Beyond everything, the overall outcome of your E-commerce marketing efforts depends on the tools, technologies, and processes utilised to produce transaction results. There are numerous possibilities for businesses to meticulously market offerings online to reach their target audience. We will focus on everything E-tailers need to know to improve their conversions in 2022 and beyond.

Evolving Consumerism

Technology is shifting the power from brands to customers who are well-informed and have more options based on current online buying trends and a growing online customer base worldwide. From various online shopping portals to established social network sites to virtual shopping wallets to scannable print ads, brands can engage with customers in new-age digital methods. Consumer-facing brands must develop strategies to suit changing consumer preferences, including new formats or payment methods. Customers want the purchasing process to take as little time as possible, and transforming E-commerce is the driving force behind all the UX enhancement. 

Staying Top-of-Mind

To attract leads, get referrals and retain loyal customers, businesses need to build awareness and rank top of mind. They need to be the most remembered or risk losing to the competition. As more customers increase the time they spend on social platforms, it makes sense for brands to expand their reach. Use hashtags, social commerce, and performance marketing to expand visibility.  Digital advertising creates highly targeted, highly efficient campaigns. Isolate consumers who are most likely to convert, remarket the same audience, maximising digital ROI and preventing ad dollars from going toward people who aren’t expected to buy. By investing in SEO services, your target audience finds you and slips into your E-commerce funnel before they’ve even heard of your competitors. It gives a huge chance to establish thought-leadership. Driving E-commerce Trends Keeping up with the latest technology and implementing new processes and tools into your organisation is critical to staying ahead of the competition. AI has been integrated into all primary digital marketing methods, including SEO and SEM, to make the results more rewarding for firms. Myntra’s M-Live is its first step into the world of live commerce. M-Live is an expert-assisted offline interaction that is fully experienced online. This move is "likely to engage 50% of its monthly active users" over the next few years, while currently, it engages about 20% of them.  If your brand is committed to environmental sustainability and supports social concerns, take a step forward and include it in your marketing. You are bound to get the social support your brand needs.

Convincing On-The-Fence Prospects

Not all bottom-funnel prospects are equally close to your checkout. Some of them might have concerns about your delivery options, whereas others might need a payment reminder. At this stage, knowing where frictions in the buyer’s journey typically occur, businesses can identify possible obstacles to buying and remove them with timely intervention. One way to reduce pre-sales friction is to identify web visitors attempting to exit the payment gateway and lure them with exclusive limited-time discounts to grab attention and hasten the sale. When businesses figure out the ‘why’ behind user intent, it shifts their attitude to truly wanting to connect the work they do with the value they create for customers. 

Encouraging Social Purchases

By brand positioning as an industry leader and consistently sharing valuable content with your potential customers, the chances that your qualified prospects will make purchases are much higher. Rather than attempting to persuade customers to visit your website, allow them to purchase your things right from their feeds. This option is available on Instagram and Facebook. To add value, start responding to what people are saying about your brand on social media. By contributing to these conversations, You give value to a prospect's network and get YOUR name on THEIR radar by participating in these conversations. Newly created sales leads captured on social channels should be tagged in your CRM to track their progress through the entire sales funnel. This will help you attribute costs to social efforts and calculate revenue and results.

New Wave of Elevation

Customers are no longer wholly influenced by what ads say because they also check for reviews, relying on the opinions of others. They prefer to do business with organisations they can trust, which has become a key factor in developing a marketing plan. Furthermore, potential clients are interested in companies that know them and have established personalised interactions to respond to their anticipated needs. Beyond the standard norm, there is a plethora of E-commerce marketing strategies you may use to attract traffic to your online business. Embracing evolution and growing along with it is something that will make you the true new-age marketeer. 

The ever-changing nature of SEO is well-known. New search engine algorithms are released on a regular basis, often without notice, new SEO tools pop up like mushrooms, and new ranking tactics are discovered virtually every day, among other things. It's difficult to keep up with what's going on in the SEO world. SEO is a relatively young marketing discipline that moves at a dizzying pace. It's nearly unrecognisable from when we first started. But with the best SEO company in India, you can always stay updated and make the right decisions for your business Here are the 4 most essential B2B SEO trends for 2022 to help you improve your B2B SEO game.

Increase Focus For Mobile Optimization

Mobile-friendliness is another issue your B2B brand shouldn't overlook when it comes to page experience signals since the B2B sector continues to rely on digital interactions for sales. That implies selling using digital channels that B2B buyers use, particularly mobile devices, rather than traditional, offline ways. If you want to earn more business this year, it's time to examine your mobile SEO budget with the best SEO company in India. Ensure that your target audience's digital experiences are consistent, smooth, and user-friendly, regardless of the device they're using. This ensures that when visitors arrive on your website, they do not click away, lowering your bounce rate. User testing and conversion rate optimization are essential tasks that should be performed on a regular basis in order to optimise the value of your traffic.

E-A-T And YMYL

The letters E-A-T stand for expertise, authority, and trust. These are the criteria that Google utilises in their Search Quality Rater. In 2019, it ushered in a paradigm shift in the SEO industry, and it's still a huge concern in 2022. YMYL, on the other hand, stands for "your money, your life." It refers to speciality websites that can have a significant impact on a person's health, safety, financial stability, and happiness. B2B companies that deal with these themes need to elevate their game with the help of the best SEO company in India if they want to improve their rankings and visibility.

