The most pivotal event this year — the pandemic —  spawned many behavioral changes. The massive shift to eCommerce buying was one of those – and it spanned age, economic status and geography. Some brands were prepared; others, less so. Only 17% of brands said they were ahead of the curve when it came to eCommerce, in a survey by Profitero & Kantar back in March. 

So as we look towards 2021, eCommerce experts shared their thoughts for tips & tricks to stay ahead in the coming year. Three key themes emerged: 

1. Commerce is everyone’s job: Don’t just evangelize eCommerce in your organization – educate, immerse and involve.   Too many people don’t want to admit what they don’t know, so hands-on involvement can break down those barriers and help both understand and invest appropriately in focus and time. Like Confucious says: “Tell me and I will forget; Show me and I may remember; Involve me and I will understand.”

2. Put the consumer first: It’s easy to get caught up in the mechanics of eCommerce, the impact on your company, and the blurring of major retailer online and offline businesses. But the consumer doesn’t care. So make the experience easy and seamless for the people most likely to buy your products.

3. Sweat the details: As Rachel Tipograph, founder and CEO of Mikmak often says, “eCommerce is a hands-on-keyboard job.” 

If you remember nothing else, in the spirit of both brevity and efficacy, Ram Iyer, Worldwide Director of Digital Strategy and eCommerce at Microsoft said, “1. Reimagine 2. Take risks  3. Be Vulnerable.”

Ram Iyer, Microsoft