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The digital space is changing; brands and advertisers are entering a new era where they must learn how to function in a cookieless world. Conversations around data privacy have been ongoing for decades, and we’re about to see some major changes at a scale never seen before. What are these changes? What does “cookieless tracking” mean? And is all of this really only about consumer privacy? Let’s jump right in!

Listen Instead: The Truth Behind Cookieless Tracking Revealed

How does “cookieless tracking” work? What does Google have to gain from eliminating third-party cookies? Can we truly have online privacy?

Onur Teler, VP of Marketing at Segmentify, and Umut Çakmak, Digital Data Analyst, are breaking it all down in the latest episode of the Growth Show: REVEALED | The Truth Behind Cookieless Tracking.

Listen to the episode to get the latest scoop on Google and cookieless tracking.

What’s a Cookie?

Okay, let’s start with the basics. Cookies, also referred to as HTTP cookies, are small data blocks created by web browsers like Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox. They are essentially data trackers; the browser collects and stores the user’s behavioural data, which allows brands and advertisers to use this information for remarketing purposes.

Lou Montulli, the inventor of HTTP cookies, is reaching into a giant glass cookie jar filled with chocolate chip cookies. — Lou Montulli, Inventor of HTTP Cookies | Photo: By Peter Adams — Faces of Open Source

Third-Party Data vs First-Party Data

Cookies contain information to identify you and offer you an enhanced online experience. This could be about remembering your login information, knowing your most frequently visited pages, storing your credit card information for future purchases, etc.

So, what’s up with third-party and first-party cookies? What’s the difference?

Technically, they are almost the same thing. They both contain the same type of information and can perform the same function. However, they are different when it comes to how they are used.

First-party cookies, for example, are created by a domain or a website to enhance your online experience. This makes life easier for you by storing certain information on your browser in case you return to that website later. This information could be your username, password, payment information, email address, if you’ve added something to your basket, etc. The purpose is to save you time and essentially provide a better experience.

First-party cookies can also enhance your online experience with personalised product recommendations based on your behavioural data and personal taste. They also help customise the content you’re being exposed to.

Now, third-party cookies are not created by a domain or a website. Instead, they’re created and placed by the advertisers. Their aim is to retarget you with personalised campaigns and messages. Yes, it’s those ads that follow you everywhere you go online.

Now the question remains: Why is the world going cookieless? And what the heck does “cookieless” mean?

Growing Privacy Concerns

Well, technically, it’s Google that’s going cookieless. But let’s rewind the tape a bit.

Sure, personalisation and being offered personalised content is cool, but at some point, people stopped and started asking, “Hold on a second. Why do you know so much about me?”.

Technological advances helped brands and companies build hyper-personalised retargeting campaigns. And for a while, all was good; people enjoyed seeing the things they were actually interested in. However, somewhere down the line, this started to feel a lot like cyber-stalking. We’ve started having heated conversations about data privacy and the much-needed regulations.

Consumers felt they should have the right to know if, where and how their data is being used. Which led to regulations and laws like GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) being enacted. These laws ensure that data tracking happens with the consumers’ consent. These changes signalled to the Internet companies and tech giants that maybe they should start building a cookieless future.

What Does “Cookieless Future” Mean?

Well, a cookieless world is one where companies find a balance between privacy and data tracking. “Cookieless describes a way of marketing in which marketers are less reliant on cookies — bits of data that contain consumer personal identifiers.” explains Asa Whillock, the former Head of Product Operations and Strategy for Adobe Digital Experience.¹

Essentially, we’re talking about a future where there’s going to be a lot more transparency in how companies use consumer data. And the central figure in this whole conversation is…you guessed it, the good old Google.

In January 2020, Google announced that Chrome would not support third-party cookies by the end of 2022. Then in March 2021, the company announced that it would stop using behavioural targeting and would not allow third parties to replace cookies with alternative identifiers.²

Cookie Crumbles: The iOS 14.5 Update

A big move regarding the cookieless world and privacy came from Apple: In April 2021, the tech giant announced that the iOS 14.5 update would implement App Tracking Transparency.³

The reason for this announcement was privacy concerns around cross-app tracking, which allows ad targeting based on the user’s behaviour on other mobile apps. In other words, App Tracking Transparency was bad news for advertisers who relied on this third-party data for retargeting.

So now the apps have to allow the iPhone and iPad users to opt-out from cross-app tracking, which gives more control to the individuals over their own mobile app data and how it’s being shared with third-party apps and companies for ad targeting purposes.

Back to Google: What is GA4 and Why Do We Need to Prepare?

GA4, also called Google Analytics 4, is Google’s last major analytics update. The beta version was initially called an App + Webb property and has been around since July 2019. And since its official launch in October 2020, GA4 has been the default Google Analytics version, replacing its predecessor Universal Analytics.

GA4 was developed because of the conversation around data privacy and the implementation of privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA. Additionally, Universal Analytics was not designed for today’s analytical needs and expectations since it was not compatible with mobile apps.

GA4 offers privacy-first tracking, AI-driven predictive analytics, and cross-channel data measurement, making it the most advanced property available. In contrast with Universal Analytics, which only allows for tracking on websites, GA4 allows for tracking on both websites and mobile apps.

And as for the measurement model, GA4 uses a new model that allows the measurement of both events and parameters via a variety of new metrics. Among GA4’s benefits for brands, the following are included:

It’s a one-way ticket for Universal Analytics: Starting July 2023, it will be replaced entirely by GA4 as Google Analytics’ new measurement solution. Your business must transition to GA4 sooner rather than later to ensure continuity in reporting since Universal Analytics will no longer receive data from your website. You now have less than one year to switch to GA4, but the sooner you do it, the more data you will have stored in your GA4 property.

Starting July 2023, you will have access to the historical data in your Universal Analytics property for six months. We suggest that you export your historical data during this period at the latest since you will not be able to access it after this six-month period.

Is This Really About Privacy, Though?

We’d be lying if we said privacy was the sole reason for switching to a cookieless retargeting. It’s quite the contrary, actually. Let’s break it down together:

Justin Schuh, the former Director of Chrome Engineering, explained the users’ demand for greater privacy, transparency, choice and control over how their data was being used were the main drivers for the development of GA4.² He also implied that the company was evolving to meet these demands.

The consumers’ concern over privacy has indeed grown over the years. According to a KPMG survey, 86% of US consumers say data privacy is a growing concern for them, and 68% are concerned about the level of data being collected by businesses.⁴ But there’s more to the story.

In 2019, The Irish Data Protection Commission (DCP) started looking into how Google was providing advertising services across the EU and whether their use of personal data for targeted apps was in line with European privacy laws.⁵

We should note here that the DPC has been criticised heavily for not following through with their investigation and was actually sued by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) on the grounds that the DPC’s statement of issue has excluded data security from the investigation, which ICCL believes to be the most critical part of the issue.⁶

It’s a no-brainer that these types of high-profile investigations, combined with the increased consumer concerns over privacy, pushed Google to take action. But as you might’ve guessed, there’s still more to the story.

With a market share of 77%, Chrome is the most widely used desktop browser.⁷ And yes, you’ve guessed it right! This new switch to cookieless tracking and GA4’s introduction will make Google even bigger in the market.

The decision to get rid of third-party cookies and switch to cookieless tracking will affect billions and billions of web searches, which means it will affect the money made through advertising because now, we have to deal with cookieless advertising and cookieless retargeting. Naturally, advertisers will be forced to focus their investments on Google products because they will not be able to track effectively, hence enhancing Google’s market share.

Is GA4 GDPR Compliant?

Apart from GA4 and cookieless tracking allowing Google to get even bigger, there’s one major setback that we need to discuss. The GA4 is not exactly GDPR compliant.

Google has not reached an agreement with European regulators regarding data transfer between the EU and the USA. Google saves user data on US-based cloud servers, including the EU residents’ information. This is a problem because Google has to comply with US laws since it’s a US-based tech company.

A legislation called Cloud Act states that when requested, Google must share certain data, even if it is located outside the United States. And according to certain EU legislation, transatlantic transfers of personal data from the EU to the US are illegal if companies cannot ensure the data will be safe from the US intelligence agencies.

The GDPR law also prohibits certain features, such as data sharing between Google products. For best results, use IP anonymisation, do not share GA4 collected data with other Google products, and update your website’s privacy policy when using GA4.

The Business Will Not Be As Usual

Upon Google’s announcement in January 2020 about phasing out third-party cookies, the Association of National Advertisers released a statement expressing their disappointment in Google’s decision. They declared that cookieless targeting would significantly damage digital advertising.

