端流量增長并不是什么新鮮事，但是他們不喜歡用手機(jī)購物，這點(diǎn)可能你會(huì)感到驚訝。消費(fèi)者因?yàn)閾?dān)心隱私和信息安全問題依然有過半人選擇用PC端購物。
New researchfrom the 2nd half of 2016 confirms this picture. 80 million website sessions and data related to €230 million worth of online revenue were analysed by Wolfgang digital. They found that although mobile (phone and tablet) accounted for 59% of all sessions by device on eCommerce sites, these mobile browsers made up just 38% of revenue. Desktop was still dominating for conversion even though mobile browsing is the norm for research. The distinction was even bigger when it comes to high-cost purchases such as holidays. For online travel businesses, ?desktop made up just 41% of web traffic, but dominated sales, accounting for 67% of revenue.
下圖是2016年第二季度的新研究調(diào)查數(shù)據(jù)。依據(jù)Wolfgang 數(shù)據(jù)的統(tǒng)計(jì)，8千萬的網(wǎng)站數(shù)據(jù)匯聚了將近2千3百萬的網(wǎng)站收入。盡管他們也發(fā)現(xiàn)網(wǎng)購網(wǎng)站流量占據(jù)全網(wǎng)的59%，營收卻只是占到38%。臺(tái)式電腦依然占據(jù)著轉(zhuǎn)化的主導(dǎo)地位，雖然手機(jī)端瀏覽已經(jīng)常態(tài)化。節(jié)假日的時(shí)候，通過臺(tái)式電腦進(jìn)行高單價(jià)商品的購物的偏好更為明顯。
So what should eCommerce marketers make of the failure of mobile browser to convert? Simple: It's the omnichannel stupid. Mobile users are on the site to consider purchasing and make up their minds as to what products they want. As a result they are extremely important and should never be ignored. The fact they then go to desktop to make the purchase does not mean you can neglect the mobile experience. Although Smartphones have the lowest conversion rate of any device, Wolfgang's correlation study found strong correlations between high percentages of mobile traffic and high overall website conversion rates. This seems like a contradiction in terms, but it is not. It's caused by people researching on Smartphones, making the key decisions related to the purchase, and then actually buying on a desktop later.
究竟是什么原因?qū)е戮W(wǎng)購營銷者無法成功讓消費(fèi)者在無線端轉(zhuǎn)化？很簡單，多種渠道。無線端用戶在手機(jī)上考慮需要買什么。這個(gè)過程是非常重要并且不應(yīng)該被忽略的。事實(shí)上最后他們回到網(wǎng)頁版購物，但是你也不能忽略他們之前的瀏覽行為。特別是在那么多種設(shè)備上，智能手機(jī)的轉(zhuǎn)化率是最低的。Wolfgang的研究表明大比率的無線端流量跟高轉(zhuǎn)化的Web版轉(zhuǎn)化率是有聯(lián)系的。在一定程度上，這個(gè)聯(lián)系是反方向的，因?yàn)槿藗円话阌弥悄苁謾C(jī)瀏覽做購買決策，最后卻回到臺(tái)式電腦進(jìn)行購物。
Key Takeaways:
Marketers need to stop thinking of 'mobile users' and 'desktop users' as different people. Because they're not. Theaverage household has 7.4 internet connected devices. A 'mobile user' one minute is a 'desktop user' the next. The distinction is entirely artificial. ?A focus on brilliant mobile UX may help a few more mobile customers to convert without switching to desktop, but for higher value items the focus should be providing a seamless experience across devices so users can browse on mobile and convert on desktop.
營銷者不能將手機(jī)端用戶和網(wǎng)頁版用戶看作為不同的群體。事實(shí)上他們是一樣的。每個(gè)家庭平均都有7.4臺(tái)設(shè)備鏈接到無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)。這一秒他可能是手機(jī)用戶，下一秒可能就是臺(tái)式電腦用戶。僅僅是通過使用設(shè)備來界定用戶性質(zhì)是非常武斷的。關(guān)注手機(jī)端的UX設(shè)計(jì)或許能讓手機(jī)用戶轉(zhuǎn)化時(shí)直接通過手機(jī)而不是電腦，但是對(duì)于高單價(jià)的商品而言，還是應(yīng)該關(guān)注如何提供無縫連接，讓手機(jī)端的瀏覽順利過渡到臺(tái)式電腦的轉(zhuǎn)化。
Trend 3. eCommerce competition heats up 趨勢(shì)3 網(wǎng)購平臺(tái)競爭越趨激烈
2017 will be the year eCommerce competition gets racked up by another notch. New start-ups are entering the market and big established bricks and mortar brands are increasingly pushing to achieve significant chunks of the eCommerce market as consumers increasingly move online. As competition builds, we're witnessing an explosion in mar-tech tools designed to help eCommerce marketers, as Scott Brinker's 2016 Martech graphic clearly shows.
