Mary Kate Mouch - Managing Principal, eCommerce Practice
Here we are, back at it after what hopefully was a week or two of relaxing down time with family and friends celebrating the holidays and reflecting back on 2022. I remember my parents always saying life goes faster and faster every year and now I see, once again, that my parents are usually right - for better or worse. We may find ourselves saying, “hard to believe it’s already 2023!” But if we look at things from an eCommerce lens, is it truly hard to believe? Or are we right where we want to be and looking full steam ahead to what can be for the next twelve months and beyond?
Three years ago, none of us knew we were swerving to the edge of the precipice that would change all of our lives in several ways. According to The Annual Retail Trade Survey, eCommerce Sales increased 43% in 2020 alone, rising to over $815 billion in the United States, directly impacted by Covid. A Mckinsey survey confirmed that within a matter of months since the pandemic began, the grocery ecommerce landscape accelerated by three to five years. Although we do not expect to see the rush to the grocery stores for the massive hoarding of toilet paper that we saw in the pandemic, there are certainly trends we expect to continue in 2023 that will ultimately continue to accelerate the digital space.
1. All About Inventory
When consumers were in stock up mode, loyalty to a particular brand went by the wayside. If the brand you loved was not in stock and your family needed an item, you would purchase what was available to limit the number of times you needed to expose yourself to others outside of your home. Knowing consumers are back in offices (whether a few days a week or full time), children are in school, and social lives have picked up, I expect the trend of products that are in stock to continue winning. Time is precious, and consumers do not have time to shop around.
2. Focus on Price
In addition, knowing inflation impacted wallets immensely in 2022, I expect price to be a driving factor as we work our way throughout the next twelve months. The World Economic Forum reported in November 2022 that spending on goods, led by food and beverage, declined for the third consecutive quarter. If you are priced even $.50 less than your competition, it can make a difference.
3. New Categories Trending Online
I personally could not have survived the heart of lockdown without my at-home workout classes and I know my husband still enjoys his home haircut kit he purchased. In addition to the fitness and self-care industries, the furniture and home decor sectors also saw massive increases of online purchases. Ultimately, consumers have become increasingly comfortable with making purchases online. Businesses opening now and in the future simply will not survive if they do not have an online presence; it is nearly a right of passage in 2023.
4. Small, Local Businesses with a Connection to Values
According to ConsumerGoods.com, 82% of shoppers want a brand’s values to align with their own. In addition, three-quarters of shoppers have said they will walk away from a brand whose values do not align with theirs. Whether through signage in store, banners on company’s websites, or messaging on social media, an increasing number of companies are making their values at the forefront of their messaging which will only increase in 2023.
5. Purchases Driven by Social Media
So many of us spend hours each week scrolling through social media accounts, not only to catch up with those close to us, but also to learn about the latest trends and brands. Companies are hoping to catch your attention on their advertisements on social media platforms, and it is working. eMarketer predicts 2023 will see an increase in social commerce purchases, up to just under 5% market share of total online retail sales. This is up nearly 1.5% from 2020.
How can your organization take advantage of these trends and ensure you are set up for success as you plan for 2023? Having your product data, whether for a few hundred SKUs or several thousand, housed in one place with the confidence that it is up to date and accurate will be critical. To learn more about several options that are available to you in the Product Information Management space, reach out to the Aleysian team. We can share more about tools that allow your company to have one source of truth for all of your product information, easily share that rich content with other systems in your tech stack, and even the option to syndicate that data to retailers around the country.
If these years truly are going to continue to move faster and faster, it is advantageous to plan ahead and ensure your company is prepared for what comes next. Product Information truly is one of your most valuable assets and PIM tools help your organization protect the details of each of those assets. That’s something even my parents could not have predicte
Want to learn more? Reach out to Aleysian directly.
Mary Kate Mouch, Managing Principal at Aleysian, has been leading the eCommerce Practice since it was founded in Summer 2021. Her team has successfully implemented 30+ PIMs is passionate about assisting clients with their eCommerce challenges, setting them up for future success. Prior to joining Aleysian, MK spent 12 years in Consumer Packaged Goods with Mondelez/Nabisco, Danone, and Kimberly-Clark in various roles of increasing responsibility in both Sales and eCommerce.