SERP Marketing

Google has been working behind the scenes to fine-tune its infrastructure so that it can deliver important information directly from the search engine results page (SERP). Knowledge panels, infographics, FAQs, and carousels, sometimes known as "zero position" snippets, can eliminate the need for visitors to click on actual results. Practices that optimise for rich snippet placements are part of SERP marketing. B2B companies, in particular, rely on the best SEO services in India and SERP marketing to deliver information as quickly as feasible.

No More Third-Party Cookies

Third-party cookies might be perceived as intrusive, despite their usefulness in providing users with customised experiences. They also cause a lot of concern in those who are concerned about firms tracking their online activities. Now, here's the deal for B2B businesses: you'll have to rethink your organic and paid marketing strategies with the help of the best SEO services in India. Developing your own "data centre" with first-party data gathered from your audience is a wise line of action. This entails determining your target audience, specifying the critical metrics to be collected, and obtaining tools to track them. Without a question, B2B SEO is a difficult task but made easy with the help of the best SEO services in India. B2B firms must keep up with the latest trends and techniques in addition to months of work—optimizing a website and generating links. Focusing on the aforementioned trends will offer your B2B agency a leg up. Always keep in mind that SEO is a long-term strategy. While being current with trends is vital in the short term, you should also be prepared to respond to changes and search algorithm adjustments as they occur. So, if you are looking for the right best SEO services in India then your search ends here, connect with #ARM Worldwide and end your SEO worries now. 

Technology has taken centre stage in today's world, from our daily lives to the way corporations are operated. The impact of this digital transformation can be observed in practically every industry, and education is no exception. The EdTech industry has seen rapid innovation in marketing methods, user engagement, content design, and E-learning technologies since the pandemic. This highlights an opportunity for transforming E-commerce platforms with a huge potential for running businesses and driving them to greater heights.  We will focus on how E-commerce solutions can help the education sector transform.

Dissecting the Indian EdTech

As several names enter the industry, it is important to identify players who are assuring proven results and provide rich experiences. It will help bring authenticity to offerings and improve competitive innovation. EdTech giants, like BYJU’S, Unacademy, upGrad, and others make for a total market size of around $800 million and are headed for 10 times the growth in the next 5 to 10 years. Trends like simulation of concepts, level advancement badges, and incentive-based learning are driving user engagement on Edtech platforms like Cuemath. Teachmint, a start-up that helps teachers and institutions create their own virtual classrooms, raised $78 million in 2021. The new round of funding values the company at $500 million.

Digital Intelligence Quotient 

E-commerce in the Indian education sector is set to improve connections within the educational sector, allowing for massive vertical and horizontal integration of critical business processes. The pace of digital adoption by education providers has been rapid as most players transitioned to online methodologies to ensure learning continuity while replicating in-person experiences online. This has led to implications that programs in business education will reflect grand changes in technology, creating new opportunities for students to work in the rewarding E-commerce sector. A record-setting number of opportunity-seeking investors have pumped in millions of funds into EdTech ventures to accelerate their businesses and bring their digital solutions to life. 

The D2C E-learning Gambit 

EdTech enterprises and E-learning platforms, in partnership with top institutions and corporations, have launched a variety of online programmes aimed at both students and professionals. The rise and increased adoption attracted more investment in EdTech and E-learning. This funding has boosted the sector's growth and raised the success rate of EdTech start-ups. The D2C sector is focusing on long-term growth by providing effective ways for seamless education that are supported by digital solutions relevant to the worldwide market. D2C brands have set the stage for online education to be India's next digital export to the world, with over 5000 EdTech startups across the learning life-cycle.

Metamorphosis of EdTech

In a relatively brief timeframe, virtual education and the sector altogether have undergone a complete transformation due to rapid development in digital technologies. EdTech startups combine many innovative features and approaches in their content marketing, delivery, and platforms. Such innovations are set to significantly transform the mainstream education system. There is a growing need for immersive learning experiences that, in the absence of physical spaces like labs and classrooms, can replicate a school-like environment online. Gamification, simulation-based experiential learning through VR-AR, AI & ML-powered automation, online image management, micro-learning, outcome-oriented learning, and many other features and approaches are being implemented to enhance online teaching and learning. 

Paramount EdTech Spaces

EdTech has genuinely disrupted the industry in the latest years. This opens the road for further diversification of Edtech spaces for brands to utilise. Learning management systems (LMS) brings together administrative tools that allow tracking and reporting of student-related information. By moving outside the traditional classroom, LMS platforms promote open and flexible conditions for education. Using collaboration platforms, AI devices, AR & VR, teachers can help develop key Social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies and boost the learners’ collaboration and communication. Online course providers cope with the rising demand for quality content from top contributors by adding more diversified affiliate programs, paid elements, and extending partnerships with educational institutions.

