Emerging Trends in Express E-Commerce Industry

As the new normal in the commerce industry in general, e-commerce has seen a rapid rise in demand with the unfortunate COVID-19 pandemic, taking the whole industry to a whole new environment. Adobe Analytics’s report states that, compared to the year before, e-commerce sales have seen a 55% rise in the first seven months of 2020, and that there is no going back from the convenience of online shopping even after the pandemic. In a world where online shopping is the new norm, the competition is won by being fastest, instead of online versus offline. Yes, most customers want under-one-hour delivery, and they want it with a reasonable price tag. Like e-commerce, last-mile delivery, and other express e-commerce models will soon become common, and whoever acts quickly will be the real winners of the industry. In this article, we are going to share the latest trends and predictions for the express e-commerce arena.

Be in every neighborhood with warehouse partnerships

One of the biggest challenges in last-mile delivery is the range of warehouses. Brands need a warehouse to keep the promise of under-half-hour delivery. If you have a massive budget, that is not a problem, but for start-ups who lack the financial advantage, there is a new way. The FMCG industry is not the only one in need of a warehouse, and to be in almost every neighborhood, warehouse partnerships with other businesses might be the most effective approach until your business is on track.

There is no next step without analytics

Operating a business that has “express” in its name requires you to take quick action, and those actions need to be based on reliable insights. Yes, we are talking about the importance of data. Extracting user data is not the challenging part; analyzing the information is. Address intelligence, a relatively new trend that developed with big data, shows start-ups new locations to expand their businesses too. With our Express E-Commerce Module, you will have the most essential data in the module’s administration panel analyzed for you. You can see the shopping patterns of different areas, age groups, genders, and even the estimated income groups. In the end, your marketing team can take quick action while planning the next step for your campaign. More importantly, however, you can see the preferences of unique customer profiles to update your store inventory with the right products. Remember that the situation needs to be “win-win” for new businesses to stand out, and data analysis is the key.

The business of the future is environmentally conscious

Being environmentally-conscious is not only a trend but is vital in many ways for businesses that think seriously. There are many ways of going to carbon-free and environmentally-friendly. We know that when you look at them as a whole, it may look a lot, but you have to begin somewhere. The new generations of customers don’t care about decades-old brands; they prefer buying from ones that care about sustainability. According to a 2015 report from Nielsen, 66% of consumers were willing to pay extra for products from sustainable brands and, in the millennials’ case, the number was 73%.

Even eliminating the use of plastic bags is a good start. To really stand out, however, express e-commerce businesses are going carbon-free with their couriers, using electric scooters, e-invoices, and sustainable packaging. Companies with massive budgets are testing drone delivery and other automated delivery processes but, for now, going carbon neutral seems to be enough for a start-up.

Beat the competition with personalized coupons and codes

The industry is well aware of the fact that last-mile delivery is one of the most profitable strategies in the modern era. Therefore, naturally, we are seeing newcomers, including start-ups and grocery giants, in the area almost every month. In an environment where competition is fierce, the most reasonable way to stand out and get ahead seems to be cutting-edge loyalty programs that work based on personalized offers.

Of course, it depends on how aggressive your “loyalty” strategy is going to be, but it doesn’t need to be over the top. As we have mentioned above, data should be the center of your business and, if you can manage to personalize it, you can save a considerable amount. Accordingly, we have built our express e-commerce platform with a data-centric approach. With our platform, you can see personalized offer options for different customer profiles and get the best outcomes. IDC’s Consumer Digital Retailing Survey from December 2018 claims that 63% of shoppers value personalization and 71% of them expect good promotions that fit their shopping preferences.

In a faster-moving business model like express retail, personalized offers make an even higher impact on the profitability of businesses, since consumers don’t want to miss the chance to buy what they want for a smaller price tag. The best part is that selling the same product for less doesn’t mean less profit in the express e-commerce model, since the products are only one side of the profit-making process. When you add the minimum basket limit and delivery fees, profit adds up. With Ubimecs Express E-Commerce Platform, you can create automated coupons and codes that are perfectly personalized.

Why express retail is a win-win-win

According to Gartner’s express e-commerce study, fast order delivery increases customer satisfaction by 18%, and also increases basket size per user by 4%, which is the real profitability point of the last-mile FMCG business model. When you combine all of this information, you get the most striking statistic, as laid out by Statista: express e-commerce platforms make $11 more per user compared to other e-commerce platforms.

It may be a long road to building an express e-commerce business, but our platforms are ready to ease the process. You can learn more about our Express E-Commerce Module by visiting our page.