Learn from the best: How Amazon, Asos, Apple, Nike and other big brands deal with e-commerce?

E-commerce is not a trend anymore!

Back in the 2000s, when the website was an option to showcase the brand reputation, few people did transactions online. Customers preferred to visit the physical stores to touch, feel and try the products by hand. 20 years passed, and till now, e-commerce has bloomed.

Brands MUST do e-commerce, set up the website, and allow customers to buy online. Since 2019, COVID-19 coming with lockdown and restrictions has changed the shopping behaviors of customers in a way we have never foreseen. 9 million Australian households shopped online – that’s 82% of all households (Auspost, 2021). Whether they agree or not, in fact, businesses must boost their online presence through websites and digital stores to reach customers.

Starting an e-commerce store is absolutely not an easy task. To become the best, you have to learn from the best. These are the practices that big brands are applying to their online stores, and also explain the questions: “Why do those brands record incredible online sales?”.

Technology initiates e-commerce

E-commerce starts with “Electronic”. Literally, an e-commerce business requires technology to kickstart, which is a platform to set up a website, a system to manage the stocks and support online transactions.

Amazon- the world’s most valued brand in 2021 recognized the importance of technology in this achievement.

“We use high-performance transactions systems, complex rendering and object caching, workflow and queuing systems, business intelligence and data analytics, machine learning and pattern recognition, neural networks and probabilistic decision making, and a wide variety of other techniques.”

“Technology infuses all of our teams, all of our processes, our decision-making, and our approach to innovation in each of our businesses. It is deeply integrated into everything we do”. – By Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.

Amazon runs on AWS platforms which they own and created. It also employs Linux technology, and Netscape Secure Commerce Server using the SSL (secure socket layer) protocol (which keeps the transaction safe).

Diversify the portfolio

Originally built as a bookstore, now you can buy anything you can think of on Amazon. It’s the diversity in the product ranges that keeps the customers coming back.

In 2020, Nike sales soared up to 82%, and digital sales contributed 30% to that success despite the pandemic. The sports brand keeps the customer’s taste fresh by launching its first-ever line of maternity activewear, introducing Nike Air Zoom Tempo NEXT shoes, Air Jordan Retro High OG, and the Air Jordan 5 Retro.

Customers are easily distracted when new things appear. If an e-commerce business does not introduce new offerings, the competitors will catch those opportunities and steal the market share. Therefore, through diversification, the brand can attract customers to its website, drive traffic and increase engagement.

Customers are at the heart of every decision

Amazon takes pride in itself positioning itself as the “most customer-centric brand”. This statement is translated through the key features on the website that provide a relentlessly shopping experience.

•  Manufacturer product information

• Customer reviews to generate real experiences for users

• Recommendation to differentiate the options

• 1-Click® technology; secure payment systems; image uploads; searching on our websites as well as the Internet; browsing;
• The ability to view selected interior pages and citations, and search the entire contents of many of the books we offer with our “Look Inside the Book” and “Search Inside the Book” features.
• Our community of online customers also creates feature-rich content, including product reviews, online recommendation lists, wish lists, buying guides, and wedding and baby registries.”

Lesson to learn: Design the e-commerce store from the perspective of a customer: how easy it is to navigate your online store, and think of what hinders and encourages them from completing the orders.

Omnichannel

Apple has gone a long way to impress the customers with an integrated shopping experience. The brand always ensures that both its website and physical stores reinforce the Apple identity. Whether the customer is in the physical store or on the Apple website, they still enjoy the minimalist design and professional customer service teams who are always ready to provide support. These touchpoints are consistent with the branding elements.

Lessons for e-commerce businesses

Having an eCommerce store should not serve as a competitor to the physical store. Instead, these two online and offline channels should work together to create a unified shopping experience. It can be:

• Brand elements are reinforced through website design and service
• Prices are the same on both sales channels
• Customers receive the same support, no matter where they purchase: online or offline.

Support is always on

When connecting with the Sephora Australia e-commerce store, on the right corner of the landing page will be the chat space, where customers can ask for help at any time. In order to save the labor cost, they will filter the questions with the chatbot. Based on the keywords in the questions, the right answers will be provided. If the question is too specific, customers will be able to ask for a conversation with a staff member.

Lessons for e-commerce businesses

In the digital space where the connection between brands and customers is limited by the digital screen, the “always-on support” will strengthen the customer relationship, and also work as a cue of “consistent guarantee” when shopping online.

There are many software or plug-ins that e-commerce stores cultivate to filter the FAQ, as well as lead the customers to the most pleasurable shopping experience.

Personalisation e-commerce experience

Go the extra mile to personalize the shopping experience with Nike. Members are given access to customize some of the products in accordance with their preferences.

Lessons for e-commerce businesses

By allowing your customers a certain degree of autonomy, the brand gives customers the freedom to express their personalities through the branded products. It’s a perfect way to cement loyalty and evoke excitement from the customers.

Integrated marketing strategy

ASOS is the e-commerce retailer dominating the fashion industry worldwide. It sells more than 850 brands alongside its own line of clothing and accessories and ships to 196 countries. The magnificent success of this retail brand was contributed by the wise leverage of social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc to reach the target audiences. The marketing campaigns from ASOS also recruit social issues, such as gender equality, and Sustainability.

In order to increase brand awareness, affiliate marketing is a must-have in the strategy, where ASOS will partner with celebrities and influencers to advertise the brand. “ASOS insiders” represent the initiative that this e-commerce giant has used for years. A group of “insiders” who are “Key opinion leaders” will share their moments related to ASOS on their Instagram profiles. Each insider has a different style and niche that matches the customer’s segmentation the brand wants to reach.

Lessons for e-commerce businesses

In the age of technology, capturing the customers’ attention is the first step to boost online sales. Businesses should combine the power of other marketing platforms to advertise the website and drive traffic. Your marketing strategy should include:

• SEO optimization on websites to boost organic search. SEO strategies are the long-term investment that e-commerce businesses definitely have to pay attention to.
• Use local listings such as Google My Business. This allows you to upload the information about your business online, so when people make a search query about your business, you can appear on the first page of Google Search and Google Map. Google My Business is helpful for local businesses when people who stand in the area of your physical stores make a search query about the products you offer, your business information will appear in their search results.
• Email marketing to strengthen customer relationships, and remind the customers to complete an order, or repeat the purchase.
• Social Media platforms, such as Facebook, and Instagram reach more audiences in the digital spaces.
• Join the community and Industry-specific Forum
• Buy online ads, such as Google Ads or Facebook Ads. Although it costs you a budget for running an advertising campaign, you can get the results quickly with less effort.
• Use affiliate marketing to target the audiences with authenticity and “humanize” brand voice.

Modern problems require modern solutions. E-commerce is one of the solutions your business can ask for to boost sales and reach a wider pool of target audiences. Learning from the major players in e-commerce, such as Amazon, Sephora, Nike, etc, can save you time and money to achieve your goals.

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