The Next Chapter

Due to continual technical improvements, many companies have developed in the Indian EdTech business, allowing the ed-tech ecosystem to evolve holistically. EdTech startups appeal to investors as they swiftly adapt to new technology and deliver a high return on investment. As the post-pandemic environment continues to increase the need for remote learning, the demand for EdTech companies among students and parents is growing. Various strategies and changes aimed at improving the EdTech business and improving students' remote learning experiences are announced by the Indian Government. Moreover, since technology can transcend geographical barriers, EdTech has the potential to bridge the gap between instructors and students. Therefore, embracing the unexpected and experimenting with new technology are the first steps towards harnessing its potential and promise.

E-commerce technology has a number of perks when it comes to building a strong business ecosystem. As we look into the future, modern brands anticipate redirecting the overall customer experience from leading markets and industries. To keep ahead of the curve, businesses need to catch up with cutting-edge E-commerce technology trends. E-commerce businesses are constantly expanding their online presence and offering more sophisticated ways to interact with their customers. These advancements have resulted in an engaging, thriving, and sophisticated E-commerce market. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg that will further require robust technology mettle. Let's have a look at the immensity of E-commerce solutions that technology will fuel and bring to fruition in 2022 and beyond:

Growing Tech in E-commerce

The emerging popularity of digital branding is directly related to the evolution of new E-commerce technologies, which have made online shopping more simple and convenient than ever. Social Commerce opens up new company prospects such as brand promotion, customer service, and motivating customers to shop. Recently, Livestream commerce is becoming popular, and businesses are investing in it in a variety of ways to increase customer interest and urgency by using limited-time deals. Another contemporary trend that is transforming E-commerce technology is BOPIS (buy online, pick up in-store). This type of transaction entails purchasing or retaining a product online and picking it up at a store or from a pickup site.

Redefining Customer Experience

The combination of every touchpoint, engagement, thought, or sensation that occurs or is shared between the customer and your business sums up the ultimate E-commerce customer experience. AI is used to mimic human-to-human interaction and offers round-the-clock assistance to consumers. They can now obtain product ratings, check product availability, place orders, and calculate prices. Conversions can be considerably evolved with omnichannel marketing. Businesses can use AR and VR technologies to create innovative marketing campaigns while also generating brand awareness and enhancing brand positioning. With the improved technology, conducting audits of UI/UX services helps to understand the customer's perspective, further leading the brands to serve better according to the needs of the customers. 

D2C and Personalisation

Personalised solutions for E-commerce boost sales, consumer engagement, and loyalty. 45%  of customers believe they are more likely to shop on an E-commerce site that allows them to customise their experience. Adopting a targeted approach to selling a product that is tailored to users’ behaviours and preferences will undoubtedly appeal to them and ultimately improve sales.  Customisable landing pages, targeted adverts, and curated email messages enable users to find relevant material that fits their requirements, thus, helping businesses build long-term relationships with customers. D2C comes with enormous advantages – from mutual price benefits to the ability to collect first-hand customer information for future products/ services. Also, restructuring operations and delivery systems will be key to staying in business.

Making Selling as Easy as Buying 

The traditional focus in the E-commerce industry has always been on the buying experience from the buyer's perspective. In addition to facilitating seamless buying, technology is also assisting sellers. Remote management of sustainable E-commerce platforms is now possible due to easy access to real-time communication, information transfer, logistical processing, and online networking. Sellers no longer need to micromanage every part of E-commerce, nor do they need massive startup bucks as technology plays its part in maintaining records and managing things at the ground level. Conversational marketing, a novel concept, has enabled two-way communication, opening new opportunities for E-commerce success. Merchants can foresee customers’ wants and optimise sales by employing technology and machine intelligence in E-commerce.

E-commerce 2.0

For several enterprises of varying sizes, E-commerce and digitisation have been the game changers in reaching different kinds of populations. It is not only simple and easy to use, but it also helps with a variety of functions, making E-commerce available to people all across the country. It will only be a fraction of time before the industry develops in unimaginable ways. The communication between businesses and their customers is improved via technological advancements, and therefore, merchants are embracing the latest technologies at a faster rate to survive, provide optimum customer experience, and make their voices heard in this competitive field. The suitable technology for E-commerce and retail solutions providers, on the other hand, is critical for assuring efficient, cost-effective, and tailored retail technology solutions for both online and offline retail. Modern technologies such as AR, big data, VR, enterprise resource planning (ERP), AI, and others enable E-commerce enterprises to develop and thrive. 

More and more D2C brands are now beginning to focus on building known brands and increasing brand awareness for key audiences. However, the consumer's path to purchase is quite complex, requiring just the right amount of steering prospects from a target audience toward awareness, contemplation and ultimate decision-making. And while quick wins may work for the short term, they're not an ideal substitute for long-term strategies and eternal success. Read on to see how D2C brands can climb out of this issue and become a sustainable businesses for the future:

Identifying Industry Pain Points 

E-commerce has evolved and grown to play a bigger role in customers' lives than ever before. With such an evident opportunity, competition is fierce, and so are the pain points in the E-commerce industry. With the current fast-paced nature of the Internet, the long hours and high cost consumed in content creation and purchasing act as major pain points in the growth of the transforming E-commerce industry. The outcome of the vast investment in performance marketing by D2C brands is not viable due to the oversaturated markets pushing up the costs of customer acquisition (CAC). In addition, fast-moving marketers striving for instant gratification continually overlook the importance of recognition, but it's actually a vital piece of getting into a consumer's consideration set.

