What the next generation can teach us about the future of e-commerce.
Breakneck—that’s how fast consumers’ expectations around e-commerce are changing. Each day is an acceleration toward the future of e-commerce and an evolved guest experience, and brands are struggling to keep a pulse on where e-commerce is heading.
In a world in which we expect and adapt to change one day at a time, it’s hard to look forward and imagine what the future holds for us. How much personalization is enough and achievable? What will in-person experiences look like? How do we create engaging customer experiences in an ever-connected world?
Before we start debating what’s next in e-commerce, let’s look at what we’re doing today to reach our audiences.
How Target delivers the guest experience today’s consumers want
Over the unusual year and a half that’s passed, Target’s philosophy on e-commerce hasn’t changed: deliver joy for our guests. Yet, the way we fulfill that e-commerce promise has adapted and accelerated to meet customers’ evolving needs.
We learned that joy has a different meaning for everyone. It’s the joy of time saved by using same-day services (like Drive Up and Order Pickup), finding an item at a great price, or discovering just the right last-minute gifts as they search.
Along with joy and ease, safety is still top of mind for guests going into 2022. So, we’ve amplified the shopping experience to provide guests considerable comfort and peace of mind.
From Q2 2019 to Q2 2020, Target saw:1
- >270% overall growth for same-day delivery
- >700% growth for Drive Up
- >60% growth for Order Pickup
- >350% growth for Shipt
Target’s same-day services continued to see rapid growth in Q2 2021. Building on the growth from Q2 2020, Target saw:1
- ~55% overall growth for same-day services
- >80% growth for Drive Up
- ~20% growth for Order Pickup
- >30% growth for Shipt
The key? Building confidence with consistency.
By creating an experience that meets guests’ expectations (for example, delivering the best Drive Up experience that feels in unison with our digital and in-store experiences), we’re building trust. When we consistently deliver on that experience, online and in-person, that trust strengthens. And we believe trust will continue to be a crucial currency in the future of e-commerce.
But how do we know what the future of e-commerce looks like and which trends will stick? Well, let’s ask the future.
3 insights into the future of e-commerce through the eyes of kids
To truly understand what the guest experience will look like in 10-plus years, let’s ask the youth. I watch my children ages 3, 5, and 7, and their expectations around technology and shopping are vastly different than mine.
While our current customers inform us about today’s e-commerce experiences, we must listen to the next generation to peek into the future of e-commerce. Here are three trends worth watching:
The future is human-focused. Our experiences must be, too.
Yes, those kids who are glued to their phones. The teens who taught us how to use TikTok and get us hooked on Minecraft. The ones who care about the planet and the ones who want to address bullying.
But to build meaningful, flexible, and personal guest experiences, we need to create experiences that speak to audiences the way they want to engage with brands.
At Target, we put the guest at the center of everything we do, so we built a media network that does that, too. Roundel develops media solutions that seamlessly fit within the guest experience for the way people shop, even as that method changes.
Contact us to learn more about Roundel and see how we can change media for good.
Sources
1Target.com, “Target Q2 2021 Highlights,” https://investors.target.com/static-files/1598c38b-841b-448d-8263-8de88c2e3049 (accessed September 20, 2021).
2Global Web Index, “Kids these days: what to know about your younger audiences,” 2021 report, https://www.gwi.com/reports/understanding-young-consumers (accessed August 9, 2021).
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