Healthy Friction in UX, New Ranking Factor, and a Phantom Island

December 15, 2023

Ecommerce Experiences is a newsletter that combines need-to-know news, insights, and market research for ecommerce leaders who want to think smarter and thrive. If you enjoy this newsletter, send it to an industry friend. If you received this from a friend, you know what to do: Subscribe

Happy Friday!

The other day, we were talking about how, when it comes to clients or customers, their truth is our reality. It doesn’t matter if they’re right. What they think is true is true for them. The only thing you can do is get in front of it and create their truth effectively.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

HOT PICKS 🔥

‘Tis the Season to Shop Online
Fun findings from U.S. Census Bureau data: Not only is the share of retail sales from ecommerce the highest in Q4 each year, but it’s also on the rise, growing from less than 5% in 2010 to 16.3% last year. 
Full article

Zara Campaign Teaches Us What Not to Do
A reminder of the importance of adapting to external events, global company Zara has pulled their recent ad campaign after pro-Palestine activists called for a boycott of the retailer. Features of the campaign were reminiscent of the Israel-Hamas war, and despite claims that the ad campaign was conceived in July, the hashtag #BoycottZara took off due to the campaign's insensitivity.
Full story

Amazon Partakes in the Season of Giving
Starting December 12th, when a U.S. customer says “Alexa, thank my driver” or searches for “Thank my driver” on Amazon, Amazon will tip the customer's last delivery driver $5 out of Amazon’s very own large pockets—up to 2 million times. Take this news as an example of how to get creative with holiday campaigns, or give your last driver a thank you.
Full announcement

Year in Review: 2023’s Outstanding Marketing Campaigns
Check out these successful campaigns from the past year featuring everything from generative AI and unusual partnerships to mission-led content and UGC…and maybe get inspired for your 2024 marketing plans. 
Full article

Are Your Ecommerce
Call-to-Actions Too Noisy?

You’re fighting for peoples’ attention and their desire (or lack thereof) to purchase your product. When your site has too many or too few CTA buttons, you risk disrupting people’s journey to purchase. Full article by Boldist

POV

More New Mindsets, Fewer New Technologies
We constantly try to fix current technology with new technology, but we don’t need more technology. We need kindness, compassion, and a willingness to interact honestly.
Full article

Humility: An Essential Value
The opinion that humility is vital to growth—and the personal journey that revealed it. The idea is that when we close our minds via a monologue of “knowing it all,” who we can be will never exist.
Full article

What Does Gen Z Really Want from Brands?
An assessment of Oatly’s distinctive brand voice and campaigns, the impact of vocal consumer communities on brand perception, and Gen Z’s preference for authenticity. 
Full article

ADVICE

Design Rules You Can Safely Follow Every Time
Good design is a good thing for you, your customers, the world. Here are several design rules your website and marketing should abide by unless you have a good reason to break them.
Full resource

4 Things to Know Before Using AI Content in Your Marketing
Using AI-driven content requires an understanding of the intricacies involved. Familiarize yourself with these 4, from the legal landscape to handling confidential information, before integrating it.
Full article

7 Books That Will Change How You See the World
Add one or two of these “mind-fucking, reality-reshaping, Keanu Reeves ‘Whoa’ inspiring books” to your 2024 reading list to live better, die better, and understand the world better. 
Full article

Beware Becoming Too Dependent on a Single Customer
A discussion on how businesses can become too dangerously reliant on a single supplier, stakeholder, or customer and three ways to mitigate the risk (with examples). 
Full article

DATA

Black Friday Football Broadcasts Were a Marketing Win
Data from EDO reveals that ads during Amazon’s first-ever NFL Black Friday game were 35% more likely to drive engagement than the category’s primetime average, and people were 73% more likely to engage online with these retail ads than the retail primetime average.
Full report

Pressure vs Assurance Nudges for Purchases and Returns
A field experiment found that self-assurance is better than scarcity in the long term. Where assurance nudges increase sales and decrease returns, scarcity tactics increase sales but result in high returns. (Assurance creates a better customer experience, anyway.)
Full study

IDEAS

Healthy Friction in UX
Friction is often deemed evil right off, but like everything else, the right amount of friction for the context can play a positive role in UX. This case study shows how added friction in the form of a slide-to-pay button paid off by preventing accidental taps without harming conversion.
Full case study

Adidas Launches Digital Products on Roblox
Adidas has launched digital versions of its clothing and virtual pop-ups on Roblox to connect and reconnect with customers in the digital realm—officially joining a growing list of Roblox brands that include Walmart, PacSun, and Claire’s.
Full announcement

Moonpie Markets To Extraterrestrials
Inspired by the July 26th congressional hearing, MoonPie is marketing to “aliens.” After consulting UAP experts, they created a campaign they claim only aliens can understand, in locations deemed alien hotspots, and built a website looking for their 1st alien influencer. 
Full story | The website

Companies Use AI in Customer Onboarding
A look at how companies like Zapier and Formless.ai are using AI to improve user onboarding and encourage people to use their tools. 
Full article

TOOLS & TECH

YouTube's new comment moderation setting prevents overwhelm by letting you pause the creation of new comments while preserving already published comments. More

Threads added a domain separate from Instagram, so you can track referral traffic from Threads and determine how much focus to give the app. More

You can now create and apply Google Analytics 4 audiences, including predictive audiences, directly within Google Ads + new dimensions announced in GA4. More

New features coming to Google Analytics 4 in 2024 to prepare for 3rd-party cookie depreciation include a Protected Audience API and Enhanced Conversions for tracking accuracy. More

In March 2024, Interaction to Next Paint will become a ranking factor and replace First Input Delay as a Core Web Vital metric. Learn what it is and how to protect your rankings. More

TAKE A BREAK

That’s a wrap–

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And, as always, have a fantastic weekend 🙂