Page 1Reimagining CommerceEpiserver
The ultimate goal of any commerce site is to facilitate online
purchases. However, while U.S. consumer online sales will pass
$500 billion by 2020, what some brands fail to realize is that
consumers don’t always visit their site to buy. In fact, the recent
Episerver study, “Reimagining Commerce,” finds that most shoppers
gravitate to websites to do something other than make a purchase.
In today’s digital-first world that puts the web at shoppers’ fingertips,
consumers are logging in to complete tasks like browsing, product
comparison, query research and more.
Purchase may be the end goal for most online shoppers, but
a shopper’s final purchase doesn’t represent the entire journey
he or she took to get there. Like a 21st century version of the
mall, where shoppers often went to hang out first and purchase
second, consumers are visiting websites with buying as a secondary
concern. Brands overly focused on transactional affairs too
often miss out on other key engagement opportunities.
The biggest opportunity is website content. Relevant, useful
and complete content serves many important purposes beyond
transactions. To tailor websites to the needs of users, brands must
revisit their understanding of website content and what it can do
for online shoppers.
Page 2Reimagining CommerceEpiserver
Key Findings
Intents and preferences
Ninety-two percent of consumers visit a brand’s
website for the first time to do something other than
make a purchase.
Even when visiting a brand’s website or mobile app
with the intent of purchasing, a third (32 percent) of
consumers rarely or never make a purchase.
Online shoppers list desktop computer(s) as their
outright digital channel of choice, followed by
smartphone(s) and tablet(s).
Two-thirds of shoppers expect to make more online
purchases in 2017 than they did in 2016. This will be more
pronounced among shoppers who purchase every time
they visit a brand’s website or mobile app with the intent
of purchasing.
Consumer experience
Ninety-eight percent of shoppers have been dissuaded
from completing a purchase because of incomplete or
incorrect content, with a third (32 percent) of consumers
being dissuaded every time.
Over a third of shoppers (35 percent) feel brands do a
poor or very poor job of customizing the online shopping
experience, with just 7 percent believing that brands do
this very well.
Nearly two-thirds (59 percent) of shoppers are interested
in personalization as a part of their online shopping
experience, and 43 percent are open to personalized
in-store experiences.
Twenty-eight percent of shoppers chose personalized
content as one of their top three contributors to a
great digital user experience. One in 10 shoppers
ranked it No. 1.
Shoppers are more interested in brands tailoring content
for coupons based on location (44 percent) and images
(31 percent) than emerging technologies like virtual
reality (7 percent) and augmented reality (6 percent).
Twenty-one percent of shoppers are more likely to
purchase again from brands that do more to personalize
their digital experience than those that do not, and
nearly the same number are more loyal (17 percent).
Page 3Reimagining CommerceEpiserver
The big questions guiding
consumers’ online experiences
To create better digital experiences for shoppers, brands must first
understand their audiences.
What
Today’s consumers are logging on to shop for seemingly
everything. Top interests include personal entertainment,
apparel and travel.
Where
Across all products and services, online shoppers list
desktop or laptop as their preferred digital channel. However,
mobile devices overall (smartphones and tablets) are quickly
growing in popularity. A quarter of consumers use a mobile
device very often when shopping online, compared to 23
percent who use desktops.Percentage of consumers who shop online for the
following products/services
Entertainment
74%
Electronics
71%
Digital products
79%
Paying a utility bill
74%
Home/furnishings
64%
Apparel
85%
Travel
82%
Personal entertainment
85%
Device preference holds true when broken down by product/
service. The majority of shoppers are turning to desktop
for all shopping needs, but nearly half of consumers use
smartphones to shop for personal entertainment and digital
products, and over half use tablets to do the same.
How often do you shop using the following devices
Smartphone
17%
26%
Very oftenOften
Tablet
8%
13%
23%
40%
Desktop and/or laptop。