There is no doubt that eCommerce industry is constantly evolving. Ever since the global pandemic, the eCommerce business has witnessed accelerating growth with more and more consumers now realising the benefits of buying whatever they need from their living room. And so, eCommerce retailers are continuously trying to create a better customer experience to foster their growth in this competitive market.
Today, eCommerce is valued at around $4.2 trillion. As per Finances Online, global retail eCommerce sales will continue to soar from $1.845 in 2016 to $6.542 in 2023
Hence, it is worthwhile to gather the most notable eCommerce trends that best describe the future of online selling in 2023. And for our eCommerce retailers, we have the key takeaways on what should an online business do regarding that trend.
eCommerce business trends to watch out for in 2024 and key takeaways
1. Massive growth in online shopping
Today’s websites are more user-friendly, offering customers the best online shopping experience. The improved processes allow customers to find desired items with ease and pay using a variety of payment options.
eCommerce sales just about doubled right after the pandemic when more and more customers switched to online shopping. As per the latest eCommerce statistics, eCommerce sales were $4.9 trillion globally in 2021and by 2040, almost 95% of all purchases are predicted to be via online eCommerce.
2. Mobile commerce will continue to grow at an unprecedented rate
Mobile commerce has shown rapid growth in recent times, as more and more consumers are increasingly shopping for and purchasing products using mobile devices like phones and tablets. By 2023, mobile commerce sales are expected to reach up to 55% of the total global retail eCommerce sales.
So online sellers would need to be wise in adopting a mobile-first approach for their eCommerce site, which involves designing an online interface primarily providing a great mobile experience for mobile users.
Mobile commerce is convenient and easy to use and is that’s why so popular. For this make sure your mobile websites are more friendly, invest wisely in mobile commerce apps, use multiple and secured mobile wallets and payment methods such as Google Pay, and Apple Pay, and finally use mobile marketing like SMS marketing, push notifications, and in-app advertising to reach consumers.
3. Voice Shopping shows soaring growth
Smart voice use for eCommerce will continue to rise as major online vendors like Amazon, Walmart, Alibaba, and other have already started offering voice shopping. Today, over 30 percent of internet users are using voice assistant to search or purchase products. And this trend will continue to rise in 2023 and ahead.
4. Multichannel personalisation
Today’s consumer demands a more personalised shopping experience from their favourite brands and so, personalisation is expected to be a big trend in 2023. This works well if eCommerce sellers have stakes in several platforms, and use the customer’s touch points and journey data to boost customer engagement and loyalty. As well as, consumers will benefit by getting personalised recommendations tailored to their interests.
Businesses should use personalisation platforms like Amazon Personalise and Google Cloud Prediction API and AI for customising product recommendations and providing personalised content to customers and thereby improving conversion rates.
5. Social media activities will increasingly influence the eCommerce retailer behaviour
Social media has today become the best way for brands to connect with their target audience. In 2023, social media is expected to generate $30.73 billion in sales, accounting for 20% of the global retail eCommerce sales!
Further, eCommerce sellers are now able to even sell directly to consumers through some social platforms, like Facebook, Instagram Checkout.
Social media also helps eCommerce sellers to make connections with social media posts, videos, influencers, and paid ads and create a community around their brand.
Businesses should use social media to drive traffic to their website by sharing links to their website and can also sell their products using social commerce platforms like Instagram, Amazon Live, and Facebook.
6. Better payment processing options
Most of the time, eCommerce businesses lose many potential sales over payment processing issues. Cart abandonment rates are high when an online seller makes it too difficult to pay for an order. So, simplifying the eCommerce checkout process is a much-needed trend. This involves having fewer steps on the checkout pages, no compulsion on creating an account to make a purchase, offering guest checkout, being transparent with all costs and policies, and offering multiple payment options.
7. Focus on Green Consumerism
Environmentally-friendly practices can influence today’s customer choices more, especially the Millennials and other ages too who are now willing to spend more on sustainable products for health and fitness and environmental good. eCommerce sellers can give a competitive edge by choosing greener products and packaging and adopting more and more environmentally sound practices.
8. Increased AI in eCommerce
Artificial intelligence is certainly expected to have a big impact on eCommerce in 2023 and will be used even more to improve the business processes and workflows for personalisation, customer service, and fraud prevention.
Sellers can use AI for better forecasting, order tracking, and after sale service.
This trend will help businesses to improve their customer experience and consumers will be able to get help from chatbots and getting personalised recommendations.
9. Omnichannel selling
Omnichannel refers to the use of multiple channels like online store, in-store, and phone interactions to interact with customers and engage with them. This includes things.
Using this trend, businesses will benefit as they can reach their customers through multiple channels and online marketplace like Amazon and Walmart, and consumers will be able to shop from different channels, using mobile devices.
eCommerce businesses may face challenges in 2023. So, what can we expect in 2023? Here are our top predictions:
· One-Time Buyers- 75% of a brand’s customers who made the first purchase, did not purchase again from the same online shop (Forbes, 2021). This can be attributed to increasing competition that runs for customers’ attention.
· The continued rise of Amazon and other large eCommerce platforms.
· The increasing importance of personalisation and customer experience.
· The omnichannel strategies will become the norm.
· The challenge of fraud prevention.
· Customised Packaging- The nicer the packaging looks, the more chances of a purchase as unique packaging excite most customers. So, focus on different aspects of packaging like durability, aesthetics and environment-friendly.
· Mobile sales will account for 73% of all eCommerce sales by 2023.
· Better Payment Processing will play a critical role in the conversion process and overall customer experience.
· Voice Shopping to take top-notch stage – The number of voice shoppers is expected to further increase by 55% by 2022.
· Focus on Green Consumerism as being environment-friendly will influence online sales among Millennials
· Social Media will be the next best platform for online shopping
· Increase the AI use in your eCommerce processes for running your business store efficiently.
· Omnichannel will become the norm.
The Bottom Line
The latest eCommerce trends are adopting new technologies and never heard business practices such as packaging, better customer experience, multichannel selling, 3D product preview, augmented reality AR technologies, green consumerism, and increasing use of AI are now in the spotlight to further improve online selling.
If you are an eCommerce company or planning to become one, keep these trends in mind and significantly improve the way you sell online to create a robust online business as we move through 2022 and into 2023.
By using the eCommerce platform like Adobe Commerce, Big Commerce that provide the right tools and up-to-date industry best practices, businesses can stay ahead of their competition and overcome challenges.
References
Chang, J. (2022, January 14). 11 future Ecommerce Trends & forecasts for 2022/2023 – a look into what’s next. Financesonline.com. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://financesonline.com/ecommerce-trends/
Pang, J. (2022, August 2). 2023 ecommerce predictions: What’s next? Super Chain – Ecommerce Analytics for Shopify. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://super-chain.tech/2023-ecommerce-predictions-whats-next/
Systems, N. (n.d.). 2022/2023 trends in eCommerce. 2022/2023 Trends in eCommerce. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://www.newcastlesys.com/blog/2022-2023-trends-in-ecommerce
The State of global e-commerce: What trends to look out for in 2022/2023? Spyrosoft. (2022, June 23). Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://spyro-soft.com/blog/the-state-of-global-e-commerce-what-trends-to-look-out-for-in-2022-2023