For Brands and Advertisers

Cookieless tracking will undoubtedly make retargeting campaigns more difficult. Brands and advertising agencies might find adjusting to a cookieless world difficult since they’ve become heavily reliant on third-party cookies.

It will be more challenging to deliver relevant offers to consumers around their current interests or intentions in this new cookieless world. In light of these changes, predictive algorithms can no longer be used effectively to show personalised ads to consumers, resulting in decreased revenue.

This is how Onur Teler, VP of Marketing at Segmentify, sees this new era of digital marketing: “Although most adtech companies are or have prepared for the shift, the biggest winner is going to be Google overall. Since the launch of GA4 on 14 October 2020, Google has been pushing digital marketers and companies to shift into GA4 and has postponed cookieless tracking a couple of times, but “next generation tracking” is yet to come. Will users be as private as they think they’ll be? What will happen with DMPs, and CDPs, and will this shift help big adtechs to generate more revenue? So what really was the sole purpose of this change? Welcome to the new era of the “cookieless & private” experience!”

For Consumers

Eliminating third-party cookies will result in less relevant ads for consumers, as mentioned above. So far, a majority of online content and services have been free of charge. However, consumers are now facing the risk of having to pay for services that have been free until now because of the significant losses that will be experienced in advertising-based revenue.

The Cost of Digital Advertising Will Increase

Cookieless tracking will make it difficult for retargeting campaigns, raising advertising costs. Advertisers and brands are going to have to be smarter about budget allocation and learn not to rely on automation as much.

Let’s illustrate this with an example. Imagine a woman named Ashley coming to your brand’s website. Sadly, Ashley doesn’t make any purchases or leave her contact information (e.g. email address); she simply leaves the website without taking any action.

In a cookieless world, you can’t target Ashley with one-to-one marketing campaigns. As we’ve said, this causes a lot of confusion among digital marketers who got so used to building their personalised marketing campaigns around the data collected through third-party cookies. You might even say they sort of got lazy.

As a result, building campaigns that create value is going to be incredibly challenging under these circumstances, which will raise advertising costs. So you will have to be more strategic about reaching Ashley and your other potential customers.

Time to Face the Music

The digital landscape is changing, whether we like it or not. Fighting against these changes doesn’t seem to be an option at the moment. The best way to approach this is to embrace this cookieless future we’re stepping into as soon as possible.

The rules of the game are changing and we’re entering a new age for digital marketing. So don’t panic and start getting ready for the transition to GA4 if you haven’t already. And in the meantime, keep your eyes on the horizon for The Smart Advertiser’s Guide to GA4 😉

References

The eCommerce industry has grown extraordinarily in the past decade. Since it has advantages like saving time, providing access to better product alternatives, and simplifying the buying process without even leaving your home, millions of people have started to choose online shopping over in-store shopping. The merchants are very well aware of this great potential for sales and want to make the most of it. Therefore, the number of online stores is increasing rapidly. But how can you differentiate from thousands of eCommerce businesses and come forward as the forerunner? The best way to do so is to give the best shopping experience to your website visitors. The user experience must be smooth and straightforward.

Check-out is an essential step of your sales funnels since the conversion, your business’ whole aim, happens at this stage. It is where you get paid, and the visitors finally become your customers. To enhance sales opportunities at this step, making your customers’ buying experience as effortless as possible is crucial. That is why you should offer simple, safe and diverse payment methods on your eCommerce store.

Why Should You Offer Different Payment Methods?

For eCommerce businesses, cart abandonments and lost revenues can be avoided by offering customers a list of payment methods they want to use or are accustomed to. There were few options in the past; most online payments were made through money orders, cheques, or bank deposits. But today, with our advanced technologies, there are various modes of online payments that shoppers can use.

To cater to a wide range of customer bases and earn more conversions, allowing all to choose their preferred mode of payment online is critical. Since the different payment systems have distinctive charge rates and unique mechanisms to make payments, they can influence different groups of customers.

Delivering alternative payment services will let you merchandise to mixed demographic groups in various geographic regions and have the largest target audience possible. Working with different companies and offering their products as your eCommerce store’s payment methods will also help increase the awareness and trust in your brand.

How to Choose the Best Payment Method for Your eCommerce Store?

The eCommerce industry is flooded with many eCommerce payment services; it may be frustrating to choose how you accept online payments. Before you decide which electronic payment methods to offer, you should define your target audience.

With the variety of your customers, the local, geographical, or cultural shopping habits may differ, and how they respond to different payment technologies can change. Providing payment systems that your audience doesn’t trust or is not interested in may cause you to lose sales. But again, if your eCommerce store lacks the proper range of online payment systems, it can lead your potential customers to abandon their carts and leave your website mid-checkout.

It would help your business remarkably if you offered different uncomplicated options that best suit your target audience, allowing them to shop at peace and complete their purchases. You must first analyse what your audience expects and define your business niche. Then you should evaluate different methods of electronic payments to find the ones that best suit your business’s requirements.

What are the Most Popular Payment Methods in eCommerce?

If you have an internationally operating eCommerce store, the most frequently used types of payments will be credit and debit card payments. However, there are plenty of other payment methods which may be used at different rates in different parts of the world.

For example, while cash is the most popular payment method in India, it is not widely preferred in Europe. Here are the most commonly used payment systems in eCommerce worldwide:

1. Credit Card Payment

Credit cards are the most commonly used payment method in eCommerce. Since credit cards are easy and mostly safe to use, the high popularity of using them in online purchases is no surprise. Shoppers only need to enter their card details to finish buying the products at the checkout.

CVV, short for Card Verification Value, is what makes credit cards more secure. Businesses can detect fraud by comparing cardholders’ information and CVV numbers.

Besides being simple to use, shoppers use a credit card also to make use of its extra features, such as discounts and reward programs. Additionally, they can benefit from credit card usage in credit scoring.

All these advantages ensure credit card payments still take the lead, despite having countless more innovative competitors. As you probably heard their names, some of the most popular, internationally used credit cards are American Express, Visa, and MasterCard.

2. Debit Card Payment

Debit Cards are also widely used worldwide, and using them for online purchases is a close second to credit cards as the most commonly used online payment method. While the process of purchasing is the same, debit card payments permit users only to use their savings in the connected bank account. On the other hand, credit card payments are made at the end of the billing period, way after the purchase is made.

As a result, shoppers who use credit cards tend to spend more than they can pay. Hence, debit cards can be a better choice for people who have lower financial limits and don’t want to exceed them.

3. Bank Transfer

One of the most secure payment methods is Bank Transfers when it comes to online shopping. Since it may cause online shoppers to fall into swindlers’ hands, people tend to be hesitant while making payments on eCommerce stores; some even don’t want to enter their credit/debit card credentials.

Most people prefer to use credit/debit cards, so bank transfers are slowly going out of fashion despite being considered safer. Bank transfers are considered safer because the transactions need to be approved by the customers, meaning they have to authenticate and verify each purchase from their online bank accounts. Correspondingly, bank transfers make the shopping experience much longer and slower.

4. Direct Deposit

Using Direct Deposit, as its name indicates, allows buyers to transfer the charges to the sellers’ accounts directly. With direct debit mandates, users can send requests to their banks to authorise regular payments.

By eliminating the risk of theft or loss, they can be a safer payment method, especially for non-eCommerce purchases. Moreover, no intermediary is needed; thus, it is a fast way to transfer money.

Direct Deposit payments are most commonly used to schedule recurring expenses such as salary payments for businesses or subscription-based fees for individuals. Even though it may lose its popularity to innovative solutions, it will always remain an acceptable payment method.

5. Cash on Delivery (COD)

Cards have an advantage in terms of online payments. Cash, a physical item in a virtual world, is becoming an undesirable payment method as many innovative competitors arise. Yet, it remains important in some areas, especially in developing countries like Brazil, Mexico, and India.

eCommerce shoppers use this method for cash-on-delivery transactions. However, it should be noted that it can be risky to pay with cash because some cash-on-delivery providers may send you invoices later than you pay them, and you cannot always be sure if the billing is made rightfully. But then, paying with cash is convenient for those not using any cards.

6. App Payments

As the eCommerce industry grew, big tech companies wanted to get the most share of the cake. Facebook, initially being only a social media platform, lacked online store features. Considering its impact and its branches, Instagram and WhatsApp, it was a huge opportunity loss not being able to sell to their users.

In the past few years, we saw that this loss was successfully cleared up with the rise of social commerce. By adding marketplaces and allowing users to buy products on the apps without having to leave, Facebook ventured into the world of social commerce.

Then in the following years, we’ve all had first-hand experience in the development of social commerce. Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Twitter, and many other social media platforms are no longer mere socialising tools.

