It is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge effect on our behaviour and the way sales channels are organised \u2013 but the trends that stand out, and the ones that will most affect us in the coming years, are not pandemic \u2018native\u2019 only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These trends were already there, waiting to surface, and now they have been greatly accelerated. The new COVID-19 reality has not so much brought about a 360-degree shift in customer experience, as it has put a magnifying glass on what was mostly hidden \u2013 until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A long time ago, we had to \u2018go to a place\u2019 to shop. When the internet kicked in, we were able to shop from the comfort of our own home, and later on our mobile phones, but we still had to \u2018go to a place\u2019 \u2013 albeit virtual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Increasingly, however, we are moving into an era where everything is commerce and we will be shopping from streaming channels, videos, social media and messaging, and street billboards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everything we see will have the potential to become a transaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This trend comes straight from China, where people already buy from sites like China\u2019s Yelp.com equivalent Dianping, Meipai live-streaming platforms, shopping review service Xiaohongshu, and Duoyin \u2013 the \u2018TikTok of China\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently, Western players like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram have been jumping on the wagon. All marketers and business owners should investigate what this trend could mean for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the next few years we will see an immense boost to the entertainment industry. Further down the line, every company will become an entertainment company to some extent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, the coronavirus crisis has played a huge role in speeding up this process. An example is the Belgian bank KBC which recently bought the rights to broadcast soccer games via their banking app, using real-time \u2018push\u2019 notifications to notify customers of goals and highlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another is McDonald\u2019s staging a week of free events for customers amid the ongoing closure of sporting and entertainment venues due to COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Harvard Business Review<\/em>, \u201cWhen companies connect with customers\u2019 emotions, the payoff can be huge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This ability to generate positive emotions in a customer \u2013 called brand intimacy \u2013 helps businesses drive sales and loyalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, businesses have far more data than they used to when it comes to figuring The leap from nudging people on the basis of their behaviour to influencing them on the basis of their emotions is an increasingly small one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the ways that this power can be used is to help tackle the \u2018loneliness pandemic\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Business Insider<\/em>, the prevalence of anxiety in US citizens more than tripled between April and June 2020 (25.5 per cent versus 8.1 per cent during the same period in 2019), and depressive disorder nearly quadrupled from 6.5 per cent to 24.3 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It makes sense, then, that companies are responding. Microsoft plans to embed its Teams business software with a series of \u2018wellness\u2019 tools, including \u2018emotional check-ins\u2019, a \u2018virtual commute\u2019 to allow time to reflect before and after workdays, and guided meditation sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other companies will follow this lead and incorporate emotive technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we have been mostly confined to digital communication channels recently, these have been \u2018professionalised\u2019 at a speed that we\u2019ve never encountered before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As an example, webinars were once an awkward experience with a somewhat outdated look and feel, but in the past few months they have evolved to have an almost broadcast-TV-like quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fantastic backgrounds, hosts that are fluent and experienced, advanced virtual \u2018stages\u2019, a production crew preventing technical glitches, skilled moderators \u2013 webinars today are at a different level than before the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then there is the likes of Netflix, which is reportedly testing a new audio-only feature for streaming video that would turn its shows into podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I believe that this diversification of digital channels will only increase in the coming years, most probably adding augmented reality and virtual reality into the mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With sustainability concerns on the rise and the pandemic confining us to our home country \u2013 or home city \u2013 many have found a renewed appreciation for local businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even Google has recognised this trend, partnering with the UK\u2019s Channel 4 in a campaign to \u2018celebrate the British High Street\u2019 and encourage local purchasing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In China, farmers began promoting and selling their produce directly to consumers with help from the country\u2019s largest online retailers, JD.com and Alibaba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet while consumers have shifted towards local appreciation, small businesses will need to move to a wholly different gear if they want to match the customer experience that the big players offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Partnering with large platforms \u2013 like the Chinese farmers \u2013 is one option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the next few years, we will see the rise of \u2018zero- thinking\u2019, where customers outsource certain decisions to machines.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n As tough as it may sound now, some markets won\u2019t survive in the coming years, and \u2013 as tragic as it may be \u2013 fighting it won\u2019t help reverse the trend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Does your sector have the wind in its sails? Or is it sailing into a headwind, where there is constant pressure on prices and margins? If so, there is nothing to stop you from searching for a \u2018tailwind\u2019 market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An example is Denmark\u2019s Egmont Group, which was founded in 1878 as a printing business and evolved into one of the largest content producers in Europe, from books and magazines to films and TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recently, its CEO Steffen Kragh decided to steer a fresh course, investing in e-commerce and gaming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It differentiated itself in e-commerce by opting for niche categories where competitors such as Amazon were less active. In the gaming market, it avoided the \u2018short-lived blockbuster\u2019 strategy favoured by many publishers, and instead focused on older, more affluent game consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Egmont found a way to make use of its strength as a storytelling company to fill its sails with fresh wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In-person interaction with family, friends and colleagues became extremely limited in 2020, and it\u2019s likely this will continue into 2021. With our close networks falling away, many now look to influencers and online reviews when unsure of what to buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a result, businesses are likely to spend an increased portion of their budget on the online word-of-mouth \u2018machine\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Influencer marketing expenditure was expected to reach $US15 billion by 2022 \u2013 a number I believe will be significantly higher due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another crucial part of online word-of- mouth is reviews, and as great reviews are a result of great experiences, the importance of quality products and service will only rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the next few years, we will see the rise of \u2018zero-thinking\u2019, where customers outsource certain decisions to machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While some consider this limiting to consumers\u2019 choices and freedoms, open, smart and transparent algorithms can also reduce the stress of purchasing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Subscription models form part of this trend. In the future, the model will be integrated with what marketing strategy expert Scott Galloway calls \u201csignal liquidity\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Signal liquidity is the volume of information that a digital platform is able to gather on each user. Watching an hour of Netflix, the company receives three signals \u2013 what you watched, how long you spent watching it, and if you continued to watch it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In comparison, the app TikTok\u2019s algorithm receives several hundred signals an hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why is that important? Well, as Galloway explains, US-based supermarket operator Walmart \u2013 the world\u2019s largest company by revenue \u2013 recently invested in TikTok as it moves toward algorithmic-based \u2018zero-click ordering\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this model, a customer doesn\u2019t choose their desired products \u2013 the company uses signals to figure out what they want, then ships three boxes of products to their door twice a week, plus an empty box for unwanted items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company collects the unwanted items box and uses the discarded products as another signal to refine future selections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This and the other trends in customer experience listed are likely to shape the retail landscape in 2021 and beyond \u2013 and it\u2019s up to business owners to prepare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
out what their customers feel: facial recognition, movement data, health data like heart rate and blood pressure, social media behaviour, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe next level of digital communication<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
A local comeback<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Searching for tailwind markets<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Online word-of-mouth<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The \u2018zero customer\u2019 experience<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n