Uncovering Brand Awareness

Your customers need to know about you if they will buy from you. When the competition gets fierce, that means it's time to really lean into building brand awareness. Therefore, brand awareness and visibility should be a top priority. These can be accomplished via various strategies, including social, organic search, media mentions, offline promotions, and more. Company leaders must understand the importance of allocating marketing budgets without expecting a Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS) to sustain a thriving and well-known business. Planning for sustainable customer acquisitions in our hyper-connected world means returning to the basics and restructuring the digitally-native foundation on building awareness.

Building Prominent Digital Presence

Due to the increased social media usage, the brand-customer relationship is also evolving. In the eyes of the public, a brand's digital presence impacts its overall brand identity. Therefore, D2C firms should ensure their website is visually appealing, mobile-friendly, with high-quality images and all payment alternatives, including COD, as this improves their social media presence. D2C brands integrating digital presence encourage consumers to complete the entire purchasing experience without leaving their preferred app, assisting them in their brand discovery process. In addition, with the increasing adoption of influencer marketing, D2C brands can invest in the same as it builds trust among the target market and enhances the brand's visibility. 

Making Way for D2C Brands

Building a strong CX requires a foundational shift in strategy, where digital advertising isn't always the silver bullet. Achieving reliable CX at every touchpoint involves marketers reaching out across channels. 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family more than any other form of advertising. So, running a referral program means unlocking sales potential without dropping a ton of money on ads; referral incentives need not be extravagant to work.   Brand awareness campaigns aim to grab the target audience's attention and convey that your business provides value. Your audience must think of you first when they need your product/service. D2C businesses must heavily depend on 'inbound' marketing services and traffic for sales on their website as it's key to generating greater revenue, loyal consumers, referral traffic from links, and larger shares.

Amplifying D2C SEO

Consumers today have complete control over their purchase journey and decisions. This is why companies have the chance to offer flawless shopping experiences across all touchpoints by going D2C. In addition, modest maintenance efforts, high-quality content-oriented marketing, digital branding, and SEO services might very well deliver online visibility to a D2C business for months or even years. Since search algorithms employ meta tags to comprehend information, identify keywords, and set ranks, meta-data improvement is a critical SEO tactic for D2C marketing techniques. Additionally, content is an important aspect of D2C marketing since it is essential to every aspect of brand building and is one of the most significant SEO ranking variables.

What's Next?

The rising cost of acquiring customers is a signal that we're nearing saturation, and many brands will face the reality that digital strategies alone no longer pay off. The current state of E-commerce is forcing marketers to think about other ways to attract new customers and retain existing ones. They need to lower ever-increasing advertising costs and focus on generating brand awareness. The goal is to be a customer's first port of call when they need the product you sell — not catching them by chance through a paid advert. Brand awareness is the name of the game for D2C. If you know where prospects are looking and put your business in front of them consistently in a way that attracts and interests them, you will be in good shape!

The growing popularity of visionary manufacturers that sell directly to consumers has made waves within the healthcare industry. Wellness marketplaces and online pharmacies in India have been steadily evolving over the years. With consumer interest in D2C digital health soaring and new telehealth startups launching every month, exciting movements are to track.  We’re highlighting some of the most innovative ways. For example, E-commerce healthcare companies are offering virtual health services.

Impact of E-commerce on Healthcare Providers

New Age of Consumerism

The recent rise in GDP and yearning for basic healthcare amenities among the population has helped and allowed e-tailing players in healthcare to dive in for the opportunities present for them in the sector. Moving from patient records to “Health Biographies”, we will see a change in cyber physicians detecting changes through sensors. This will encourage swift preventive measures of treatments. The control has shifted from sellers to consumers, forcing e-tailers to work on improving customer experience through facilities like same-day delivery and direct-to-door supplies, along with chat services and real-time patient support to ensure they derive better value. Fascinatingly, telemedicine can be combined with pharmaceutical E-commerce to deliver a smooth patient experience. Patients can chat with a physician/doctor about their symptoms, get diagnosed, and receive medication, all within a few hours.

Ideal for D2C Brands

When D2C brands invest in creating online communities, they emanate and establish themselves as understanding, customer-centric companies focusing on holistic practices, not just sales. By customising acquisition strategies, care delivery approaches, and payment models to fit the varying needs of consumers, D2C companies have successfully captured a broader consumer base. Brands can deliver relevant educational materials through push notifications or alerts based on user actions or in-the-moment biometrics. This one-to-one approach provides the personalised care that consumers demand from all companies they engage with. In addition, D2C brands can fill the ‘instant everything’ mentality that consumers have become accustomed to thanks to E-commerce, a convenience that more traditional healthcare providers may not offer.