Tiktok is especially the hottest thing in the eCommerce world right now. Check out TikTok Marketing Strategy Tips for a more in-depth discussion about TikTok and eCommerce.

7. Electronic Checks

Electronic Checks, or E-Checks, in short, have practically the same process in use as standard paper checks, but since they can be processed online, the challenges time and place may cause are eliminated, making e-checks much faster.

Using e-checks allows shoppers to authorise payments directly from their online bank accounts. E-checks were the first payment method for online shopping in North America and still is a popular option while also widely used in Europe. Aside from their ease of use, extra-low charges make e-checks a better and more affordable payment method for larger sale volumes.

8. Cryptocurrency

Increasing their popularity day by day, cryptocurrencies are no longer the money for the future; they are now commonly known and create new areas to be used worldwide. Not only Bitcoin but also tens of new altcoins are exchanged every day.

In the past decade, they got popular among digital merchants as there were no chargebacks or taxes. With the expansion in cryptocurrency transactions, governments and large businesses started to interfere and establish some regulations; however, this payment method still has the lowest fees in the market. Despite the risks of ever-changing monetary value and uncertainty of future governments’ approaches to coins, they are still promising for online payments.

9. Electronic Wallets

Electronic Wallets, also named E-Wallets or Digital Wallets, allow online shoppers to purchase products faster and smoother. Because only one or two clicks are enough to complete a payment, the shopping experience can be done within seconds.

E-Wallets work as storage for both the shoppers’ information and the funds. After linking their bank account to an e-wallet, if the users choose to pay online with their e-wallets, they will be directed to the e-wallet page, and entering their password will be enough to finalise the purchase.

By eliminating the need to enter your credentials and credit/debit card information each time you want to buy something online, e-wallets are becoming highly favourable for people. The most popular e-wallets like Amazon Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and AliPay are already thriving among the different modes of payment online.

10. Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) systems are initially short-term loans offered to customers at the point of purchase. Such systems, as their name suggests, allow customers to make the purchase and pay at a later time, often interest-free.

BNPL services work just like credit cards, as in not having to pay at the time of purchase. But, of course, the customer does not have to have a credit card to use these services.

Also referred to as “point of sale instalment loans”, BNPL systems are becoming increasingly popular. Younger generations like Millennials and Gen Z are especially fans of this mode of payment online. According to Klarna, BNPL is also gaining the merchants’ favour: They experience an increase of around 45% in their Average Order Value (AOV).

Other than Klarna, the most popular BNPL services are Shop Pay Installments by Shopify, Affirm, Afterpay and Sezzle. PayPal has introduced its own BNPL service as well.

11. eCommerce Payment Gateways

Payment gateways are eCommerce businesses’ services for shoppers, which process credit/debit card payments. The first examples of payment gateways were the native systems that individual eCommerce services designed. When the number of eCommerce stores and online shoppers ascended, these native systems had to convert into more standardised platforms for more merchants to use them simultaneously.

Today, the eCommerce industry is filled with a vast range of payment gateway providers that generate fast and secure links between shoppers, merchants, and banks. Since the competition is hot, it may be costly initially. Still, even if the cost of implementing and holding them on your website is high, the return on investment will most likely be satisfactory. There are tens of great payment gateways like PayPal, Square, and Stripe, and more businesses are coming up with new ones day after day.

12. Infographic: Comparing the Most Popular Payment Methods in eCommerce

What is a Payment Gateway?

Payment Gatew ays have become a regular part of the eCommerce industry, and various companies provide these services and integrate their solutions into your eCommerce store. Payment gateway providers, also known as payment service/solution providers or payment processors, offer these virtual gateways for merchants and shoppers. They connect them with the necessary third parties – usually the banks – while handling the transactions.

Digital payment gateways, more commonly called eCommerce payment gateways, are the services that process the users’ payment information and generate links to allow them to complete their purchases. After you sign up and integrate a payment gateway tool, you, as a business owner, will only need to wait for the payment processors to deposit the purchases in your merchant account.

How Does a Payment Gateway Work?

The workflow of a payment gateway actually involves a lot of steps, but thanks to the advancements in technology, it takes mere seconds:

1. The customer inputs payment information and initiates the purchase, e.g. presses the “Order Now” button.

2. The payment gateway performs fraud checks and ensures that the transaction doesn’t exceed the customer’s credit limit or that they have enough funds.

3. The encrypted card information is sent to the card schemes (Visa, MasterCard) to process the transaction, which perform another fraud check.

4. The payment gateway approves the transaction and sends the information back to the website to complete the transaction.

5. The payment gateway sends information to the acquiring bank to move the money from the issuing bank (customer) to the retailer’s bank account.

What are the Best Payment Gateway Tools?

You can select one or more payment gateways to serve you and your customers. Before choosing suitable gateways for your business, you should do your research well. Here is some crucial information about some of the best eCommerce payment gateways:

1. Stripe

Regarding versatility, Stripe is a good option in your online store as it provides a feature-rich payment gate. It enables various payment options while accepting payments from a wide range of sources. Also, its simplicity while integration is another reason that makes it popular. If you and your team have limited skills in coding, you can benefit from using Stripe with only a single line of JavaScript on your site.

Pricing: Stripe has two options available, integrated and customised. While you have to get in touch with their Sales Team to get information about pricing for the latter, the integrated version uses a pay-as-you-go pricing model, which charges 2.9% + 30¢ per successful card charge.

2. Due

Being among the lowest-priced gateway operators in the market with its flat-rate fee structure, Due is an advantageous option for both the eCommerce store owners and their shoppers. Smaller-sized businesses and even freelancers who offer their products and services online can benefit from it.

Pricing: Due has two pricing models, free and $10/month. The premium model offers additional services such as 24/7 support, monthly account statement and advanced tax planning access.

3. Square

Square is also widely popular for offline in-person payment as well as its eCommerce options. It may be a little pricey compared to other payment gateways; however, it can be a great option if you have both physical stores and an eCommerce business with reliable POS systems and online alternatives. They also have an easy checkout solution that allows shoppers to set up profiles while providing payment information.

Pricing: Square offers three different pricing models: free, plus and premium. The free model does not have a subscription fee; instead only involves processing fees. In comparison, the premium model involves advanced features for restaurants, retailers, or appointment-based businesses and costs $29/month, plus processing fees. The pricing for the premium model is based on the customer’s organisational and more complex needs.

4. Adyen

Offering a full range of online payment options, Adyen is an excellent option to have as a payment gateway on your website to give your customers better shopping experiences. It has a fraud protection feature working with AI and a rule-based risk ecosystem, making it a secure gateway you can easily trust. Additionally, with its payment-linked data process, it is easy to apply discounts, rewards, and one-click payments.

Pricing: For each transaction, Adyen charges a fixed processing fee (€0.10) plus a fee determined by the payment method.

5. PayPal

PayPal is the most known payment gateway of all payment options and has over 250 million users worldwide. Your customers will probably expect this familiar option while purchasing products online and feel safer using it. Having a high cost per purchase can be challenging for small businesses to integrate it. But using PayPal converts at significantly higher rates than with any other options, so it should be considered.

Pricing: PayPal charges different fixed processing fees plus transactional fees based on the selected payment method.

6. Authorize.net

Authorize.net is a good option because of its versatile choice of plans for both small and bigger businesses. It supports a wide range of currencies, all major cards and digital wallets. It accepts all transactions made by shoppers worldwide; however, to integrate it on your website, your business must be registered in Canada, Europe, Australia, the US, or the UK. Authorize.net also offers a merchant account and fast transfers.

Pricing: Authorize.net offers two different pricing plans with the same fixed monthly fee. The pricing per transaction differs depending on the plan.

7. 2checkout (Verifone)

US-based 2checkout, or Verifone as it is now called, is a payment gateway getting popular with its variety of services. It supports 87 currencies and 15 languages, making it very useful for globally operating eCommerce businesses. Also, it is a reliable option to have on your website, allowing integration with more than 100 online payment systems.

Pricing: Verifone offers three different pricing plans for three different business models: businesses wanting to sell globally, subscription-based businesses and businesses selling digital goods globally.

8. Skrill

Being a globally known payment gateway, Skrill is one of the best options to offer on your website. It is also an awarded solution with its innovative features. Skrill supports over 30 currencies and enables eCommerce customers to purchase comfortably worldwide. Also, offering a free account to its users sure is a handy option.

Pricing: Skrill offers different pricing that best fits the retailer’s business model.

9. Amazon Pay

As one of the, if not the most, well-known online retail platforms, Amazon has been offering its customers its online payment processing service, Amazon Pay, since 2007. Amazon Pay lets retailers offer their customers easy, secure and fast payment using the shipping and payment information linked to their Amazon accounts, therefore, saving customers from the inconvenience of entering new information on the retailer’s website.

