If Australian retailers want to thrive and survive in today’s ecommerce environment, according to recent research, they must embrace digital experimentation to drive changes online and in physical stores.
The Pulse Report 2020, produced by consultancy firm New Republique, benchmarks how established organisations are with data-led and customer driven changes. The report shows that in 2020, 69% of evolving organisations already considered experimentation part of their marketing mix and 94% of respondents indicated they would maintain or increase their spend on experimentation efforts in the next two years, setting the scene for an online survival; of the fittest.
Nima Yassini, CEO of New Republique and lead author of The Pulse Report 2020, said, “In the last year Australia has seen some of the highest levels of growth around ecommerce spend in the world with over 100% growth YOY, the last 12 months have expedited digital adoption and online retail spend hit levels that weren’t predicted until 2025, the unexpected nature of these changes means brands will be playing catch up for years to come, which is a huge opportunity.”
The Pulse Report also shows that the more mature experimentation practices are within an organisation, the better equipped that organisation is to adapt to change and create a better experience for customers, which are key drivers to their success.
“The success of companies like Amazon, Facebook and Netflix did not happen by chance, they were engineered by a culture of learning and validation. Amazon Web Services, which is now the largest B2B company in the world was born from a series of experiments,” said Yassini.
“What many traditional retailers don’t understand is that ecommerce is more than a website, it’s a space to try out new store layouts before you roll them out in physical stores at great expense, it’s about understanding what tech customers want to use to pay and ensuring the customer experience translates from physical store to online. Small adjustments and learnings validated with data stack up and provide clear direction and create opportunities that you might often takes years to find.”
Key findings of the Pulse Report 2020 include:
● 94% of respondents indicated they would maintain or increase their spend on experimentation efforts in the next two years
● 69% of evolving organisations already considered experimentation part of their marketing mix
● 81% of the most experimentally mature organisations stated experimentation is considered important to transforming the digital customer experience
● 57% of respondents agreed their organisation is committed to building a culture of experimentation