2017年將會(huì)是網(wǎng)購平臺(tái)競爭達(dá)到一個(gè)新的程度。許多創(chuàng)業(yè)網(wǎng)購平臺(tái)進(jìn)軍市場(chǎng)，同時(shí)有背景實(shí)力宏厚的實(shí)體店也開始進(jìn)軍網(wǎng)購領(lǐng)域，隨著越來越多消費(fèi)者轉(zhuǎn)移到網(wǎng)購上。隨著網(wǎng)購平臺(tái)的競爭爆發(fā)，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)相應(yīng)的應(yīng)用軟件，檢測(cè)工具也就越來越多，看下圖就知道。
Whilst more tools are often helpful, growing competition will become a real headache for eCommerce marketers in 2017. AsMark Schaeferhas pointed out, content shock presents a real problem for anyone using content marketing, which includes a huge number of eCommerce companies.Whilst more tools are often helpful, growing competition will become a real headache for eCommerce marketers in 2017. AsMark Schaeferhas pointed out, content shock presents a real problem for anyone using content marketing, which includes a huge number of eCommerce companies.
Key takeaways:
Most of the trends presented in this article are great news for eCommerce marketers, but growing competition and content shock is the exception. Competition for eyeballs will increasingly heat up, to the point where making a similar effort to 2016 will deliver far less gains in 2017. Good eCommerce marketers will need to produce exceptional content to manage to stand out in 2017. If they cannot do this, then focusing on tactics other than content marketing may be the best bet.
Trend 4. Subscription-based business models are the future
SaaS businesses have pioneered the subscription-based business model for software and show how effective it can be for both businesses and consumers. The flexibility it affords consumers and the recurring revenue it allows businesses is a massive win-win for both parties. That's what has driven it's massive growth over the past ten years, which is predicted to continue at a healthy rate as we head towards 2020.
It's not just Software as a Service revenue that has exploded over recent years. Platform as a service is now one of the hottest trends in business. Just look at the incredible success of Platform as a Service businesses like Uber, Spotify and AirBnB.
近幾年，通過提供服務(wù)建立起來的平臺(tái)也是熾手可熱的生意，看那些因?yàn)榉?wù)興起的平臺(tái)，例如優(yōu)步，Spotify和AirBnB，就是最好的例子。
深綠色：初始訂閱數(shù) 淺綠色：月活躍用戶數(shù)
But subscription-based business models don't have to be limited to software. Recent years have seen the creation of many incredibly successful eCommerce businesses providing a physical product on a subscription basis rather than for a single fee for purchase. Founded just five years ago in 2011, the dollar shave club, a prime example of a subscription-based eCommerce site, is now worth an incredible $615 Million dollars! That's right. From nothing to $615 million dollars in five years. Just selling razors.
訂閱性經(jīng)濟(jì)模式并不僅限于應(yīng)用在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)領(lǐng)域。近幾年也有網(wǎng)購平臺(tái)將這個(gè)模式成功運(yùn)用在實(shí)際商品的訂閱下，而不僅僅是單次的購買完成。成立于2011年的，一元剃刀俱樂部，僅僅用了五年就成功成為行業(yè)領(lǐng)先的榜樣，作為訂閱模式的網(wǎng)購平臺(tái)，目前市值達(dá)615萬美金，沒做，僅僅是五年就完成了從0到615萬美金，只是賣剃刀。
All kinds of industries are ripe for disruption by successful subscription based eCommerce sites. And looking at economy-wide trends, it's clear this trend is set to continue.
Millenials are increasingly keen to spread costs via subscriptions rather than make single big ticket purchase. Those in their twenties today have average incomes higher than those in their twenties did two decades ago, and havedisposable incomes a third higherthan the same age cohort did twenty years ago. But their wealth (the sum of their assets) is far lower than that of other demographics, and lower than their parent's wealth when they were in their twenties. Those between 20 and thirty are far less likely to own their own home or a car when compared to previous generations.
千禧年成長的一代更愿意花錢在訂閱模式下的經(jīng)濟(jì)體，對(duì)比起單次高單價(jià)的模式。同樣是20多歲，今天的這一代，比過去20年的那一帶人，擁有更多的可支配金錢。但是他們的財(cái)務(wù)總量是相對(duì)來說比較大幅度減少的，跟他們父母20多歲的時(shí)候比起來。20到30歲的這群人，比起之前的人而言，更少會(huì)擁有自己的房子和車子。
Key takeaway:
If possible, consider selling your products via a subscription model. Anything that is used consumed regularly could successfully be sold via a subscription model, and in many cases already is. Examples include Beer, 'Meatpacks', 'Vegpacks', Meal kits, beauty products and snack boxes.
