Selling has become more science than skill. No longer is it only about the quality of the product, the strength of the brand, the size of the marketing budget and the charm of the salesperson. To be successful at selling in today’s world, it is about having a global reference, an understanding of a new generation of consumers and keeping up with technology. In the demanding word of selling, we need to be informed and then, flexible.
1. Today’s generation shops online
- 67% of Millennials (born between early 1980 and early 2000’s) and 56% of Gen Xers (late 1970’s – early 1980’s) prefer to shop online rather than in-store.
- 23% of shoppers are influenced by social media recommendations/reviews.
- Online shoppers want products to be brought to life with images (78%) and product reviews (69%).
- 2 in 5 (40%) online shoppers say they couldn’t live without online shopping.
- Online shopping has even become a political bargaining tool: Trump met with Alibaba chairman Jack Ma. Trump and Ma told reporters in Trump Tower that they discussed how American companies can use the online retail platform to grow their business. Ma also said that selling on Alibaba would help the US create 1 million jobs.
2. Apps are taking over the world
- App Annie estimates that the global app economy in 2016 was worth $1.3 trillion across mobile app stores, in-app advertising and mobile commerce.
- This figure was driven by the 3.4 billion people who spend a total of 1.6 trillion hours in apps. This level out to an average of $379 in apps across the three formats of monetisation per person in 2016. Astonishingly that equates to $0.80 per hour per person.
3. E-commerce is only growing
- The user base will nearly double from 3.4 billion people in 2016 to 6.3 billion in 2021. This combined with the predicted rise in time spent on apps, which will grow from 1.6 trillion hours to 3.5 trillion hours by 2021, will be the main contributing factors to the growth of the economy.
- A growth in spend per user is predicted from $379 to $1,008 on a global basis, this is expected to be driven by innovation and the transition from physical transaction to mobile.
- Expects consumer spend across all mobile to grow by 18% compound annual growth rate to reach $139 billion by 2021.
- Mobile commerce will be the single largest driver of growth in the mobile and app economy and represents a clear demonstration of the shift to mobile. Mobile commerce per user globally will grow from $334 to $946 by 2021.
Read more on itnewsafrica.com and bigcommerce.com
So how does this affect the way we sell? There are 3 important points to remember:
There are 2 sales models:
- The Traditional one where the buyer choose from a selection of products, put it in a cart and pay.
- The New one where the buyer’s requirement and experience rather than the available selection determines the purchase.
The two models of selling are coming together in experience. (Read more)
2. The new demographic
Young online shoppers in major cities such as London, New York and Shangai have more in common when it comes to purchasing behaviour than people from rural areas in their own countries. Brands need to look at markets through this new demographic lens. (Read more)
3. Commoditization drives brands to premiumization.
Brands are shifting to the premium – even luxury – end of the market to avoid category commoditization and in order to build margin. (Read more)
At the same time young people sought the newest, fastest app, they also expressed a need to slow things down and go for authentic experiences and retro fashion. (Read more)
There is a lot to consider in reaching the new consumer and it seems that selling is not for the faint-hearted… Luckily, research is readily available!