Key competences for e-commerce in 2022
E-commerce market in Poland is still growing. However, it is also one of the fastest changing industries in commerce. To be successful, brands need to adapt quickly to consumer needs. What competencies will be needed in the e-commerce industry in 2022? Which marketing channels to use?
According to the Central Statistical Office, the share of online sales in retail sales in January 2022 in Poland was 11.1% – against 10.2% of. in December of the previous year. Additionally, the forecasts of PwC analysts, who estimate that the gross value of the Polish e-commerce market will reach 162 billion PLN in 2026, which means an average annual growth of 12%, remain unchanged.
– Looking at how our world is changing almost from week to week, it is difficult to give an accurate description of how e-commerce will look like in a year or two. However, it is worth citing fairly constant trends, which even in the face of events such as war outside our borders should not be maintained – comments Robert Stolarczyk, CEO of Promotraffic, one of the leading Polish digital marketing agencies for e-commerce and b2c.
What competences should e-commerce invest in, how to choose a strong digital agency partner, what strategy should be adopted for the marketplace, which advertising channels will be key in 2022? The answers can be found in the Trendbook prepared by PromoTraffic where experts from many companies operating in the e-commerce industry share their experiences and analyses.
Analyze and be flexible
The Trendbook prepared by PromoTraffic emphasized m.in. is that e-commerce companies should introduce the ability to be flexible into their portfolio of competencies as soon as possible.
– This is a word that during the pandemic was of gigantic importance for the survival of many brands. Those organizations that were able to quickly switch to online sales gained a lot or were just able to survive this difficult time. Nowadays, flexibility in teams and organizations is also of great importance, if only due to constantly changing trends and consumer behavior – emphasizes Maciej Stępień, manager for social media. Medicine’s e-commerce business, which creates unique clothing collections.
Already around 80% of Polish women and men declare that they make purchases via online stores. It’s a market that still needs to match offerings and functionality to consumer needs. That’s why another skill will be so important – fast data-driven analysis. As the experts quoted in the PromoTraffic Trendbook emphasize, this seemingly basic skill is often overlooked in the activities of e-commerce companies. As they explain, strategies are often reduced to project-to-project tasks without implementation based on numbers and analysis of what has already been successful, let alone what the problems were.
There are many channels to success
Brands operating in e-commerce will have to look particularly hard at their sales channels to see which ones to invest in the most. Mariusz Serafin, Director of Marketing and E-commerce at Lancerto, a men’s fashion store, believes that it is important to maintain liquidity in the sales channel via smartphones.
– Right now, most of the traffic is coming through mobile. We are constantly studying differences in the indicators, such as conversion rate or the average shopping cart. In the mobile channel they look different than in sales through browsers and you have to skillfully use this data – read the statement of Mariusz Serafin in Trendbook PromoTraffic.
Experts also stress that it is worth opening up to marketplaces. Large sales platforms in the world have already taken over approx. 50% of retail sales on the Internet. Especially stores, which have not yet moved to online activities, should consider whether the digitalization of activities should not be immediately followed by the presence on platforms such as Amazon or Allegro.
– However, it is worth remembering that there are no shortcuts and if we want to exist in the world of online sales, we should first ensure that our services are of a high level. What a well-run e-commerce can give, and what a big marketplace cannot give, is for example customer relationship management and increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty. Without it we cannot think about success – believes Robert Stolarczyk.
Flexibility and creativity, however, also require that we use not only different sales channels, but also adjust the forms of advertising to the opportunities offered by different tools. In the PromoTraffic Trendbook we read that it will still be worth betting on the cooperation with influencers, but brands should not limit themselves to one platform. It is worth directing your attention to those apps that are taking new users by storm, such as. TikTok. In social media an important element will also be e.g. live streaming of sales. Thanks to such broadcasts the customer will be able to learn in an accessible way what are the advantages of the promoted product, and additionally it will be supported by the opinion of an influencer.
– Do not forget about content marketing and SEO, especially in the area of product pages. We spend a lot on acquiring users and familiarizing them with the offer. Still overlooked and underinvested is the layer of maintaining attentiveness, engagement, evoking the right emotions that build purchase intent. Technical, content and UX optimization of product pages is an important area to increase e-commerce sales – says Stolarczyk.