The eighth edition of the eCommerce Hub offered an interactive space and a rich agenda that featured alternating Advanced Workshops and theeCommerce Arena alongside the main halls. The goal? To gather current trends and solutions to be more competitive in the global eCommerce market.
If it is true that in recent years we have seen a consolidation of new spending habits and the coronavirus has continued in 2021 to determine the fate of many operators, positively or negatively, what will 2022 hold?
It will be under the banner of online sales growth-as evidenced by data shared during the eCommerce Hub-if supported by investments and strategies to ride the wave of an increasingly global and competitive market.
Among the main focuses, useful to create a fulfilling, safe and ethical shopping experience, sustainability, taken up as a warning in more and more speeches,internationalization of sales,attention to services (such as shipping), digital payments, then marketing activities, as traditional digital advertising appeals to fewer and fewer users.
eCommerce, the only sector that is always growing
Davide Casaleggio, CEO and Partner Casaleggio Associati, was tasked with telling, data in hand, the growth of eCommerce sales in Italy: 64 billion euros, an increase of 33% compared to 2020.
Trends presented at the eCommerce Hub: focusing on international presence, MarketPlace and sustainability
How will eCommerce sales be distributed in Italy in 2022?
" Leisure," Casaleggio explains, "continues to be important for online sales with 48 percent of turnover, MarketPlace is growing by 40 percent, while Tourism remains the third sector with a share of 11 percent, still far from the 26 percent of 2019.
In 2022, on average, an Italian eCommerce site, expects to grow by 34.7 percent in terms of revenue. Among the main areas we find tourism, followed by health and beauty, food, fashion and home decor, while drivers in business strategies will be directed to increase turnovers and profits, acquire new customers, build customer loyalty, invest in awareness and gain market share over competitors.
Needless to say, in the list of the top 100, among the most popular eCommerce sites in Italy, there are MarketPlaces that constantly invest in the service, such as Amazon, eBay and subito. Not surprisingly, there are several companies that take advantage of this visibility to sell their products, some presiding over two or three, some even more than five.
While only 32 percent of the companies surveyed say they are satisfied and have found the right strategy to promote their brand (down 16 percent from last year) between email marketing, ADS, social media, SEO, radio, television, and print, the main drivers of purchase remain evident: free delivery, coupons and discounts, reviews from other customers, easy returns, quick and easy checkout, next-day delivery, loyalty points, many likes and positive comments on social media, eco-friendly products or campaigns, just to name a few.
The issue of sustainability, on the other hand, still a warning to many, appears to be an imminent need: there is already a percentage of people (Source: Postnord, 2022) who would pay extra for eco-friendly shipping. First is Spain (28 percent), followed by France (27 percent), the United Kingdom (27 percent), Norway, Belgium, and then Italy, last in the ranking is Poland.
Positioning and taking a stand: environmental activism in the digital habitat
If the data present a sector, that of online sales, that is healthy and growing, on the other hand they highlight the need for an increasing percentage of consumers willing to invest a little more, as long as the purchase meets the criteria of sustainability.
"If we entrust that product to a MarketPlace that has made voracity in the market its hallmark, there is a very strong contradiction right now." The floor was turned over to Paolo Iabichino, advertising writer and Creative Director, who launched appropriate provocations with his speech.
It was he who recalled the Cluetrain Manifesto, 95 disruptive theses that in 1999 already saw the Internet iceberg coming and suggested the right market attitudes not to crash into it.
"How do we acquire," he invited reflection, "such an important distinctive point that allows those on the other side of the devices to identify us as virtuous, as socially responsible, as brands that want to change a little piece of the world?
If you are all familiar with the Cluetrain Manifesto, today I want to tell you about the Newtrain Manifesto a project inspired by the first draft that took place more than 20 years ago, which I followed with students from the Holden School in Turin.
These young people between the ages of 19 and 29 addressed those who are trying their hand at doing business, big or small, off and on the Internet, in a peremptory way:If it's true that data is the new oil, don't be the new oilers. Can you manage not to pollute the digital world as well? The bigger your data, the smaller our consent will be.
We have to move," Iabichino then concluded, "with a sensitivity that the analog market to date has not had. Trying to see if through e-commerce we can get to do some of the environmental activism that is being clamored for by the market right now and that can also impact the digital habitat in an ecological way, because we have to stop considering the Internet only as a media!"
