The world of e-commerce has been evolving rapidly, and it is expected to keep doing so at an equally rapid pace. Companies must be aware of the fast-evolving opportunities in this sector if they want to stay ahead of the competition and build a sustainable business.
For the new generation, online shopping is a way of life and retailers need to adapt their strategies to cater to this growing market. The competition is only going to get even more intense and if you want your business to stand out, then it’s time you started considering e-commerce trends that change everything.
There are an estimated 3.68 billion internet users worldwide (which accounts for almost half of the global population). It is expected that by 2021 there will be an increase of 1.7billion online shoppers who together will account for 83% of total global e-commerce sales. This is definitely something every business needs to take into consideration if they want their online business to continue thriving and growing at this high rate.
Here are some great e-commerce trends that you need to keep your eye on in 2021:
1. Mobile shopping is growing
Today’s online shoppers prefer to shop on their mobile devices due to the convenience it offers during shopping. This trend reflects in e-commerce business models as well where the number of consumers preferring to access the internet via their mobiles is increasing day by day since its inception. The growth rate of mobile traffic has increased at a tremendous pace with consumer excitement for deals and promotions while they are on the go via their smartphones or tablets. With more than 50 billion downloads in Google Play Store alone, apps have emerged as one of the most significant platforms fuelling online sales through smartphones and tablets worldwide. Consumers also tend to spend more using smartphones because compared to desktops, mobile browsing is easier and quicker.
In 2021, we can expect mobile commerce to go a step further where mobile devices will be able to communicate with the consumer about his/her requirement and they would be able to provide a real e-commerce experience – imagine going through your browser on one device and actually seeing the items on the other – that’s Augmented Reality. This is going to be the next point.
2. Augmented reality will continue to change the way we shop online
Augmented reality (AR) is one of the most exciting technological advancements that may change the way we shop altogether. With all the fuss about virtual reality, AR hasn’t received much coverage lately but it will be making its way back into the conversation thanks to Apple’s recent announcement at WWDC 2018.
If you’re a business owner, augmented reality can be a great tool for your company. It allows you to create highly interactive apps that allow customers to experiment with your products long before they make a purchase decision.
Augmented reality (AR) is closely related to virtual reality (VR), which creates a digital environment that replaces the real one instead of enhancing it as AR does. Since 2011, Google has had support for hardware-accelerated 3D graphics on Android smartphones and tablets, and apps have been created that can be used for anything from finding a virtual creature hiding in your physical environment to making it look as if an object is levitating. With so many new advancements being made with AR technology, there are going to be some major changes to the way we shop online.
3. Evolving role of social media
Social media channels have been playing a great role in delivering promotional messages across the globe and leading e-commerce websites have also begun using these channels for generating quality leads. In fact, social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have become effective tools for sharing relevant information with potential customers by helping marketers know their requirements ahead of time so that they can precisely develop products or services based on them. This means that website owners need to focus more on customer engagement through various social media channels to make a stronger impact on their visitors.
4. Personalization will go beyond
This calls for taking more time and effort towards data analysis as this will enable you to create personalized offers that can be delivered via email or on your website. You need to focus on developing such marketing strategies that would not only increase brand loyalty but also help you stay ahead of your competitors by following the latest digital trends and analytics tools. Your targeting strategies should also be improved so as to provide better customer service and mitigate the risk of losing potential customers due to a lack of customer experience. While improving your performance, it is equally important for you to try out new things so as not to let the industry changes go unnoticed by you; these new developments could include checkout personalization, real-time customer service, chatbots, etc.
5. Visual commerce will continue to grow in popularity
With so many people spending more time on social media sites such as Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tumblr rather than watching TV or going out on weekends, visual commerce will continue growing by 2020. This trend allows businesses to market themselves more effectively through visual marketing including infographics and product images.
Visual commerce is set to experience tremendous growth over the next few years as well, with visual search projected to grow 297% between 2018 and 2022 according to BI Intelligence. These tools are making it easier for consumers to compare products while browsing on mobile devices or desktop computers by revealing information about products through image recognition algorithms. Amazon even offers its own tool called Amazon Flow, which recently received an update that makes it possible for shoppers to simply point their phone’s camera at an item in order to see product information, reviews, and more.
Conclusion
As a business owner, you should always be looking towards the future. Technology and people are constantly evolving which means that e-commerce brings it all together for us to evaluate what’s right for our business in this ever-changing world of technology. For now, as consumers take control with their purchases online versus going out into stores or malls etc., businesses will have an opportunity to customize each step on their journey ahead so they know exactly how best to reach those customers who might not already know about them yet but could soon become loyal patrons if engaged properly from day one!
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