Changing Consumer Habits and Perceptions: In Conversation with Samuel Hess

It is true that economic downturns and inflation can impact consumer behavior, including their willingness to spend money online.

During times of financial uncertainty, consumers may become more cautious with their spending and prioritize essential purchases over non-essential ones, including those made online.

Additionally, rising prices can make consumers more price-sensitive and attentive to deals and discounts. So, what should eCommerce retailers do?

Let’s find the answer to this question in our conversation with today’s expert Samuel Hess.

So, let’s get started.

Q1: What exciting projects are you working on at present?

At present, I am working on several projects and tasks. But the most exciting one is to work on statistically determining if the contribution margin/user was increased by ab tests instead of just some super basic metrics like CR and AOV.

Q2: What do you think are the most important trends in eCommerce for 2023 to increase conversions and boost sales?

We’re currently very active in the European market – especially in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. So, of course, one of the trends is that due to the Ukraine war and the energy crisis, customers do spend less.

So it is essential to understand what influences decision-making in these times. For example, some users want better payment conditions, like buy now and pay later. So in 2023, to increase conversions and boost sales, you need to understand your customers better to convince them that they need your product.

Q3: Customer Experience is at the heart of eCommerce. What should a good eCommerce customer experience journey look like, according to you? Is it all about digital touchpoints, or do physical interactions matter as well?

It definitely is a mixture of both. But if you’re not giving users a good customer experience throughout the entire digital journey, they will not buy, and you probably will have no physical interaction.

So first and foremost, a great customer journey shows the customer exactly what he needs at a specific point during his journey. For example, let’s say you’re a fashion brand. The first touchpoint could be a great ad that showcases how good and fashionable the product or brand is. The next step on the shop could be a great listing page that shows the product in different colors and maybe even different looks.

Now you can inspire the user and show him different options that he might like. Next up, he probably will go onto a product page to see the product details. Once he knows he wants to get the product, the user probably needs to decide on the size. For example, the first step could be a great and interactive size guide with a recommendation.

And if he’s still trying to figure it out and clicking between different sizes and you notice that, you could show him a message like – we recommend the bigger size, but in case you’re not sure, you still can return it for free. So it’s all about intercepting a user’s friction points throughout his journey and then helping him make the right decision. And if you do this, users will enjoy the experience. And then, after the online experience is delivered awesomely, you need to deliver an excellent experience after the purchase.

Q4: What technologies, platforms, or channels should marketers or brands use to excel in the digital commerce world and turn their businesses into brands?

Honestly, the technologies and tools are what the name says – tools. They are there to do a specific job. Sadly, companies overinvest in tools and underinvest in people and knowledge on how to actually use the tools.

All companies should be data-driven and make data-driven or at least data-informed decisions. In the digital commerce world, we have the luxury of tracking almost everything and answering any question we have with data. So if I had to recommend a tool or concept, I probably would say companies should invest in a customer data platform that merges all data available – but also makes it possible to test every metric like returns, contribution margin, and so on.

Q5: What potential do you see for the eCommerce industry as a whole? And which industry verticals would take the biggest piece of the pie after the surge in eCommerce sales due to the pandemic?

I see a very bright future – eCommerce makes commerce more convenient – and humans like convenience. Of course, we have slower growth after the pandemic because offline retail is rebounding and will probably always have its spot.

But I think that especially verticals like groceries will surge. We want things faster all the time – going to big retail shops was made easier by amazon, and currently, many companies are starting to do great work with fast delivery of groceries. Through the pandemic, a lot of people were scared to go shopping, and companies like Gorillas or Flink had a massive influx of users that got accustomed to ordering food without going out of the house.

Q6: Any specific tips you would like to provide for brand owners, marketers, and others juggling to scale an eCommerce business?

Don’t buy shiny tools. Try to understand how customer-centric and data-driven methods work. Read all of Jeff Bezos’ letters to shareholders. Then you will realize why amazon is so successful and why experimentation is so important to be customer-centric. The biggest reason why companies fail is ego decisions and gut feelings. That’s why I have “less ego more data” tattooed on my right forearm.

Wrapping Up

So, that was all about today’s session. We thank Samuel Hess for talking to us and sharing essential insights about the industry. We hope you find this session insightful! For critical discussions and insights, subscribe to our content and stay updated with what’s new in eCommerce and Magento.