"Shopify: welcome to Connect to Consumer (C2C)"
"One cannot overlook the economic environment in which we operate, which challenges people's spending behaviors, while the internet, with the rise of social platforms and Web3, is disrupting how people buy and sell. Even privacy is playing a key role in the online sales arena!"
Paolo Picazio, Country Manager Italy Shopify, highlighted the structural changes that are affecting online commerce.
Shopify as one of the leading "omnichannel commerce platforms, allows users to ride the wave of change, offering new opportunities, such as selling on TikTok.
The rise of online of course does not bring about the end of theevolving offline. Users want to return to the store, to touch products.
From geolocated search, to in-store experiences, if even Meta, the group that counts Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, opens its store in San Francisco something will change for other businesses as well.
Picazio then focused on Social Commerce, a trend inherited from Asia, which allows, in just a few clicks, to purchase goods and services while watching a video on YouTube or TikTok. A strategy already successfully adopted by companies such as Cliomakeup, M2C Saint Barth, Superga and Alessi.
There are also several companies moving into Web3 using blockchain and NFT, think of Decathlon, Daily Paper, Doodles, but also Gucci and the Janky Superplastic character.
"Digital sovereignty belongs to the people: the Web3 as a social movement."
In contrast, the talk by Mirko Pallera, CEO and founder of Ninja Marketing, questioned e-commerce, leaving a series of reflections. New and important themes that look at the context in which the technological revolution was born as a social movement, "because the Web3 ," Pallera clarified, " is not the Metaverse!
Can we perhaps talk about digital currencies without considering BitCoins? Of macroeconomic scenarios without making a mention of Fiat Standard? Of purchasing power without referring to inflation, of "redistribution of value" without discussing the scope of Web3?
In short, a new chapter opens, a new level of maturity in digital uses, technologies and practices, of innovative content, products or services based on open and decentralized technologies."
BigCommerce: "3 tips for turning a small business into a global business"
What will become of us? Posterity will be the judge of that; in the meantime, what has emerged loud and clear is that we are facing an increasingly international market.
"We must aim for global sales," recalled Giuseppe Giorlando Country Channel Lead BigCommerce, "because it allows us to face new business challenges, create sales opportunities, diversify and mitigate risks, and build an international reputation.
BigCommerce as an Open SaaS B2B and B2C platform is suitable for all stages of eCommerce growth, from startups to corporate entities!"
The challenges of online sales for foreign markets
The future of online selling tends toward global growth and omnichannelality, and we cannot afford to leave anything out: we need to consider the diversified habits of e-shoppers and look to MarketPlaces as the key to entry into international markets.
"In this new global market, what should we prioritize? Undoubtedly localization of product information, automation for taxes and duties, useful to save money and avoid delivery delays, payment methods and currencies, as a key conversion factor, then AI capabilities, to provide single experiences across multiple sites, and SEO to enhance regional differences."
The importance of multi-window
The multi-window offered by BigCommerce can help you have a global view even if you operate locally and all from a single dashboard, so sellers can manage multiple brands, as is the case in fashion for example, or in businesses that sell to multiple segments (including B2B hybrid brands) or in multiple countries.
So all agree in creating effortless localized experiences , reducing operating and maintenance costs, centralizing management and increasing effectiveness, a diktat for making better decisions useful for business growth."
TikTok, beyond traditional digital advertising
Digital shopping is here to stay, no doubt, butuser experience is a key factor not to be overlooked, on the other hand "people spend money when and where they feel good" said Walt Disney. Nothing could be truer!
This need is glimpsed in consumer frustration caused by pop-up ads and videos that cannot be ignored, because who likes traditional digital advertising?
This explains why TikTok is the leading entertainment App of the moment, able to condense the shopping funnel, from discovery to check out in cart, with authentic and commercial, sound on and joyful content.
What is the accelerating effect?
"Today, consumers' desire for entertainment," clarified Lorenzo Pozzi, Strategic Partnership Manager, and Francesco Balacco, Sales Manager Southern Europe, France & Benelux at TikTok, " has crept into the shopping mode.
That's why video shopping ads, catalog promotion and live shopping are welcome if placed on pages such as Per te, that offers on the Chinese social network born in 2015, hyper-relevant and personalized content.
A new opportunity for brands to be discovered by affinity-based communities, a way forward for contextual advertising, but also a solution suitable for all needs and skills, because getting started with TikTok right away is really easy!"