E-commerce trends to watch in 2022

Sitting in his office in the London area, with his Cockapoo sleeping quietly nearby, Umut İlhan describes how the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a boom for his online pet subscription box service. “We’ve had 11 times growth since the pandemic began,” he says.

Themed treats and toys
Umut İlhan is co-founder of WufWuf, a company that provides pet parents with monthly themed boxes of treats and toys. They are currently a ‘big family’ of over 10,000 dogs from all over Europe.

Starting out in digital marketing in his native Turkey, İlhan then went to work in the pet industry. Now, he has combined that experience in digital marketing and e-commerce with his love for animals to become one of the market leaders in pet subscription boxes in the UK.

Older consumers online
The pandemic has completely changed the way of doing things – for all pet companies operating in the online channel. For example, WufWuf has seen a trend in older consumers buying online. Prior to the pandemic, only 1% of its customers were over 65 years old. Now it is almost 10%.

More tender loving pet care
In addition to the popularization of online shopping at all ages, industry insiders also expect that in 2022 pet parents will invest more in premium products. Marketing and e-commerce specialist Chloë Thomas agrees that the way people care about their pets will be key to successful e-commerce this year.

“If I was advising a pet brand on their marketing strategy for 2022, I’d recommend they leverage the love and attention humans give to their pets as much as possible, in every area of their business.”

“We want to feed them with the best foods. We want them to play with the best toys,” adds Umut İlhan from WufWuf.

Fierce competition
The increase in online sales has badly affected a lot of other channels, but those who thought e-commerce would decline in 2022 will most likely be wrong. Umut İlhan: “It will never go back. It will always scale up, because now people have learned how easy it is to order online.”

According to a recent report by e-commerce giant Shopify, the market is expected to grow by almost $11 trillion (€9.7T) between 2021 and 2025. And while many more people have begun buying online, a lot more businesses have begun selling online. So competition in e-commerce is stronger than ever.

Diversification
Tougher privacy laws in several countries around the world are resulting in online companies blocking third-party cookies. This means that businesses will need to adapt the way they attract customers online, and fill the void with data they collect from their own customers. That’s why experts are advising companies in the pet sector to diversify their marketing activities. “Relying on just one channel to deliver your growth has always been a terrible idea – in 2022 it’s foolhardy,” says Chloë Thomas.

Telling your story
The way consumers are buying is also different, and 2022 is expected to see a shift in messaging from pure sales to talking about a company’s story and mission. “Consumers want an emotional connection with the brands they’re buying, so you need to build trust and a shared understanding right from the start of the buying cycle,” Chloë Thomas explains.

Building community
Companies are likely to build more of a community and loyalty around their brands. Chloë Thomas’ advice to businesses within the pet industry is to create a community like a Facebook group where customers “can feel part of something”. She adds: “Gather lots of user-generated content from your customers – video reviews, photos, product reviews – and use it across all marketing channels, in advertising too.”

2022 is definitely the year to create a sense of exclusivity around the community. Starting a VIP or ambassador program can be a good option for encouraging customers to promote the brand among people they know.

Following this line, Shopify advises businesses to define the community they set up and create a feeling of exclusivity by ‘gating’ it. “You might do this as part of a loyalty program, a referral program or an affiliate program. The key thing is to encourage your customers to shout about your business,” says Chloë Thomas.

E-commerce experts agree that while an open community can get you in front of a wider audience, creating ‘members only’ content or spaces can be a strong incentive for fans who don’t want to miss out on anything.

Omnichannel shows the way forward
Omnichannel sales are also set to be a 2022 trend for most of the companies operating in the pet industry. At a conference last November, Petco’s Chief Digital and Innovation Officer Darren MacDonald provided a glimpse of the retail giant’s e-commerce strategy for the coming period and omnichannel sales were a big part of it.

Instead of relying on centralized distribution centers to fill their e-commerce orders, 80% of the orders are assembled at one of their stores and then delivered by curbside pick-up or through a deal with DoorDash.

“Buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) has been on fire for us,” he said. “It continues to grow. It is the most profitable transaction that we have and we continue to lean into improving that customer experience.”

MacDonald said Petco is also working on increasing the value of the average online order and has launched its AdWorks initiative to allow vendors to promote their products through sponsored listings, searches or banners.