eCommerce Merchandising Solutions for the Online Shopping Surge
eCommerce is not a new concept. Brands and retailers have been working to offer more of it for the past several years. We have a whole section on our Marketsupport blog dedicated to it and yet in Canada, eCommerce has struggled to truly take off. Until now.
What’s changed? We all know the answer. COVID-19, of course. In the wake of the pandemic, more Canadians have been shopping online than ever.
Statista reported that online sales of household appliances, electronics, building materials, and DIY have increased by 625% between March 11 and May 3, 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.
Statistics Canada reported that in April, eCommerce sales were up 120.3% year-over-year — a gain of $1.9 billion. While this may not have offset the loss of brick-and-mortar retail, it does highlight an important trend: that Canadians are more open to shopping online now.
There is one limitation to eCommerce, however — a brand or retailer’s capacity.
For instance, while there has been a rise in curbside pickup orders, some retailers encountered difficulties adjusting to the demand.
Other stores have acknowledged challenges in getting their eCommerce systems ready, or ready for a surge in business.
Retail Insider recently reported that while many grocers have turned to third-party delivery platforms, such as Instacart, those services can come with high fulfillment fees that may be too much for smaller grocers. There were also reports of larger grocers operating at a loss to pay for these types of expenses, which was tenable for the short-term, but not necessarily for the long-term.
We don’t need to write about the benefits of being eCommerce-capable during COVID-19 because we’ve all seen it in action. Retailers and brands that were ready to go online maintained customer loyalty, flexibility, and sales even with physical distancing guidelines in place.
However, what we do need to write about is how you can become — and remain — eCommerce-capable in a way that is scalable and sustainable for your brand over the long-term.
To that end, we have launched new solutions that support all your eCommerce merchandising needs.
We recently revealed the new Marketsupport Canada website and, with it, new services for digital. These include:
a) Online and Curbside Order Fulfillment
Also known as order picking, Marketsupport will go into the store and fulfil online orders for your brand or retailer. This can increase your capacity and serve clients faster — win-win.
Our solutions are scalable, so you can adapt to a higher volume of online orders or a lower volume. This can allow you to be truly omnichannel and continue to operate at a profit.
b) eCommerce CMS, Build-Outs, and Support
Part of having a great eCommerce offering is making sure that your website can support it. We will help you build an eCommerce-capable website that works for the long-term.
We’ll ensure that your eCommerce platform has all the features that you need and the capacity to scale as more orders come in.
We can also manage an existing eCommerce site, so your team doesn’t have to.
c) Digital Brand Management
You know that you need to take control of your brand in-store — but what about online?
It’s equally important to ensure that your product information is up-to-date and accurate on retailer’s websites. We can help. Just like in-store, Marketsupport will verify that your online information is complete and correct and we’ll also manage your online inventory levels so that you don’t have people seeing the dreaded “out of stock” message.
That’s not all. Our other eCommerce solutions include:
- Digital Brand Ambassadors
- Digital Merchandising
- Online Stock Management
- Emergency Responsiveness
- And more!
Be eCommerce ready, no matter what comes your way. Marketsupport Canada is here for you nationally on any channel.
Reach out to us today. Call 1-877-421-5081 or visit www.storesupport.ca.
What has been the biggest eCommerce challenge for your brand and how do you intend to correct it long-term? Share with us on social media. Marketsupport is on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
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