The 10 e-commerce trends

Dhe coronavirus pandemic has radically changed consumer behavior. E-commerce has seen unprecedented growth in 2020-2021: people who had never shopped online surrendered to e-commerce, and those who may have already shopped via the internet were just cementing the habit. The context of the pandemic has therefore forced both brands and consumers to switch to digital for good. This new entry into the online market has opened the eyes of retailers and industries to the challenges and opportunities of the online market.

And what will the future hold? What are the most important trends in e-commerce that will continue to drive it forward? According to Statista, retail e-commerce sales will reach USD 6.388 trillion by 2024.

The share of e-commerce in the global market will also increase and amount to 21.8 %.

To be successful in online retail, the advice of a technical SAP consultant would be advisable. You need to know the current trends in the industry. Below are ten important e-commerce trends 2021-2022 that you should definitely keep an eye on.

Personalized experience

The customization of the e-commerce shopping experience creates a close and continuous relationship with the customer. Each person's requirements, previously limited to offline, are already integrated into digital life. This allows online store managers to use these identities to customize campaigns, coupons, offers and presentations. According to statistics, 33% of customers have discontinued their relationships with companies, noticing the lack or absence of a personalized approach to them.

Personalized experience is based on specific data, such as search queries, browsing and purchase history, so companies can show their customers what really matters to them. An example? Log in to an e-commerce retailer like Amazon to get product recommendations based on previous purchases.

Omnichannel

Omnichannel offers a continuous and consistent shopping experience across all channels and devices. The number of omnichannel consumers is expected to increase even further in 2022 with rising sales of mobile devices and voice assistants. 73% of shoppers use omnichannel for shopping.

Omnichannel is a sales strategy that integrates different communication and distribution channels and offers customers a unified brand experience so that everyone can switch between multiple channels and still achieve the best quality of the services and products they buy.

In view of the omnichannel trend, e-commerce giants such as Amazon also serve their consumers in the physical version of shops. Digital business can increase e-commerce sales with interactive kiosks and pop-up stores. In addition to fulfilling the demand for online orders, it offers more convenience and faster delivery through in-store pick-up.

Optimise your website for mobile devices - if you have a budget, invest in your own app. The second step is to offer multiple purchase and delivery options.

Chatbots

Intelligente Online-Messaging-Roboter sind die Gegenwart und Zukunft des Kundenservice im E-Commerce. Diese KI-Assistenten (Künstliche Intelligenz) wurden entwickelt, um das Einkaufserlebnis zu verbessern und können verschiedene Aufgaben erledigen, die typischerweise Menschen zugewiesen werden, wie z.B. Fragen beantworten, Lösungen präsentieren, eine Beschwerde besprechen und Termine vereinbaren.

An important advantage of using a chatbot in e-commerce is that employees have more time to concentrate on other tasks. Chatbots make it possible to devote more time and attention to new business growth opportunities.

Consumers expect chatbots to help them complete the purchase with just a few clicks. For example, a bot can use a CRM basis and recommend new products according to the consumer's shopping basket, personalise the experience and optimise the purchase decision. The most advanced stage is that bots are able to suggest products according to consumer preferences.

Voice Shopping

The use of voice shopping systems is expected to increase significantly in the post-Covid world. This is one of the most important trends for retail in the coming years. This will be a radical transformation of the industry that goes much deeper than e-commerce, and it has the potential to completely change customers' relationships with brands. A report by OC&C Strategic Consultants predicts that voice purchases will reach more than 40 billion US dollars in 2022, up from 2 billion US dollars the previous year. The growth of smart home devices such as Google Home and Amazon's Alexa is creating a new dynamic for the way brands engage with the public and creating new challenges.

Considering that voice assistants are available in different types of devices, they will help remove the barriers between m-commerce, e-commerce and physical shopping.

Mobile shopping

As more and more shoppers are using smartphones and tablets to make purchases, digital commerce geared towards mobile devices is essential. M-commerce, also known as mobile commerce, already accounts for the largest share of global online commerce and will certainly continue to grow in the coming years.

