Buy anytime, anywhere
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Buy anytime, anywhere; this is the Contextual Commerce motto. It's like there's a buy button at your service full-time. Consumers can buy as they scroll through unrelated content or are merely living their daily lives. For retailers, there are a few tactics that can help you fulfill your contextual commerce strategy.
1. Be everywhere.
You need to understand your public. Figure out ways to meet customers where they are. What do they do? What do they enjoy? Rather than attempting to draw them into existing transactional structures, you discover what your consumers like to suit their mood and place better.
2. Be smooth, don't be obvious
It's essential to be seamless. The purchasing process should be as invisible as possible. A good thing to have in mind is that the purchasing process has nothing to do with shopping.
Who never stood in an endless queue, cast the first stone. Or having a call dropped after being on hold forever? These situations are part of some traditional transaction methods. And they're full of pain. Contextual Commerce is not about the purchase; it's about the experience.
3. It is not just for tech's sake.
Technology can and will help you understand your customers' pains. But, like almost everything, you need to understand each purchase step carefully. Something that works for your friend will not necessarily work for you. There is a multitude of options quickly available for any category and transaction phase. But there is no point in hiring everything that exists, as you need to examine your business and understand your data to choose the one that best suits your reality.
4. Treat your visitor like the queen they are.
We all like to be treated well, obviously. When you have a pleasant experience with a retailer, the odds are that - when given a chance - you'll buy at that shop again are higher. That means people are more likely to be loyal customers if the experience is good. Of course, other things are evaluated when buying something, like price. But, if you only depend on price, you don't have a loyal audience.
"Contextual Commerce" is the buzzword of the moment but is not necessarily new. It doesn't fundamentally mean technology, but it is undoubtedly a powerful fuel. When you use technology, you can better understand something about your client before they do, and then you might be able to help without requesting it. We already see a lot of contextual Commerce, and the market is fast-evolving in implementing it seamlessly. We can already buy inside social media, and that's a great win for consumers.
If you are not there yet on your company, and what you are reading seems a little far away. Don't worry; changing the existing habits of the company is the starter for this kind of digital transformation. And it has to be a top-down culture change that includes the whole company.
