For our TrustED Conf 2021 VR World Tour, we heard from Lisa Ffrench, Paid Media Specialist on The Explosion of Online Shopping During the Pandemic.  Online shopping has taken off over the past 12-18 months. Will this trend continue? Are retailers keeping up with the explosion of growth? What we’ll cover: - Shopping during the global pandemic - Online shopping in 2020/2021 - Online retail results - Online retail: Australia - How will this translate to Christmas and beyond? - Christmas & new consumer behaviours - How to position your ecomm store for success

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Online Shopping
During The Pandemic

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THE EXPLOSION OF
ONLINE SHOPPING
DURING THE PANDEMIC

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I’ve been in PPC/SEM/Digital Marketing for 2
decades! Phew.
My academic background includes an Arts (Hons)
Degree majoring in History, followed by a Grad Dip
in Journalism.
When I’m not helping clients with their Digital
Marketing efforts, I’m spending time with my hubby
Mike and our 3 daughters, Charlotte, Matilda and
Emily + attempting to keep fit by playing netball,
tennis, running and doing HIIT classes. As a family,
we love the beach and the snow.
LISA
PAID MEDIA SPECIALIST

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Shopping During The Global Pandemic
● WHO identified COVID-19 as an international health emergency on 30
January 2020.
● In March 2020, nationwide (Aus) regulations were introduced to
encourage physical distancing
● Impacted the ability of businesses to trade as normal.
● The global pandemic has upended the way we live, work & shop
Sources: Aus Post/Trade Desk

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Online Shopping in 2020/2021
● Money saved on the usual travel, dining out, concerts etc
● UK and US also experienced high levels of online sales with 94% and
84%, respectively, having made an online purchase in the last three
months
● People turned to 'retail therapy' during the pandemic, to 'feel better'
during uncertain times / less lonely / pastime
● Clothing, footwear and accessories & grocery products - popular
online
● Growth in the industry accelerated by 4 to 6 years
Source: Monash university/Forbes

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Online Retail Results
Sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics
● AU: Huge growth
● Dip in Dec-March
2021 when
lockdowns were
over (for a period
of time)

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Online Retail: Australia
● Total online retailing sales in Sept 2021 : $4.3b
● This was the highest level for the monthly online retail sales in history,
exceeding August’s record result.
● 15% of all retail sales in September in Australia were online*
● 3.4% ($143m) rise in September added to the double-digit growth seen over
each of the last three months
Sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics/News Ltd

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But ...people (and the economy) still
need physical stores
Sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics
● Despite the growth in online: Australian retail sales
volumes fell a record 4.4 per cent in the September quarter
2021,
● “protracted lockdowns … many retailers closed…. resulted
in the largest quarterly fall in national sales volumes ever
recorded.”
● Once people could ‘hit the shops’, Australians splurged an
extra $1bn in the first week of November compared to the
same time in 2019

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How will this translate to Christmas
and beyond?
Sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics
● 50% of shoppers expect to use physical stores as their main channel for non-grocery retail
purchases in the future (down from 68 per cent prior to COVID-19).
● The other 50% expect to use online as their main channel (up from 32 per cent prior to
COVID-19).
● Despite the lockdowns, consumer optimism continues to look strong

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Christmas & New Consumer
Behaviours
Sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics
● New consumer behaviours are challenging brands to rethink their standard strategies

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How to position your ecomm
store for success

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Ecomm Advertising Tips
● First party data is crucial (CRM, subscription based emails; customer surveys;
purchase history; loyalty programs)
Source: Big Commerce

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Ecomm Advertising Tips
● First party data is crucial (CRM, subscription based emails; customer surveys;
purchase history; loyalty programs)
● Look at your competitor’s sites
Source: Big Commerce

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Ecomm Advertising Tips
● First party data is crucial (CRM, subscription based emails; customer surveys;
purchase history; loyalty programs)
● Look at your competitor’s sites
● Optimise on-page descriptions, headers, keywords, images, alt text
Source: Big Commerce