Pricing: Amazon Pay offers different pricing models for operations of various sizes.

10. checkout.com

Checkout.com is an international fintech company that processes different online payment modes across various currencies. Easy to integrate with your website, checkout.com is a convenient tool if you wish to grow your business into new markets and regions, as they help you tailor your solution for each market with their local insights and knowledge.

Pricing: The pricing structure of checkout.com depends on multiple factors, such as card type, retailer’s location, and the consumer’s issuing bank, with fees passed directly to the retailer.

Why Should You Use Payment Gateways for Your eCommerce Store?

As you can see, there are many payment gateways that you can use for your eCommerce business with a variety of distinct features.

There is no doubt the payment gateways will ease the purchase process and have high success rates, returning you with increased sales and conversion rates.

Wrapping Up

To have a large customer base, you must ensure your eCommerce store is convenient for all of them. People don’t have the same preferences when it comes to purchasing online. Your responsibilities include being aware of your target audience’s needs and desires in payment methods and offering them suitable options.

Today, online shopping is easier for both the retailer and the shoppers, thanks to technological advancements and the significant number of payment methods. It will be better for your business to offer as many alternative payment options as possible to have more sales and increase your conversion rates. That is why you should consider adding the payment methods we have mentioned to your eCommerce store and improving your customers’ online shopping experience.

In today’s world, we do everything on our phones including shopping. You have likely purchased at least one item via your mobile phone.

Most eCommerce businesses offer websites and mobile applications for their customers to buy their products. Usage of mobile is dominating desktops, since 58% of online visits came from smartphones in 2021. Therefore, it is vital to have the best mobile app marketing strategy to keep your loyal customers.

What is Mobile App Marketing?

Mobile App Marketing is the practice of developing marketing campaigns for your mobile app in order to connect with customers at every level of the marketing funnel via the app. eCommerce companies participate in desktop and mobile websites to maximise their customers.

It is important to note that mobile app marketing is more towards loyal or repeat customers. Mobile applications occupy a place in people’s phones. Therefore, if a person is downloading the application for this specific eCommerce store, this means that they are most likely to be repeat customers and are interested in making multiple purchases throughout a period.

What are the Application Stores for Mobile Phones?

9 Mobile App Marketing Tips for eCommerce Stores

1. Have a mobile-friendly website

The first and foremost step to implementing mobile app marketing strategies is to have a mobile-friendly website. The way the desktops and mobile devices show products of eCommerce stores is distinct. So, eCommerce marketers should prepare a website optimal for mobile usage.

As an example, with the “See All Button”, eCommerce stores can ease the mobile navigation and improve customer experience.

2. Optimise App Store listing

Once the mobile app is ready to be launched, it is necessary to consider where it will be offered. The leading application stores are App Store for IOS and Google Play Store for Android. The processes of forming an application for these app stores are different from each other; hence, they have separate teams that work on individual app stores.

Since the mobile application will be offered in the App Store, specific search engine optimisation strategies will be implemented to increase the search ranking in these application stores.

3. Invest in your application design

A simple, easy-to-use, aesthetically pleasing mobile application is the key to success. eCommerce marketers should invest in their application design and the technology they use. The more interactive and engaging it gets for the customers, the more they will return to the application.

The whole mobile application should be on the same theme and colour scale. The content should be decluttered as possible with the least amount of writing and visuals. After providing a simple application for your customers, you should not often change it entirely. Stores should wait to make their customers get used to their app and increase their retention.

4. Recommend the most relevant items

In contemporary digital marketing, personalisation is crucial. Businesses and marketers have realised that customers dislike being treated like numbers. Companies that interact with customers personally build enduring relationships with them.

It is easier to provide personalised recommendations to app users; therefore, eCommerce companies should definitely use this opportunity. Personalised product recommendations will increase customer satisfaction and the likelihood of clicking on the recommended product. Compared to pop-up recommendations to show segment-divided product groupings, personalised suggestions on category and product detail pages may be a more reasonable option. You may promote the best goods to each consumer based on their customer journey and AI-based personalised suggestions.

5. Simplify the search process

The retention rates of desktops and mobile devices are relatively different, with desktops being 3.7% and mobile being 2.2%. The main reason for having lower retention rates for mobile applications is that people tend to wander around more with mobile applications since it is an easy process.

Your mobile app advertising should concentrate on assisting your clients in selecting the most relevant items. You may utilise search fields to give them ideas and persuade them to browse further. Visitors can receive personalised recommendations with categories like “new arrivals” and “best selling products” as soon as they click on your search box. In this method, you may get buyers to start browsing for products even before they finish their search.

Providing a journey builder will enable users to find the most pertinent goods on your eCommerce website and display those to the visitor. In this manner, the visitor will spend less time looking around the website and have access to personalised items.

6. Include high quality pictures and videos, and descriptions

A picture says a thousand words. So it is necessary to include the best quality pictures of your desired products and other mobile app visuals you want. Depending on the eCommerce industry you are in, you can provide your visitors with images, videos, and 3D augmented reality versions of your products.

Product descriptions should be easy to read, including every single piece of information regarding the product and the return and refund process. You can use lists and bullet points in your product descriptions to make it more readable. You should also add information regarding sustainability.

Your application should be as close to buying a product from a physical store as possible. Therefore, including 360-degree videos of your products would be helpful for your customers to understand better. Furthermore, some cosmetics and home furniture companies have also included 3D trying out for their products. Based on the industry, you may also invest in 3D trying out your products.

7. Send reminders and push notifications

Push notifications and reminders are much more effective on mobile applications than desktop notifications. After asking for permission for reminders, personalised push notifications are a great way to pull customers to your mobile application.

Email reminders and push alerts on eCommerce websites can increase traffic and retention. Your campaign will be known to your customers as a result. Additionally, you may send push notifications and emails with customised discount coupons.

In addition, email marketing and SMS marketing are also important reminders for your customers. We recommend adding email and SMS notifications to your mobile app marketing strategy to interact fully with your customers.

8. Include review and rating sections

Building customer trust is necessary to increase the customer lifetime value. Of course, you will have positive descrips of your products and your pictures will show the best versions. However, when customers see ratings, reviews and photos from other customers who have previously purchased the product, they will be more trusting and inclined to decide on buying the product.

The ratings and reviews should be close and easily accessible to the visitor. After looking at the product images, description and price, visitors are most likely to click the reviews section and read comments from previous customers.

9. Offer easy check out options

The checkout process is the last process of purchase for the customer. This process should be straightforward, easy to understand and convenient for the customers to complete.

Nowadays, eCommerce applications use many check out tools for their websites to decrease the time customers go and grab their credit cards and enter the numbers. Depending on your customer base, you should provide customers with 3 to 7 different payment options. The main ones are credit cards, debit cards, bank transfers, direct deposits, cash, electronic checks, and cryptocurrency. Furthermore, app payments and electronic wallets are also necessary to include. ApplePay, AliPay, AmazonPay, GooglePay, PayPal, Chechout.com and Klarna are popular payment options for users.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, eCommerce companies should definitely consider having a mobile application or at least having their eCommerce website mobile-friendly. In this way, they will be able to reach out to a new range of customers.

Personalisation on your mobile application is much easier than on a desktop website. Therefore, we recommend that eCommerce stores segment their customers properly and recommend the most suitable products.

With Segmentify, you are able to customise your customers’ eCommerce journey and offer them the best-personalised customer experience. Contact us for more information and book a free trial to try out the best-personalised tools. Don’t forget that Segmentify is with you from the beginning to the end of each and every one of your customers’ purchase journeys.

Social media has become a massive part of our daily lives. We spend time on social media to either have fun, relax, communicate, or… for shopping! The amount of people who use social media platforms for shopping is immensely high. So, how about turning this situation into a big profit for your brand? Let’s dive into the world of social commerce and find out how to do so!

What is Social Commerce?

Social Commerce is the practice of buying and selling products or services within a social media platform without necessarily directing the customer outside the said platform. Thanks to social commerce, shopping has become an inevitable part of our daily lives. When we want to take a look at our friends’ Instagram stories or scroll through TikTok videos, it is nearly impossible not to see an advertisement or a shoppable post that directly leads us to the purchasing phase.

As of 2022, 4.6 billion people are using social media platforms, which means social media has become the most important communication medium in terms of globalisation. And it holds an irreversibly significant place in our lives for providing connection between people around the world.

This connection is not limited to the interaction between users, though. Social media can be a wonderful vessel for a business to reach out to its target audience. Actually, most users already come to these platforms with the intention of shopping. Social media users are also potential customers looking for recommendations and ready to be inspired.

