eCommerce Development Trends To Triple Your Online Returns

Did you know that in 2021, retail eCommerce sales amounted to approx $4.9 trillion worldwide, and the figure is forecasted to grow by 50% reaching about 7.4 trillion by 2025 (Statista)?

Significantly, internet sales play a vital role in retailing. In 2021, eCommerce accounted for an estimated 19.6% of retail sales worldwide, and the forecast indicates that the online segment will make up close to a quarter of total retail sales globally by 2025 (Statista).

How Are Modern eCommerce Platforms Assisting

Ecommerce is a highly efficient and powerful solution that helps companies in organizing the components/products offered to meet customer expectations. A modern eCommerce platform renders - 

Mobile Boosting the eCommerce Industry

With the digital development exploding worldwide, Brazil records to score the highest retail eCommerce CAGR. Malaysia and South Korea are among the highest m-commerce usage countries. Followed by India, Spain, and China as the fastest-growing online retail market.

The constant improvement in accessing online, especially the mobile-first trend, has been catching up on mobile eCommerce sales. Mobile shopping is among popular internet activities worldwide with an average eCommerce spending per online shopper per visit of 3.39 USD.  

In 2020, digital and mobile wallets accounted for 45% of global eCommerce payment transactions, making them the most popular payment method leaving credit/debit cards behind, which were preferred in 2019 with 82% usage. The share is set to increase in 2024 by 50%, and credit card usage is projected to decline in the coming years.

World E Commerce Market Leaders

If we see, 2019 year account for the largest share of online purchases globally, making Amazon rank first among the online retail websites. Amazon recorded to have 3.68 billion visitors every month followed by eBay with 1.01 billion visitors every month in 2020. There are small & mid-sized retailers, among which a Seattle-based eCommerce brand became famous when it registered over 5.2 billion unique visitors in June 2020.  

Pandemic Hit On Ecommerce

Coronavirus has had a significant impact on consumer purchasing behavior. Digital channels became popular during the surge, avoiding congregating in stores & malls for in-person shopping. Hence alternatively, consumers drifted towards eCommerce retail stores with a record breaking monthly visits of about $22 billion in June 2020. 

Consumers' online purchases for groceries, clothing, tech items, and more became exceptionally high. Not just the past and the present, the future too seems to be bright as online purchasing has become a habit for many consumers providing ease and convenience. However, this article shares the trends in eCommerce that will lead the future path forward.

Significant Ecommerce Trends That Shouldn’t Be Missed

Personalized and Customized Shopping

Today's customers prefer more, brands that are able to provide a personalized shopping experience will have more customers. Customers tend to shop more when they get personalized recommendations.

It was observed that the integration of personalization and customization during eCommerce website development has a strong revenue impact. Even marketing efforts seem to provide a revenue lift of about 25% for retailers. 

Individual retailers with basic personalization capabilities in their brand achieved a revenue lift of 10% while those associated or participating with a big brand integrated with advanced personalization capabilities accounted for a 40% lift in their revenue. 

To deliver tailored-solution, brands need to adopt the latest tools & technology to produce relevant data and provide them exceptional and unforgettable experiences for shoppers. 

Artificial Intelligence For Better Customization

Online shopping requires the constant attention of the shoppers, and brands will have to come up with new ways to captivate them. The amalgamation of AI and ML continuously collects data on customer activities, such as their purchases and their searches. 

AI can be programmed as per the brand communication needs to the shoppers. AI can handle even the most complex data and make it more human to perceive. Social media uses AI to understand the users' negative and positive remarks. AI can be taught to offer the requisite comfort and product recommendation based on their previous choices & moods. 

Big Data Play a Vital Role

Collecting personal data will become vital for delivering a customized shopping experience. However, many professionals have mixed feelings about implementing big data to affect the shopping experience. 

Personalization will eventually make its way to the internet of things. The Internet of things and big data can deliver personalized suggestions on shopping platforms, home thermostats or doorbell cameras, and much more. 

Experts also suggest that people who have ultra-personalized experiences and those who do not have will share interesting impacts on how marketers can and will reach new users. 

Headless and API Driven Commerce

The solution allows the eCommerce platform to be completely decoupled from the frontend presentation layer. The flexibility offered by headless commerce to the businesses is exceptional, with an added advantage of SEO, content marketing, and digital marketing capabilities.

eCommerce Architect Antonio Kaleb suggests that headless commerce will provide control over the content you develop and deploy on your website for the shoppers and give directions during the customer journey to have a seamless experience. 

With headless commerce, companies can manage even the remote or multi-regional needs of the customers and manage siloed stores through one single domain. 

Chatbots To Become Assistants

Chatbots are used almost everywhere. They not just save time but also provide the best possible solution for trivial matters. Since shoppers look for the best product in just a few clicks, chatbots can assist them without them getting frustrated for not finding what they want. Experts forecasted in 2020 that 80% of businesses will be using chatbots and the prediction seems true as most businesses have chatbots as their first point of contact.

