2019 MARKETING TRENDS

IN ECOMMERCE YOU
NEED TO KNOW
PRESENTATION The Future of Email Marketing
Artificial Intelligence
OVERVIEW Personalised Experiences
The Big Leap
POINTS OF DISCUSSION Customer-Product Interaction
Content Marketing Still Rules
Email on Autopilot
When Customers Take Action, You Take Action
Overall View
According to a report by Episerver,
87% of all customers in the
eCommerce world, compare any
products they find online with the
ones on Amazon before making a
purchase.
Likewise, in 2017, it was discovered
that the use of artificial intelligence
(A.I.) in email marketing was on the
rise.
In 2018, more than 30% of all email
service providers were using or
considering embedding the magic in
their platforms.
 Email marketing has accounted for
more than 23% of eCommerce stores’
revenue in 2019 worldwide.
This is hugely attributed to the
evolution of email marketing made
THE FUTURE OF possible through the integration of
EMAIL artificial intelligence with features such
as personalized recommendations and
MARKETING behavioural segmentation.

2019 Marketing Trends in eCommerce You Need to Know


BEYOND
MARKETING
Marketing is far greater than just
email marketing.
Topchart insists on branding. They insist on
knowing your place in the market as a bottom
line for success in eCommerce. They insist on
knowing what your brand stands for, how it
translates across channels, understanding
how, when and where your customers shop
and keeping track of the factors that lead to
conversions.
According to Hubspot, the dynamism in
marketing is ever changing. In fact, Hubspot
insists that trends, technology and tactics
used in the marketing world are never
stagnant.
Forbes on the other hand, in an article
published in 2019 notes that to successfully
interact with consumers and gain more trust,
building brand awareness is crucial.
Customers enjoy and expect a personalised
experience, so by delivering what sets you
apart from the competition, leads to more
interactions, more customers down the
purchase funnel and most probably a lot of
sales.
WHAT'S THIS HYPE ALL ABOUT?

According to Stastica, in 2018 Amazon spend over 13 billion U.S. Dollars up

from 10 billion dollars in 2017 in marketing alone. Of course, this was done
through various platforms but why would they spend so much on
marketing? Simply put, it’s hard to understate the importance of
marketing.
2019 came with great developments in marketing not only in the physical
world, but also in the online world.
Let's take a look at some of the latest and hottest marketing trends in
eCommerce that you need to apply ASAP.

2019 Marketing Trends in eCommerce You Need to Know

ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
IS HERE TO STAY
In email marketing, AI has proven to be the
ultimate magic wand for creating relevant content
to customers and driving more sales.
A Forrester Research predicted that by 2020
businesses which use AI will gain close to $1.2 trillion
per annum from those who don't.
AI's power can be largely attributed to its ability to deliver personalised content. It has been integrated
across the eCommerce world and just recently in June this year, Shopify made major improvements to
its direct-to-consumer platform for brands to include an AI Powered Shopify Fulfillment Network.
PERSONALISED EXPERIENCES

98%
Of consumers say that incomplete content has stopped
them from buying products in the past, according to a
study from Episerver earlier this year. One major
disadvantage faced by eCommerce stores is that they
lack a face to face personal interaction with customers
hence it is hard to determine what your customer
prefers, what a certain customer has been browsing for
and so forth.

2019 Marketing Trends in eCommerce You Need to Know

Things are changing for the good. THE BIG LEAP
Most eCommerce service providers are leveraging
on personalization opportunities throughout a
customer journey to mimic that need for an in-
person experience.
If, for instance, you previously bought a pair of
boots online, in your next visit you may get
recommendations on other products related to
those boots, like jackets, sweaters, or some more
boots. From a business perspective, this may
translate to more sales.
Likewise, this feature is hugely being implemented
in email marketing platforms.
Let’s say a customer in your contact list browsed through your store looking at tea-mugs but did
not purchase any, a personalized email may be sent to the customer reminding them of what
they were looking for and further down the email, provide alternative recommendations for
other similar products.
This is the same concept adopted by Google Ads. Any ads you see are always based on your
search pattern in the most recent time-frame.