Social Commerce vs. eCommerce: What’s the Difference?

While eCommerce activities take place on eCommerce sites, online stores or branded apps, social commerce makes it possible to finalise a purchase within a social media platform without having to leave the said platform and open a new tab or application. Social media used to help generate more eCommerce conversion in the past, but now from brand awareness to purchasing, the whole process can happen within one platform.

So do not confuse these two! Having an online presence is crucial for building a loyal customer base and increasing your brand awareness; broadening your presence on social media will create wonderful outcomes for your brand. We will get to it in a bit. But before we do, let’s learn more about social commerce and why we need it in the first place.

What Does Social Media Mean for Businesses?

Social media is a place where those described as marginalised find a place for themselves and get the chance to reach out to their alike, finding or forming a community where they can deliver their message more comfortably and efficiently.

Providing a place for those who are generally less favoured in society, social media acts as a democratising force, bringing small businesses to the centre stage and helping them increase their visibility as well.

Minority-owned businesses like black-owned, women-owned, and LGBTQ+-owned businesses benefit and get support from social media and the space it offers. They mostly have an active voice in social issues. They can ignite a reaction or affect the course of the responses to social issues, all the while being recognised and known by many new people both for their participation in the issue and their brand.

Development and Evolution of Social Commerce

Although we started seeing the first signs of social commerce nearly 15 years ago, it really thrived in the last couple of years. As well as the improvements in AI, social factors contributed to its development to a great extent.

Facebook was the first to enable users to sell and buy via the site. It tried its Marketplace first in 2007 and introduced the buy button seven years later, which would pave the way for the new Marketplace in 2016 and Facebook Shops in 2020. Then followed Instagram, Tiktok, Pinterest, and Twitter with various features.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been with us for more than two years now, and it seems like it is here to stay. Although we get more and more used to living with it every day, it was a huge game changer, especially during the first year. Getting locked down and taking shelter in our safe zones led us to look for ways to connect with the outer world.

Besides how we socialise with family and friends, our shopping habits also changed. And eCommerce reached its peak in the meantime. Brands’ social presence also gained a more significant place on social media, and social commerce likewise thrived on that situation.

6 Essential Benefits of Social Commerce: Why is It Important?

Having a social media presence is essential for your brand for many reasons. Let’s go over them one by one:

1. Reach Out to Your Target Audience Easily

Through a social media analysis, you can specify and define what your target audience wants, which app they use, and what kind of products attract them the most. If you already know all these, you are ready to adopt an appropriate strategy and reach your audience on social media.

2. Grow Your Potential Customer Base

Social commerce does not only make you visible to your target audience but helps you reach out to larger audiences. Through the recommendation of your customers, you gain the interest of others who are not usually within your scope, which in turn triggers more users to see your content and products. Hence, the gradually growing audience and customer base.

3. Increase Your Visibility

Social media is a place where visibility can be both challenging and simple. However, surveys show that the global social network usage rate is 58.4% and the average daily time spent on social media is 2 hours and 27 minutes. Social media’s allowance for constant interaction between users and brands draws more customers the more your content reaches a reasonable number of users.

So, no need to get lost in the corners of social media as long as you keep your content relevant and up to date. If you already know what kind of language, content, and approach to employ, believe in the power of social media and get ready for vast possibilities!

4. Boost Your Brand Awareness

Being interactive as it is, social media allows customers to leave feedback for other users to see. This is great for both brand awareness and conversion rates because positive feedback encourages others to try a product and make a purchase from your brand. Social media’s convenience for quickly forming or joining a community makes it more effective and influential for users: They can receive recommendations from friends, family, and influencers, as well as get inspired by them, or vice versa.

5. Build A Two-Way Relationship with Your Target Audience

Besides user interaction, platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok help build a direct relationship between customers and brands. They lay a bridge between customers and brands, eliminating the procedures followed with traditional commerce or eCommerce. Many brands use social media platforms for customer service now. Customers can give feedback, report their complaints, and leave a comment under your posts. That way, a close relationship between a customer and a brand is provided.

6. Fast and Convenient Shopping Experience

It offers a fast and convenient shopping experience since the customer does not have to get off-site at any point in the shopping process. They do the research, decide on the product, and check out within a single platform and a short time!

These are why many people use social media platforms to research a product they want and refer to these sites for shopping. Not only do they get inspiration and discover new products, but they can also find and buy what they want in a short period of time, in one place.

Growth Opportunity for Social Commerce: Personalisation

The common thread in these characteristics of social media is personalisation. The ability to directly address your target audience’s needs and desires; build meaningful relationships with them; answer their questions, feedback, and complaints; and most of all, benefit from AI algorithms to make your brand’s way to your current or potential audiences is the key point of it all.

People want to get their job done in the shortest time possible and do not want to get lost in an endless number of products. Creating a personalised shopping experience for your customers will help them not get lost in the process, use their time efficiently, and bring significant benefits.

The Most Popular Platforms for Social Commerce

Now let’s take a look at some of the most popular platforms for social commerce and in what aspects they can help you grow your business:

Facebook

Facebook is still the most popular social platform, with nearly 2.93 billion monthly active users. If you already have a business page on Facebook, Facebook Shop could be what you are missing. You can customise your Facebook Shop as you wish and sell your products. You can also have direct communication with your customers through Messenger.

Instagram

Similar to Facebook, you can set up a business account on Instagram and an Instagram Shop where you can share shoppable posts or stories with your followers, a.k.a. customers. Instagram shops are also customisable, and you can create your own product catalogue. You can add pricing, images, descriptions and any details you want. You can create Shopping Tags to tag your products in your posts and stories. That way, your product and its price can be detected with just one click.

Influencers are also essential for social commerce because, at times, they can promote a product and boost its sales in a way no other way can do in a very short time. They can also tag a product they use on their posts and boom! Your brand becomes visible to a bunch of new people.

Instagram’s discover section is also a great place to find new products for customers. Considering 44% of people use Instagram for shopping on a weekly basis, getting a spot for your brand on the Instagram discovery will create a massive profit for you.

TikTok

TikTok offers a wide variety of options for businesses. It is not less appealing than Facebook or Instagram when it comes to boosting brand awareness and sales. TikTok Shop has many ways to showcase and sell your products.

With your TikTok for Business account, you can link your Shopify store to your TikTok and add a shopping tab to your profile. You will also be able to sync your products on Shopify with TikTok and keep track of your campaigns with campaign creation tools.

Besides enabling you to sell your products, there are many ways to promote them beforehand via TikTok’s many features. There are currently five types of ads on TikTok, with three more to come. Product Showcase and short videos are also great for promoting a product. You can tag products on your videos, make use of AR filters and create your own branded effects, which will make you visible to a broader audience.

Another exciting feature of TikTok is Live Shopping. You can showcase, promote, and sell products on a live broadcast and users can add those items to their basket or buy them right away. Live broadcasts promise a considerable benefit for brands since 50% of users purchase something after watching a live broadcast.

TikTok is a platform you should not miss if you want to grow your business. You can learn more about TikTok and the many possibilities to make the best use of it; check out our article TikTok Marketing Strategy Tips, where we gathered the most useful marketing strategy tips for you.

People come to Pinterest mostly for inspiration. And this is true for their shopping habits too. They search for new ideas for their next purchase and decide what to buy on Pinterest. On Pinterest, you can both sell and advertise your products.

A business account on Pinterest will allow you to create a product catalogue. There are a couple of ways to create a catalogue, and connecting your Shopify to your business account is one of them. That way, your entire product catalogue gets automatically added to Pinterest. Your Product Pins will allow customers to easily see the details, pricing and description and directly buy your product.

When you join the Verified Merchant Program, you get a verified badge on your profile and get shoppers’ trust and attention more, as well as the chance to increase your visibility during a search.

With 433 million people visiting Pinterest every month, your products will find their way to many users who are eager to shop.

Wrapping Up

The increase in social commerce does not seem to lose acceleration in the coming years. Research has shown that it will be nothing like we have seen so far. So even if you have not entered the world of social commerce yet, it is still not too late to have a share of a future full of opportunities!

Every eCommerce marketer wants to get the attention of their visitors. One of the best ways for this is to use pop-ups. With different designs, colours and messages, pop-ups are, without argument, one of the most effective marketing strategies for eCommerce websites.

Let’s get on with our Pop-Up blog article about its definition, different types, statistics and advantages, and important points to consider whilst creating a pop-up campaign. Also, check until the end for a short success story from Teknosa!

What is a Pop-Up?

Pop-ups offer products to consumers as they browse related articles or pages on your website. They do this by displaying products from your range that would be complementary to the item your buyer is now contemplating.

