The recent wave of COVID-19 has pushed people’s inclination more towards eCommerce. In the current times, online shopping is not a luxury but a necessity. Perhaps it is the most feasible solution to keep their business going during these tough times. Several business owners and sellers who never considered conducting their business online are now looking forward to leveraging eCommerce store development services to get their online store developed and make the most out of the situation.
As the industry is proliferating like never before, and the entire world inclining towards eCommerce, you should have a solid plan to ride in its tide. However, eCommerce is an ever-changing industry. Every year, several new trends come up that can help your business grow and beat your competitors. On that note, 2021 will be no different. As an entrepreneur, if you are getting to start through eCommerce ventures, you should be updated with the latest trends to sort out expectations and prepare for 2021.
Before we present the top trends that are set to dominate 2021, let us first throw light on some figures:
- By 2022, e-retail revenues are likely to grow to up from $3.53 trillion in 2019. to $6.54 trillion
- The exponential growth in eCommerce, in accord with the Covid-19 pandemic, is expected to reach $4.5 trillion by 2021.
- There has been a total 40% total growth of eCommerce sales in 2020
- According to Statista, eCommerce sales by country shows Asia as the leader in eCommerce sales, followed by the US, and Western Europe
- According to Adobe, Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman says that 95% of purchase decisions are made in the subconscious.
- The huge shift to eCommerce is likely to continue. 160% is the expected future increase in eCommerce purchases from new or low-frequency users.
- According to a recent study, in March 2020, 42% of the US population purchased their groceries online at least once a week, which reports an increase from 22 % just two years ago.
Looking at these figures, it is clear that the impact is profound and the long-term trends have been accelerated. The market changes that were anticipated over the next few years have occurred in just mere weeks. Retailers are reshaping their businesses in real-time, to understand how and where customers shop. As this crisis continues to evolve, by exploring the upcoming trends you can consider what you should expect from your professional eCommerce development service provider as you get your online store developed. So, brace yourself for these latest trends to watch and prepare for!
Voice commerce is set to rise
More and more people are turning to voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant to perform their tasks. People are also using these voice assistants to shop online. The industry is expanding quickly, with market revenues estimated at 15.6 billion U.S. dollars by 2020, and market revenue projections of 35.5 billion by 2025. As people can also use assistants at the convenience of their regional languages, making it easy to shop, this has further led to the growing demand for voice commerce.
Thus, while setting up your online store, you can ask your custom eCommerce development company to optimize your online store for voice search. Even if you are already an eCommerce store owner, you can still take advantage of this digital trend before your competitors beat you. To prepare your site for voice queries you can optimize content in order to appear on voice searches and incorporate voice-based navigation to your app or website.
Omnichannel shopping will expand
Omnichannel retailing is a way to provide shoppers a smooth and consistent experience across devices and channels. As the adoption of mobile devices and voice assistants is rising at an unprecedented rate, the omnichannel customers will certainly be growing in the next year.
While making use of powerful data analytics tools, you can gain insights to better understand what your customers are looking for and provide them a seamless shopping experience. Analytics can also help you know which products are in demand, monitor your profit and loss, and evaluate customer loyalty.
As the use of eCommerce and omnichannel services has surged and is likely to continue post-pandemic, for a better omnichannel experience, you can also optimize your website for mobile devices, create a mobile app, personalize the customer experience and offer various purchase options.
Free Shipping will be the ultimate sales maker
It is a natural human tendency that people overvalue things that they receive for “Free”. Isn’t it? Several businesses have already realized the power of free shipping as it can act as an ultimate sales maker for online purchases. As per research by Deloitte, 85% of consumers prefer free shipping over fast shipping. Free shipping influences buyer’s decisions so much that the shopping cart abandonment rate approximates 70% if shipping fees and other extra costs are added to their final bills.
However, in the post-COVID-19 environment, when businesses are looking for opportunities to sell internationally, it is not feasible to offer free shipping. In this case, you can serve free shipping in your local regions.
Rental eCommerce will witness a hike
Several Ecommerce stores report return problems as a major challenge. Nowadays, many dishonest customers place orders just to dress up on an occasion, boast on their latest Instagram story, or satisfy their fashion needs and then return the order. In this scenario, many retailers are considering stepping into rental eCommerce in the next year. This will provide an opportunity for shoppers to rent clothing, furniture, electronics, or other goods and will also reduce the return rate.
AI and AR will further enhance customer experience
Would you believe that online sellers will be spending $7.3 billion on Artificial Intelligence and more than 120,000 stores will be using AR technologies to offer customers a rich buying experience by 2022? Technologies like AI and AR are completely revolutionizing the eCommerce market space. With AI, you can offer your customers personalized recommendations based on their purchase history and browsing behavior. It can also help businesses connect data with real-time insights to improve the overall shopping experience.
Similarly, augmented reality (AR) helps the shoppers to see how a certain product would look like. Even before the shoppers buy a product, they can get an idea about how the product would look like that helps them to make a purchase decision quickly. Especially in the post-COVID-19 crisis where people are avoiding going to physical stores, online stores can make the most of the situation by implementing AI and AR in your eCommerce store.
Unlike in physical stores, online shoppers can’t try on or physically inspect the product that
Above all, by having these technologies incorporated, you will likely see an increase in conversions and a decrease in the return rate notably!
