Fortunately, there are dozens of ways to make more sales online, many of which can be optimally implemented for our personal and professional interests. And from the way people shop to the way online business technology is managed - e-commerce is gearing up for some major changes.
We could do a study on how far e-commerce has come in the last decade or two, but at the end of the day, what matters to you is where e-commerce is now and where we are going.
So where is e-commerce now? Well, at the end of 2019 (according to data from Statista) the global e-commerce market had sales reaching $ 3.500 billion and accounted for 14% of the total share of retail sales globally.
And what will come in 2020?
This data predicts that by the end of 2020, global e-commerce sales will reach $ 4.200 billion and account for 16% of total retail sales. And these numbers are only predicted to go up as we continue into the 20s.
But for store owners, it's not as simple as sitting down and watching the cash flow. Online competition is stronger. Advertising rates are higher. Digital noise is louder. And the way people are buying is changing.
Keeping up with the latest trends in ecommerce, including both backend efficiencies and frontend conversion optimization experiences, is paramount to growing in the 2020 retail landscape.
E-commerce trends
We talked about what a real consensus has to look like on the great things they see in e-commerce and retail this year. Without further ado, here are our best bets for the ecommerce trends that we see emerge (or continue to be major players) in 2020.
AR improves the reality of online shopping.
There will be an increasing volume of voice search.
AI helps stores meet shoppers.
On-site personalization uses that knowledge to create individualized experiences.
Big data plays a huge role in creating personalized experiences.
Chat bots improve the shopping experience.
Mobile shopping continues to move.
More forms of payment.
Headless, API-based e-commerce enables continuous innovation.
Customers respond to the video.
Subscriptions keep customers coming back.
Sustainability is increasingly important.
Businesses must optimize the digital strategy for conversion.
B2B is growing ... and changing
Augmented reality enhances the reality of online shopping. So shopping online has many benefits: saving time by going to multiple stores, researching and checking prices in the privacy of your own home, accessing products from distant stores, and generally saving time and money.
While express delivery options have allowed online shopping to be almost the same instant gratification as retail shopping, historically there has been a downside: you cannot feel or see the product on the body or at home.
There will be an increasing volume of voice search. Loop Ventures forecasts that 75% of US homes will have a smart speaker by 2025. People increasingly rely on voice assistants like Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa to do everything from checking the weather to buying products. online.
As more and more households get this technology and become more comfortable using it to make purchases, there is a lot of untapped potential for e-commerce businesses looking to break into the ground floor.
Not a few analysts in this commercial market are currently highlighting the fact that "a greater share of voice-enabled solutions in the commerce space with Amazon Alexa and Google Home" at the top of their list of trends for the year 2020 to watch out for.
Help stores meet shoppers
Another aspect of online shopping that has historically been missed in online shopping is the helpful store associate who can offer product recommendations and personalized guidance based on the buyer's needs or requests.
As artificial intelligence and machine learning become more sophisticated, many e-commerce businesses have already started to leverage it to make smart product recommendations. Not only is this likely to increase in 2020, but it is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the ways you can contribute to retail and e-commerce.
Fashion brands use artificial intelligence to make smarter choices for their digital ad spend. The result was a 76% increase in revenue from social media.
People want to know that brands care about them, and the business strategy will be programmed accordingly. We have currently seen the opposite behavior on social media, where AI learns from the most negative comments from humans, but consumers are very likely to crave the impact. If bots can learn to form phrases to convey an emotion, companies will soon be able to teach them to offer comfort and products based on customer moods.
On-site personalization uses that knowledge to create individualized experiences. As mentioned above, strategies in this type of trading are increasing in e-commerce and with a number of applications. One way it can be used is to gather information about visitors and then help tailor the site to their wants and needs. Humans value experiences and products that have been adapted to them. This is something that is often lost in the shift to online, self-service shopping.
Implementing personalized experiences on site or in marketing efforts has been shown to have a strong effect on revenue, with one study finding it had a 25% increase in revenue. Recent data also shows that personalization efforts can reduce bounce rates by 45%.
Independent analysts and e-commerce specialists see that the personalization driven by this kind of strategy in digital commerce is of course increasingly relevant in 2020. Where as brands leverage and leverage more data, they will be able to create amazing experiences. relevant to buyers who feel tailor-made.
Big data plays a huge role in creating personalized experiences. Of course, not all personalization is created equal, and different experts have different visions of where e-commerce personalization will go in 2020. Personalization is also seen by some as a double-edged sword because data and privacy are raised as concerns. for some consumers.
In any of the cases that arise at the moment, there is no doubt that conversion rate optimization has its own predictions about how personalization will continue to evolve along with concerns about data.