Pop-ups draw attention to the content that the eCommerce business wants to show to the visitor. The information can include deals and sales, product recommendations, basket notifications, basket reminders, sign up now, new categories/arrivals, free shipping announcements, discounts for new members, or “follow us on social media” reminders.

9 Different Types of Pop-Ups

1. Product Recommendations

Providing product recommendations with pop-ups is a great way to get the visitors’ attention regarding different products.

Complementary Products

Pop-ups are useful for cross-selling, a successful revenue booster during checkout, but it works best when you give customers a strong incentive to spend more. By showing complementary products, visitors will increase their basket sizes and also spend less time looking for these products.

Bestsellers

As the psychological effect of Social Proof suggests, people believe that if a product is selling well, there is a good reason behind it. Recommending the best-selling products is always an excellent way to get attention.

Alternative or Similar Items

In the cases where the product being viewed is out of stock, alternative items can be shown to keep the visitor on the website. Similar items to the original item will be helpful for the visitor to find what they are looking for.

2. Personalised Coupons

Personalised coupons can be sent to visitors via email, SMS, push notifications and pop-ups. Coupons are a great way to win new customers; therefore, showing them in pop-ups will increase the likelihood of visitors trying out the coupons and the products.

3. Cart Abandonment Reminders

eCommerce websites can remind their to-be customers about the forgotten items in their baskets. Pop-ups with cart abandonment reminders can help notify customers about their baskets and speed up the checkout process.

4. Deals and Sales

Many different deals and sales can be present at an eCommerce store; however, the visitors must be aware of these deals. Even though it is not entirely related to the item the visitor is viewing, websites can show pop-ups of the current deals to let them know about the discounts.

5. Free Shipping Announcements

One thing that surprisingly affects sales rates is shipping information. Customers can decide to cancel their high amount of orders just because of shipping fees. Therefore, providing free shipping announcement information via pop-ups is excellent news for your visitors!

6. New Arrivals

Marketing new products can be a compelling process. All marketing branches can be made more practical, especially with the usage of pop-ups. Why not promote your new arrivals to people already viewing your website? Visitors clicking your pop-ups will be able to check out the latest arrivals, resulting in higher conversion rates.

7. Sign Up for the Newsletter

Most eCommerce websites use pop-ups for newsletter sign-ups. This way, websites can collect email addresses of possible customers and promote their products or services with email marketing.

8. Special Discounts for New Members

Turning visitors into customers can be a lengthy process. Like tester products in cosmetics stores, eCommerce websites offer discounts for new members to try out the products for a lower price—the lower the price, the more possibilities for visitors to buy the items. The pop-ups for new members generally include email information from the visitor to sign up and receive an email about the discount, which also enhances the email list for additional marketing activities.

9. “Follow us on Social Media!” Reminders

Many eCommerce sites are active on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter and TikTok. By linking pop-ups to your social media accounts, companies can get more traffic and interaction to their social media. This would increase social media presence and recognition.

Advantages of Pop-Ups: Why Should You Be Using Pop-Ups? Let’s Talk Stats!

Pop-ups are the best way to grab your visitors’ attention to whatever you want them to see! eCommerce websites can tailor their pop-ups towards what you want to sell more, what the deals are and customise when they are shown to the visitors.

In 2022, the average conversion rate for a pop-up is 11%. This ratio in mobile applications was over 11%, whilst it was just under 10% for desktop pop-ups.

One of the best-performing pop-ups is cart abandonment pop-ups. The conversation rate is around 17%. This is because visitors do forget items in their baskets whilst looking for other products or even leave the page. Therefore, cart abandonment reminders notify the visitors about their baskets. These pop-ups are shown both before exiting and whilst the visitor is less active and looking at other pages.

Pop-ups are also excellent for collecting emails from prospective customers. Email marketing is a vital marketing tool for eCommerce companies. That’s why companies give importance to collecting emails. However, visitors are unwilling to give out their emails to eCommerce websites. Pop-ups give them reasons to give out that information with discounts and newsletter sign-ups.

Pay Attention to These When Designing a Pop-Up

Colours

As mentioned above, pop-ups are the best way to draw attention to your content. Your pop-up should fully suit your website design regarding colour, symbols and visual content.

Using bright and contrasting colours for your pop-ups will increase the likelihood of clicking. Websites should avoid using one colour on their pop-up. If this is necessary, different shades of a colour can be used. CTA Buttons should be bright, bold and attention-grabbing.

Content and the Message

The content of the pop-ups should be short and sweet, clear and brief. The pop-ups should be to the point with more visual content than written content.

Buttons and CTAs

Pop-ups can create urgency for the visitors and encourage them to participate in the campaign as soon as possible. Visitors will experience a sense of urgency with a simple timer at the bottom of the pop-up. FOMO marketing is an effective marketing strategy to sell products in a certain period of time.

Collecting Emails

Pop-ups can be used for different purposes; increasing sales rates, collecting emails etc. When visitors open the website, pop-ups can ask for their email addresses and offer them a certain amount of discount, new member benefits, or newsletter subscriptions.

Importance of A/B Testing

A/B testing is necessary to measure the effectiveness of the pop-up campaigns. With the results of these tests, you can decide on the most effective campaign, design and colours.

Audience Segmentation

Pop-ups can be fully personalised and promoted to specific audiences. For example, an eCommerce company can only want people’s emails from a particular region. Moreover, pop-ups can be personalised regarding the specific visitors’ previous searches, likes and data.

Using Accurate and Meaningful Information

Pop-ups are widgets where you give on-to-the-point information and draw attention with bright colours and visual effects. Therefore, the information on the pop-ups should be accurate and meaningful. There’s no need for extended, out-of-context information.

Decreasing Exit Rate

Using pop-ups before visitors exit your site is one of the most effective ways to keep visitors on your website and turn them into customers. These pop-ups can be cart abandonment reminders, “check this product out” notifications, personalised coupons, discounts and links to new deals and sales.

A Success Story for Consumer Electronics: Teknosa Boosts Revenues by 5x with Segmentify!

The eCommerce Electronics industry is a rapidly growing industry. Most popular products for this industry include smartphones, personal computers, tablets, music players, gaming consoles, televisions, monitors, printers, and electronics accessories such as headphones, microphones, speakers, chargers, and watches.

The biggest beneficiary of the pandemic was the electronics industry. The sector expanded due to the increase in demand for electronic gadgets. According to 40% of international electronics businesses, the electronics sector was COVID-19’s largest winner. 22% of all eCommerce sales are made up of gadgets and computers for consumers.

Out-of-stock products constitute a big problem for consumer electronics. However, visiting products with no stock left was not the last stop for Teknosa’s visitors! Teknosa is an electronics eCommerce company offering a high range of products from phones, computers, televisions, audio, and household appliances.

Using Segmentify’s personalised solutions, Teknosa had a 5x more revenue uplift. Segmentify’s intelligent algorithms have recommended visitors the alternatives for the out-of-stock product with a pop-up triggered by an exit intent.

We have started an A/B test to analyse the pop-up effect, and there has been a 5x more uplift compared to showing nothing on out-of-stock product pages.

Join Segmentify for the Best Pop-Up Campaigns for Your eCommerce Website

At Segmentify, we offer the best personalised solutions for eCommerce websites to increase their conversion rates. Personalised pop-ups are essential to grab the visitors’ attention and turn them into customers. Contact us to book a free trial and try out our personalised pop-up campaigns, among many other personalised solutions for an end-to-end customer experience. See the results in 2 weeks!

One-to-one marketing is perhaps the most popular marketing strategy for eCommerce websites at the moment. One-to-one marketing is the name we use to define the practice of creating a unique and optimal experience for your customers using data from their activities online.

While it is not entirely new, one-to-one marketing has been around since the 1990s. This strategy is used to build relationships with customers emphasising personalised interactions with an eCommerce website to create a better customer lifetime value and nurture a loyal customer base.

To put the online one-to-one marketing strategies into perspective: You can think about them as your favourite coffee shop starting your regular order as soon as you walk in. Write your name on the cup correctly and deliver your usual order as soon as you get to the register. Shortening the time you are waiting for your order creates a unique experience. This Personalisation and Customised Experience is the expected outcome of one-to-one marketing.

Why Should You, as an eCommerce Website, Care About One-to-One Marketing?

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition in the eCommerce space has risen to very close margins, making customisation and personalisation more critical than ever to find that connection between your store and how connected your customer base feels to it.

While you might not be selling to-go coffee to your customers on your website, you can still make the experience as unique and quick as your favourite coffee shop. As much as online shopping is seen as a way to not interact with other people, the inherent need for interaction and connection stays the same, and one-to-one marketing achieves this by interacting with a website’s customer base in a more personalised way.

