2020 has been a transformative year for retail. From how and where consumers shop to what they purchase, we’ve seen significant shifts in consumer behavior. These shifts have moved five years forward in consumer digital adoption in eight weeks. With ecommerce sales increasing 18% in 2020, one thing is clear—digital plays a big role in influencing consumer behavior.

Consumers are already thinking digital-first,whether they shop online or in-store. And this will impact this upcoming holiday season. Nearly 75% of US shoppers plan to shop online more this holiday season than they have in the past. Measuring the consumer journey to understand what is driving purchase decisions has never been more important to get right.

If this sounds complicated, it’s because the consumer journey can be. In a Google-commissioned Ipsos study, we discovered that 32% of people have shopped with a new retailer since the onset of COVID-19. So it's essential to be present throughout the consumer's path to purchase for consideration. The winning brands adapt, react, and prioritize their marketing efforts based on their business outcomes. In doing so, they start with getting measurement right. We see the brands that do the following yield the strongest business results:

• Use Google tags to improve media performance against your business objectives. By using this durable, privacy-centric tagging, you can better understand the consumer journey, purchase activity on your website and app, and optimize campaigns to deliver on your business goals.
• Use automation to value, reach, and capture consumer demand in real-time. Google Data-Driven Attribution (DDA) uses machine learning to dynamically give credit to each ad interaction based on historical performance. When using Google Autobidding with DDA, brands are able to optimize in real-time and reach more in-market consumers likely to convert.
• Use your knowledge of your customers to find and engage more in-market, high-value consumers. As more consumers visit your website and download your app, use your knowledge of their activity, including preferences and purchases, to build custom audiences for your category and brand. You can expand your targeting by using similar audiences to reach even more in-market shoppers.

To learn more about how to drive measurement success, read more on data analytics and measurement on Think with Google.

—Ted Buell, director of measurement, analytics & industry marketing, Google