With the rapid expansion of online shopping and the increasing number of businesses establishing an online presence, having effective e-commerce marketing strategies has become paramount. These strategies are crucial for attracting, engaging, and retaining customers in a crowded marketplace.
Effective e-commerce marketing goes beyond simply having a website; it encompasses a variety of tactics including SEO, social media marketing, email campaigns, content marketing, and data analytics.
As part of our E-Commerce Marketing Series interviews, we spoke with Eddie Teng, head of e-commerce for APJ at ASUS to learn more about his insights on how e-commerce marketing strategies play out in the consumer electronics industry, as well as detailing the various e-commerce trends many brands are implementing to supplement their online retail strategy.
First-party data as a cornerstone of e-commerce marketing strategies
While many would mention how first-party data would primarily apply to digital advertising strategies, it is also worth noting that first-party data is now also being utilised by businesses–especially those with online retail components–to personalise the experience to their online shoppers and give them the right choice to buy.
In Teng’s case regarding the use of said consumer data, he notes that in recent years where privacy concerns are amongst the talks of consumers, it has been observed that data collection has been one of the challenges faced by third-party data management platforms. This has then resulted in the increased efforts and cost of leveraging third-party data, making it tough and costly for brands to invest.
“This is one of the reasons why for brands within the consumer electronics are going back to their own users’ data, remarketing to them and drive the demand for repeat purchases. This approach makes great sense for consumer electronics brands given that [one] its product nature is individually driven where the device are usually attached to a single user, [then] its products have a usage period where an upgrade maybe required with the advancement and evolvement of technologies and [lastly] users data are more actively and voluntarily collected as part of the device activation and manufacturers’ warranty,” he explained.
Teng also noted that by enhancing and leveraging first-party data, brands–especially those in the consumer electronics scene–not only engage their users in a cost-effective and efficient manner, but also allow them to personalise their engagement to each of its single users with relevance to their likings, interests and behaviours.
“The other benefit is also the improvement in the consumer-to-brand experience since conversations and engagements are tailored to each individual, directly from the brand. With enhanced first-party data, brand marketers can now suggest and promote the right product or device to their users when its time for an upgrade of their current and old devices,” he further added.
Social commerce and conversational marketing hand-in-hand
In terms of more trends that have become more prominent for e-commerce marketing strategies, Teng notes that usage of social commerce and conversational marketing have also skyrocketed, especially in a post-pandemic age.
He notes that since the pandemic, the idea of purchasing a product within social livestreams has been widely accepted by consumers, hence why e-commerce brands have been actively engaging KOLs and influencers to promote and sell their products on their brands’ social pages in the recent years.
“This idea has evolved and have let marketers to realise that this success is not because of the act of selling across social media, it is the demand from consumers to have a more direct and authentic conversation with the brands and merchants on products they want to purchase. This is especially true for brands within the consumer electronic industry because its products can be complicated and require more education on its usage and its benefits. Which is why a direct conversation with the brands will address this effectively,” Teng stated.
Teng also added that these heightened demands and behaviour have led consumer electronics brands to expand how and where they sell their products. For him, It is no longer enough for a consumer to just visit the brand’s website, add the desired product to the shopping cart and check out. Instead, consumers nowadays want more flexibility and accessibility when making a purchase.
“It can be as straightforward as a consumer firing up a web chat, enquiring more about the desired product, asking for the best offer on it, expressing his or her intention to purchase and making the order and payment directly through the chat. As previously mentioned, personalised communications and engagements from brands to consumers are what drove growth in e-commerce, and with enhanced first-party data, brand can effectively converse with its users and push them to make the purchase socially,” he explained.
Harnessing new technologies with a human touch
Teng also foresees the rise of AI-powered solutions empowering e-commerce marketing strategies while noting that the personal computer (PC) industry has been actively designing and implementing AI solutions into their products and workflows with the understanding these benefits.
“AI technologies have been shaping our industry in the way we work. From empowering data scientists and analysts to tackle big data, to form accurate insights and recommendations for management to make informed decisions, to enhance and fill up knowledge gaps of stakeholders of the marketing strategies – the leverage of AI has driven marketing competency and allow brands and businesses to produce well-thought off plans with the same human resources,” he stated.
With that being said, he adds a caveat that with the reliance on technologies to drive productivity, marketers can be complacent and over-rely on technology tools nowadays and this can lead to seeing more cookie-cutter strategies within the e-commerce industry.
“To better strike a balance between efficiency and human centricity, marketing technologies can also play a stronger role in driving marketing competency. These competencies can include data analysis for insights that allow for better decision-making, the enhancement of quality of work and the fillers of knowledge gaps of marketers. While efficiency with technologies is helpful, competency on the other hand will complement,” he added.
E-commerce as a continuing supplement to retail
Speaking on the outlook of e-commerce marketing strategies, Teng says in the near future within the consumer electronics sphere, e-commerce will play an even more complementary role to retail. This means that it will continue to cater the needs of omnichannel shoppers, in which they experience and shop across multiple channels, offline and online, and ultimately providing consumers the ease of access to owning their products.
“Different touchpoints such as offline stores will be an avenue for consumers to experience and purchase the product, online marketplaces will be the point of comparisons and purchases, affiliated websites and media sites will be the source of reviews and referrals, and while brand.com will be the source of information and the point of purchase,” he says.
He added, “In this landscape that I envision, ASUS across APAC will unify sales and information channels to ensure a synergy across them, facilitating the decision-making along the consumer journey while easing the process of purchase with variety options of payments and hassle-free collection or receipt of their orders. With that, this is how ASUS in APAC will play in this transformation.”
The importance of these strategies lies in their ability to create a seamless and personalized shopping experience, build brand loyalty, and drive sales. By leveraging the right mix of marketing techniques, e-commerce businesses can not only increase their visibility and reach but also convert casual browsers into loyal customers. Moreover, in an era where consumer behaviour and technology are constantly evolving, staying ahead with innovative marketing approaches is key to sustaining growth and staying competitive.
MARKETECH APAC is leading the conversation on the future of e-commerce marketing strategies this 2024 and beyond with the E-Commerce Marketing in Malaysia 2024 conference on July 25, 2024 at Sheraton Petaling Jaya and the E-Commerce Marketing in the Philippines 2024 conference on August 14, 2024 at Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria. Join us and become an integral part of a dynamic community committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation and fostering unparalleled growth in the e-commerce domain.