Each day, the competition and new brands emerge in the eCommerce space, making anything to get ahead of the competition essential to stand out from the pack. To stand out from the competition, the last thing you should do is show your customers a cookie-cutter website with no personalisation to every single customer. Therefore, creating an eCommerce website with one-to-one mar k eting is essential to standing out from the crowd.

So, What Steps Can You Take to Utilise One-to-One Marketing on Your eCommerce Website?

1. Customisation

In a world where everyone and everything is sending out a notification to your mobile phone, it is essential to understand how your customer would like to hear from you. Giving them a choice to show that you understand their needs and avoiding the methods they do not prefer makes it so that they are not annoyed by different notifications by your website.

While it can be necessary to notify your customers about new promotions, new products, and updates, doing so on your customers’ terms creates a relationship that shows that you respect their communication choices.

2. Segmentation

The process of segmenting a target market into groups of potential customers with similar requirements and behaviours involves dividing the market into segments. It is used to create different groups of customers interested in other products throughout your website.

These groups, such as customers who have purchased “2 summer dresses in the past 20 days.” can be a valuable tool to take one-to-One marketing to the next level.

These clusters can be used in different ways, such as through emails, push notifications, a carousel with their favourite dresses that haven’t been purchased yet, and a unique code for those interested in buying new “summer dresses”.

The sky becomes the limit when you start to use segmentation, and it changes how you approach the customer groups of your website.

3. Personalisation

Personalisation is that your website will be able to cater to and care for each customer that visits and browses your website in real-time, evolving as they spend more time in your store.

It is much more than putting your customers’ names on their account page; it is about changing your website to suit your customers’ needs individually.

How Do You Create a One-to-One Marketing Strategy for Your eCommerce Website?

1. Create Personalised Carousels Throughout Your Website

Understanding your visitors and making personalised product recommendations will create a unique shopping experience that will impress potential customers. And tools such as Segmentify can analyse each visitor’s interests and help you offer the most relevant products that your visitors will love.

With personalised carousels, you can show your customers what they will be interested in the most; for example, on the homepage of your website, you can add a carousel that offers a selection of products that a customer has shown interest in previously.

This is next to impossible without some serious effort and a copious amount of time on your hands to look into each customer’s data and recommend them a product. However, to make this easy, you can use Segmentify’s AI Technology to recommend personalised products to your visitors.

Take one of our fantastic algorithms as an example: Smart Offers, which recommends products based on the best-matching categories and the current visitor’s behaviour during their last visit. The first-time visitors, on the other hand, are recommended the most popular products.

2. Create a Search Experience

It is essential to show your visitors the correct products when searching for a specific product and show them alternatives to the said product.

To achieve this, you can either just look at the search query, match it to the existing products, or show that product to your customers. Or an improved and unique search experience that offers your visitors the products they have searched for and different products you want to promote as soon as they click your search bar.

With Segmentify, this is possible with our before and after search functionalities that show accurate products based on the search query, helping you not miss out on a sell and promote products your customer has looked into on their last visit, as well as other sorting options such as:

3. Build More Personalised and Tailor-Made Shopping Journeys with Precise Audience Segmentation.

Create and manage different groups of visitors interested in many products and target them with specific promotions and accurate recommendations, as well as showing that you understand their interests.

With Segmentify Rule-Based Segmentation, you can create them efficiently and use them throughout your website’s one-to-one marketing strategies. You can create as many segments as you want based on the purchase data with the Rule-Based Segmentation.

Create a segment for fans of a particular brand and inform them about special deals or products before anyone else, or give them special discounts. Create segments for people shopping in specific price ranges (luxury items), send push notifications for new arrivals, and recommend products accordingly. Or just combine the two segments!

4. Show Your Visitors That You Care

Nobody likes to eat at an empty restaurant. It is the same story with eCommerce websites. People are more likely to make purchases if they are reminded that they are not alone in their experience and show them that you remember their interests and interactions with products.

With tools such as Segmentify’s Social Proofing, you can show them that they are not alone and that you remember your customer has looked into a product or has added it to their basket previously and offer them your discounts.

Messages like these will show your customers that you are with them throughout their experience, just like a shopping assistant in a physical store, catering to their needs. Plus, social proof marketing is a great way to nudge your customers in the right direction and convince them to make that purchase!

5. Keep in Contact with Your Customers Even When They are Not in Your Store

While you can’t message or call each one of your customers and keep track of what they are interested in, you can use emails and push notifications to tell them that you have a special promotion just for them, as well as let them know that they might have forgotten some products in their shopping cart.

Reminding your customers about yourself is essential with so many things happening in our lives, and it helps to give them quick reminders about what is happening in their favourite store. While keeping in mind preferences that we’ve looked into about communication and incorporating segmentation to the mix, not annoying your customers with too many emails or push notifications to become more accessible.

Using Segmentify in emails ensures that you will be sending out the most appropriate products in an email that your customer has shown interest in before, as well as keeping them in the loop about Top Sellers, Back-in-Stocks, Discounts, Abandoned Carts, in addition to Nice to Meet You and Birthday eMails without even lifting a finger.

The same scenario also applies to push notifications, which are personalised for each of your customers with campaigns such as “Happy Birthday,” which can give out a unique code for your visitors just created for them.

Wrapping Up

By understanding your customers’ needs, you can cater to them using the aforementioned one-to-one marketing strategies. When done effectively, this will distinguish between your store and many other cookie-cutter eCommerce websites that people forget about after they close their browser tab.

It is not an easy task to understand and cater to everyone. However, with tools such as Segmentify, this process becomes pain-free, and this experience can be implemented on your website to help you with your one-to-one marketing needs. You can book a free trial, try Segmentify’s outstanding one-to-one marketing solutions, and boost your customer satisfaction.

If your eCommerce business’s target audience is aged between 18 to 24, which is almost 42% of all TikTok users, TikTok is the ideal place to market your products to this demographic.

With more than 1 billion active monthly users, TikTok is the next best social media platform for companies. Additionally, after Facebook, Youtube, WhatsApp, Instagram, and WeChat, TikTok is the 6th most used social media platform. Let’s get on with what TikTok marketing is, TikTok for B2B and eCommerce marketing and TikTok ads!

What is TikTok?

The Chinese corporation ByteDance owns the short-form video hosting service TikTok, also known as Douyin in China. It features a wide range of short-form user films, lengths ranging from 15 seconds to 10 minutes, in categories such as pranks, stunts, tricks, jokes, product promotion, advertisement, dancing, and entertainment.

Hear Us Out: TikTok Marketing for B2B

TikTok has quickly become an inseparable part of content marketing. TikTok content enables businesses of all sizes to connect emotionally with potential customers, showcase their products, and increase their reach. Despite not having any plans to shop, 67% of users claim that they are inspired to do so while scrolling through TikTok. This figure effectively demonstrates the connection between TikTok and consumer behaviour, making it a top tool for B2B marketing teams across all industries.

Businesses must be willing to adapt as the social media marketing landscape constantly changes. Building up our B2B TikTok account is an investment that will pay off because TikTok has the highest user interaction per post compared to any other social media platform. It enables us to have more fun with content creation, demonstrate our organisation’s beliefs, and establish a genuine connection with our audience. Try fresh, trendy, and occasionally ridiculous strategies since they can increase engagement in general.

They might just stumble upon our TikTok clip while browsing at two in the morning, form an emotional bond with our brand, and realise that their company requires what you have to offer.

What is TikTok Shopping?

TikTok Shopping provides a way for TikTok users to buy products in the app without opening a web browser to go to a separate eCommerce store. When a company creates a TikTok Shopping account, it gets a special Shopping tab on its profile. An icon of a shopping bag is used to signify this. Customers can then browse and choose products on TikTok before buying them there or by going to the business’s website and finishing the transaction there.

TikTok initially limited TikTok Shopping to selected Shopify-based retailers in the U.S., U.K., and later Canada.

The ability to link or tag products in our TikTok videos is a crucial feature of TikTok Shopping. This way, you can mention products in our videos, and our viewers can learn more about them by clicking on the tagged products. At this point, TikTok will either lead them to our storefront to complete the process or, if you wish, finish it within TikTok. You can attach relevant links to buy products and services to live shopping offers, real-time demos, and live-streamed product showcases.

How to Set up TikTok Shopping

To use TikTok Shopping, you must first have a TikTok for Business account. From within Shopify, you can use the app to create video advertising, track results, and handle orders. The Shopify software not only allows us to manage our TikTok Shopping tab, but it also connects with TikTok For Business Ads Manager.

What are TikTok Ads?

TikTok Ads provides a sophisticated yet simple-to-use platform for businesses and brands to advertise to millions worldwide, including targeting, ad creation, insight reports, and ad management tools.

