Digital shopping is here to stay

To give you some background information about why it’s so important to make a switch now – we’ll fill in the gap. Reach customers where they are: online. Virtual Call is a solution that makes it possible to reach out to those (potential) customers. For example: find out how Virtual Selling is taking over in the Consumer Electronics industry. Furthermore, let’s take a look at how customer behavior is changing. 

The shift to digital persists across countries and categories as consumers in most parts of the world keep low out-of-home engagement. An increasing number of people are expected to stay home and shop online more post COVID-19 than before. Also because online shopping with real-time video and other Live Commerce solutions is in general more convenient, it buys time and you can find a bigger selection and variety of products when shopping online.

Hybrid Salestech

Something else to focus on is Hybrid Salestech, since salestech is the new martech. This specific field has been growing at an exponential rate over the past few years. Virtual Selling became the norm and companies have shifted massively to digitalisation where they’ve begun to adopt salestech. 85% of consumers say that convenience and personal advice from a sales person is removing uncertainty and helps them buy products online. 

More than 75% of buyers prefer virtual interactions. And where the buyer goes, the sellers must follow. It is predicted that by 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions will be digitized. So, salespeople need to align their activities to the buyer’s preferred engagement channels.

‘Hybrid’ sales roles – that leverage a blend of digital and remote interactions directly and through marketing-built touchpoints – is the fastest growing segment of B2B sales teams, 70% growth according to McKinsey. And it’s driving adoption of new, upgraded, or replaced salestech products.

Consumer behavior

The set of beliefs that a consumer holds about the world is a key influencer of consumer behavior. They are psychological and very deeply rooted, which prevents consumers from rationally evaluating alternatives and continuing in existing habits and routines. Nevertheless, the crisis changed customer behavior drastically. As McKinsey states: ​​’When consumers are surprised and delighted by new experiences, even long-held beliefs can change, making consumers more willing to repeat the behavior, even when the trigger (in this case, the COVID-19 pandemic) is no longer present. In other words, this is a unique moment in time during which companies can reinforce and shape behavioral shifts to position their products and brands better for the next normal.’ The figure below reinforces this statement:

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