Key predictions on the challenges faced by businesses in 2022
As we begin 2022, drawing on the latest research findings here are some key predictions on the challenges to be faced by businesses in 2022, as well as how the eCommerce market will fare this year.
Importance of first-party data
One of the most important things for businesses this year will be first-party data due to the lack of cookies and third-party data available to them. This means that many businesses will need to go back to the basics of building a customer-first strategy, as well as adapting their practices around transparency and choice, as well as ensuring they are always adding value to their customers.
Personalization and audience building
Because of the lack of third-party data, personalized content and audience building will be a clear strategic focus for marketing in 2022. Content in the future is likely to have to work harder for businesses to gain access to customers’ zero and first-party data and creating a tailored and transparent value proposition is a good strategy for achieving this.
This will also cause a greater focus on campaign reporting so that businesses can truly understand their audiences and how their campaign is performing. In fact, according to our latest research, businesses that see themselves as very strong at campaign reporting, are on average three times as likely to be very strong at personalized content or audience building.
Manual data wrangling
Manual data wrangling will become a greater problem for businesses as the number of data rows increases. Our data shows this was a key challenge for marketers in 2021 and we expect this to become the number 1 priority for the majority of marketing departments to fix with automated data integration in 2022.
Predictive analytics
Throughout 2022, predictive analytics will come more to the fore than ever before. According to our latest research, marketing teams already see the value of predictive analytics with almost two-thirds planning to implement predictive modelling next year.
However, before marketers can do this, they need to ensure that their data is fully accurate and integrated. Neither of these things can be achieved in a meaningful way without having a certain level of analytical maturing. Unfortunately, very few marketers have truly achieved analytical maturity and far too often marketing teams are still relying on manual data processes to get insights from their data.
Fulfillment will depend on data tracking demand
Companies that fail to meet consumer expectations regarding fulfillment are likely finding it so difficult because they are not using data to properly track customer demand. Businesses may well struggle as more operationally sophisticated competitors continue to excel. Especially as customer expectation is so high, the rise of quick commerce strategies (whilst coming at a premium price point) has meant that customers can be more choosy about alternative businesses that will fulfill their orders.
Shifting demographics within e-Commerce
One of the things we are certainly seeing in the e-Commerce industry is that executives and key decision-makers are far more closely aligned to target consumers in terms of their age.
In turn, because they understand the constantly evolving digital landscape more natively, it means they’re more open to taking risks and experimenting with new platforms, channels and strategies to deliver growth.
The impact of this? The mindset has shifted from ‘let’s take our brand’s physical retail experience online’ to putting their e-Commerce strategy at the fore of their marketing and overall business rather than being purely supplemental to real life offerings. A prerequisite to that shift being possible is the successful marriage of data, experimentation, and real-time analytics.
