The 2020 pandemic brought a lot of bad news thanks to the impact of a novel virus on society. However, not everything generated out of that year was a bad thing. In fact, 2020 was probably one of the most creative when it came to applying technology to everyday life. And one of the most common everyday activities involved buying goods and services.
Pandemic-Fueled Buying Innovation
Just about every retailer that mattered realized during the pandemic that it had better get its act together with regards to ecommerce or it was going to be in serious trouble. Given the strict social distance rules that were being applied across the country, the only businesses that were going to continue to see any income were those that catered to what people needed: online access, online payment capability, and online delivery convenience. If those three elements could be mastered successfully in a way that is almost as convenient as people doing the shopping in person, then those businesses would reap the rewards. No surprise, the market players that put an emphasis on making ecommerce easy saw a huge increase in revenues. Those that didn’t were literally left with empty stores and restaurants.
People Share Easy Solutions
The additional aspect that became very apparent during the pandemic was how exponentially people shared experiences where their buying was enjoyable. That, in turn, created additional sales and additional revenue for the companies that offered the convenience people wanted to brag about with their friends or audiences. Again, a key factor in this social behavior trend involved payment platforms that were intuitive, easy to work with, and quick.
One of the most notable payment platform tools involved was Rokt. With its ecommerce technology, it achieved:
- A 200% increase for LuckyVitamin in the ancillary revenue category.
- A 218% increase in application installations for a travel company pushing its tool for adoption.
- 285,000 new subscribers achieved with a fashion retailer looking to broaden its base and market reach online.
One of the key advantages of Rokt involves the use of artificial intelligence matched to proactive marketing and selling online. As a customer completes a sale or action online, the tool anticipates and curates relevant add-on products or services and promotes a particular opportunity for that customer at that moment. Since the most active sales happen in the first few moments of exposure, the AI catches what is likely the commonality between what the customer just bought or has in their profile versus what product or service is being offered. Because there is a latent familiarity with products and services that are local, responsive, or related to the customer somehow (geography, timing, activity, interest etc.) there is a higher probability the customer will then react to an additional sale, increasing revenue per transaction.
Grease the Skids
Rokt’s strategy involves the reduction of mental friction. Consumers are highly sensitive to their experience when shopping. If they feel they are being stalled, treated badly, or cheated, they walk. The number of customers that make it all the way to checking out in a payment system and then abandoning their online cart is huge. The trick is to convince the same customers to cross the finish line and then feel motivated to go even farther. Rokt does that by reducing the noise and negative experience in the first part, getting to the sale transaction, and enhancing the experience in the second part, convincing people to engage is a secondary sale or more. It’s a bit like being automatically given the fast lane in a grocery store checkout while seeing everyone else in a 20-person deep line. You automatically feel special.
Rokt’s focus on enhancing customer experience is not rocket science, but because the company has spent such a great deal of effort making it work well, the results speak for themselves.