Browsing Data Storage Personalised Email

2019 Marketing Trends in eCommerce You Need to Know

It is common knowledge that before buying any product, either online or in a
brick-and-mortar store, you first interact with the product. You want to see it, feel
it, hold it in your hands and if I could say “speak to it”. This is one advantage
brick-and-mortar stores used to have over online stores but not any more.
Advancement in technology has come with new ways that you can actually
visualize your products.

CUSTOMER-PRODUCT
INTERACTION
 THE BEAUTY OF
PRODUCT
VISUALIZATION
The good thing about product visualization is that
it helps the customer study the product in depth,
helping them make an informed decision.
A while back, customers would be satisfied with
high-quality product images, however, with today's
VR, AR and 3D imaging your customers get real
interactions with your product. Converse is one
such company that effectively uses this strategy.
CONTENT MARKETING
STILL RULES
Seth Godin has been on record referring content marketing as the only
marketing left simply because of its authenticity, usefulness and suitability
with the internet generation.
Content marketing is broad. Its strongest impact can be attributed to the
amount of backlinks you can receive for your brand. However, it does not
end there.
CoreDna pointed out that in 2019, content marketing will become more
important while content creation and distribution will change radically.
Further, they list 10 strategic areas taking over content marketing amongst
which is the use of influencers as an ad-hoc content team.
 The buzz around influencer marketing has been
OLD BUZZ, around for some time now, however, it has taken
a different approach in 2019.
NEW BUZZ How?
40

Instead of partnering up with influencers to have

them promote your brand on their channels, you
30
invite them to create content to be displayed on
your own channel. Kind of a reverse approach.
20

Your brand's credibility will grow in the eyes of

your followers and if the influencer shares the
10

content with their audience as well, your brand

0
2017 2018 2019 2020 becomes viral.

2019 Marketing Trends in eCommerce You Need to Know

70% Of overall sales at Revolve are driven by an influencer according to
WWD.

Revolve has built a billion

dollar brand based on
content marketing.
In 2018, Revolve disclosed that it had a team of
more than 2500 influencers and partner brands,
including high end social media celebrities.
The influencers are gifted with products and in
most cases the collaborations are paid.
The advantage is increased sales and visibility
for the brand.
Makes sense why it is one of the most valuable
clothing brands in the world.

2019 Marketing Trends in eCommerce You Need to Know

EMAIL ON AUTOPILOT?
Yeah, I know, it might sound cliché but, if you haven’t used email automation before, you have to
include it in your marketing strategy, NOW.

PERSONALISATION TIME SAVER INCREASED REVENUE

It is estimated that
personalized campaigns
account for about 75% of all
email revenue.
You can now setup email A study by the Aberdeen Group
flows once and just let found that marketing automation
them run on their own. increases conversion rates by 53%
and growth rates by 3.1% as opposed
to non-users of MA.
 70.5% 152%
HIGHER OPEN RATE HIGHER CLICK-THROUGH RATE

According to Epsilon email institution.

2019 Marketing Trends in eCommerce You Need to Know

WHEN CUSTOMERS TAKE ACTION,
YOU TAKE ACTION
The beauty of email automation is its dependence
on triggers. You don't have to determine which
emails, when and whom to send. It’s the actions
of the customer that set the trigger.
These kind of emails have a better open rate
compared to others.
More than 58% of email marketers use email
automation for upselling and crosselling.
For instance, if buy an iPad, you could use a
cover as well, right? Email is a prime channel for
sharing such recommendations, based on user
behaviour and purchase history.

2019 Marketing Trends in eCommerce You Need to Know

 BE SMART ABOUT IT
A.I Marketing it's all about content relevance,
promoting positive interactions and more
conversions. Retailers should definitely consider
using platforms based on Artificial Intelligence.
PEOPLE TRUST WHAT THEY SEE
Consumers are confident with their purchases
if they can visually interact with the product.
Integrating this in your store will guarantee it's
growth and trustfulness.
KEY TAKEAWAYS PLAY IN THE BIG LEAGUES
The power of content marketing cannot be
underestimated. To ensure more engagement,
take in consideration having more influencers
in your pocket.
UPGRADE YOUR EMAIL GAME
80% of retailers indicate that email is their greatest
driver of customer retention. Using an eCommerce-
focused ESP, capable of creating personal touches
with every customer paves your road to success.
If you’re on Shopify and are looking to boost your
email marketing performance, Relevon can help.
Request early access

2019 Marketing Trends in eCommerce You Need to Know