Improving the smartphone checkout means providing specific functions that are optimised for the capabilities of mobile devices. An optimised checkout process involves removing obstacles that prevent the user from proceeding directly to the shopping cart. Ideally, they access the shopping basket with just one touch of the screen, without pop-ups, extra clicks and unnecessary steps.

Simplify password recovery; make your purchase history easily accessible; use the customer's location; display the correct keyboard for each form to fill in fields; offer smartphone-optimised payment options. Pay special attention to detail: this will make your e-commerce stand out from the competition.

Marketplace

Analysts predict that transactions on marketplaces will reach USD 99,423 million by 2024 - and the number of consumers in this segment could reach 38,000 in the same year. In addition, these channels can increase customer retention, conversion rates and customer loyalty if the transaction is good.

In the marketplaces, consumers are looking for solutions rather than brands. That's why building a brand has never been so important - and so difficult. With this in mind, companies need to transform their marketplace product pages into rich and engaging experiences and offer unique customised products through their own channels. Consumers are increasingly rewarding the companies that offer personalised experiences.

Experts call this trend "Amazonification". At Amazon, for example, half of all products sold come from third-party sellers.

Social networks

More and more people are making purchases via social networks due to their rapid development. Today, social networks are more than just advertising channels, and people can buy products or order services conveniently and quickly on the most popular platforms they use every day. 49% of shoppers said that social media inspires them to buy.

Source: https://www.statista.com/chart/5194/active-users-of-social-networks-and-messaging-services/

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest have already introduced the option of using product catalogues, which has significantly increased online sales. Instagram, for example, has introduced the "shoppable post" function, which allows companies (and social commerce start-ups in between) to mark products with shopping tags in posts or with stickers in stories.

When users click on a product tag in a post or a sticker in a story, they see:

• Product image
• Brief description
• Price
• Button to go to the website or to purchase the product

B2B Commerce

B2B e-commerce is big, according to Statista, B2B sales today reach 31.19 bn USD. Wholesale customers expect the B2C features of wholesale e-commerce websites. This means that B2B online shops should be just as convenient as B2C online shops. Also, thanks to marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba, the line between B2B and B2C is blurring. B2B e-commerce trend needs to be strongly kept in mind by wholesalers.

More conscious consumption

In addition to all these points, customers are increasingly adopting sustainability and social impact as purchasing criteria. Many consumers would change their consumption habits to reduce their impact on the environment. To ignore the sustainability trend is to ignore a large consumer base that is increasingly discerning about what they consume and who supplies them with products. Such customers appreciate companies' commitment to ethical and sustainable issues.

A good example is the sale of used luxury products - a business model known as recommerce. Organic products and internet searches for sustainable products are also on the rise.

E-commerce brands that want to remain relevant and competitive in the future should adopt sustainable practices in their production chain. The most important recommendation for e-commerce is to use biodegradable packaging and recyclable materials. Also of great importance is the creation of recycling policies, the introduction of sustainable transport, the establishment of a home office for employees to reduce energy and water consumption, more sustainable alternatives for products currently sold, etc.

To fulfil this trend, the company must understand its environmental and social responsibility and show the public what practices and measures are being used to achieve a positive impact.

Augmented reality

Companies are already investing thousands of dollars in new functions and are focusing on the further development of virtual reality (VR) and augmented (AR) technologies. AR has closed the doubt gap in e-commerce. Even though shoppers like to shop online, they are usually unsure whether the paint colour would look good on the wall, whether the armchair matches the room's furnishings and whether the dining table fits the space available.

VR and AR functions have a great future. Even Facebook is moving in the direction of creating a "metaverse". Metaverse is a virtual world that people can access via different devices. This mainly concerns everyday work, games and fitness.

Augmented reality gave customers the certainty they needed to finalise a purchase. No wonder the feature has been labelled a major trend for 2022. After all, it has already proven its effectiveness and takes the store to a whole new level.

E-commerce is an ever-growing field. With the increasing purchasing potential of consumers around the world, the proliferation of social media and the ever-evolving infrastructure and technology, the future of e-commerce will be even more dynamic in 2022. Full-Service E-Commerce Agency offers e-commerce services and is happy to advise you.