With the advent of digitization, eCommerce has got a boost. With every passing day, the revenue from eCommerce is only increasing. Moreover, every eCommerce is co-dependent; a part of a large ecosystem of its own.
So, to get benefit from the business, it is necessary to observe in a broad context that can be achieved by staying up to date with the trends that eCommerce is setting and is about to set worldwide.
Apart from just monitoring the trends, it has now become necessary to analyze every aspect before drawing any conclusion.
Like it always has, eCommerce growth is yet going to increase with the coming years.
In 2020, eCommerce growth will increase by 19%; nearly $4.2 trillion of online sales are predicted for the next year. By 2045, it is expected that about 95% of all the purchases will be made online.
However, growth doesn’t come for free.
There are certain predictions that all the online sellers will have to look out for to survive in the competition that is also growing at a comparable pace.
International sellers will flourish for eCommerce growth
eCommerce has seen a commendable growth in 2019. China, with sales of $1.935 trillion, became the largest eCommerce marketer.
Besides, many other countries viz. India, Philippines, Malaysia, and Canada have also seen noteworthy expansion. Well, this has put every online dealer in a great competition.
To attract more customers, companies will have to broaden their horizons internationally. Sticking just to the home country would not suffice.
Amazon, for example, has stretched its reach to nearly 180 countries.
This is one of the reasons for the unparallel success of Amazon. Likewise, many more eCommerce sellers are expected to make their entries in the international markets.
Mobile eCommerce growth will take center stage
Mobile phones have become one of the necessities for humans to survive other than bread, clothes, and shelter.
We find it impossible to get through a day without having used our phones.
As a result, Mobile eCommerce can also be seen growing rapidly and its growth rate will increase by the coming years as people find it more user-friendly than desktop sites.
Speedy check-ins and check-outs, easy accessibility, easy payment options availability, etc. make mobile eCommerce, m-Commerce, comfortable.
With this fact being vivid, the sellers can work on bringing mobile-friendly applications for their business.
Some timely offers, like a Gift Box or something on that line, discount coupons, providing visual experience through Augmented Reality, etc. can lure the customers.
Social media will rise as one of the channels of eCommerce
Most of the mobile users are also active on social media. This has made it possible for social media to emerge out as a channel for eCommerce.
The number of people preferring to buy products via social media is increasing gradually.
The results of some surveys also show that from 2016 to 2018, social media was the fastest-growing driver of eCommerce. The most fitting example is online sales through Instagram.
Of all, fashion shopping has seen remarkable growth there. This growth has increased the availability of in-app purchases.
The most important feature that drives the online shopping social media is the user-specific content based on their interests, made possible by Machine Learning.
Another important point to note is that social media can also be used as an interface to actual shopping apps by using advertisements.
People cannot ignore the ads after an extent and so, this would increase the traffic on corresponding product pages.
Well, the custom advertisements can also be shown specifically to the user using the same principle of Machine Learning.
So, it is now necessary for the online sellers to keep in touch with their potential customers and that can be done through effective communication.
Customer satisfaction’s importance will be more extensive
It is a common human tendency to not settle for something if better is already available.
So, now that there are many online sellers available, people can easily switch to some other seller if the service provided by their previous seller is not satisfactory.
Herbert Spencer’s ‘Survival of the fittest’, fits the best in this situation. Hence, the sellers bound to bring innovation in their services with time to keep their customers intact as well as attract more.
The visual clarity online, the description of the product, the quality of the product, the fulfillment of the promises kept in the description, delivery service, payment options, etc.; all this will matter just like it always has.
This doesn’t end just here. Post-delivery services like customer support for return or replacement of the product will also play an important role.
Many companies have adopted this policy of customer support software, in place of people, to handle the queries. As the software doesn’t have the sentiments and mood swings, it will ensure apt customer service with befitting replies.
Perhaps, in some cases, there might even be a need for human interaction, which also must be taken care of.
Rise of the second-hand market
The increasing awareness about sustainability has made people shift to recycling products and readily using them in their daily life.
Pertaining to this changing attitude of customers, the second-hand market is on the move and its sales are increasing like never before.
Obliging to this, only growth in this market can be foreseen. Electronic devices, clothes, plastic, utensils, etc. are all used again and again.
Some are in use as they originally were, while some are being refurbished before being used again, but are used after all.
One of the most important reasons for eCommerce growth in this direction is that the customers will have to pay less and still get the product they always desire.
These are just the basic predictions of the trends that can be possible in the future in eCommerce. There are still many observations and predictions.
All the sellers need to do is focus on the competition and get better at what they have already been doing; only innovating something every time.