E-Commerce has revolutionized the retail sector with each passing year. It has evolved to make online shopping easier in order to meet the ever changing needs of buyers, especially during and post-pandemic. Constant lockdowns, travel bans, and retail closures pushed the consumer online. Even the world’s largest retailers had to go online and , in some cases even sell directly to consumers (D2C) for the first time, in order to eliminate middlemen, reduce cost to consumers, and increase ROI for the brand itself.
With more and more store owners jumping onto the E-Commerce bandwagon, it is crucial for them to rely on the latest technological trends if they want to stay ahead of the competition and achieve exponential growth.
E-Commerce Market Growth Overview
Before digging into the trends specifically tied to 2021, let’s take a clear overview of the global E-Commerce market as a whole.
The graph from Statista depicts how quickly E-Commerce sales are flourishing and how they are projected to increase in the coming years.
Besides the year-on-year growth, the increased online shopping activity in 2020 has created a new baseline for e-commerce sales from best E-Commerce platforms in terms of growth, supported by increasing retailer investments and a growing number of online consumers.
If you’re in the retail E-Commerce game, this blog will assist you on multiple key strategies and the latest trends to outdo your competition and become stand out.
Here are the top 10 E-Commerce trends for 2022 you need to watch out for:
AR is Transforming How We Shop
AR could be a game-changer for online retailers to provide a richer buying experience. Companies are not only using AR to enhance the shopping experience but also to allow customers the ability to test and explore products in a manner that literally replicates an in-person shopping experience.
AR technology combined with e-commerce helps in:
- Delivering an in-store shopping experience
- Better visibility of product dimensions via 3D visualization
- Helps avoid returns as customers make more informed purchasing decisions
- Create interactive and more engaging adverts for better reach
Shoppable Video Ads on Social Media
Usage of social media is constantly growing, and it won’t slow down in the coming years as well, and brands will begin to advertise in different ways across all social channels.
Several brands have already started to get a lot of value by utilizing ads in popular apps such as Instagram and Snapchat, so this is the next stage in the evolution of social media marketing.
This year we’ve seen Facebook launch Instagram Shops. In the future, we will see what brands can do with these changes. Having “Buy” and “Shop” buttons on Facebook and Instagram makes it easy for consumers to purchase products with minimum clicks.
Shopping Assistance via Smart Home Speakers
With tech advancements, voice assistants are gaining a strong foothold in the market. With ‘Apple’s Siri’, ‘Google Assistant’ and ‘Amazon’s Alexa’ becoming a rage, people are using voice assistants for pretty much everything. These shopping assistants facilitate customers to order something effortlessly.
Additionally, retailers are turning away from face-to-face customer support and are instead leveraging voice assistants to guide users through their online shopping experience. Online sellers are encouraged to pick this particular trend to seek to offer customers comfort.
Omnichannel Advertising
Now, retailers are rapidly shifting toward an omnichannel experience that shares a single inventory and buying platform for customers. The prime purpose of omnichannel is to keep customers moving along the buyer journey no matter where they are at the moment.
Omnichannel advertising reflects this same stability of experience for the consumer, resulting in higher engagement For example, if a customer leaves products added to their cart on your E-Commerce website, you can target that customer on Facebook with a coupon or incentive to re-engage.
Minimalist Design
The trend of minimalism has been growing at a rapid rate these days for so many reasons and it has successfully grabbed the attention of customers. Consumers are responding to increasing online clutter with a desire for product pages that look clean and simple. If you are going to start an E-Commerce business, a ‘less is more’ approach could be a win-win strategy for you. Make sure that your website design includes minimalist color palettes such as white, tan, grey, and other neutrals.
Minimalist design focuses on:
- Neutral backgrounds
- Centralizing the navigation menu
- Plain text and simple graphics
- Minimal navigation
- Central search option
- Clean product pages with proper descriptions
Headless E-Commerce
While conventional online stores operate their front-end and back-end on a single E-Commerce platform, a headless configuration divides them.
How do you benefit from headless commerce? First, it’s flexible on the back-end. Second, it’s open to any customizations on the front-end. Front-end user experiences are managed on a content management system (CMS) for website visitors along with omni-channel expressions: e.g., marketplaces, retail locations, social networks, and mobile applications.
Headless commerce is vital for two main reasons-
- It holds the potential to significantly cut down on staff time and resources associated with managing multiple E-Commerce channels.
- It allows retailers to reach new markets and channels quickly and cost-effectively
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing involves a brand collaboration with an influencer to market and promote one of its products or services, which improves brand recognition.
According to a Statista report, the global Instagram influencer market size has constantly boosted over the last four years, and it will continue to influence online retail sales and total retail sales in the future.
Why?
By collaborating with influencers, you have the opportunity to reach consumers who:
- Trust the influencer to navigate them in the right direction.
- Are interested in the products that you are selling.
- Realize that online shopping trends are the way of the future.
Rise of B2B Commerce
Online B2C commerce has been well established since it began years ago, but the rise of B2B commerce is something to take note of for the future. Businesses that once relied on long, personal sales cycles are progressively pivoting to simple, self-service online sales. As millennials grow into the role of B2B buyers, the drive towards easier and faster trade between businesses increases. This allows:
- Minimizing delay in acquiring assets
- Increasing transparency in B2B trade
- Supporting small businesses via price-comparison options
- Easier search for local traders to reduce shipping cost
Automated Customer Service through Chatbots
With AI systems getting more advanced, chatbots will continue to be one of the biggest E-Commerce technology trends moving forward. Chatbots are automated programs that simulate real conversations with customers through text or voice input. Several big brands and e-commerce businesses are now using chatbots to engage mobile consumers.
Chatbots perform many tasks and assist customers in the best possible way.
- They answer frequently asked questions (FAQ)
- Suggest product recommendations and sales offers
- Inform about payment options, return policy, shipping
- Collect feedback and solve customer queries
M-commerce and Mobile Payments Growth
According to Statista, 73% of E-Commerce sales will take place on a mobile device by the end of 2021. By looking at these figures, it’s clear how crucial mobile shopping will remain as a contributing growth factor to E-Commerce businesses.
Store owners should follow E-Commerce payment trends and facilitate the purchasing process on mobile devices so that it becomes a seamless experience for customers. Make sure that your online store is optimized for mobile devices and convenient payment methods. Implementing popular digital wallets, such as Google Pay and Apple Pay, to your E-Commerce store is a great way to make online shopping easier, more convenient, and safer for customers.
Conclusion
At Successive Digital, we keep up with the latest trends to ensure our clientele gets their E-Commerce business setup with top-notch technologies and solutions. From single-product pages to comprehensive omnichannel experiences, our team of experienced professionals assists you in developing shopping experiences that delight your customers and maximize productivity. If you are also on the lookout to find the right experts to get your E-Commerce business going, then contact us.
