A little over two weeks after the demise of Britain’s package holiday giant, what can we learn from their mistakes?

To give a brief overview, Thomas Cook started to become a household name in the post-war years. As prosperity grew, it fuelled the nation’s curiosity for world travel. In 2011, they had their first flirtation with liquidation but miraculously avoided this collapse with a little help from a bailout deal funded by banks.

Back to the present day, 178 years after its conception, Thomas Cook is no more.

Commenting on the news, Stefan Spendrup, VP enterprise mobility, northern and western Europe at business mobility specialist SOTI, said;

“To survive in the highly competitive travel sector, airlines and travel companies need to innovate, harnessing all of the capabilities that technology now provides to enhance the customer journey. They need to be able to provide real-time, data-driven insights to improve their interactions with customers and ensure they remain tuned in to ever-changing consumer demand in a digital transformation age.”

So what can we take away from this? From our point of view, it’s clear. Thomas Cook wasn’t willing to move with the times. They didn’t acknowledge the change in customer habits to favour online and off the high street options. This confirms just how important it is to continually update your online store to compliment your consumer’s ever-changing journey.

Here are a few things that can help you to update your online store to the 21st century;

 Embrace mCommerce

As spending habits and customer shopping experience changes, as should retailers. Being mobile friendly is more essential now than ever. According to predictions from CBRE, global mobile commerce sales should make up for 53.9% of all eCommerce sales by 2021. Here are some essential tips on how. See Slumbersac to get inspired.

 Up Your Site Speed

Your target consumer doesn’t have time to wait idly by to buy your revolutionary product! According to Google Analytics, 53% of mobile site visitors leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load. Check out AJ Parts as a great example of attention retention.

 Creating a Unique UX 

Often an overlooked aspect of the web design process, understanding the value of UX is crucial in keeping your target consumer with a smile of their face and your product in the mail. For some stats, intentional and strategic user experience has the potential to raise conversion rates by as much as 400%, so get cracking! Envelopes are a great example of giving customers what they want.

The above pointers are great, but if not maintained, can be as equally effective as if you did nothing at all. This is why it’s quintessential to review your business regularly. Similarly essential is keeping your operation costs at a minimum. But these can’t be achieved in a few sentences; you need expert advice and knowhow to get the ball rolling toward the right path! StreamMarket can help you, get in touch (we won’t byte).