如果可以，通過訂閱體系來對(duì)商品進(jìn)行銷售。所有日常規(guī)律消耗的東西都是可以成功通過訂閱模式進(jìn)行售賣。例如啤酒一般都跟肉類制品，蔬菜制品，肉類套餐，零食禮盒打包銷售。
The high disposable incomes of today's millennials means plenty of cash for subscriptions, but their low wealth means there is never much in the bank for big one-off purchases. There really has never been a better time to sell your product via a subscription model.
千禧年一代的可運(yùn)用現(xiàn)金增加意味著大量現(xiàn)錢會(huì)涌入訂閱式銷售，但是財(cái)富總量的減少也意味著他們銀行里的錢相對(duì)較少，高單價(jià)的商品購買也較少。
Trend 5. The Growth of Artifical Intelligence for Smart Prediction 趨勢(shì)5 人工智能在智能手機(jī)上預(yù)測(cè)快速成熟
This trend is much trickier to predict because it is genuinely new, rather than a continuation of trends which have been building for several years.
The increasing data available to marketers has massively increased their ability to target customers over the past few years, but increased ability doesn't instantly translate into increased effectiveness. Sometimes marketers can get too caught up in marketing speak and buzzwords and patting each other on the back, and fail to see what the consumer actually sees. What all this 'big data' and 'hyper-targeting' usually adds up to when I think about what I actually experience as a customer (rather than as a marketer) is getting served ads for products I've already bought. Generally, if I buy something online I'll get served re-marketing ads advertising the damn thing for a good few weeks afterwards. Cracking targeting - they got me stop on, I really did want that book of Nigella Lawson recipes. Thing is, I actually bought the thing, so it's actually the worst targeting in the world - I've never been less likely to buy it!
預(yù)測(cè)數(shù)據(jù)一般都是根據(jù)過往記錄進(jìn)行的，但是現(xiàn)在人工智能所能做到的預(yù)測(cè)就不一樣，不一定是對(duì)過去的數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行延續(xù)的判斷，有可能是全新的成果。
現(xiàn)在的營銷人員獲取的數(shù)據(jù)越來越豐富，但是這并沒有提高他們利用數(shù)據(jù)的效率。往往，他們都只是過度營銷，大量的廣告詞反復(fù)出現(xiàn)，卻忽略消費(fèi)者真正看到的是什么。大數(shù)據(jù)和給消費(fèi)者貼標(biāo)簽，只是讓消費(fèi)者反復(fù)看到自己已經(jīng)買了的東西。從一個(gè)消費(fèi)者的角度而言，買過的東西重復(fù)看到廣告，這個(gè)是很不好的體驗(yàn)，會(huì)讓人有再也不想買這樣?xùn)|西的感覺。這是最錯(cuò)誤的貼標(biāo)簽做法。
So this targeting is precise and informed by data. But it's still stupid. What it needs to be is smart. That's the missing piece of the puzzle. That's where Artifical Intelligence comes in.
雖然目前的人群定位非常準(zhǔn)全信息全面，但是卻依然是不靈活的。需要更加聰明的來使用這些數(shù)據(jù)。就像是拼拼圖過程不斷尋找差著的那一片。這也是人工智能需要發(fā)展的方向。
Funding for artificial intelligence start-ups has increased massively in the past three years. Data for Q1 2016 also shows the number of deals hit a quarterly record, and looks set for a considerable increase on the 2016 figure.
【下面簡單帶過】
My bet is the venture capitalists are onto something, and 2017 will be the year where AI tech really comes into its own. By combining genuine intelligence with the piles of data now available thanks to analytics and tracking software, ad targeting will be able to get a whole lot smarter. Moving beyond a simple 'customers that bought X also bought.. A B C' to a system which learns what makes each individual marketed to tick, and tailor messaging to exactly match what works on them.
2017年AI技術(shù)將會(huì)得到大力的發(fā)展。得益于對(duì)數(shù)據(jù)的追蹤和分析的軟件系統(tǒng)，結(jié)合人工智能，人群定義標(biāo)簽將會(huì)做得更加聰明。
Marketers, especially those in larger organisations, should be looking at how AI tech can help with their ad targeting and personalisation strategy. With IBM letting companies utilise it's famous Jeopardy-winning Watson AI system, and many other providers entering the market, 2017 will be the year digital ad-targeting gets smart.
