The new consumer has arrived with a bang, not a whisper. A decade ago, if you wanted to rent a film you’d have to get to your nearest Blockbuster, £3.50 in hand, and stand in line until you could get your hands on that little plastic box. At the same time if you wanted to transfer money to friends and family you’d have to get down to your local bank and ask the cashier to help you out. Fast forward ten years and everything is online. Banking is online. Hollywood is online. Even dating is online. As we’ve moved online there has been some big lifestyle adjustments and some beloved businesses didn’t make the cut. Netflix is valued at more than $30bn and Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010.

The most successful online brands didn’t just innovate their way to success – they gave their customers a delightful experience online; from transferring money to streaming films – the best (and not necessarily the biggest) companies found wonderful and frictionless ways to put the user at the heart of their digital offering; giving them personalised content that speaks directly to them.

The online consumer wants speed, simplicity and a relevant, tailored experience – the question is, can they find that on your website? We know now that 40% of people abandon a website that takes longer than three seconds to load. For every second of load time, 10% of potential revenue is lost.

This phenomenon isn’t just on the horizon for the charity sector – our data is telling us that it has already arrived. Your online community – your supporters, future supporters and their network of donors are already living their lives online. The question is – what are you offering that delights them?

Most of this online time, however, is being spent on the go – in 2017 alone 21% of all donations were made on a mobile device. That’s up from 17% in 2016. With mobile apps and browsing becoming the norm, you should have an online destination for your community. On the weekend of the London marathon alone, 88% of JustGiving traffic was from people on their mobile phones.

People want to be part of something

Do you encourage your donors and supporters to share their donation on social media? More and more we’re finding the consumer-driven movements are made up of grassroots donors and supporters – they want to feel part of something bigger than them.

What lengths do you go to in order to create a movement around your charity goals? These days, a Facebook group for your fundraisers might be innovative but it’s quickly becoming the norm. How do you make your donors and supporters feel special and connected in this changing digital world?

Can digital solutions save the day?

It can be challenging to keep ahead of the trends as they emerge – but we’re here to remove the stress and keep you ahead using our reach, combined data science and delightful user experience.

Join us at our next Digital Solutions webinar to learn more and discover how our digital solutions can help you leverage our tech to give your supporters an amazing online experience, and drive down cost.