We recently attended the virtual Meet Magento UK 2020 conference, a day packed full of great content from a range of eCommerce experts.
Meet Magento UK returned for another year, but this time with a slightly different approach to previous events. Determined to connect the Magento community and continue on with the plans for this year’s conference, Meet Magento UK was hosted virtually, making it much easier for the Magento community to get involved across the globe. With an additional 2 talk tracks, this year’s Meet Magento covered sessions for Merchant Track, Technical Track, Platform Track and Solution Track, providing a greater variety of content for attendees.
With over 900 attendees and 34 speakers, we found this year’s Meet Magento UK to be a great success, with some fantastic takeaways for us to utilise. Not to mention the incredible £82,595 raised from ticket donations for their chosen charities.
Here are a few of our highlights from the day:
Tomorrow Came Early – the new normal of the customer buying experience
Starting with Peter Sheldon, Senior Director, Commerce Strategy at Adobe, we were introduced to the new normal. With COVID-19 accelerating the eCommerce industry by 3 years, putting it in the position expected to be reached around 2024, it’s incredible to see just how much the pandemic has pushed eCommerce along.
With eCommerce stocks rising and becoming the ‘Darlings of Wall Street’ and the US alone gaining a mindblowing $52B in additional online spend since the pandemic began, it’s clear to see that eCommerce is making waves across the globe. With so much demand and online shopping activity, it’s now even more important to focus on customer experience, sustainability and particular social aspects to ensure your brand stands out amongst the rest.
What impact has COVID-19 had on online retail?
We then attended a session led by Andy Mulcahy, Strategy and Insight Director IMRG who talked us through the impact COVID-19 has had on online retail and the world of eCommerce. With so many brands having to adapt to the new guidelines and struggles, we saw many suspending online sales and next day delivery options, with a delay in deliveries of up to 7 days and extended returns policies being put in place as a result of this. It’s also become beneficial to include a COVID-19 message on the site, to keep customers up to date with policies and business operations, as well as help to give them peace of mind when ordering.
Alongside this, with the Health and Beauty industry excelling throughout 2019 and the Garden industry at a low, it was interesting to see how since COVID-19, the Garden industry has seen a +138% overall increase in sales (YTD) with Health and Beauty, by contrast, seeing a +42% increase.
In light of the coronavirus pandemic, however, many companies have come together in support of our heroes on the frontline and started to offer discounts on footwear, clothing and in restaurants to thank them for their incredible efforts and dedication.
eCommerce Marketing – what you should be focusing on now to grow your business in 2020
Chloe Thomas, Author and Podcast host at eCommerce Masterplan, explored the different key areas that are going to help grow your business throughout 2020. It’s never been more crucial to be ready to make changes within your business and adapt to things going on around you, this approach can be the difference between you capturing the right audience at the right time or missing the boat altogether.
Making the most of key features including Google’s Data Studio can really help you with analysis and reporting, as well as making critical improvements that will help you to focus on the bigger picture and increase both customer satisfaction and your overall results.
Keeping a close eye on geographical locations is also an essential factor to consider throughout 2020. Monitoring which of these areas have the biggest impact, resulting in different returns on ad spend and marketing spend will help you to focus on the aspects of your strategy that will help you to target the right people at the right time.
Content-driven commerce is your future
Moving on to the content focused session, it was fascinating to listen to Vatsal Shah, Business Coach, Speaker and eCommerce Evangelist ComKeeda and Pragmatic Consultancy who walked through the different elements of a good content strategy.
Every single piece of content you create tells a story, so you want your content to embody your company persona and engage with your audience. So what key factors should you consider with your eCommerce content?
- Create a conversation or story with your audience, rather than direct selling
- Base your content creation on each type of user, such as B2B or B2C
- Provide interesting, informative content for your audience
Alongside the fantastic sessions and talks from industry experts, it was incredible to see just how much effort and time the Meet Magento sponsors and JH put into the event. With the current climate being so uncertain, it was great to interact with so many individuals within the world of eCommerce and raise money for such important causes.