Trend 6. Chatbots 趨勢(shì)6 聊天機(jī)器人
Chatbots are in many ways the most important breakthrough marketing technology of 2016- and are set to really come into their own next year. That’s not to say their necessarily the most important marketing tech trend of all, but many of the important trends like big data, VR, AI and the internet of things have been know of for a few years now. Chatbots have been around since before 2016 as well, but it’s only this year that they’ve exploded in popularity and come to the attention of marketers.
在2016年聊天機(jī)器人取得了很大的突破，并且在未來一年也會(huì)有更多獨(dú)立的發(fā)展。并不是說，這是營銷科技中最重要的一個(gè)，如其他趨勢(shì)，大數(shù)據(jù)，VR，AI等，但是聊天機(jī)器人也越來越重要并且獲得市場(chǎng)的重視。
The below chart from Google Trends shows the explosion in search interest in ‘chatbots’ in April of this year, and a general trend towards their greater interest over the course of 2016.
關(guān)于聊天機(jī)器人的搜索熱度
The strict definition of at bot is any software that automates repetitive tasks over the internet, but that is so broad it includes all kinds of applications that won't concern marketers. The original bots were not tools for marketers, but rather things that got on their nerves. Think spamming Twitter accounts not run by humans, or bots browsing pages to inflate page views or ad impressions and thus scam advertisers.
The good news is the new wave of bots are built to help marketers, not annoy or mislead them. Bots can act like a human helper, but without the cost of hiring the human. ?This opens up a whole load of opportunities. For example, a bot on a travel site could ask you about your preferences, provide you with some personalised hotel options, compare prices and then book the one you liked best for you.
Don’t invest in building Chatbots just because they are the latest marketing gimmick. Put yourself in the shoes of the customer and conduct market research to establish what pain points customers have in terms of customer service or friction along the user journey. If a Chatbot could be helpful in alleviating some of that friction, then you know it is worth investing in.
Chatbots are currently an emerging technology and as such many can only perform a few rudimentary tasks. But their capability is growing quickly. In September 2016 Facebook added in-app purchase functionality to its messenger platform to allow bots to complete purchases for users entirely within the platform. Soon this kind of functionality will become the norm rather than new and experimental. eCommerce businesses will have to get used to utilising chatbots to smooth customer journeys, or else see their customers move elsewhere.
自動(dòng)回復(fù)，相當(dāng)于聊天機(jī)器人，通過特定算法設(shè)置的，能有效緩解客服的壓力，對(duì)網(wǎng)購平臺(tái)有非常大的幫助。
Trend 7. Shoppable Personalised Video 趨勢(shì)7 個(gè)性化購物定制視頻
Shoppable video isn't brand new. It was launched by YouTube in late 2015 and has been gathering momentum throughout 2016. However, in its current form it isn't actually all that impressive (Sorry YouTube, but it just isn't). Simple little cards that pop up to let you buy items in a video isn't exactly mind blowing tech. Video creators have been able to overlay links on videos for years. However, my bold prediction if 2017 is that this is going to change. Either YouTube or another provider will merge the technology that can create programmatically generated personalised video, and the tech needed for shoppable video. We've seen an explosion in the use of programmatically served video in the past few years, and by combining this trend with new tech like shoppable video and personalised video, we will see a massive change in how eCommerce marketers sell via video.
購物視頻并不是全新的。在2015年末，就已經(jīng)在油管上進(jìn)行發(fā)布，并且在2016年達(dá)到一定用戶的積累。但是，并沒有造成很大的轟動(dòng)。視頻中彈出的卡片讓你能購買相應(yīng)展示得商品，這并不是特別吸引人的技術(shù)。過去的一年里，視頻開發(fā)者都可以直接在視頻中附帶點(diǎn)擊鏈接。盡管如此我還是大膽的預(yù)測(cè)，在2017年，將會(huì)有很大的變化，
This merged offering will be far superior in terms of its usefulness to eCommerce marketers. By programmatically placing products in a video based on known customer preferences, and then making it shoppable, eCommerce advertisers will be able use it to convert customers like never before. I don't have a graph to back up this trend because it doesn't exist yet- but it's such an obvious next step in where video technology is going is only a matter of time before it is realised. And once it is, it'll be the hot new eCommerce ad format- don't say I didn't warn you!
Conclusion
eCommerce is a rapidly growing field which has to respond quickly to the latest trends. The low barriers to entry and the fact consumers can switch providers effortlessly means those that fall behind when it comes to customer experience and pricing strategy quickly loose out. Those in charge of developing eCommerce marketing strategy in 2017 should thus pay close attention to these 7 major trends.
