Businesses can no longer ignore e-commerce.
During the past few decades, shopping online has been on the rise. But the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the drive significantly, so much that 48% f U.S. buyers were purchasing online since the pandemic.
Today’s customers are more willing to shop with a single click. According to Insider Intelligence Forecast, U.S retail e-commerce will grow by 16.1% in 2022.
But as consumer behavior evolves and the tendency to shop online grows in leaps and bounds, it’s essential to stay up-to-date with e-commerce trends to stand out among the global competition. Here we discuss the top five seismic shifts that the e-commerce sphere recently experienced:
How Can E-commerce Trends Affect Your Business
Here we discuss the top ways that e-commerce can help you grow your business:
Increases Availability
Brick-and-mortar shops come with opening and closing times and geographical limitations. It means that physical stores that lack the great staff and budget experience long periods when you aren’t selling.
Launching your e-commerce states eliminates limited ‘open hours’ and ensures shoppers can shop at any time.
Unlimited Customer Reach
E-commerce stores do not suffer from physical area limitations. Thus, it helps increase visibility, discoverability, and sales by letting customers find your products online.
Helps Gather Information
Developing an effective e-commerce website offers businesses an easy yet efficient way of capturing data used to drive sales. Companies can collect customer information by asking visitors to subscribe to email marketing lists.
In this way, you can connect with your customers later, allowing them to put your business top of mind for future purchases.
Allows You to Personalize Customer Experiences
It’s no secret: shoppers enjoy feeling unique and valued.
Developing an e-commerce website enables businesses to learn each buyer’s likes and dislikes. This way, you can customize their experience and drive sales. Research reveals that more than 80% of customers want retailers to leverage their buying history to send personalized offers.
Top 5 Best E-commerce Trends
Let’s discuss the top five e-commerce trends for 2023 and how you can embrace each:
AI-assisted Upselling and Cross-Selling
AI-assisted upselling and cross-selling shopping enables businesses to customize their shopping experience.
AI has improved the opportunity to customize and personalize your e-commerce business activities. An insightful case study by Nosto reveals that AI implication ensures a 10.5% higher AOV and 8.5% more significant return per visit.
Growth in Subscription Models
Research by McKinsey reveals that IT infrastructures that switch to subscription models can boost market share and enhance customer experience.
Moreover, Covid-19 accelerated the surge of subscription plans, revealing an 11.6% growth rate.
Subscription companies that fulfill consumers’ needs and eliminate the need to visit physical stores will likely continue to enjoy more excellent customer retainment rates.
Development of the Forward Deploy Fulfillment Center
Forward deploy fulfillment centers are small, typically comprising a set of automated lockers stocked with everyday purchases.
Development in FDFC for warehousing and distribution offers businesses a competitive edge, streamlines chain supplies, and maximizes customer value.
FDFC offers successful logistic solutions by ensuring physical flow and information flow integrate seamlessly.
Direct-to-Consumer Businesses Continue to Flourish
Another excellent e-commerce innovation that peaked after the Covid-19 is that businesses sell directly to their target audience.
Direct to Consumer (D2C) sales are not a new idea, but they only recently took off. The concept brought about two impacts:
· An increased shift of consumer shopping habits to digital
· Advancements in web development technologies allow businesses to set up their online stores
In-Person Activities are Going Digital
Since Covid-19, we’ve seen most of the business landscape shift digital. Companies of every type had to reconsider ways to stay connected with buyers and staff.
Thus, businesses digitalized in-person activities like company events, transactions, and industry meetings. Using revolutionary tools like the wireless multimeter, that enables companies to shift activities like ongoing measurements and collaboration digital.
Deciding if a Trend Makes Sense for Your Business
Before deciding to invest in e-commerce trends, businesses should consider analyzing trends. Trend analysis involves leveraging past data to predict future goals.
During trend analysis, businesses compare data over time to identify traditional patterns. This way, you determine areas within your organization that perform well and those that aren’t.
Moreover, trend analysis provides valuable data to help make better business decisions and curate long-term strategies.
Most e-commerce trend analysis focuses around:
· KPIs
· Finances
Weighing in Pros and Cons
Weighing up the pros and cons of an e-commerce trend before investing is a quick and effective way of making objective and considered decisions.
Quantifying your options lays the groundwork for weighing up your decision. Here’s how you can consider the pros and cons of an e-commerce trend:
· Grab a piece of paper or open a Word document
· Create a ‘Pros’ column and a ‘Cons’ column
· Jot down the benefits of an e-commerce trend in the ‘Pros’ section and the potential negative outcomes in the ‘Cons’ area
The Bottom Line
One trend is that e-commerce is growing, and it’s here to stay. Focus on building a high-quality online customer experience.
Keep the e-commerce trends discussed above in mind while looking for others that can give your business a competitive advantage.
