Brands are looking for any edge to stay competitive. We saw brand loyalty dramatically fall off early in the pandemic, when many consumers switched from their tried-and-true to other products based on availability, convenience and pricing. 

When it comes to talking about eCommerce platforms, a lot of focus is (rightly) on the front-end customer experience. Speed and performance are critical for great experiences and increased conversions.

Want to know what life was like before smartphones, high-speed internet, and Wi-Fi?

Flip phones. 56k modems. CD-ROM magazines. Waiting 12 minutes to download a song. Waiting 16 seconds for a web page to load.

Back in 2002, we sat at fat, box-like CRT monitors, in a physical office, with a desk phone plugged into a jack. We designed websites for 800 x 600 screen resolution. We developed interactive experiences with Flash for PDAs.

So much has changed in 20 years. (Bet you had to look up what a PDA is.)

Google’s Universal Analytics, the tracking and reporting lifeblood of tens of millions of websites, is making some changes. In fact, it’s being replaced. 

eCommerce is like an endless race to improve customer experience. Great online and mobile experiences stem from a vital requirement: speed and performance. While you may offer all the bells and whistles on your site, from personalization to live chat, if pages are slow to load, consumers will go elsewhere. 

What makes a customer stick around? Think about the brands you love. What do they give you that other brands don’t? You may say “price,” but that’s probably secondary to a whole host of other reasons like, “it makes me feel great,” “they get me,” or “they have great customer support.” Your favorite brands forge a connection with you that keeps you coming back.

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: we love subscriptions. They can be such a win-win for both consumers and brands. That’s why we were excited to read Recharge’s latest State of Subscription Commerce report, which reviews the health of the eCommerce subscription industry and delivers some interesting insights. 

eCommerce subscriptions continue to grow by leaps and bounds – it’s estimated that subscription sales increased by 41% in 2020 and that 2021 eCommerce subscription revenue was $10 billion higher than in 2019. 

Selling internationally can be a game-changer for your eCommerce business. About 75% of the world’s purchasing power and more than 95% of consumers are outside of the US. Global eCommerce sales are projected to grow from $4.9 trillion in 2021 to $7.4 trillion in 2025 – a 50% increase in just four years.

What does it mean to “earn” the customer? It means you have to put the work in. eCommerce brands must be strategic about delivering great customer experiences that keep customers coming back.