Shopping is everywhere. There are seemingly endless opportunities to shop — or be inspired to shop — in both the physical and digital worlds at any moment. Today’s consumers move across digital, physical and social platforms with ease, switching from browsing, researching and buying in seconds. As a result, shoppers have more touch points with a brand before making a purchase than ever before.
While this new way of shopping holds a lot of promise for brands, it’s not without its challenges. As shopping journeys become increasingly complex, it’s harder for brands to put themselves in front of their consumers at exactly the right moment. Add to that challenge the lingering, pandemic-spurred inventory disruptions and the ever-changing nature of consumer needs, and the result is an incredibly dynamic landscape for brands to navigate.
To help brands more effectively and efficiently connect with their target audiences, we took a closer look at the trends most impacting retail in 2023 and arrived at three critical ways for brands to win this year: content, community and confidence.
Get Creative with Content
The line between content and commerce has significantly blurred, especially as consumers gravitate toward content-centered shopping experiences powered by AR/VR and shoppable videos. Unsurprisingly, younger shoppers are 2X-3X times more likely to have shopped using emerging media, including social media, virtual try-ons and online live streams[1].
Advertisement
This is why we’ve been experimenting with technology that makes shopping more immersive. For example, we can now generate 3D images from a handful of 2D images. I personally love sneakers. But I prefer to see them in 3D before buying online, and I’m not alone. People engage with 3D images 50% more than static ones[2].
Tap into Community
As we weather economic uncertainty, consumers are more intentional about what they buy — 72% of shoppers say they’re more thoughtful about their purchases[3]. So it’s critical that retailers find ways to help consumers feel confident in their brand. One way to do this is by leaning into consumers’ digital and real-life communities.
Nearly a third of Americans buy something based on an influencer recommendation at least once a week[4]. Influencers have incredible, well, influence. To harness the power of consumers’ online communities, invest in creator relationships across platforms. For example, YouTube creators carry significant weight — 93% of viewers say they don’t return a purchase that was informed by YouTube[5].
And these creator relationships can extend into the physical world too. On YouTube, brands can optimize their Video action campaigns for store visits as well as online conversions with a clear call to action like “Find Store.” For those who are skeptical about the return of in-store shopping — skepticism be gone. In-store shopping is back, especially true for Gen Z, which says 42% of their spend still occurs through physical stores[6].
Build Confidence Through Trust
There is no one way for brands to build trust. Mission and values are a critical piece, as are loyalty programs, easy shipping and returns and quality products. Shoppers can see trusted store badges when browsing on Google to help them feel more confident in who they’re buying from. Merchants with these badges have met a wide range of criteria, including high-quality websites, positive user ratings, fast shipping and good return policies.
And of course, building trust throughout the payment process is also incredibly important. Nearly half of consumers say fear of personal data theft can hurt trust in digital merchants. While banks, credit card companies and fintech companies have all introduced tools to make payments more secure, we still hear from retailers, especially small- to medium-sized businesses, that feel the investment and time needed to become compatible with these technologies is out of reach. We’re passionate about improving access to secure payments technology for all retailers.
One way we’re doing this is through virtual card numbers (VCNs) on Chrome. VCNs allow for secure, easier checkout for users, without merchants needing to do heavy lifting in their tech infrastructure. It’s win-win — higher security for consumers, and peace of mind for merchants that they won’t be left with a headache to sort out later.
Although it’s a challenging time to be a retailer, it’s an incredibly exciting time as well. Consumers are interacting with brands in new ways, unlocking the potential for unprecedented engagement. I’m grateful to be along for the ride.
1 Google-Bain Future of Retail US Consumer Survey among US respondents ages 18+ who have made a purchase in the past 6 months, Aug 2022. Base: Gen Z and Millennial shoppers N=2720; Gen X, Baby Boomer & Older shoppers N=3066.
2 Google Internal Data
3 Google commissioned Ipsos Consumer Continuous, US, ~n=1000 online consumers 18+ per market. Oct 6-10, 2022.
4 Densu Social Commerce Study, 2022
5 Google/TalkShoppe, Social Commerce and Video Shopping Study, n= 2000 video viewers 18-64 (US), fielded from 7/25/22-8/3/22. Competitive set includes video (linear TV and ad supported streaming services) and social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok).
6 Google-Bain Future of Retail US Consumer Survey among US respondents ages 18+ who have made a purchase in the past 6 months, Aug 2022. Base: Gen Z N=385, Millennials N=2335, Gen X N=1251, Baby Boomers & Older N=1815.
Matt Madrigal is the VP and General Manager of Merchant Shopping at Google. In this role, he leads the product and engineering teams that build Google Shopping’s tools, partner integrations, and infrastructure to help businesses and merchants grow and thrive. Bringing an extensive background in retail, platforms, and technology from his time at companies like Fanatics, Williams-Sonoma and eBay, Madrigal is passionate about helping businesses through digital transformation.
