August 12, 1994, is of great significance to the history of eCommerce. As reported by the New York Times, it was when a group of internet entrepreneurs celebrated what was then the first online retail transaction backed by data encryption to ensure privacy. The product that exchanged the virtual hands? A music CD of Sting.<\/p>\n
eCommerce, along with the world itself, has come a long way since that seminal moment. For example, the industry clocked a shade over $3.5 trillion in 2019 sales and is projected to almost double that figure by 2022<\/a>. This phenomenal growth was first incentivized by the safety and privacy assured by the aforementioned data encryption.<\/p>\n Thereafter, it has been powered by a string of eCommerce trends such as a wide product catalogue, fast shipping, discounted pricing, multiple payment methods, and excellent service. In fact, as the sector matured, analysing and adopting the right eCommerce trends became the key to success.<\/p>\n As we approach 2022, here\u2019s a look at seven eCommerce trends that you must prepare for to achieve sustained success.<\/p>\n The COVID-19 Factor: 2021 Will Be Good for eCommerce<\/strong><\/p>\n There\u2019s no disputing that the pandemic has been bad for business, except if you\u2019re into eCommerce. Just ask Jeff Bezos, whose notional wealth swelled by $24 billion<\/a> on the back of increased demand for Amazon\u2019s services.<\/p>\n eCommerce has grown by leaps and bounds as people around the world were forced to stay and work from home because of the pandemic. More importantly, this spike is not expected to be temporary as people are getting used to the idea of paying and receiving their products contactless-ly.<\/p>\n Analysts corroborate this shift too as they predict eCommerce will be the biggest beneficiary of the pandemic with an increase in the penetration rate from 15% today to 25% by 2025. The penetration rate is defined as the percentage of total households in a specific area that has bought something online at least once in the preceding 12 months.<\/p>\n This is all the more reason why eCommerce sellers need to up their game by adopting these eCommerce trends in 2022.<\/p>\n 2022 eCommerce Trends to Watch Out and Prepare For<\/strong><\/p>\n 1) Voice Commerce<\/strong><\/p>\n People are using smart home speakers for more than just playing songs and turning on the lights. Roughly 20%<\/a> of them are believed to use smart home assistants for shopping-related stuff such as researching products, ordering them, creating reminders, and tracking deliveries.<\/p>\n This is important because over 55%<\/a> of American households are expected to use smart home assistants by 2025, representing 100 million households. That\u2019s a huge section of the market that most eCommerce sellers today are either ignoring or not paying enough attention to.<\/p>\n So, how to make your eCommerce store voice search compatible? Start with optimizing<\/strong> your store\u2019s content for voice search. Follow that up by enabling voice search for your website\/app and ensuring your products can be purchased entirely through voice commands.<\/p>\n 2) Mobile Commerce<\/strong><\/p>\n Mobile\u2019s share of total eCommerce sales has been rising steadily \u2013 from 52.7% in 2016 to a projected 72.9%<\/a> by 2021. But mobile eCommerce customers are also harder to impress than their desktop counterparts as over 30%<\/a> of them quit a transaction if they feel an eCommerce store is not mobile-friendly.<\/p>\n The solution<\/strong> though is simple \u2013 make your eCommerce store as mobile-friendly as possible to benefit from the mobile commerce trend. Putting your site through the mobile-friendliness test<\/a> is a good start as it tells you if your store is responsive and if it has any loading issues.<\/p>\n You can also tie-up with a custom web application development company<\/u><\/a> to build a PWA (Progressive Web App), which offers the speed and functionality of a mobile app but within a web framework. You can also implement AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages), make the checkout process smoother and faster, and manually test your site.<\/p>\n 3) Artificial Intelligence<\/strong><\/p>\n AI in eCommerce helps you to automate repetitive aspects related to selling, providing support, and marketing, allowing you to focus on more pressing business problems. Online sellers have begun to appreciate this facet of AI, which is why eCommerce AI spend is expected to cross $7 billion by 2022.<\/p>\n Artificial intelligence acts a force-multiplier for your eCommerce operations as it reduces the need for human intervention. For instance, chatbots have grown to the point where 69% of consumers prefer interacting with them over humans for quick communication.