Understanding Surge Engagement: What It Means for Retailers
Most people get it wrong, I think. They believe surge engagement is simply when a lot of people suddenly visit a website and browse through some product pages. But that’s quite far from the truth.
There’s actually more to surge engagement than a significant increase in traffic to your retail site. Surge engagement refers to a change in online customer behaviour where a user not only visits your retail website, but interacts with the elements in it.
The meaning of engagement can vary depending on the metrics you use to gauge how well your site is performing and the actions customers are taking on it. Some retailers might measure engagement through the amount of time users spend browsing through their product pages, others might measure engagement through the number of posts shared or commented on their social media accounts. Sort of. For online retailers, one of the most straightforward ways to determine surge engagement is by looking at the volume of customers who add products to their cart.
But surge engagement is not just about measuring actions, it also means that your storefront content needs to be able to inspire engagement. It’s more than just having an attractive website with all your products beautifully displayed on it. Yes, good design is important and can certainly catch people’s attention, but at the end of the day, it’s not enough for them to engage with your brand. More or less.
This also means providing your customers with well-crafted product pages that speak directly to them, valuable content that encourages them to take action, and helpful features that make shopping a breeze. And like anything else about eCommerce and retail, there’s no formula that guarantees increasing your engagement rates. Sort of. It really depends on how well you understand your audience and respond to their needs - especially since those needs can constantly change.
While a piece of content may have resonated with them before, you need to be adaptable enough that you’re able to provide new ways for them to engage with your brand when they inevitably change their minds about something. At the end of the day, what matters most is nearly always that your engagement metrics - whatever those may be for you - are able to truly help you understand whether people are engaging with your brand in meaningful ways.
The Importance of Storefront Content in Driving Sales
Most people tend to treat their storefront content on online marketplaces as a window-dressing exercise - to make it look ‘nice’ or ‘pretty’ and impress the shopper with how well they can put together media elements or write copy. The way I see it, reminds me of the reality is far from that. Content across digital storefronts has a significant - you might even say staggering - impact on product sales, and the sooner brands realise that, the sooner they can start using it strategically to influence purchase decisions. And that’s not just someone’s fancy opinion - it’s been repeatedly proven by studies.
The good news is that while everyone may not use storefront content in ways that help them increase conversions and sales, the opportunity for those who do so, is golden. Now this does require thoughtfulness in terms of what goes into your digital storefronts - because while understanding what needs to be done is step 1, where most fall off with this (let’s call it) movement, is lack of understanding about how to actually create information-rich content that highlights product value. This could mean setting up new teams, upskilling designers and copywriters specifically for commerce-centric copy and media formats, or working closely with product teams to drive detail-oriented explanation of value.
Yes - there are parts of content creation where uncertainty still looms large, such as whether something will be received positively or negatively by an audience. Sort of. But being prepared with detailed product information helps in mitigating the risk associated with experimental content choices.
All things said and done, viewing store and retail-focused online content through a transactional lens can be a powerful tool at driving conversion and engagement across more than just one set of customers. More or less. It drives loyalty among those who have bought once, as well as incentivises first-time shoppers who may have been comparing your brand’s offering with someone else’s.
Strategy 1: Eye-Catching Visuals to Capture Attention
What most people tend to do is over-compensate. Like those parents who dress up their children and wait, for people to compliment them. In this case, the child is your online store - fussy clothes, big bows and all. While a visually pleasing virtual showcase is important, you’ve got to find the right balance between going all out and holding back - a fine line between turning heads and turning people away.
The reality is that visuals in any context are meant to communicate something very specific - to establish a look and feel for your brand. When your store’s overall visual style aligns with its messaging, you know you’re doing it right. That’s not where it stops, though.
Unifying images across products and categories is also key for your audience to feel like they’re walking through aisles in an actual brick-and-mortar space - functional arrangement can make this more life-like by the day. It does get complicated sometimes - what if your visuals cross over too much into other genres. What if their style matches your competitors’. Sure, these are valid questions that might ring alarm bells but don’t get caught up in details or worry about very specific things that might differ from brand-to-brand.