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Ecomm Advertising Tips
● First party data is crucial (CRM, subscription based emails; customer surveys;
purchase history; loyalty programs)
● Look at your competitor’s sites
● Optimise on-page descriptions, headers, keywords, images, alt text
● Make the checkout process as easy as possible
Source: Big Commerce

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Ecomm Advertising Tips
● First party data is crucial (CRM, subscription based emails; customer surveys;
purchase history; loyalty programs)
● Look at your competitor’s sites
● Optimise on-page descriptions, headers, keywords, images, alt text
● Make the checkout process as easy as possible
● Tailor your ad creative to different audiences
Source: Big Commerce

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Ecomm Advertising Tips
● First party data is crucial (CRM, subscription based emails; customer surveys;
purchase history; loyalty programs)
● Look at your competitor’s sites
● Optimise on-page descriptions, headers, keywords, images, alt text
● Make the checkout process as easy as possible
● Tailor your ad creative to different audiences
● Utilise path to conversion insights
Source: Big Commerce

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Ecomm Advertising Tips
● First party data is crucial (CRM, subscription based emails; customer surveys;
purchase history; loyalty programs)
● Look at your competitor’s sites
● Optimise on-page descriptions, headers, keywords, images, alt text
● Make the checkout process as easy as possible
● Tailor your ad creative to different audiences
● Utilise path to conversion insights
● Test ad copies & deals on your advertising platforms
Source: Big Commerce

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Ecomm Advertising Tips
● First party data is crucial (CRM, subscription based emails; customer surveys;
purchase history; loyalty programs)
● Look at your competitor’s sites
● Optimise on-page descriptions, headers, keywords, images, alt text
● Make the checkout process as easy as possible
● Tailor your ad creative to different audiences
● Utilise path to conversion insights
● Test ad copies & deals on your advertising platforms
● Focus on higher conv value products
Source: Big Commerce

20. Digital You Can Trust |
Ecomm Advertising Tips
● First party data is crucial (CRM, subscription based emails; customer surveys;
purchase history; loyalty programs)
● Look at your competitor’s sites
● Optimise on-page descriptions, headers, keywords, images, alt text
● Make the checkout process as easy as possible
● Tailor your ad creative to different audiences
● Utilise path to conversion insights
● Test ad copies & deals on your advertising platforms
● Focus on higher conv value products
● Work on increasing AOV and lifetime value of your existing customers
Source: Big Commerce

21. Digital You Can Trust |
Ecomm Advertising Tips
● First party data is crucial (CRM, subscription based emails; customer surveys;
purchase history; loyalty programs)
● Look at your competitor’s sites
● Optimise on-page descriptions, headers, keywords, images, alt text
● Make the checkout process as easy as possible
● Tailor your ad creative to different audiences
● Utilise path to conversion insights
● Test ad copies & deals on your advertising platforms
● Focus on higher conv value products
● Work on increasing AOV and lifetime value of your existing customers
● Use Smart Shopping + Local campaigns for maximum success
Source: Big Commerce

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Insights
● Shipping-related promotions are amongst the most
important promotions when deciding to make an online
purchase.
● Free, over fast shipping is preferred by consumers
Source: Monash university

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Make offers
● Create a sense of urgency

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Take on board
customer feedback
● Use their data to let them know of
future sales

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Analyse Checkout
Funnels
● There’s always opportunities to
improve the customer journey

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Final words
● Ecommerce has exploded - this will continue well into the post-
pandemic future
● Retailers have to keep up & adapt
● ‘Bricks and mortar’ retail will continue into the future.
● Collect and study customer data/feedback/surveys
● Businesses need to offer transparency, flexible policies and
convenient omni-channel solutions for shoppers.
● Big retailers will need to find creative ways to merge online and
offline shopping
Happy Shopping Everyone!
Thanks for listening

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QUESTIONS?