[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/23\/e-commerce-growth\/#Article","articleBody":"After such tremendous e-commerce growth last year, what can we expect this year? Will e-commerce continue to surge even as brick-and-mortar stores reopen?\nHere are three predictions for retail brands to watch:\nIncreased online privacy requirements will impact e-commerce strategies\nDirect-to-consumer connections will be a priority\nThe return of in-store traffic will factor heavily into growth trends\nE-commerce growth fueled amazing holiday stats\nThe statistics from the 2020 holiday shopping season were eye-popping:\nA 162% increase in year-over-year order volume during the holiday season\n55% to\u202f60% of November\u2019s orders came during the\u202ffirst two weeks\u202fof the month\nThe average order value tripled between Black Friday and Cyber Monday\nThese stats reflect e-commerce growth that ended 2020 high above 2019 levels (see chart below) in terms of order volume. Clearly, the global pandemic caused online holiday shopping to skyrocket in ways no one predicted before the lockdowns started.\nAnd now the focus is on 2021. Can brands keep the e-commerce growth going? Let\u2019s take a closer look at our three predictions.\n \n2020 holiday e-commerce stats: Online + mobile deliver stunning results\n   2020 holiday e-commerce stats show one thing is certain after this year: Online sales and mobile commerce are the future for retailers, with mobile driving up to 50% of total sales for the biggest Cyber Week ever.  \nPrivacy improvements will make user tracking harder\nThis past holiday season represented the last hurrah for the third-party cookie. Now, enterprises must address the oncoming \u201cCookiepocalypse.\u201d\nFollowing the lead of Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, and other browsers that have already prohibited third-party cookies, Google has targeted the start of 2022 as the deadline to phase out these cookies from its Chrome browser. In addition, new updates to Apple\u2019s mobile operating system are putting consumers in control of data tracking across apps and web sites.\n \nWhat is CDP? | Customer Data Platform, defined\n   Businesses have lots of data - but what do they do with it? Discover how a CDP helps organizations reach customers, identify intent, and personalize messaging to exceed KPIs and bottom line projections.  \nThese changes will cause a major shift in many retailers\u2019 e-commerce growth strategy. Their ad retargeting and behavioral advertising will take a hit due to limited tracking.\nSo, brands will instead need to prioritize customer retention initiatives.\nThey\u2019ll focus on ways to understand their existing customers better with the aim of extending the relationship and optimizing their lifetime value.\n \nFace the music: Apple privacy changes hit e-commerce marketing\n   Apple privacy changes are right around the corner, and marketers who rely on Facebook ads are bracing for major impact. Here's what you need to know.  \nDigital direct-to-consumer connections will become even more critical\nAfter movie theaters, the global pandemic hit out-of-home (OOH) advertising the hardest. Since they rely on one-to-many impressions in high-density areas, their once-lucrative sites failed to meet forecasts and revenues dropped precipitously as a result.\nWhere did the ad spend go? The answer is clear: into digital. Mobile ad spend soared more than 70% year-on year.\nSocial media ad spend rose 50% year-on-year at the height of the holiday season. The big tech players like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, and Tencent all saw sharp rises in ad revenue as a result.\nWith pandemic lockdowns lasting well into 2021, paid digital media spend won\u2019t slow down any time soon. Retailers will continue to prioritize paid search advertising, paid social media promotions, and SEO initiatives because they reach customers where they are \u2013 at home.\n \nGrocery retail reality: Omnichannel is here to stay\n   Grocery retail today is all about providing customers with personalized, omnichannel experiences. Consumer behavior has changed and grocers must adapt.  \nA return to in-store dominance? Be ready for the next holiday hullabaloo\nThe surge of online shopping has made a lasting impact on brick-and-mortar stores. Once thriving empires have been carved up by younger online retail businesses, and no one is certain when in-store foot traffic will return.\nYet if the current vaccination programs continue on their current trajectory, pandemic lockdowns could ease by the 2021 holiday season. And if they do, the enthusiasm to return to the stores could swing the pendulum the other way. There may even be a contraction in 2021 online sales value as physical retail rebounds.\n \nAre you ready, CPG brands? Brick-and-mortar resurgence ahead\n   As consumers head back to physical stores, CPG brands must double down on their retail execution to ensure buyers have positive in-store experiences.  \nThe key for retail e-commerce growth: Know who your customers are and how they want to engage\nAs we look forward, how can retail brands best reach the right consumers, at the right time, with the right message in the right channel? Given the acceleration of the online shopping trend in 2020, the key to success will be a robust engagement strategy built on a foundation of first-party, permission-based customer data.\n \nIs it easy for consumers to buy from you? How customer identity management can help\n   Customer identity management matters because requiring customers to log in each time they visit an e-commerce site or interact with your brand can erode CX, reduce conversions, and push customers toward competitors with easier authentication processes.  \nThis foundation consists of information and consent collected directly from the customers themselves. Through customer identity and consent data management solutions, this accurate, high-quality data can form the core of each profile or account.\nOther types of data \u2013 behavioral, offline, in-store, and more \u2013 can be associated with a real person who has explicitly consented to those communications or marketing activities.\nBy knowing who their customers are and how they want to engage, retailers will be better equipped to segment and optimize increased spend in digital channel look-a-like campaigns.\nThey\u2019ll also be better able to enhance and personalize customer experiences while respecting their preferences and privacy.\nDon\u2019t just believe in the exceptional \u2013 create the exceptional. Fast, flexible, mobile-first e-commerce is just a few clicks away.","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/23\/e-commerce-growth\/#Article_Person","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/23\/e-commerce-growth\/#Article_Person_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/lisa-m-james-150x150.jpg"},"name":"Lisa James","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/thebookoflisa","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/thebookoflisa"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/lisa-james\/"},"dateModified":"2021-12-08T18:36:20+00:00","datePublished":"2021-03-23T05:16:03+00:00","description":"E-commerce growth jumped during the 2020 holidays. Can brands sustain the momentum in 2021? Here are three predictions.","headline":"Retail e-commerce growth: Predictions for 2021 and beyond","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/23\/e-commerce-growth\/#Article_ImageObject","height":"630","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FCEE156_ECommercePrediction_HB-1200x630.jpg","width":"1200"},"mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/23\/e-commerce-growth\/","name":"Retail e-commerce growth: Predictions for 2021 and beyond","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/","additionalType":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1193236","description":"Relevant, timely information & analysis on commerce trends, both consumer-facing and B2B.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","height":"96","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","width":"500"},"name":"The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/a-call-for-a-better-experience\/id1479742201","https:\/\/twitter.com\/FutureOfCEC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/4844282","https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/feed\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/23\/e-commerce-growth\/#Article"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2021","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"03","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/\/03\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"23","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/\/03\/\/23\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Retail e-commerce growth: Predictions and trends to watch","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/03\/23\/e-commerce-growth\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]