Digital commerce: Your key to long-term customer loyalty

• Digital commerce encompasses all processes and activities throughout the customer journey
• E-commerce focuses on transactions, while digital commerce emphasizes customer satisfaction and brand interaction
• The goal is to build sustainable customer relationships and increase sales
• Brand consistency, user experience, and content marketing are key success factors in digital commerce

Digital commerce (also called d-commerce) encompasses all processes, structures, and activities supporting customers throughout their journey. It extends far beyond transactions, focusing on delivering a seamless customer experience. The goal is straightforward: acquire customers, retain them long-term, and increase sales.

E-commerce vs. digital commerce: what's the difference?

Not all marketers agree on the difference between e-commerce and d-commerce. Some see them as synonyms, while others consider digital commerce a sub-sector of e-commerce.

At Moccu, we view digital commerce as an evolution of e-commerce – even a transformation. Why? Because this perspective helps us better address and understand our clients' needs and challenges.

If you want to excel in digital commerce, you’ll need to make a few key adjustments. Here are the critical success factors your company should focus on to thrive in this dynamic environment:

Brand consistency

Customer loyalty increases when they identify with your brand’s values and characteristics. A consistent image across all channels enhances brand credibility and fosters familiarity through an authentic experience.

Seamless user experience begins with technical integration. Customers expect their activities and preferences to sync across devices.

With real-time data synchronization and robust backend systems, user actions are instantly updated across platforms. For instance, a product added to a shopping cart on a computer should also appear on a smartphone during checkout. Single sign-on (SSO) ensures customers can log in seamlessly across platforms.

Consistency extends to visuals and content. A cohesive look – colors, fonts, logos, and image styles – enhances recognition and strengthens your brand on the website, online store, social media, or other touchpoints.

To ensure cost-effective consistency, it can be useful to develop a design system.

A design system is more than a style guide – it’s a systematic solution for efficiently creating content and digital products aligned with brand guidelines.

Learn more in our article, Creating consistency with Design Systems - and saving costs.

Omnichannel strategy

A well-thought-out and integrated omnichannel strategy allows you to accompany customers throughout their entire journey without losing information or experiencing breaks in communication – an essential factor in achieving cross-channel brand consistency.

Omnichannel success involves more than just the technical integration of sales channels. Many companies face challenges in maintaining a consistent brand message across various channels. Fragmented communication often results in inconsistent customer experiences and, ultimately, lost sales.

To overcome these challenges, develop detailed guidelines for brand language and visual identity that apply across all channels. These guidelines should include clear examples and templates for communication in various media. Leverage tools like digital experience platforms (DXP), product information management systems (PIM), and others to efficiently manage and maintain content and assets consistently.

If necessary, conduct regular upskilling sessions, such as training courses or workshops, for your employees as needed.

A centralized customer relationship management (CRM) system helps manage customer data across platforms and enables personalized experiences. Segment your customer base using demographic data, purchasing behavior, and interactions to enhance targeting.

Develop promotions and offers usable across all channels to strengthen customer loyalty and satisfaction. An effective omnichannel strategy expands your market presence and boosts sales by delivering a positive brand experience.

However, remember to define clear KPIs and regularly assess how well channels harmonize and how initiatives impact the customer journey. Tools like Google Analytics, customer data platforms (CDPs), and business intelligence (BI) systems provide valuable insights for data-driven decisions.

User Experience

In digital commerce, the primary goal is to make customers happy and secure their long-term loyalty. A well-thought-out user experience (UX) plays a vital role in this, as it forms the basis for positive interactions with your brand.

The digital interactions with your brand should be intuitive, appealing, and seamless at every touchpoint. With competition just a click away, any difficulty in finding products or navigating a complicated purchase process can drive customers to another provider.

A carefully designed UX is therefore an integral part of customer experience (CX), which encompasses every interaction a customer has with your brand. A positive UX encourages customers to return and recommend your business, increasing repeat purchases and generating positive reviews.

Content marketing

In digital commerce, content marketing is indispensable. By offering relevant content throughout the customer journey – from initial research to purchase and beyond – you can engage customers at the right time with the right message. This approach boosts brand awareness, conversion rates, and customer loyalty.

