in Expertise, E-Commerce Optimisation

The coronavirus pandemic has radically changed consumer behavior. Ecommerce has seen unprecedented growth in 2020-2021: people who had never shopped online before indulged in ecommerce, and the people who may have already shopped on the internet only solidified the habit. 

So the context of the pandemic has forced both brands and consumers to switch to digital once and for all. 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 how will it be in the future? What are the main e-commerce trends that continue to drive it? According to Statista , e-commerce retail sales will reach $ 6.388 trillion by 2024.    

global market

To be successful in online trading, you need to know the current trends in the industry. Below are ten key ecommerce trends for 2021-2022 that you should definitely keep an eye on. 

Personalized experience

Customizing and personalizing the e-commerce shopping experience creates a close and continuous relationship with the customer. The requirements of every person, which until then were limited to offline, are already integrated into digital life. This enables online store managers to use these identities to customize campaigns, coupons, offers and presentations. According to statistics, 33% of customers have lost their relationships with companies, noticing the lack of personal attitude towards them.

Personalized experience is based on certain data, such as search queries, browsing and purchase history, so companies can show their customers what is really important to them. An example? Sign up with an ecommerce 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. For the coming year 2022, with rising sales of mobile devices and voice assistants, it is expected that the number of omnichannel consumers will continue to rise. 73% of shoppers use omnichannel for shopping. 

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

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

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

Chatbots

Smart online messaging robots are the present and future of customer service in e-commerce. These AI (Artificial Intelligence) assistants are designed to improve the shopping experience and can do various tasks that are typically assigned to humans, such as answering questions, presenting solutions, discussing a complaint and making appointments.

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

chatbots

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, personalize the experience and optimize the purchase decision. The most advanced stage is when bots are able to propose products based on consumer preferences.  

Voice Shopping 

The use of voice shopping systems is expected to increase sharply in the post-Covid world. This is one of the most important trends for retail in the years to come. It is expected to be a radical transformation of the industry that goes much deeper than ecommerce, and it has the potential to completely transform the way customers relate to brands. A report by OC&C Strategic Consultants predicts that voice purchases will hit in 2022 more than $ 40 billion, up from $ 2 billion the previous year. The growth of smart home devices like Google Home and Amazon's Alexa is creating a new dynamic in the way brands interact with the public and creating new challenges. 

Given that voice assistants are present 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 buyers 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 trade and will certainly continue to grow in the years to come. 

Improving smartphone checkout means providing specific functions that are optimized for the capabilities of mobile devices. A streamlined checkout process includes removing obstacles that prevent the user from going straight to the shopping cart. Ideally, he can access the shopping cart with just one touch of the screen, without pop-ups, additional 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-optimized payment options. Pay special attention to details: this is how your e-commerce stands out from the competition. 

Marketplace

Analysts predict that transactions on marketplaces will reach $ 99,4 billion by 2024 - and the number of consumers in this segment  (marketplaces) could reach 38,000 in the same year. In addition, if the transaction is good, these channels can increase customer loyalty, conversion rates and customer loyalty.

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 product pages on marketplaces into rich and engaging experiences and offer unique bespoke products through their own channels. Increasingly, consumers are rewarding companies that offer personalized experiences. 

Experts call this trend “Amazonification”. At Amazon, for example, half of all products sold come from third parties. 

Social networks 

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

social networks

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

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest have already introduced the option of using product catalogs, which has significantly increased online sales. Instagram, for example, has introduced the function for “shoppable post”, which enables companies (and in between also social commerce startups) 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
  • Short description
  • Price
  • button for transitioning to the website or to buy the product 

B2B commerce 

B2B e-commerce is big, Statista estimates that B2B reached nowadays sales of 31.19 bn USD. Wholesale customers expect the B2C capabilities of wholesale ecommerce websites. This means that B2B online shops should be just as convenient as B2C online shops. Thanks to marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba, the line between B2B and B2C is blurring. B2B e-commerce trend must be handled strongly in the eyes of wholesalers. 

b2b commerce

More conscious consumption

In addition to all of these points, customers are increasingly accepting sustainability and social impact as purchase criteria. Many consumers would change their consumption habits to reduce their impact on the environment. Ignoring the sustainability trend means ignoring a large number of consumers who are increasingly conscious of what they purchase and who are very demanding of what they consume as well as who supplies them with products. Such customers appreciate the company's commitment to ethical and sustainable issues.  

A good example is selling used luxury products - a business model known as recommerce. The area of ​​organic products and internet research for sustainable products are also increasing. 

The e-commerce brands that want to remain relevant and competitive in the future should apply sustainable practices in their production chain. The most important recommendation for e-commerce is to use biodegradable packaging and recyclable materials. From a huge importance is the establishment of recycling policies, the introduction of sustainable transport, setting up a home office for employees to reduce energy and water consumption, sustainable alternatives, etc. 

In order to meet these trends, the company has to understand their ecological and social responsibility and show the public which practices and measures are used to achieve a positive effect. 

Augmented Reality

Companies are already investing thousands of dollars in new functions, relying on the further development of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies. AR has managed to eliminate the feeling of “doubt” in e-commerce. Even if buyers like to shop online, they are mostly unsure whether the paint on the wall would look good, whether the armchair matches the furnishings in the room and whether the dining table matches the space available. 

AR

Augmented Reality gave customers the security they needed to complete the purchase. No wonder the feature is being called a big trend for 2022. After all, it has already proven its effectiveness and takes the store to a whole new level. 

The VR and AR functions have a great future. Even Facebook is in the direction of creating a "meta-world". Metaverse is a virtual world that people can access through various devices. This mainly applies to everyday work, games and fitness.  

E-commerce is a constantly growing field. With the increasing purchasing potential of consumers around the world, the proliferation of social media, and ever-evolving infrastructure and technology, the future of e-commerce will be even more dynamic in 2022.



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