Community Matters: Lifting the lid on customer communities and how they look in 2021

In ecommerce, vibrant communities prosper. At the beginning of the pandemic, HigherLogic reported that 81% of their clients saw an uptick in online community engagement. Reaching shoppers at their points of passion is what sparks deeper connections and long-term relationships that retain valuable shoppers for longer.

However, the more we’ve talked to our merchants recently, the more we’ve realized that consumers are far less community-minded than everyone believes. Only 7% of consumers chat in a brand’s online community that they enjoy shopping with and only 10% post about the brands they like on social media.

It’s true; communities are important. But most retailers don’t know what their community really looks like and its potential to be an ROI-positive initiative. So, what’s the next step for businesses that are struggling to see the power of their community?

We’ve carried out research to understand who really makes up a community. From that research, we identified four Community Personas that exist. Each one engages with your store in different ways. These Community Personas exist on a Community Matrix.