Chatbots are a good method to increase personalization, thereby improving the customer experience. The CEO of Optimum 7 says that chatbots will become more prevalent and will be able to anticipate new products liked by customers through analyzing past data. 

Voice Searches Growing Speed

Loop Ventures forecasted that 75% of U.S households will own a smart speaker by 2025. After voice assistants, smart speakers like Alexa have become a reliable asset to complete daily tasks. 

More and more homes are adopting speakers, which means more consumers utilize the voice search feature to shop online or order food as well as organize their lives conveniently. 

Smart devices & voice searches also create an opportunity for eCommerce businesses. As Amazon's Alexa and Google Home were seen topping the list in the commerce space in 2020.  

Augmented Reality Enhances

Augmented Reality is a complete game-changer for eCommerce. The way it assists shoppers to truly see if they made the right buying decision. AR has the power to change the shopping experience shoppers were having to date. It is becoming popular in the fashion and home decor industries in order to give a better feel for the item to the customer. 

Polls show some really powerful numbers about AR implementation in the eCommerce industry. 35% of the people admit that their shopping would become easier and better if they could virtually try on the product. Along with the 3D model, AR also allows the customer to see how the product looks on them.

Experts are expecting more from AR after companies utilize the technology largely, so that it becomes more standard in eCommerce and acceptable to users. 

Omnichannel Selling

Did you know that 73% of online customers use multiple channels to make purchases? The purpose of omnichannel is to provide a consistent and unified eCommerce experience for the customers despite the device or platform they use. 

Showcasing your business on different platforms maximizes the user allowing them to reach you wherever they are. Omnichannel shopping will stay a crucial trend for the brands to look into for maximizing their reach and gaining new customers.

Progressive Web Apps

Mobile shopping has become the most convenient method to make purchases from anywhere. The added advantage to pay digitally adds the cherry on top of the cake. Enhanced resolution & UI and mobile payment integration were and will continue to provide better business to the eCommerce businesses. 

Progressive web apps offer an improved and extensive mobile experience that customers look for. Instead of creating native applications, PWAs can be accessed from desktops, mobiles, laptops, or any other mode to provide an uninterrupted shopping experience. 

Mobile Wallets

As aforementioned, mobile wallets will surpass credit/debit card usage for payments. Not just progressive web apps or mobile apps bring convenience, but easy payment and checkout options play a vital role in engaging the shoppers. Many brands have realized the benefits of securely utilizing mobile wallets and are using them for quick purchases, such as Amazon Pay.

Offering multiple methods of payment is a good way to convert users into loyal customers. Customers might not want to miss out on any sale brands offer them, yet limited options for payment can withdraw them from reaching the checkout page.

Hence, it will become important for businesses to consider integrating mobile wallet functionality with an optimized application. 

Short Video Content

Videos have always proved to be a great way to indulge customers and make them understand your brand. In 2019, short video content boomed in the market as many foods, apparel, and other brands considered this trend. Sincerely speaking, the video trend will remain with us to engage and inform customers about products and services. 

Short videos can seamlessly educate the customers, augment the opportunity to buy more, and provide a solution as well as the answers to their challenges/problems.  

Experts, such as Shane Barker, agree upon the power of video creation to showcase products better instead of images. Videos can certainly have a great impact on consumers' thoughts about a brand, hence it must be considered.

Subscription Pacing With Time

Business offering services, be it entertainment purposes, have shifted towards offering a subscription model for uninterrupted and ad-free services. Subscriptions are a creative way for inventory planning and sales as offering free services cannot run for long-term survival. 

Since people use applications or web apps for their everyday tasks or entertainment, or any other purposes, subscription is the best way for the brands to engage customers for the long term while increasing their revenue. 

Eco Friendly

Seeing the concerning environment businesses need to take steps for the sustainability of their business as well as environment. A survey was made, and 50% of the respondents said that they want more sustainable fashion, while 75% wanted to see less packaging in order to balance the ecosystem.

Businesses have realized how climate change is impacting the lives of the people and hence have taken the initiative to go paperless, and use recyclable supplies and biodegradable packaging.

Blockchain Technology

This decentralized technology has been used in cryptocurrency for secure transactions. Blockchain technology caters to the demand of consumers as well as businesses. Blockchain renders a ledger system that verifies and keeps track of the digital data. The reliability and security Blockchain provides its customers makes it incorruptible, allowing businesses to apply them in different areas and markets.

Introducing Blockchain technology in eCommerce can provide customers with fast and secure transactions hassle-free while ensuring that businesses get the most out of the technology cost-effectively and work efficiently.

Evaluate Each Trend

Before you follow any trend, which would you prefer to implement first and provide your business with high value. Knowing the current trends will keep you updated on the market, but you still must evaluate what fits better. Hence, you can 

In a Nutshell -

Ecommerce is rapidly growing, and the trends keep on changing, watching the needs of the consumer. The competition is fierce in the market hence the business will have to keep track of them to stay ahead. Brands looking for eCommerce consulting services can collaborate with software development companies and create a customized solution that fits the needs of the business as well as the customers, giving more chances for success.