With a well-planned content strategy, coupled with high-quality content that provides real value to your users, you can showcase expertise and customer focus across channels. This approach builds trust, improves visibility, enhances credibility, and fosters long-term engagement.

When implemented correctly, content marketing offers a powerful way to differentiate your brand in a competitive landscape and capture your target audience's attention.

Digital analytics

The use of digital analytics is indispensable for a successful digital commerce strategy. By collecting and analyzing data from various touchpoints, you gain a deeper understanding of your customers and make informed, data-driven decisions.

The strategic use of digital analytics goes beyond the optimization of individual campaigns. Instead, it enables businesses to anticipate long-term trends and adapt strategies to meet evolving challenges.

This allows you to understand how your customers use your website, what content interests them, and where they abandon the purchase process. This information is crucial for developing targeted measures to improve the user experience and increase conversion rates.

In digital commerce marketing, data-supported campaigns and strategies tailored to the needs and interests of your target group are essential – we therefore also refer to this as data-driven marketing. Digital analytics is therefore a powerful tool for measuring and optimizing the performance of your digital strategy, utilizing resources more efficiently and increasing sales.

Personalization

According to a McKinsey study, 78% of respondents are more likely to become repeat buyers if a brand offers them a personalized shopping experience. This figure highlights how important personalization is in digital commerce.

Digital analytics plays a deciding factor here. Through comprehensive data analysis, you can develop customized offers and content that reach your customers at the right time via their preferred channel.

Guided selling tools are also an effective way to show your customers that you take their individual needs and wishes seriously. This strengthens customer loyalty and ensures their repeat business.

The marketing industry, like many other sectors, has undergone significant changes due to the ongoing hype surrounding artificial intelligence. However, in addition to this trend, there are other important developments currently playing a decisive role in digital commerce success.

Social Commerce

The integration of e-commerce functions into platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok has opened up new markets for companies. These platforms not only offer extensive reach but also allow direct contact with potential customers.

By integrating social media into your digital commerce strategy, you create a seamless shopping experience and encourage impulse purchases. Customers can discover products while scrolling through their feeds and access them with a single click.

The growing presence of consumers on social media has reinforced this trend, making social commerce an essential channel for companies to engage with their audience and increase sales. Forecasts predict global sales via social commerce to reach $1 trillion by 2028.

Sustainability

Of course, climate protection should not be seen as a trend but as a necessity. From a business perspective, it is clear that more consumers are making environmentally conscious decisions and expect the same from the brands they support. Companies that integrate sustainable practices into their business models are better positioned to secure the trust and loyalty of this growing customer base. This means prioritizing environmentally friendly packaging, reducing the carbon footprint, and embracing fair trade practices.

Digital commerce marketing must communicate these sustainable initiatives clearly and convincingly, integrating them into the broader digital strategy. Larger campaigns emphasizing environmental friendliness or ethical values can achieve this, but smaller actions also matter. For example, in STIHL's content production we integrate highlighted 'green tips' in color-coded boxes to make sustainability tangible.

Sustainability in digital commerce is not only an ethical imperative but also a strategic advantage for ensuring long-term success and customer loyalty – a classic win-win scenario.

Guided selling

Guided selling simplifies the purchasing process for your customers by providing targeted advice, helping them identify what they truly want and need. This approach contributes to the effective implementation of personalization in digital commerce.

It ensures potential buyers find products best suited to their needs, increasing satisfaction and purchase likelihood. With personalized, supportive buying advice, you create a shopping experience that fosters trust and encourages repeat business.

Guided selling can also be enhanced with augmented reality (AR). AR allows customers to visualize products in their environment before making a purchase.

For example, a customer could see how a piece of furniture looks in their living room or try on clothes virtually. This not only boosts purchase confidence but also reduces return rates. Our client L'Oréal Paris, for instance, offers a virtual try-on tool that lets users test makeup and hair colors live.

At Moccu, we analyze the best opportunities for building a successful digital commerce strategy. By creating positive experiences, we help your company achieve more traffic and higher conversions.

The following use cases demonstrate how we have optimized the digital presence of various companies through tailored approaches – resulting in greater brand awareness, closer customer loyalty, and higher revenue.