The Winning Approach

Taking a holistic look at the industry, healthcare E-commerce is poised for an exciting period of exploding growth. This is envisioned to lead to substantial investments in supporting infrastructure and game-changing business models. Features like video conferencing, telemedicine, online consultancy, and elderly and palliative caregivers are some new opportunities/innovations changing the entire healthcare industry in India. Focus on analytics and vital metrics like click-through rate on campaigns and conversion indicating the location of the majority of the traffic and sales will help e-tailers gain better and deeper insights. To make the best of such an opportune time, Flipkart tied up with E-pharmacy leader 1mg to distribute medicines. Amazon applied for licences and began a pilot project within Bengaluru.

High Calibre Collaborations

D2C brands should look to establish a dynamic online community where customers can discuss their health journeys and solicit support and advice from peers in a safe atmosphere. Sites must have a short server load time and feature easy navigation and menus throughout. Furthermore, the site should adequately represent its dedication to and specialities in patient care. Like the ease of doing business is deeply connected to the easy access & availability of permits without running around, digital marketing in healthcare has chosen one-stop solution providers to emerge as the frontrunners. Digital health companies acquire consumers through key stakeholder channels like health systems, payers, pharma, or employers. Through these partnerships, they gain access to consumers by directly marketing to the organisation’s patients, members, or employees.

Healthtech in India

Technology-infused tools are being integrated with digital marketing in healthcare experience to resolve two key trouble spots in the industry: quality and efficiency. The healthtech industry is currently led by players like PharmEasy, Reliance-backed Netmeds, Tata group-backed 1mg, Medlife, and MediBuddy, among others. By personalising everything from insurance payments to diets & sleep patterns, healthtech companies amplify human health and reduce unnecessary strain on the industry. According to a Mckinsey report, India could save up to $10 Bn in 2025 by using telemedicine instead of in-person doctor consultations. Prominent telemedicine startups in India include Practo, MFine, Lybrate, and DocsApp.

Prescribe For Growth

Healthcare E-commerce is an effect of digital transformation of our image of traditional healthcare. In addition to growing accessibility, E-commerce in healthcare can boost efficiency, lower costs, and ultimately lead to happier and healthier patients. With an increasing number of people around the world showing interest in marketing ideas and developments that will enhance health and fitness, it becomes crucial to measure the success and benefits associated with E-commerce in the wellness sector. Thus, as with any new innovation, healthcare E-commerce is an undeniably good force that must be used with clever and imaginative thinking.

There is immense growth potential in India's Fashion E-commerce domain, especially as we move towards the world of multiple touchpoints, where brands are looking to connect with consumers online. India's online fashion retail market share is expected to increase by $22.97 billion from 2021 to 2026. The market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 18.83%.  Read on to see how Fashion E-commerce brands can deploy strategies to address the evolving customer needs and create rich brand experiences.

What do Visitors want?

Fashion comes alive with what can be seen. For an E-commerce business planning to survive in the digital transformation, visibility isn't just about boldness. It's about catching the right set of  eyes for both short and long-term growth. Leading fashion retailers leverage shoppable content, visual commerce, and social media to deliver the optimal brand discovery experience.  Myntra, India's 3rd largest online marketplace, has a "Try and Buy" service available in 31 cities, allowing users to order multiple items and only pay for the ones they want after delivery has been made. Powered by stunning visuals, clever styling algorithms, and sometimes input from human stylists, fashion retailers have built tremendous amounts of brand loyalty to increase average order value (AOV).

Investing in Technology

The fashion industry is tough, and many brands are in a massive digital transformation. Retailers need to embrace trends, tools and technologies that will allow them to win the loyalty of today's shoppers. Utilising interactive visual design like VR, AR, and 3D imagery, brands can give a better sensory experience and an understanding of what to expect with their product while shopping online. A survey found that 66% of people are interested in using augmented reality technology for help when shopping. They like to visualise where and how a product would fit into their lives. Transforming E-commerce players like Zovi and Roposo have created standardised virtual trial rooms helping consumers try on the product virtually so they can get an overall appeal of a product.

Social Media: The Game Changer

Far from being just a buzzword, social media commerce is now a channel adapted for digital branding, especially by D2C brands. As a result, social commerce will reach astronomical levels, with India projected to have more than 228 million social commerce shoppers by the end of 2022, a 45% jump from the current user base. Write accurate product descriptions and provide consumer feedback in a collapsible form to allow possible consumers to quickly learn what everyone has to say about the item in question. The BNPL (buy now pay later) is a feature increasingly preferred by consumers. It allows consumers to make their purchases at the click of a button and enables brands to minimise cart abandonment and increase their order conversions.

Build on SEO Strategies

Standing out from big-box retailers is tough, especially when they dominate on SERPs. So it's important to look for unique SEO services and strategies to increase visibility, website traffic and brand awareness. Researching words with a high search volume and low keyword difficulty is recommended. And after making a list, be sure to categorise these words so that you know what pages to optimise. Fashion brands can take advantage of seasonality and keywords surrounding current/upcoming trends and special events like Christmas sweaters, spring dresses, etc. It's critical to optimise title tags, meta descriptions and product descriptions to rank organically for the specified keywords. A report states that keywords with 'near me' phrases are likely to increase conversions. At least 28% of all searches for a product or service nearby will result in a purchase. 