More brands will adopt dynamic pricing
In this cut-throat competition, where several brands are turning to online stores, several brands are adopting dynamic pricing to keep the business going. As you adopt dynamic pricing, it allows you to attract more and more customers. As an online retailer, it is important for you to understand that even if you have the best products to sell, you won’t be able to generate enough sales unless you place the price correctly.
In the years to come, you will have to keep your product amount at which you have the maximum chance of selling your product that yields the maximum profits. There are several dynamic pricing software that can help you identify the best price for your products. These tools can also provide real-time insights into your competitors’ prices, market demand, etc to determine the optimal cost.
Mobile commerce will increase
As estimated by Statista, it is predicted that by the end of 2021, 73% of eCommerce sales will be through mobile devices, besides, 30% of online shoppers are likely to abandon their carts in the middle of shopping if they find out that your website is not mobile-friendly Keeping this in mind, while you take professional eCommerce website designing services, you should be asking to build a responsive design for your store. This will ensure that the customers can shop seamlessly through their mobile phones just as they do on desktops.
To make sure that your eCommerce site is mobile friendly you can:
- Perform a Google Mobile-Friendly test that helps you to examine your site and show if your online store is responsive and compatible with mobile devices. It can also help you to identify the loading issues of your website if any.
- Create a PWA (progressive web app) that loads faster, let your customers view previously browsed pages without internet connectivity, and allow you to give push notifications in order to provide your customers with the latest deals or updates.
- Implement AMP (accelerated mobile pages) that ensure faster loading pages for mobile users, reduced loading time, low bounce rate, and enhanced SEO practices.
- Test your site on a mobile device manually. Check whether you are able to navigate through the site easily, have a smooth checkout process, able to view and zoom products seamlessly, etc.
Chatbots will continue to improve the shopping experience
Chatbots are not new anymore. Several online businesses are already making use of chatbots to improve the customer’s experience. Chatbots allow online stores to communicate with hundreds of customers simultaneously while making sure that each of them gets personal attention and gives the right recommendations as per their query. As per a study, more than 60% of the customers prefer having websites, apps, or chatbots answer their simple inquiries.
Experts predict that almost 80% of businesses will be using chatbots in 2020. Even in the coming years, chatbots are sure to witness a significant rise. One of the major reasons for the increasing use of chatbots is because of the faster response time in solving user queries. In addition to just increasing usage number, it is also estimated that there are a number of ways bots will keep evolving in the coming years to solve even the complex user queries.
Integration of multiple payment gateways
Customers are now looking for their preferred payment methods while shopping online. In the current scenario, most of the eCommerce stores accept digital wallets including Google Pay, PayPal, etc. Customers are expecting more & better payment options. For instance, customers are more comfortable using their local payment provider while they are shopping from an overseas business provider.
Big online retailers like Amazon and Walmart win the heart of their customers because of the ease of shopping as they save the customers’ billing and shipping information when they shop. This makes the entire checkout process fast and easy without a lot of data entry. Even in the coming year, eCommerce stores will be accepting more digital wallets apart from debit and credit cards. In 2021, we might witness more eCommerce businesses to start accepting cryptocurrencies like Bitcoins for transactions.
Headless and API driven eCommerce will rise
Headless commerce means the separation of the front end and back end of an eCommerce application. It allows your online store to be completely decoupled from the frontend presentation layer. This can help you improve your store with powerful content marketing, SEO practices, and digital experience. This year we have already seen a rise in headless frontend solutions such as IoT and PWAs, where 2021 may see increased adoption of headless even by small businesses.
Video streaming will increase conversion rates
The importance of videos cannot be understated as they can increase conversion rates notably. Short video content allows the buyers to showcase your brand’s product and services even better than images. As a shifting trend, customers now prefer watching videos of the product other than reading just reviews. For online retailers who are not taking advantage of this, 2021 could be a great year to start. As you get your eCommerce website designed, you can stream interesting videos on your homepage that draws customers’ attention.
Include social media in your strategy
The power of social media cannot be undervalued. Today, social media has evolved as an indispensable marketing tool for eCommerce strategy. As per research by Deloitte, customers who get impacted by social media are four times more likely to indulge in online purchases. Though several eCommerce stores already are leaving no stone unturned to find more and more ways to engage their audiences through social media. As per research, online stores with social media presence have 32% higher sales than those that don’t.
Making use of visuals, content, influencers, and promotional campaigns, etc on social media has the power of influencing consumer behavior like no other strategy. In the years to come, businesses are sure to capitalize more on social media for driving value for your business.
In a nutshell…
Now that you know what eCommerce trends will dominate 2021, it’s time for you to get your own eCommerce store developed, and have a solid foundation for your online business. We at SunTec, provide superior eCommerce store development services that exceed your expectations. Right from impressive web designs, to eCommerce app development, payment gateway integration, inventory management, and others, we do it all!
Whether you want to get your website developed from scratch or make amendments to your current eCommerce store, we are there for you! Our custom eCommerce development services offer the best in standard features to suit your tailored needs. Other than website development services, we can also offer you eCommerce catalog management services, eCommerce photo editing services, catalog content management services, eCommerce copywriting services, eCommerce SEO services, etc catering to all your eCommerce needs.
So wait no more, start your 2021 by rolling out your impressive eCommerce store and make the best of the current situation. Contact us today!
