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Every year we like to take the pulse on the state of eCommerce and promotions. Our goal is to help better understand how consumers are shopping today versus a year ago. Some of the themes are similar to last year—like inflation and out of stock stress—while we continue to see signs of further social commerce comfort.

Here is a preview of our findings and insights to help with your planning this year:

1. Add to List (Cart)

More and more, online carts are being used to build a shopping list. Only 29.3% of individuals reported they add items to their cart and check out in the same session! Among those that cart-build over time (70%), almost 20% end up visiting a physical store to buy the items they added to their online cart.

2. Mobile is King

The level of comfort in using a Smartphone to build a shopping list to buy groceries, personal care, or home care items continues to increase. 80% of shoppers now use their phones over other devices. Additionally, the comfort level with checking out on mobile has increased 20% vs. last year.

3. It’s not just ‘Tiktok Made Me Buy it’

Multiple platforms are surfacing as strong points of inspiration for product discovery. Facebook is a primary source of inspiration for many women, while 60% of men report YouTube as their main place to go for product discovery. Additionally, Facebook is a go-to for most age groups—the lone exception being Gen Z, who prefer Instagram and Tiktok. When it comes to social media in 2023, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

4. Speaking of Eggs…

Inflation continues to impact shoppers. Common ways consumers are offsetting price inflation include trying new stores (35%), and increasing their online shopping (33%). Interestingly, when segmented, men are more likely to search for coupons, while women are more likely to buy less items.

The search for savings has increased since 2022 as well. From March 2022 to January 2023, there has been a 40%+ increase in the use of coupons and discounts. More astonishing, there has been a surge (+121%) in the use of rebates.

5. Out of Stock, Out of Mind

Over half of shoppers have found their favorite brand out of stock online or in-store in the last 2 weeks! When presented with an out of stock item, over 70% of shoppers substituted with a competing brand or private label equivalent. Ensuring that ecommerce ads are stock-aware can save your brand a sale in this still volatile environment.

The full 2023 SmartCommerce eCommerce & Promotions Report will be released in February, so be on the lookout in the next issue of SmartBites. In the meantime, if you’re interested in learning more, click here to schedule time with our team!

Announcing 📣 : Click2Cart Live

Announcing our NEWEST product, Click2Cart Live!

The power of multi-retailer, real-time, stock-aware buttons - now INSIDE your ads!

Interested in learning more? Be on the lookout for an email with more details, coming soon on 02.07.2023!

Refreshing Inspiration

Spring cleaning is just around the corner! Inspire consumers with easy ways to help them declutter and simplify! Ready for some refreshing inspiration?

Click here to try out a Click2Cart example that will help jump start your Spring Cleaning season!

Ecomm Experts Galore

Invest in yourself in 2023! Add the CPG Scoop podcast to your list to soak in commerce and marketing snippets from renowned veteran CPG experts.

A triple play —or hat trick for those of you in the north—of episodes just dropped this month, featuring four distinguished guests; tune in!

• Imteaz Ahamed, Director of Digital Strategy & Marketing at Reckitt

• Mert Damlapinar, Principal of CPG Business Consulting, Digital Commerce Acceleration at EPAM Systems

• Chris Perry & Oskar Kaszubski, Co-Founders of firstmovr

New Product Enhancements

Our latest SmartSuite release includes some great new additions, including:

URL Overrides

Link Builder Platforms

Campaign Dashboard Filters

SmartShelf Content Tab

…and much more!

Click here to see all our enhancements in the release notes section of SmartHub.

New Retail Partners

We’re excited to welcome these NEW retailers into the SmartCommerce network!

We actively bring on new retail partners each month. For a complete list of retailers, please visit our current retailer list located within SmartHub.

US Retailers

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