Deploying Omnichannel Marketing

All marketplaces are currently battling for consumer attention and brand positioning. For fashion brands with a powerful omnichannel presence, their efforts are really paying off! Meesho has a social commerce model, encouraging user interaction via the mobile app and providing a platform to sell through Facebook, Instagram and other social networks. The overall average open rate for cart abandonment emails is 40%, with a CTR of almost 29%. Therefore, retargeting on email is the easiest way to fix abandoned carts and turn hesitating subscribers into full-time customers. Cross-selling and Upselling are common methods for order confirmation emails or receipt of delivery emails. For example, a simple next-order discount coupon can make users come back sooner than expected.

Final Thoughts

By 2025, E-commerce is expected to account for one-third of all global fashion sales. As fashion inches towards rosier conditions worldwide, industry leaders have a more hopeful outlook than last year. The E-commerce industry will keep evolving at breakneck speed for the foreseeable future, and preparing yourself, and your brand for these advancements will arm you with the skills you need to grow your fashion E-commerce store in 2022 and beyond!

Rural Marketing Association of India (RMAI) recently organized #DecadeofChange: a panel discussion on the journey of media in rural India, highlighting the evolution of rural communication. Mr. Raj Kumar Jha, Director Rural Campus & General Secretary, RMAI moderated the discussion between Mr. Ritesh Singh, MD & CO-FOUNDER #ARM Worldwide, Ms. Kalpana Kaul Raina, COO, Impact Communications, and Mr. Vikas Dhand, Regional Sales Director, Tata Consumer Products Ltd. The discussion revolved around the options that brands have in terms of rural communication and how can RMAI help them in terms of media planning.

The Journey of Rural Communication

Mr. Jha spoke about the time when video vans with big projection screens used to be the star of the show as there was no television. At that time brands were spending more money on marketing channels rather than consumer channels, this later shifted to doing more event-based experiential marketing activations and demos for the consumers. All this is now being amplified by digital media. Mr. Jha believes that the process of change is more nostalgic than the change itself.

Kalpana Kaul shed light on a few interesting facts about the rural population which is presently about 840 million spread in 36 union territories, 707 districts & 6 lakhs plus villages, 68% of the population is contributing to GDP, a total of 17 crore households. The literacy rate has now reached 67%, 50% of GDP contribution. She is getting much more business for the rural market from her clients. “63 percent of India’s population, especially rural, is below 30. So, these young minds were probably 9 years to 12 years, when they had the advent of mass media and saw the mobile phone. Data suggests that 71 percent of them are doing some online purchases and that every third person has a personalized mobile device. Brands have to keep this information in mind when they are reaching out to consumers.” shared Kalpana. She suggested adding a digital leg to all the physical activations that are a part of rural communication. It is good to leave a toll-free number even for a simple visibility drive and ask consumers to call for a service or even a bit of expert advice. While physical marketing is a must and mandatory to acquire the consumer space in rural areas, digital marketing will help in the sustainability of these campaigns.

She spoke about one of the very awarded programs by Tata called Tata Kisan Sansar which was aimed at offering end-to-end Agri solutions to farmers through the online call center. It was a loyalty program named ‘Sparsh’ where all that the farmers had to do was give a missed call to seek any help that they needed, and just this one activity led the company to acquire a huge farmer database and scale up the agribusiness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TPnfyEfgb0

The last two years have seen a huge shift in rural communication and Agri companies are shaping up phenomenally for this change and so are the pharmaceutical or health tech companies. These companies are creating a lot of awareness using digital platforms such as YouTube lives encouraging consumers to download apps and check notifications. Moreover, 90% of businesses have now adopted some form of digital marketing in their outreach plan.

Due to the pandemic, activations involving big gatherings were not taking place in the rural market but now brands especially FMCG companies are once again wanting to do large outreach activities and even consumers are wanting to engage. These activations and events are being broadcasted to a greater number of audiences through digital media such as YouTube live etc. Therefore, Digital media is playing an important role in helping sustain these conversations effectively.

In the FMCG category, one of the Men’s grooming brands organized activities around shaving products using kiosks and loudspeaker vans. They asked men to register with their smartphones, noted their age and preferences for shaving, and gave them a Yuva kit as a gift with YouTube links to watch videos on how to deal with real-life challenges such as college admissions, ragging, and interviews that the youth generally face. So, brands are experimenting with promoter-led activities, agencies are gearing up to support the brands and of course, digital is amplifying the game like never before.

“The consumption of rural communication has significantly changed in the last two years due to the covid 19 pandemic but the rural consumers are more specific to details and they don’t have a ready reckoner just like the urban population has. So, for them, one has to use something like a wall painting or a demo that can give them top-of-the-mind recall. Another thing for the marketeer to see is the ROI as every state is different in terms of consumption of media and it’s important as well as easier to make sure to have a uniform consumption through BTL activities.” shared Vikas Dhand

 The use of media depends largely on the category and also the objective of communication. For example, a handwash or a sanitizer brand already has a lot of awareness in the rural market so they will not require a lot of experience-based activations. Similarly, healthcare, finance, or FMCG will have its own set of goals, market penetration, and demarcations and may use digital media according to that. But if we look at agriculture which is a highly influence-led sector, influencers play a big role in terms of advising a farmer and helping them generate profits, added Vikas Dhand.

