With a new year fast approaching, it’s only fitting that we take a look back at our most popular topics of 2022.
From fulfillment technology to entrepreneurial tips to customer relationships, there were a few overarching themes that stood out to us in the first half of Sippin’ & Shippin’s season two:
- Community building
- An omnichannel approach
- A focus on retention
Sit back and relax – we’re taking a quick dive into these themes and our most popular content for 2022 in review!
Community and authenticity
Perhaps the most essential theme of 2022 was community.
With over 2 million ecommerce businesses in the US alone, it’s no surprise that the industry is becoming extremely saturated. To make a lasting impression on consumers who are constantly presented with a huge number of online shopping options, brands are turning to an approach that focuses on community and authenticity above all.
Why? Because fostering a brand’s community acts as an extension of the brand itself, allowing existing and prospective customers to build trust through interactions via social media platforms, reviews, and more.
But, what exactly is a community in ecommerce? The good news is that it can look different for every brand and largely depends on the audience.
For example, a Gen Z focused fashion brand like opted for a strong presence on TikTok, encouraging micro-influencers to post unboxing and style reveal videos with the #Edikted hashtag. As of today, #Edikted has over 500 million (yes, million!) views on TikTok.
On the other hand, a cosmetics brand like Young Nails found that much of their audience (nail techs and nail-obsessed consumers) were spending time on YouTube and Instagram. They quickly developed a strategy for both channels, racking up more than 1 million followers who come for content like nail art, acrylics tips, building nail clientele, and more.
Community building can be tricky! It’s not as simple as pumping out a bunch of content on social media platforms and hoping that customers engage. It requires authenticity – your customers want to see content that rings true to your brand, not content that will get the most likes or views.
In the long run, authentic content attracts the ‘right’ customers. The results? More sales and more repeat purchases.
An omnichannel approach
In 2020, it seemed like everywhere we turned a new e-commerce site was popping up. Thanks to the stay-at-home orders that COVID-19 brought forth, consumers were quickly adapting to a new lifestyle of shopping right from the comfort of their own homes.
Nearly 2 years later and brands are now adjusting to a new normal where customers want the best of both worlds: online AND off.
E-commerce businesses looking to connect with a wider audience may want to consider developing an rather than an e-commerce only approach.
What is omnichannel selling? An omnichannel selling strategy involves using multiple selling channels to fulfill orders. This can include selling through social media platforms, third-party sites, boutique stores, and even shopping malls.
The goal? To meet customers where they are.
An omnichannel approach creates the most seamless customer buying journey (when it’s done right). Why? Because it gives the consumer multiple purchasing options that provide the same stellar experience.
The difficult thing about omnichannel fulfillment is that it requires top-tier like real-time inventory management, a tech-forward WMS that can integrate with shopping carts. Not only that, but omnichannel brands will also need an experienced operations team who can handle orders coming in from many channels.
For these reasons alone, many businesses who go the omnichannel route typically partner with a third-party logistics company to help ease the process.
Acquisition vs. retention
If 2022 was the year of acquiring e-commerce customers, 2023 is sure to be the year of keeping them. One of the most prevalent themes we saw in 2022 was a focus on retention rather than acquisition.
In e-commerce, it’s easy to get caught up in the number of new customers each month. It may seem like the easiest metric to track e-commerce success, right? Not quite. A brand could be acquiring hundreds of new customers each month, but if those same customers are only purchasing once and never coming back again, what are they really worth?
This is where retention marketing comes into play! focuses on enhancing the existing customer experience to encourage repeat purchasing. It can look like personalized texts with new product offerings, special discounts for repeat customers, or a full-fledged loyalty program where multiple purchases are incentivized.
Okay, but why? Why the focus on retention?
Well, not only is it five times cheaper to retain customers than it is to acquire them, but existing customers will also spend more than those first-timers. With this in mind, it only makes sense to reduce customer churn and build a loyal base of repeat customers.
Of course, acquisition marketing will always be an essential part of a successful e-commerce business. The thing is, a powerful retention marketing strategy could be what sets your brand apart from others and keeps customers coming back again and again.
Plus, it provides the smoothest possible experience for your audience. In 2023, it’ll be more important than ever before.
2022’s most popular content
Last but not least, we can’t have a 2022 in review piece without an overview of the most popular Sippin’ & Shippin’ podcast episodes and blogs. Check out this year’s top content, and we’ll catch up again in 2023!
Top Blogs of 2022
1. How to overcome holiday parcel challenges: 5 tips for success
2. The Amazonization of retail: What does this mean for merchants?
3. An e-commerce brand’s guide to SMS marketing (with examples!)
4. An ecommerce brand’s guide to shipping internationally (and 3 myths, busted)
5. The benefits of using an order management system in e-commerce
Top Podcast Episodes of 2022
Episode 15: The micro-influencer movement and how it can help your brand
Episode 25: OMS: Building the perfect order fulfillment experience
Episode 14: How to green your business one order at a time
Episode 29: Retention marketing: The key to sustainable growth
Episode 24: Fear, failure, and success: lessons learned from an entrepreneur extraordinaire