“As the tech giants continue to expand and bring in more in-house services, personalization will find its way into the Internet of Things. In addition to seeing suggestions on search engines or shopping platforms, we will also see them on our thermostats and doorbell cameras. However, with some of the laws being enacted, we may choose not to participate. This will create an interesting dichotomy - people who have ultra-personalized experiences and those who don't. This will have interesting impacts on how we as marketers can reach new users.
Chatbots improve shopping experiences
At the center of the personalization capabilities it is always present that the chatbot can serve the role of salesperson. Chatbots allow stores to communicate with thousands of customers, giving them the feeling of personal attention and thoughtful recommendations based on their responses.
And in reality, a growing number of shoppers prefer to chat with bots and other self-service digital tools. One study found that more than 60% of customers report that they prefer to have websites, apps, or chatbots that answer their simplest questions. One of the main reasons for this is due to the faster response time.
Experts predict that 80% of businesses will use chatbots in 2020. In addition to increasing frequency, there are several ways that experts predict that bots will evoke
Mobile shopping continues
So far, we've mostly focused on the ways that e-commerce is closing the gap and bringing brick-and-mortar experiences online. However, there are still many things that e-commerce has to do with in-person retail. One of the clear advantages is the ability to buy from anywhere.
Currently in the United States it is estimated that more than half of customers shop using mobile devices. In Europe, 55% of customers are shopping on mobile.
E-commerce businesses are doing their best to provide a seamless user experience on their e-commerce sites with a number of payment options, including e-wallets. China is a leader in online payments, with WeChat and Alipay each with more than XNUMX billion users.
For this reason, it is not surprising that one of the many reasons that they believe will help this important change is the fact of improving the quality and greater integration of mobile payments. As one of the great precursors of change in 2020.
Another answer to the increasing number of mobile users is the use of PWAs or progressive web applications. PWAs can give mobile shoppers a native app-like experience with features like the ability to work offline and allow push notifications. They can give e-commerce brands another way to improve the customer journey for online shoppers using mobile devices.
More payment methods
We talk about the expectation around mobile payment options, but customers are also waiting for more and better payment options. For example, when they buy from a foreign business they can expect to be able to buy using their preferred local payment provider.
Additionally, customers are used to the ease of shopping at large online stores like Amazon and Walmart. They save customer billing and shipping information to make shopping quick and easy without the need to enter a lot of data. E-commerce websites increasingly use payment options such as Apple Pay, Paypal, and other financing options that allow frictionless payment.
In this sense, there are many analysts in online commerce who believe that the centralization of payments is also advancing in the year 2020.
Think how easy it would be to buy a product on any website if, at the time of purchase, you could simply give them a unique ID for you. This unique identification would be for a centralized wallet service that would securely store all your payment information, shipping and billing addresses, preferences, etc. Companies like Apple and PayPal have taken pictures of this in the past, but I think it could be more normalized.
E-commerce enables continuous innovation
Until now, most of the trends on this list have been things that the customer interacts with directly. However, the technological structure of the backend of your favorite online store is probably not something you are aware of, even if it has a great effect on your overall experience.
Headless commerce is a solution that allows a store's e-commerce platform to be completely decoupled from the presentation layer of the frontend. This can allow them to use an existing or custom CMS, DXP, PWA, or many other front end to complete their technology stack. This can have powerful implications for what the store is capable of accomplishing with content marketing, SEO, and the digital experience on its facade.
The year 2020 may see an increase in the adoption of headless front end solutions - particularly new headless front end solutions like more IoT and PWAs. It is also likely to be considered by a broader market that includes smaller businesses and B2B use cases.
Subscriptions keep customers coming back
For 2020, we have come a long way from the fruit of the month club. Subscription plans have a number of benefits for retailers because they make it easier to predict compliance needs and keep customers for greater long-term value.
Some experts warn that consumers are increasingly aware of the impact of multi-subscription services on their budgets, so they may be more demanding in the future. Retailers adopting this business model in the coming year will need to be aware of what makes their particular subscription a must-have.
Sustainability is increasingly important. For indeed, in what is hoped not to be a passing trend, people are becoming more aware of the role their purchasing decisions play in the limited resources of the earth.
Sustainability is taking on renewed importance for modern shoppers, and brands are finding ways to incorporate it into their products, their compliance strategies, and their merchandising. A survey found that 50% of respondents wanted more sustainability in the fashion industry, and 75% wanted to see less packaging.
Businesses must optimize the digital strategy for conversion. No matter what they sell, they most likely have some competitors. Staying ahead of them means not only getting more leads to your site, but converting them once they're there. Conversion optimization is a growing concern in 2020 as companies look to fine-tune their product pages and make sure their products stand out in their multichannel marketing avenues. This could include dynamic Facebook ads, Google shopping ads, or on-site digital marketing efforts. As one of the clear advantages is the ability to buy from anywhere. For example, when they buy from a business abroad they can expect to be able to buy using their preferred local payment provider, as an increasingly common habit.