The third quarter is usually retailers’ golden-hour; record profits, footfall and e-commerce sales have become the expected norm. 2020 marks a historic change.

Whilst we don’t want to start this off negatively, certain realities are hitting the commerce world. Footfall is down, spending is down year over year, and with so many people already out of work with a second wave coming, it doesn’t look like this Christmas is going to be anything like normal.

There are some positives, month over month since Covid hit, sales are up and many businesses are hiring more people to cope with what they hope will be a strong third quarter. This, unfortunately, won't be enough to get us through a second wave and a looming recession that could be worse than the great depression. During the 2007 ‘Great Recession’, many companies took it upon themselves to offer new, in-store experiences that customers have never seen before. This included hands-on experiences with new products like the first iPhone (we feel old now), to bookshops adopting the ‘Meet the Author’ approach where you could go and meet your favourite author who would sign your book. All of these things helped to drive people to stores and spend money. Obviously, this isn’t the case in 2020.

For me, it can be tricky to move outside of my knowledge bubble, but now is the time to adapt quickly to consumer behaviour patterns. In the last few months, it has almost changed weekly, depending on location. How customers think about brands in Manchester, who are in a tighter lockdown, will be very different from how customers shop for items in Southampton. We have to find a common ground.

Let’s Socialise the Brand.

Retail strategies have always developed, this isn't any different. We have already seen the direct to consumer and social model role out from huge traditional media juggernauts like Disney, who just this week announced they are putting their direct to consumer funnel, ‘Disney+’ at the core of all their departments. Meeting your customer where they are has never been more important.

What about traditional retail? We have already seen a monumental shift in how companies think about e-commerce. Some companies who had held out on offering online stores have scrambled to launch sites. The same is true for Social advertising. If you have been using Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and all the usual subjects you have probably seen an uptake in the number of ads on your feed. Why? This is where customers are. By moving your marketing efforts into social ads, you are collapsing the length of the funnel between customer awareness and purchase.

Customer expectations are also changing, they expect businesses to feel more human. To Tweet like they would (well, maybe not everyone). I honestly feel this was already something that was going to happen. Gen Z, who are fast becoming the most important spending demographic, has a different expectation than someone like me. They expect content to be relatable to them. If you think about when you have seen a billboard, how likely is that content going to be exactly tailored to you? I don’t have the stats, but it’s going to be low. Social networks collect data on users and can personalise ads to a users taste.

You might be thinking that most people as a result of this are feeling negative about companies that are actively marketing during this pandemic. Research from GlobalWebIndex actually found that only 15% of consumers disapproved of brands who continued to communicate as normal through the first wave of Covid-19. Almost universal praise was given to brands that began to share practical or light-hearted content.

If you are selling products to consumers, you can't afford to play it safe.

By implementing a social approach to your brand, and moving your marketing efforts online, you could boost sales, shorten your marketing funnel, and maybe even hire a couple of new people when they need it more.

Not sure how to start? Get in touch for a Free Consultation with one of our team members today!