<\/p>\n AI also opens up upselling and cross-selling opportunities as it automatically recommends relevant products to your store\u2019s visitors based on their browsing and purchase history. This level of personalization helps you to grow your base of repeat and loyal customers, thus increasing the LTV (Lifetime Value) of each customer.<\/p>\n Also read<\/strong>: 6 Ways ECommerce Chatbots Help to Increase Sales, Conversions & Retention<\/a><\/p>\n 4) Augmented Reality<\/strong><\/p>\n AR bridges a vital gap in the eCommerce experience \u2013 the ability to feel a product up close and personal before buying it. This aspect was the biggest advantage that physical retail stores enjoyed over their online counterparts, one that was significant enough to override eCommerce\u2019s convenience and attractive pricing.<\/p>\n This capability of AR is even more important COVID-19-affected world where social distancing and minimizing physical contact have made touch-and-feel a no-go. In fact, many physical retail stores selling personal items such as apparel and accessories have been forced to restrict their \u2018try before you buy\u2019 policy due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n Your customers too would prefer to avoid the safety risks and hassles attached to buying from brick and mortar stores. You can incentivize this behaviour further by investing in AR technologies that can help your customers get a feel of your product but from the safer environment of their home.<\/p>\n However, AR would\u2019ve been a good investment even if it were not for the pandemic, as proven by ABI Research<\/a>\u2019s prediction that over 120,000 stores would use AR technologies by 2022. The most notable among these was IKEA, whose AR app<\/a> launched in 2017 allowed buyers to test the brand\u2019s offerings in real-time with high accuracy.<\/p>\n 5) Sustainable Commerce<\/strong><\/p>\n Thanks to greater awareness about climate change, consumers are demanding more accountability from their favourite brands when it comes to sustainability. Also known as green consumerism, sustainable commerce is when buyers prefer products made in an eco-friendly manner with some level of recycling.<\/p>\n 65%<\/a> of consumers say they would want to do business with a brand that abides by sustainable commerce practices. This is clear proof that eCommerce brands which place a premium on sustainability will dominate the consumers\u2019 mind space as well as their wallet in the years to come.<\/p>\n To make your eCommerce store more environmentally responsible, start with simple steps<\/strong> that communicate your intent to your customer. This includes offering eco-friendly packaging, going paperless to the extent possible, and highlighting the eco-friendliness of your products.<\/p>\n 6) Hyper Personalization<\/strong><\/p>\n As convenient as it is, there\u2019s no denying that there\u2019s an element of coldness to online shopping. The buying experience is tiringly uniform across different eCommerce stores, save for the variation in UI. This leads to a situation where consumers often hop across stores as there\u2019s no hook to make them stay and complete a purchase.<\/p>\n This is exactly the problem that personalization addresses by inducing a human-like warmth to your consumer\u2019s buying experience. Consumers too are aware of this as 84%<\/a> say that being treated like a person, and not just a number, is key to winning their business.<\/p>\n What constitutes being treated like a person? Something as basic<\/strong> as product recommendations based on purchase history, personalized communication, relevant discounts, and useful content go a long way in making your customers feel valued.<\/p>\n 7) Omnichannel Commerce<\/strong><\/p>\n Omnichannel commerce is the strategy of making your products available across different channels to consumers who are searching for them. For instance, omnichannel includes your online storefront, social media channels, physical kiosks, retail pick-up points, and online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay etc.<\/p>\n A 2017 study<\/a> that covered over 46,000 consumers had 73% of respondents saying that they used more than one channel when buying a product. With the proliferation of internet-enabled devices, it\u2019s safe to say that more and more consumers are initiating and concluding their buying journey on different devices and channels.<\/p>\n For instance, a consumer may use mobile search to look for a product, social media to read its reviews, YouTube to watch videos about it, a computer to compare prices, a mobile payment gateway to complete the purchase, and a physical store, pick-up point, or doorstep delivery to receive the product.<\/p>\n By investing in an omnichannel setup, you can offer a seamless buying experience across different channels. Things you can do<\/strong> to that end include optimizing your site for mobile, hire dedicated developer<\/u> to build a mobile app or PWA, personalize the buying experience, and offer multiple purchase options.<\/p>\n