 “Since the time of the video on wheels to this day and age, the principles of marketing are the same but it is the media formats that have evolved and are continuing to change. Digital has joined hands with BTL and we are seeing the addition of voice & audio as well alongside the video. Now brands are delivering digital experiences to the consumers in the local language and vernacular will be the next reality. If we look at it from the experiential marketing perspective both digital & activation are complementing each other in terms of reach and frequency of the communication. Digital can facilitate both one-to-one as well as one-to-many formats of communication.” says Ritesh Singh

Phygital Marketing: Physical activations amplified with Digital Marketing

Rural consumers need to be pampered as much as the urban consumer as there are plenty of choices available to them now. Brands have to face tough competition and fight for their share of the market in the rural space. Therefore, it is imperative to use various mediums, using hoardings or wall paintings on bus stands or catching consumers at Melas or Haats, all can be used for the outreach. Driving sales through referral programs, retail activation, and influencer marketing can all be managed very well through digital. Therefore, digital can challenge the activation formats in the future.

Content, context, and credibility are essential parts of a communication campaign and they all are present in the digital space as much as they are in the physical marketing space, and that too with specifics and at the speed of light. But apart from the marketing side, the business side is also important, and creating a moment of truth for the customer at the point of sale is necessary. So physical marketing will be here to stay amplified by the digital media and therefore, we may call it the ‘Phygital Marketing’.

BTL can provide real content and can be used to amplify digital marketing. Principles of marketing won’t change; a film will still be used to establish an emotional connection with the consumer, irrespective of the platform. A lot of DIY and How-to videos are being created for the digital format. Online shopping & commerce is booming big time even on messaging platforms like WhatsApp. Now dairy farmers can even sell or purchase animals online through the Animall app. These are some revolutionary changes that are noteworthy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRAa79x4aHU

Ritesh mentioned that there are plenty of consumers who have turned into Influencers and are providing a lot of data to reach the right target audience. Taking Agribusiness as an example, even specific details like the type of soil, crops, seasonality, pesticides as well as the number of fertilizers or manure that are required to be put in the field is available on the internet through these expert influencers. So, influencer marketing has evolved over time and now it has reached a level where brands are more than happy to leverage it. All the data in terms of location, language, and consumers are available for brands to do smart geo-targeting. One can collect a lot of data from influencers and plan the campaign accordingly. An online influencer like lallantop can come at a much lesser cost and provide a greater reach than getting a cliched celebrity endorsement 

Kalpana spoke about a program targeted at the children of rural electricians named Shiksha Jyoti which was organized by KEI wires & cables company to make education accessible to all. Children were given books that they could download and study despite the Covid restrictions. Udemy also provided vouchers for online courses which were used very effectively by the rural children. Many such corporate social responsibility initiatives can become successful by using digital platforms. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29zLoK9AiNQ

So, selecting the correct media mix will depend on the category and objective of the brand but all mediums have a role to play. Digital has given voice to people and people are expressing that voice and that expression is being appraised & praised by the followers. 

With just 31% of internet penetration in rural India, there is a lot more work that can be done in terms of digitizing the rural market.

#ARMWorldwide has a dedicated team that can help you out on your digital transformation journey. Contact us to grow & transform together.

The Indian rural market is on the very edge of an E-com Revolution. It ensures untapped potential to become the market leader for most E-commerce business enthusiasts and budding entrepreneurs looking forward to a major digital transformation and digital branding. As per IAMAI, India stands second in rank in the number of internet users (451 million active users). This number encompasses urban as well as rural areas. Furthermore, E-commerce has a pivotal role in various sectors of rural India. Let’s see how it is uplifting the way of living of people belonging to rural backgrounds and bringing transformative changes in the thought process.

Opportunity for E-commerce Players

The addition of new products available for E-shopping, rising prosperity levels in Tier 2 & 3 towns, and increasing penetration of smartphones will fuel the next phase of growth of India's E-commerce sector. E-commerce platforms like Amazon pilot mass distribution in the rural market to benefit small-town customers. The data shows that Amazon covered about 90% of villages for delivery. Additionally, consumer demand for E-commerce in rural areas is expected to skyrocket. Now that everyone has easy access to social media, they can see what’s trending and fulfil that need themselves. Literacy rates in remote areas have risen. In particular, rural commerce could help provide opportunities through E-commerce and other commercialisation for businesses and employment.

Ruling the Rural Market

Catering to issues of trust and logistical problems while still providing a competitive price point to the price-sensitive customers is the key to expanding into the rural market. To snag customers, firms will need to consider E-commerce development with vernacular languages so that they can communicate with the target audience in their local language and improve their brand positioning. According to a study, there has been a 45% growth in ‘active internet users' in rural India since 2019. The Bharat 2.0 report also states that female active internet users grew to 61% since 2019. The best approach is for businesses to focus on parameters like simple design, intuitive navigation, secure payments, and seamless experiences, irrespective of the connectivity-related challenges. 

