Category: COVID-19

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Cyber Week And The New Customer Experience

We have seen time and time again how Covid-19 has impacted retail in 2020. As marketers, we shifted our strategies and adapted to new circumstances. Preparing for Cyber Week was no different, as Covid-19 limited foot traffic in stores, drove up ecommerce demand which in turn caused shipping delays and generally impacted people’s spending habits. Additionally, companies had to tailor their customer experiences to meet both Covid-19 regulations and the changing needs of their customers. In our latest webinar, “Cyber Week Recap: Lessons Learned and Advice for 2021” CommerceNext Co-Founder Veronika Sonsev was joined by Jason Goldberg (Chief Commerce Strategy Officer, Publicis Communications),

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Holiday 2020 Shipping: Expectations From Retailers And Shoppers

With ecommerce continuing to grow in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 ecommerce holiday season is expected to shatter all previous sales records. But, there are concerns on the horizon about shipping and fulfillment challenges. You might be reading about the pending ecommerce holiday shipping challenges, such as this article from Modern Retail. CommerceNext is following this topic closely and we have two useful resources for our community: Original research completed earlier this month with data from a survey of 63 retail executives and 1,000+ consumers. You can download the 7-page CommerceNext Research Brief, which highlights all the findings. Webinar recording from

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The Big Pivot: How Traditional and Digital-first Retailers Re-prioritized Marketing Investments in the Wake of COVID-19.

CommerceNext Annual Report: A Closer Look At Marketing Investment Priorities Post-COVID

With less than one week to go before the CommerceNext Virtual Summit on July 28-29, we’re giving you a first look at our second annual retail marketing benchmark report. This free report is full of useful data about how brands have shifted their retail marketing priorities in response to the pandemic. Download the full report now: The Big Pivot: How Traditional and Digital-first Retailers Re-prioritized Marketing Investments in the Wake of COVID-19. How we did it Like last year, we conducted a survey of senior-level marketing executives to gauge which strategies, technologies and channels they were planning to invest in for 2020. The

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Consumers Are Open To New Brands: What This Means For The Consumer Landscape And Marketers

Over the last three months, the consumer landscape has changed dramatically as people have taken up new ways to learn, work, entertain themselves, procure essentials and non-essentials, connect with others, and increase wellness while at home. Panic buying behavior that was reactionary has become more subdued as stores innovate to meet today’s climate. Sentiment in the U.S. is mixed, with many consumers unsure of the future and others picking up discretionary spending. The “new normal” is being referred to as the “next normal,” but it’s all becoming more “normal.” Every brand is dealing with a consumer who is in a very new state

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Retailers’ Outlook Improves Through An Uncertain Recovery Based On 5th COVID-19 Survey

“May you live in interesting times,” goes the ancient curse. Sadly, we are living in the most interesting times that generations of Americans have ever experienced. Mixed signals and confusion, it seems, are par for the course in interesting times. On June 5th we learned the U.S. unemployment rate for May was 13.3%—and this was considered good news despite the fact that, prior to COVID-19, unemployment hadn’t exceeded 10% since World War II. Retailers have felt acute pain driven by the stay-at-home and social distancing requirements caused by COVID-19. The U.S. Commerce Department reported that April 2020 retail sales were 16% below March,

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How Will COVID-19 Change Shopping Habits?

As new COVID-19 infection rates, deaths and other daily measures begin to taper, consumers cautiously peek out of their blinds and begin to imagine a future beyond COVID-19. History tells us that seminal events impact us for years after. The Great Depression created a generation that was forever frugal. September 11th compelled all Americans to question their fundamental safety in ways that persist two decades later. COVID-19 will not be an exception. To understand where consumers’ minds are today, CommerceNext partnered with BizRate Insights to survey Americans about what they have done differently because of the threat of COVID-19 and how they expect

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As Stores Re-Open, Ecommerce Growth Continues Based On 4th COVID-19 Survey

As the economy and stores slowly start to re-open, CommerceNext is continuing to monitor the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on retail and ecommerce. Last week, we collected our fourth set of survey responses from digital marketing leaders tracking the impact of COVID-19 from April 12th-April 26th. In this survey, we added questions to gauge retailers’ plans for reopening and predictions on recovery, in addition to our regular questions benchmarking sales and ecommerce traffic results against pre-COVID February (you can refer back to our first, second and third surveys for additional information).  The good news is we’re continuing to see revenues and optimism

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Everything Has Changed: How Marketers Should Respond To New Consumer Behaviors During COVID-19

While no one knows what the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be, social distancing and economic shutdowns will have a lasting impact on consumer behaviors and the way people engage with digital media. As the crisis continues, 95% of Americans are currently under stay-at-home orders and new social distancing lifestyles and behaviors are changing the way consumers interact with content across platforms. In recent weeks, internet usage is reported to have increased by 50-70%. Social platform usage, messaging and video communication are all on the rise, along with short-form video, streaming OTT and podcast engagement.  This increase in time spent with

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4 Tips for Brand Communications During COVID-19

There is no doubt that right now, we’re all navigating through a completely unprecedented time—both personally and professionally. As marketers, we spend a lot of time thoughtfully planning campaigns in advance: our content calendars, product launch outlines, and coordination across teams and channels. But what happens when those plans and priorities become unclear, as they are now during the COVID-19 crisis? Marketers are always thinking from the perspective of their audience. We craft personas and actively try to envision the people behind our messages. What are their motivations, fears, hopes? We conduct focus groups to hear feedback first-hand. We carefully consider and A/B

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Photo by Claudia Soraya on Unsplash

Ecommerce Executives Express Cautious Optimism in Third COVID-19 Survey

For the past six weeks, CommerceNext has tracked the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on retail and ecommerce. Last week, we completed our third community-wide survey tracking the impact of COVID-19 from March 29th-April 11th, benchmarking sales and ecommerce traffic results against our first and second survey results. In our third survey, we added a few new questions on business continuity and longer-term trends. While the overall business sentiment among retailers surveyed is now cautiously optimistic, the retail and ecommerce leaders surveyed continue to express uncertainty about consumer confidence for the 2020 holiday later in the year. Most merchants have experienced logistical and

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