Top 9 Ecommerce Trends to Watch Out in 2021 and Beyond

When Amazon tried to sell its first product (book) back in 1995, little did it know the scope and influence of the future of online retail.

Fast forward to today, according to eMarketer, ecommerce sales in the US alone are expected to reach a staggering $6.5 trillion mark by 2025.

Ecommerce trends 2021

Augmented reality technology complementing online shopping

The AR/VR technology has been a game changer in the digital industry since the last few years. The idea is to help the shoppers exactly see the product they’re interested in.

In doing so, it’s helping people finalize their buying decision. For now, the technology has made an impact in the home décor and fashion industry.

In 2019, Gartner foretold that over 100 million users shall be using AR for shopping by 2020. Hence, it is right to expect several industrial sectors utilize AR, especially when it comes to the ecommerce and social media platforms. Even more so, small businesses too are expected to follow suite.

Voice search shall be more active than ever

According to Loop Ventures, by 2025 around 75% of households shall have their own smart speakers. It’s not about the device, but the in-demand voice search technology it holds which.

As the number of smart speaker increases, more people will be tempted to acquire voice-enabled solutions to order food, groceries, make appointments and reservations, and more.

This presents an opportunity for both ecommerce developers and content creators to work on a whole new set of keywords optimized for voice search.

AI helping retailers get intimate with shoppers

One of the major purposes of artificial intelligence and machine learning technology is making personalized experiences. The objective for the ecommerce industry is no different! As AI is on course to become less artificial, and more real.

Seemingly, AI is collecting your data at this very moment. You’re constantly feeding the system with details like what is your shopping behavior, shopping mediums preferred, discounts that pushes you to make a purchase.

It’s of no surprise why amazon started showing me ads of the newest models of the Sony earphones right after I purchased a XB700 headset.

The idea is to facilitate retailers in connecting with you on a personalized level.

According to a study, retailers registered a considerable 25% increase in their revenues after incorporating advanced personalization efforts for the shoppers. While ecommerce setups that offered basic level personation features experienced a 10% increase.

That’s practically the next level of personalization we’re talking about.

Online purchases won’t stay confined for B2C buying only

Disruption wasn’t a talk of the town but a mere concept, until the pandemic hit and forced companies to improvise.

Much of which involved undergoing digital transformations and the ecommerce sector becoming one of the most important ones as people were left with no other option but to order their food, groceries, medicines, etc. without leaving their homes.

Understanding, the sudden shift has started to gradually revert back to people’s old buying habits as stores have opened.

It doesn’t matter if your business is a B2B, start selling D2C, D2B and alike. Brands have started to sell directly to the consumers without any reseller, retailer, and related intermediary involved.

As an ecommerce retailer, your products need to be available online, and make it easier for customers to buy from you.

Create an online catalog stuffing all your products. Next, employ a great user experience by adding interactive features of different products with relevant content.

The rise of self-service platforms

Starting your business online was once a daunting task for most businesses. However, today businesses ae increasingly inclined and have learned how to go digital.

Self-service being a relatively new concept, the platforms that allow quick deployment and selling of products without needing a pool of developers on board shall come into fashion.

If you already have a running brand, try creating template content that assists your audience is getting to inquire your products quickly.

Video ads on social media

Social media consumption is bulging, and brands have started to experiment with different advertising ways.

Evidently, Gen Z spends a countless amount of time scrolling through the news feed of Instagram, TikTok, etc. And businesses can capitalize the opportunity of creating relevant videos that should tempt youngster in making purchases straight.

For example, we’re already seen Shopify partner with TikTok and Facebook launching Instagram shops. Similarly, other businesses are going to follow suite.

If you’re a D2C business, create videos your best selling products and post them on social media where consumers can directly interact make orders whenever interested.

For instance, unboxing videos, or explainer tutorials, product images slideshows, and similar videos that have the potential for going viral.

Omnichannel selling

Tools like Amazon Personalize and Pinpoint have adopted the Omnichannel strategy and penetrated the public cloud platforms.

The purpose is to ease the process of Omnichannel selling, something that’s another top ecommerce trends 2021.

Only smart businesses and marketers realize the fact that content can be desired and views in a variety of ways. Even though brands are already on desktops, mobiles, and tablets, professionals are even trying new ways to sell through social media.

The couple of Amazon products we listed at the start are from Amazon Web Service. And Pinpoint and Personalize offers real-time personalization, improve customer experience, and allow businesses to seamlessly communicate with customers across various channels.

Understandably, customers want to enjoy a great user experience across multiple platforms. This is why brands need to display their products and content by using a commerce infrastructure convenient on all screen sizes and devices.

Still, it doesn’t mean you have to be everywhere, but start by selecting the channels your users are most on.

Analytics will continue to feed marketers

Speaking of ecommerce businesses, data is the driving force that feeds the platform and enables business owners and marketers in making informed decisions.

Often, businesses focus on the ground level metrics such as CTR and conversions on particular campaigns that informs where the majority of traffic and revenue coming from.

However, analytics is only going to dive deeper in uncovering further advanced metrics.

The metrics are going to move beyond such mere figures and more into how customers interact with brand, who is the price sensitive audience chunk, and people who’ll be willing to buy your products at full price, and those who might probably abandon the cart.

Currently, if you don’t have the data or the required insights as above, dig further in your analytics reports. You can even upgrade to other analytics platforms and watch out for the following results.

• Which channels directed your customers to your store?
• What type of content calls for most conversions?
• Divide your audience in terms of demographics like gender, age, location, purchasing habits, spendings, and alike.
• Produce custom reports
• Integrate your platform with your CMS and CRM to acquire a holistic, 360-degree view of how well you’re doing.

Influencers on course to become brand partners

According to Influencer Marketing Hub in 2020, the influencer marketing industry was predicted to reach the $9.7 billion mark.

And influencers with a large number of following on social media have proved to be vital for many ecommerce businesses over the years.

One of the major reasons why many ecommerce businesses acquire professional influencers is because it is very difficult to create a huge content pool at scale that would carry their marketing endeavors.

Apparently, we’re seeing brands hire influencers, in tandem with content agencies, to work as content creators for them.

In addition to that, paid media can also be leveraged to control the reach and type of audience.

Importantly, do note that working with influencers relevant with your niche is the key.

Just because someone is a good communicator and a large name in journalism doesn’t mean he’s the right figure to give your online garments store a shout-out.

Start by working with micro influencers relevant with your brand value. Build a healthy relationship, and allow them the liberty to create content the way they are right.

A pro tip: the influencer content doesn’t necessarily stick to the ads with the point of selling only, rather it can also talk about awareness stage content and provide value to your audience.

Takeaways!

Seemingly, there’s a lot more going on in the ecommerce industry right now. As both people and technology are evolving, ecommerce sector is playing by new rules to bridge the gap and provide a superior customer experience.

In short, consumers are at the forefront on each of the ecommerce trends we discussed, and online retail businesses are customizing the journey ahead.