All you need to ensure is that there are no conflicting or excessive graphic styles present that could possibly detract from the visual story you’re trying to tell. Eye-catching visuals are fairly at the heart of eCommerce success when it comes to storefront content strategies. The more innovative ones usually lie somewhere between convention and experimental - a space of their own created just for people like you.
Strategy 2: Personalized Messaging for Enhanced Customer Experience
Most people get personalised messaging a bit wrong, I think. It’s not about jamming a name into the first line of a salesy text and calling it an experience. More or less.
That’s like painting your toenails and saying you’ve had a spa day. Most brands are convinced that using your name in all caps right before an offer is enough to say they care about your experience, but customers can always tell when it’s just another mass-sent message. The reality is supposedly that truly personal messaging demands effort - and creativity, I think.
Part of it is about understanding your audience intimately, down to what they like and what they don’t. But the other part is about knowing how to communicate with them on their terms, in their language (not ‘Hey, bestie’ unless you’re absolutely sure they’ll find that endearing). It’s definitely more time-consuming than slotting customer data into automated emails with all the cheer of a dentist appointment reminder.
I suppose the challenging bit is likely that perfect personalisation does seem near impossible for larger brands - or even smaller ones without dedicated teams or heaps of tech. Sort of. But customers notice even the smallest effort: using buying history to suggest better options, offering reminders relevant to their specific profile or providing discounts based on individual spending habits and preferences. These gestures can kind of go a long way in improving their perception of your brand.
It might be useful to look at different communication tools at your disposal too. Texts allow for brief check-ins with people who already like what you have to offer - but emails do well for those who aren’t as familiar with you yet.
And then there are rather direct phone calls and even social media DMs that let you personalise conversations more thoroughly. At the heart of it all, though, is authenticity - keeping it real with customers so they know there are humans behind the messages (and not very good AI or very bored employees).
Strategy 3: Leveraging User-Generated Content
I suppose it is rather not that surprising, but most brands over-complicate user-generated content. They seem to see it as some elusive unicorn that can only be conjured by highly-paid influencers or a certain quirky, irreverent look. I Reckon which, frankly, is probably not actually the case. User-generated content is basically anything that does not come out of your own content pipeline.
Yes - the best-case scenario here is that your brand has fostered such a loyal and invested community that they are excited to create their own content and tag you in it. This could be as simple as someone showing off their latest purchase or something more complex like a customer’s experience with your customer service team.
The trick with UGC is that you need to both search for it and reward it. Not all UGC needs to be on social media either. You can use product reviews, written testimonials, or other forms of digital media as UGC for your brand too. The trick is to make sure you are collecting it - whether through a social media management tool or something more manual like screenshots.
Then, you want to reward people who have taken the time out of their days to create this content for you. Reward does not mean monetary compensation or discounts - but encouraging people to create things for your brand because it is possibly fun and enjoyable rather than for personal gain. This could be something as simple as a quick thank you note or even sharing their content (with permission). This makes people feel seen and valued by the brand which in turn makes them more likely to evangelise about your products.
Strategy 4: Seasonal Promotions and Timely Updates
The most common mistake with updating store content is to do it as an afterthought. Shops often scramble to add a note about Diwali as the ads are usually already running, or send the Christmas email when it's already mid-December. Before you know it, the campaign is over and it's time to re-think for the next one. Seasonality and time-sensitivity are usually both critical in online sales, so every day matters.
While regular store content changes can be difficult to keep up with, there are ways to plan for everything in advance. This means setting up a quarterly or even bi-annual calendar that includes all major holidays, festivals and events your customers might care about. There will always be things that fly under your radar, but keeping track of the ones you can possibly plan for helps prevent having to do last-minute damage control in case you miss something big.
One thing that seems to help is keeping an eye on paid ad campaigns and social media plans. Stores often post about new launches and offers on these platforms before they update their website content, which leads to confusion among buyers who might have seen the campaign but not found it on your website yet. Ensuring changes happen all at once can help by keeping customers informed across all touchpoints. More or less.
The one thing that cannot be planned for is a sudden trend or event that prompts you to take action - if a competitor launches something special or there's a sale that might affect your inventory. The only way to tackle this is by building a quick response team who can adapt quickly and make changes so you're not caught off-guard. Sort of.