To help brands navigate the seismic changes in consumer buying behavior brought on by the pandemic, digital marketing agency NetElixir debuts its new eBook, FACES. The eBook features primary research into how online shopping behavior is evolving as shoppers across a variety of sectors adapt to new digital initiatives.

The NetElixir Retail Intelligence Lab analyzed more than two million unique online customer paths-to-purchase, focusing on the behavior of high-value online shoppers. This is because NetElixir data shows that high-value online shoppers account for more than 60% of total website purchases across categories. It is imperative to analyze and understand their shopping behaviors so that marketers can best cater to them in the months ahead.

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FACES showcases insights for the high-value online shopper in the following ten categories: B2B Manufacturers, Fashion & Jewelry, Home Furnishings, Baby Care, Pet Supplies, Beauty & Cosmetics, Gifting, Tactical Wear, Tools, and Food & Gourmet. Insights point to three key behavioral shifts across market segments:

• Shoppers are trailblazing quicker, and more intentional paths to purchase. Despite more frequent website visits prior to sale, purchasing time is on an overall decrease. Multiple factors may be causing this behavioral shift – more online time due to stay-at-home orders, greater general anxieties leading to impulse decisions, immediate needs, and the prominence of shipping delays that ran prevalent during the first few months of the pandemic.
• Consumers are willing to spend more on gift giving, even if it means cutting back on themselves. The number of items per order dropped by an average of 17% during the initial 8 months of the pandemic with many shoppers only buying items that were absolute necessities. While the number of items remained on a decline during the holiday shopping season, the price per item averaged 27% to 30% higher. This seemingly indicates that during a difficult year, consumers want their gifts to be special. NetElixir forecasts this is a trend that will continue to hold throughout 2021.
• Mobile is becoming the primary device driver for every shopping category, with its dominance projected to continue throughout 2021. According to recent NetElixir data, mobile phones now drive more than 72% of all website shopping sessions and 55% of all website sales. This is a figure expected to rise throughout the course of 2021.

“We have entered a new digital era where new behaviors have emerged and are being cemented. Brands need to be aware of the changes to remain competitive and successful,” said Udayan Bose, founder and CEO, NetElixir. “We created FACES to inspire today’s marketers to gain a deeper understanding of their customers’ behaviors. By constantly aggregating live customer data streams, using customized data analysis models, and applying those learnings, marketers across a variety of sectors can make more responsible and impactful marketing decisions on the road ahead.”

The eBook dives deeper into the behavioral shifts to provide data and insights related to website visit, latency, and purchase trends across the aforementioned market segments. FACES, further, includes a few top-line recommendations from the NetElixir team of experts on how to help marketers thrive in the months ahead, including but not limited to: emphasizing brand purpose, identifying the new personas specific to any business, and enhancing rapid experimentation.

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