Elevate Business Success Through User-Centric Experiences
Julia Jackle, CEO & co-founder, Creative971 talks about how ecommerce businesses can differentiate themselves to stay competitive.
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“Today, it’s not just a nice addition; it’s a necessity for businesses to prioritise the user experience to be straightforward and customer-focused. By enhancing and streamlining the user experience, whether on desktop or mobile, customers naturally enjoy improved functionality while navigating through the ecommerce site,” says Julia Jackle, CEO & co-founder, Creative971.
Jackle and her brother founded the Shopify Plus agency in 2016 as they believed in Shopify’s success story from the very beginning.
Jackle talks about what it takes to be a Shopify Plus Partner, how ecommerce businesses can differentiate themselves to stay competitive and the challenges they currently face.
Excerpts from the interview:
What does it mean to be a Shopify Plus partner?
Across the world, there are around 300 Shopify Plus expert agencies. It demands extensive platform knowledge. As a Shopify Plus Partner, our focus is on crafting tailored solutions for rapidly expanding businesses and large enterprise clients with unique and complex needs.
How do you see the role of a responsive user experience (UX) adding business functionality in ecommerce?
In today’s digital landscape, it’s not just a nice addition; it’s a necessity for businesses to prioritise the user experience to be straightforward and customer-focused. By enhancing and streamlining the user experience, whether on desktop or mobile, customers naturally enjoy improved functionality while navigating through the ecommerce site. This not only fosters trust but also conveys a sense of professionalism.
What is the ideal tech stack for ecommerce players?
Depending on what ecommerce business and industry the ecommerce players are in, there are several softwares that can be a fit. As Creative971, we work predominantly with B2C clients in the consumer retail brands that require global and complex structures and according to the recent Gartner chart, Shopify is the global leader.
As a base, any ecommerce business can benefit using Shopify as their base platform. Shopify is highly adaptive and flexible and makes it very interesting especially for those brands starting out or first time digital transformers to test the waters.
Apart from Shopify as the SaaS platform, we recommend thinking about email automations, data CRM captures etc, ideally via Klaviyo. We also work with many great softwares that have API’s into Shopify, to anyone interested in knowing more, please contact us.
How can ecommerce differentiate themselves in the Middle East to stay competitive?
To differentiate themselves and stay competitive in the Middle East’s ecommerce market, businesses can consider implementing the following top 10 strategies:
- Localised Content and Language: Tailor product descriptions, website content, and customer support in the local language(s) of the region. This helps in engaging local customers and building trust.
- Cultural Sensitivity: Understand and respect the cultural norms, traditions, and values of the Middle East. This includes considering religious holidays, customs, and local preferences in marketing and product offerings.
- Payment Options: Offer a variety of payment methods to accommodate local preferences such as tabby for buy now pay later programs. Cash-on-delivery (COD) is still popular and sometimes the only option in some Middle Eastern countries, so having this option can be a significant advantage.
- Personalisation: Leverage data analytics and AI to offer personalised product recommendations and shopping experiences. Middle Eastern consumers appreciate personalised offerings.
- Fast and Reliable Delivery: Invest in a robust logistics and supply chain network to ensure fast and reliable delivery. Same-day or next-day delivery options can be a competitive edge.
- Customer Support & Returns: Provide exceptional customer support with multilingual agents who can assist customers promptly. Arabic-speaking support is crucial in the Middle East.
- Trust and Security: Emphasise the security of online transactions and customer data. Display trust badges, security certificates, and transparent privacy policies to reassure customers.
- Mobile Optimisation: As the Middle East has a high mobile penetration rate, you need to ensure your website and apps are mobile-friendly and offer a smooth mobile shopping experience.
- Local Partnerships: Collaborate with local influencers, bloggers, and social media personalities for marketing and promotion. Partnering with local brands can also help gain trust and exposure.
- Customer Reviews and Ratings: Encourage and showcase positive customer reviews and ratings, as they can significantly influence purchase decisions in the Middle East.
What are the common barriers to seamless omnichannel delivery?
- Isolated Data and Systems: One of the primary challenges is that businesses often have data and systems isolated in different departments or channels.
- Integration Challenges: Integrating various technologies and platforms across channels can be complex and expensive..
- Inconsistent Customer Experience: Inconsistent branding, pricing, product information, or customer service across channels can lead to confusion and frustration
- Lack of Cross-Channel Inventory Visibility: Customers expect to check product availability across channels and have options like buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) or reserve in-store.
- Technology Gaps: Some channels may lack the necessary technology or infrastructure to deliver a seamless experience. For example, a mobile app may not have the same features as a website.
- Scalability Challenges: As businesses grow, maintaining a seamless omnichannel experience can become increasingly challenging. Expanding to new regions or markets may require adjustments to the omnichannel strategy.
- Cost Constraints: Implementing and maintaining omnichannel capabilities can be expensive. Smaller businesses with limited budgets may struggle to invest
- Customer Expectations: As customers become more accustomed to seamless experiences from industry leaders like Amazon and Apple, they have higher expectations. Meeting these expectations can be a constant challenge.
- To overcome these barriers, businesses should invest in technology, prioritise data integration, and focus on aligning their internal processes and culture with the goals of providing a seamless omnichannel experience.
What advice would you give future marketing leaders – what kind of skills should they develop to work in tandem with tech without compromising on the uniquely human element?
Knowing your way around AI and tech tools is great, but it’s just as important to realise that tech is there to help us out and provide insights. It can’t replace the human touch and our decisions driven by human feelings and instincts. So, the future marketing leaders need to be flexible, quick learners and adapters and surely knowledge-savvy. They should use tech as a resource for making decisions but not solely rely on it.