1. In-Feed Ads

In-Feed Ads are the video ads that appear in between user videos as you scroll through your For You page. If you’re unfamiliar with TikTok and the For You page, In-Feed Ads are similar to the ads you’d see while tapping through Instagram Stories.

You can get super creative with In-Feed Ads. You can include multiple call-to-actions and make your video length anywhere between 9 to 15 seconds.

Having the opportunity to include a call to action is a huge advantage. For example, you can encourage users to shop now, download your app, or visit your website right through TikTok.

Keep in mind that, similar to other videos on your For You Page, In-Feed Ads may be swiftly scrolled over or avoided. You have just 2-3 seconds to capture your audience’s attention before they continue to browse. In-Feed Ads should take up the entire screen and be intriguing enough to keep consumers from scrolling past your content.

2. Brand Takeover Ads

Brand Takeover Ads play automatically when a user launches an app, taking over the entire screen with a video aimed at that user’s demographic. TikTok Ads are one of the finest ways to raise brand recognition and generate immediate sales by putting your message in front of your intended audience.

Not only do these advertisements play automatically whenever a user launches TikTok, but they can also show up on the For You page in the form of still photos, GIFs, or videos, complete with a clickable link that takes them to an external website or a Hashtag Challenge within TikTok.

TikTok ensures that users do not view more than one Brand Takeover per day, as Brand Takeover Ads are restricted to their respective categories. With Brand Takeover Ads, your content will be seen by a large audience with minimal other competitors.

Brand Takeovers might not be the best option for your first TikTok Ad campaign. Brand Takeovers are highly efficient but not without a hefty price tag. They are an excellent choice for rapid expansion and getting in front of a wide audience of TikTok users if you’re a larger business with a substantial marketing budget.

3. TopView

TopView Ads is a new kind of advertising that expands upon Brand Takeovers. TopView Ads vary from Branded Takeover Ads in that TikTok viewers are not immediately inundated with an ad when opening the app – TopView Ads are the first in-feed post after 3 seconds.

It appears at the top of the For You page, TikTok’s most valuable real estate, with up to 60 seconds of full-screen video with auto-play and sound.

4. Branded Hashtag Challenge

TikTok’s Branded Hashtag Challenges are an innovative kind of marketing that can only be found on the platform. If you’ve ever visited TikTok’s Discovery page, you’ve definitely seen some branded hashtag challenges.

Branded Hashtag Challenges provide sponsored and unsponsored chances for companies on TikTok, similar to the usual hashtag trends and challenges. They are an excellent tool for generating user-generated content and spreading brand awareness.

The most attractive feature of Branded Hashtag Challenges is that they’re a great source of entertainment. They’re fantastic for facilitating interaction between companies and the TikTok community. Creating a Branded Hashtag Challenge is more effective if you have clear goals in mind. Do you need help getting the word out about a brand new product? Or creating fresh prospects? Or maybe you just want to raise your brand’s profile in the public eye.

Users who click on a sponsored hashtag are directed to a landing page on TikTok that has the brand’s logo, a link to the website, an explanation of the challenge, and examples of user-created content utilising the hashtag.

5. Branded Effects

TikTok now includes branded shareable stickers, AR filters, and lenses in its advertising mix. TikTok’s branded effects, similar to Snapchat’s branded lenses, allow advertisers to create their own distinctive filters on the app.

Branded Effects may be active for up to 10 days at a time and are an excellent method to encourage people to connect with your business directly.

TikTok Marketing Strategy Tips for eCommerce

1. Go Viral

The TikTok algorithm is fairly different from the Instagram, Twitter and Facebook algorithms. TikTok emphasises the TikTok video itself rather than looking at the accounts’ popularity. Therefore, producing content that can go viral is easier than it is on other social media platforms.

2. Use Hashtags

TikTok offers a variety of brief campaigns known as hashtag challenges that are followed by #tags. These challenges have a covert message intended to inspire or raise awareness in the younger Generation Z.

3. Partner Up with TikTok Influencers

TikTok has created its own influencers, mainly from the age group 13 to 24, similar to its user demographic. TikTok influencers can vary in the content they produce, from comedy to dance, singing, makeup, and other forms of entertainment. By finding the most suitable influencers for your products, you will be able to grow faster on TikTok.

4. Have Promoted TikTok Ads

Promoted TikTok ads are becoming more and more used by eCommerce businesses to grow their brand awareness and product sales. Five main TikTok ad types are In-Feed Ads, Brand Takeover, TopView, Branded Hashtag Challenge, and Branded Effects. With these ads, businesses are able to market their products to the target audience.

5. Engage Your Audience with Challenges

One good thing about TikTok is that it is almost effortless to sign up and grow your account. Therefore, a successful TikTok strategy would be to create engaging content with your audience.

For example, a beauty and skincare brand can create a hashtag where they introduce their new foundation with a piece of specific music and hashtag. They can have a campaign where they will give out 20 free foundations for the best TikTok videos using that sound and hashtag. This way, the campaigns will be interactive, and it is better for understanding the influence of the marketing campaign.

6. Keep Track of Your Statistics

Everyone wants to become viral on TikTok, but you should sustain this success in the long run and constantly analyse your TikTok statistics to grow. TikTok has a great Analytics page where businesses can check and analyse their TikTok traffic, retention and overall how they are doing.

With this, eCommerce companies can check how their page is doing and how many followers it gains and loses in a certain time frame. Additionally, specific video data is also available for companies that want to analyse each one of their content in detail.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, TikTok is the fastest-growing social media platform that businesses should consider joining. It has become a must for eCommerce companies with a younger demographic to be active on TikTok and use it as a marketing tool. TikTok allows companies to sell their products directly, with different types of paid advertisements they can use to get traffic to their website.

At Segmentify, we provide personalised marketing tools for eCommerce companies to grow and expand their website traffic, sales rates, and basket sizes. So far, we have been having great results with our customers, which you can check from our Success Stories page. And we also have great news: you can book a free trial, try out our unbelievable personalisation tools, and make the most out of your eCommerce store.

Book a Free Demo

Key Takeaways

Listen Instead: The Truth Behind Cookieless Tracking Revealed

What’s a Cookie?

Third-Party Data vs First-Party Data

Growing Privacy Concerns

What Does “Cookieless Future” Mean?

Cookie Crumbles: The iOS 14.5 Update

Back to Google: What is GA4 and Why Do We Need to Prepare?

Is This Really About Privacy, Though?

Is GA4 GDPR Compliant?

The Business Will Not Be As Usual

For Brands and Advertisers

For Consumers

The Cost of Digital Advertising Will Increase

Time to Face the Music

References

Key Takeaways

Why Should You Offer Different Payment Methods?

How to Choose the Best Payment Method for Your eCommerce Store?

What are the Most Popular Payment Methods in eCommerce?

1. Credit Card Payment

2. Debit Card Payment

3. Bank Transfer

4. Direct Deposit

5. Cash on Delivery (COD)

6. App Payments

7. Electronic Checks

8. Cryptocurrency

9. Electronic Wallets

10. Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)

11. eCommerce Payment Gateways

12. Infographic: Comparing the Most Popular Payment Methods in eCommerce

What is a Payment Gateway?

How Does a Payment Gateway Work?

What are the Best Payment Gateway Tools?

1. Stripe

2. Due

3. Square

4. Adyen

5. PayPal

6. Authorize.net

7. 2checkout (Verifone)

8. Skrill

9. Amazon Pay

10. checkout.com

Why Should You Use Payment Gateways for Your eCommerce Store?

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What is Mobile App Marketing?

What are the Application Stores for Mobile Phones?

9 Mobile App Marketing Tips for eCommerce Stores

1. Have a mobile-friendly website

2. Optimise App Store listing

3. Invest in your application design

4. Recommend the most relevant items

5. Simplify the search process

6. Include high quality pictures and videos, and descriptions

7. Send reminders and push notifications

8. Include review and rating sections

9. Offer easy check out options

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What is Social Commerce?

Social Commerce vs. eCommerce: What’s the Difference?

What Does Social Media Mean for Businesses?

Development and Evolution of Social Commerce

6 Essential Benefits of Social Commerce: Why is It Important?

1. Reach Out to Your Target Audience Easily

2. Grow Your Potential Customer Base

3. Increase Your Visibility

4. Boost Your Brand Awareness

5. Build A Two-Way Relationship with Your Target Audience

6. Fast and Convenient Shopping Experience

Growth Opportunity for Social Commerce: Personalisation

The Most Popular Platforms for Social Commerce

Facebook

Instagram

TikTok

Pinterest

Wrapping Up

What is a Pop-Up?