Ecommerce provides consumers with the convenience of purchasing products 24/7. It helps to increase brand reach and offers a seamless experience for individual shoppers. Importantly, FMCG ecommerce provides a degree of independence. This allows brands to add more product lines, more payment options and experiment with innovation free from the restrictions of traditional retailer relationships.
Every year more FMCG brands embrace ecommerce. In 2018, sales through ecommerce contributed to 1.3% of global sales in this sector. A recent Nielsen study predicts that ecommerce will contribute to 11% of FMCG sales by 2030. That’s 8 times the current level. It’s therefore imperative that FMCG brands have strong ecommerce sites to cater to consumer demand that is expected over the coming years.
Although many FMCG brands sell their products in physical stores, in restaurants or through digital retailers such as Amazon and eBay, there’s great opportunity for brands to sell products through their own sites, direct to customers.
1. Collecting data for FMCG ecommerce sites
One benefit of having your own online store is the ability to collect valuable customer data that’ll help to understand their purchasing habits and form a one-to-one relationship with their customers. This can provide an FMCG brand with insights such as:
- what products are sold most frequently
- buying trends
- direct feedback from consumersBrands can use this insight to make the online shopping experience better for consumers that generate conversions, yet customers do not want to feel spooked that you know too much about their habits. Brands must be responsible and transparent with how they intend to use customer data – this helps in building customer loyalty as well as an overall better customer experience.
2. Personalisation
In the ecommerce space, Amazon are the leaders for personalising the shopping experience. It is personalised end to end, making for a seamless purchase experience every time.
Implementing marketing personalisation creates numerous benefits. It promotes customer advocacy and helps to build meaningful relationships with its existing customers and attracts new customers. At UNRVLD, we work with customers to get the most out of their investment in Sitecore platform by putting together a step by step plan for personalisation and work closely to implement it effectively.
3. Get an edge over competitors
Only 1.3% of global sales are made through ecommerce in the FMCG sector. In our 2019 FMCG Digital Census, we uncovered that only 9% of the top 100 UK brands are taking the opportunity sell directly to their consumers. This presents an early opportunity for brands to be one step ahead of their competitors and differentiate from them by selling on their own sites first. Doing so, brands take centre stage of their digital space and provide an incentive for users to visit their brand site rather than them just being static brochure-ware sites that contain information.
4. Increase repeat customers with FMCG ecommerce
If consumers are happy with a product and the service that they have had in receiving that product, they will buy again. A survey by Yotpo found that 39% of shoppers are loyal to their favourite brands if they receive great service. This is where having ecommerce functionality on your FMCG site is vital.
When a user has positive sentiments towards your brand they will visit your site to look for products. They expect to find those products and be able to purchase those products quickly and easily. This is where repeat purchases come into play – if a user consistently has a great experience with your brand, they will return to your site again and again.
84% of people trust online reviews as much as they do a personal recommendation, making repeat business and advocacy is highly valuable to brands. Additionally, increasing sales per customer and frequency is more cost effective for organisations that relying on attracting new customers.
5. Promotion free from competitor noise
Within the hustle and bustle of shopping aisles, brands are constantly fighting against their competitors for the consumer’s attention. To dominate and influence purchases in offline space is costly and can be hard to measure. FMCG ecommerce sites alleviate this challenge to be heard.
Visitors that have landed on a brand’s website have arrived there on purpose, they’re already showing a level of interest and are digitally browsing a shop that’s stocked solely with that brand’s products. An ecommerce site empowers brands to maximise engagement at early stages without any competitor noise. On their own brand platforms, they have full control to create the perfect user experience using their products, promotions and brand messaging.
6. Independence from retailers
Online shopping continues to disrupt the sector and FMCG brands that are looking to move from using retailers like Tesco to online marketplaces, like Amazon could be moving at full speed into the same restrictive type of relationship. When FMCG brands rely on a third-party to sell their products, their hands are tied. Often expensive margins are lost to retail giants and how they can market their products is dictated by the retailers.
Ecommerce sites liberate FMCG brands from some of the boundaries set by retailers. They are able to market their brand how they choose and hold onto more profit. Forbes recently reported that 19% of people prefer to buy first-time purchases directly from brands, whilst only 12% more would choose a marketplace like Amazon. For brands that are keen to grow their revenue and have more ownership of their brand, ecommerce is an attractive opportunity that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Ecommerce and your FMCG brand
The FMCG sector is a saturated market and companies need to think of ways to keep their brands front of mind and get their products in the hands of their consumers. Ecommerce is a great way to do just that. If you’d like to discuss how ecommerce would benefit your organisation, get in touch.
At UNRVLD we specialise in building great digital experiences for enterprise level organisations using the Sitecore platform. Visit out services pages to find out more about how we can help – or give us a call for a quick chat.
Sources
https://discover.dhl.com/e-commerce/e-commerce-advice/acting-big
https://www.repricerexpress.com/data-collection-for-ecommerce-dont-spook/
https://www.redcat-digital.com/ecommerce-necessity-fmcg-brands/
https://www.yotpo.com/blog/online-shoppers-brand-loyal/
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