Social E-commerce in a Rural set-up

Bringing social media and E-commerce together can become a major game-changer as it will create opportunities for reaching the unreachable audience by simply creating an online presence. Micro-entrepreneurship initiatives will help E-commerce businesses successfully tap into rural markets and gain acceptance within the community through rural influencers. With the improving connections between urban and rural areas, businesses should focus more on buying and selling spaces on online platforms such as Meesho, Moj, ShareChat, etc. Data projects that by 2026, more than 60% of E-commerce demand will arise from rural India and Tier-2 to Tier-4 cities.

Finding Reliable Solutions

With the E-commerce industry becoming even more competitive, the right tech stack can help E-commerce businesses improve logistics efficiency, automate time-consuming processes, and save on costs. Integrating customer service and support solutions enable businesses to manage interactions with customers, providing an exceptional and consistent experience throughout all touchpoints. Companies have started utilising co-designing solutions with consumers to create space in the rural market and fulfil the unique demands of the rural audience. Brands can enhance CX using automation to ensure customer expectations are met from the customer's perspective, like automated order tracking, fast and efficient returns management, and visibility into the last-mile delivery process. 

A Media-first Approach

With the foundation set for an E-commerce play in rural India, the businesses in the space are now figuring out the right media relations to capture the non-urban market further. E-commerce media plans must focus on driving brand awareness and consumer consideration – acknowledging the consumer might not be in the primary market for their broader range of products or services. To be able to engage customers, businesses will have to consider online platforms of the consumers’ choice so as better connect and interact with them. Media Planning should start with conducting extensive market research about the audience, selecting the right channel for ad placement, optimising the budget & finally reporting on the estimated ROI.   From the perspective of rural trade, the general developments appear favourable. It allows huge E-commerce businesses to expand their customer base and also allows smaller businesses to gain a competitive advantage and participate in the rural transformation that E-commerce is ushering in. The overall growth so far has been quite promising and is only expected to get better in the years to come.

Every marketer in the current, technically-advanced and dynamic business world knows the value of the right SEO strategies. Its relevance has only increased over the years, making it the buzzword of the year. Though business owners prioritize optimization and aim to create incredible strategies, they fail to understand the proper implementation means. They understand the need to do it but don't always know the best ways to avail themselves of its benefits. This increases tenfold when search engines keep evolving and updating their algorithms and ranking protocols frequently. To attain desired results, it is critical to understand the nitty-gritty of search engine optimization and how you can revamp your website to rank better. 

Understanding Keyword-SEO and Technical SEO

When you think of SEO, keywords are the first thing that pops in your head, and it is only fair as keywords make a considerable part of it. However, over the years, SEO has evolved, and now search engines look for quality over quantity. Therefore, only stuffing your webpage with keyword-rich content will not suffice to rank on SERP anymore.  This is where technical SEO comes into the picture. With security and content presentation playing a big role in Google ranking, laying a greater emphasis on the technical part of the website has increased significantly. To define technical SEO most easily, you can consider it as any web page optimization that does not involve content but improves content when performed prudently. 

Creating a Technical SEO Strategy

The first and foremost step in any planning or strategy making is understanding where you are and where you want to be. Therefore, conducting an SEO audit using tools like Google Search Console is of utmost significance. The primary agenda behind this is to create a list of activities that will have a greater impact in a shorter period.  Having figured out the gap between your current SEO and the optimization results you aim to achieve, here's how you should begin your technical SEO:

1. Apply Secure Sockets Layer

It is a security protocol employed to create encrypted links between a server and browser for their online communication. When your website is not secure, visitors know they might enter a risky situation, leading to your website losing potential customers. Therefore, you should install a security certificate on the web domain and migrate the website to HTTPS to mitigate this.

2. Increase Website Speed

It is no surprise that users abandon websites that load slowly. While website speed is a ranking factor for search engines, it also reduces bounce rate and increases the chances of more traffic. The easiest means to increase site speed include compressing and optimizing heavy images and files, browser caching, using CDNs, eliminating unused scripts & codes, decreasing HTTP requests, etc. 

3. Remove Broken Links and Pages

You all have at least once visited a web page with 404 errors. It only means that the website links with pages that do not exist. Broken pages don't allow Google to crawl them, reducing the ranking. Such pages/links occur when you originally had a different URL for a web page. To eliminate this, you should set up a 301 redirect, helping users to navigate from the old page to the new one. 

4. Remove Duplicacy

When your website has duplicate content, it confuses the search engine in determining which page to rank first, leading to your ranking falling. The obvious solution is to find the repetitive content (usually using tools) and replace them with unique and compelling, high-quality content that provides a good user experience and is search engine-friendly. 

5. Create an XML Sitemap

Having implemented SSL onto your website, removing broken pages, and other technical SEO tactics mentioned above, the next step is to inform Google about your improved online face. Of course, the search will know of it eventually, but manually submitting your newly updated sitemap expedites the process. In addition, the updated sitemap will tell the search engine all about the most important pages on your website. If this action plan seems challenging, especially if you are a beginner and lack the knowledge, the numerous affordable digital marketing packages offered by leading digital marketing agencies like #ARM Worldwide is what you need. Our comprehensive digital marketing service package will provide you with a range of services to help you redesign your web page, garner attention, and bring in traffic and potential business. With our team of professional marketers, you can equip your business with the right tools and strategies, helping it reach newer heights.  To know more, contact us today!