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E-commerce brands have taken on the task of category creation by driving consumers online with mega discounts. Customer acquisition costs are ridiculously high — ranging from ₹500 to ₹1,000 per customer. But for all the customers acquired, how many are retained?
Unlike a brick-and-mortar store, where a customer comes in and has to make a physical effort to go elsewhere, online barriers are non-existent — leaving the customer free to go back and forth across sites till he/she finds the best price. Thus, unless e-commerce brands create stickiness, they will lose the customers they worked so hard to acquire so expensively.
It is not enough to create a ‘brand’ that simply unifies the look and feel of the brand. It is necessary, but not sufficient, to ensure the website, the packaging, the e-mailers, the confirmations, the invoices, all carry forward the brand’s visual language. It is only when ensuring that the design of the brand experience is also carried forward that a brand can truly create loyalists.
Total experienceE-commerce brands need to define their brand essence, personality and tone of voice.
The Beardsman, a website for men with beards, carries an attitude across its website.
The attitude is quirky and masculine, with a humorous undertone.
Everything — from the product descriptions to confirmation emails — carries the same attitude. And thus creates a comprehensive brand that builds loyalty, preference and salience.
E-commerce firms need to answer the question — why would a consumer come to their site? It is not enough to simply ‘be there’. Nor is it enough to ensure a googleadwords campaign, a remarketing strategy and a Facebook campaign.
Creating loyal online consumers is harder work than offline stores. Online customers are more fickle — as the medium allows them to move away without having to go back to the parking lot, and drive away. They can simply move away with a click. Thus, e-commerce needs much more hard work to create content and keep refreshing it at a high frequency.
Consumer engagement is the key, as it builds a strong brand language that is differentiated.
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