The future of eCommerce seems incredibly bright and promising. It has become an increasingly lucrative option for businesses. The growth rate of eCommerce during the last decade has been phenomenal. The ecommerce sales in 2017 were $2.3 trillion. It is expected to reach $4.5 trillion by the end of 2021. Everyone involved is interested in knowing the future of eCommerce for 2021. Let us discuss what eCommerce stores for us in 2021. The projected figure for 2022 is $6.53 trillion.
What do these figures convey? These figures clearly state that the eCommerce industry is evolving at a rapid pace. It is pretty clear that the growth is unstoppable. You are going to see many innovative concepts in 2021. More prevalent use of advanced technology is imminent. The future of eCommerce looks bright. Many eCommerce stores are exploring unique ways to attract customers to stand taller among the competitors.
Here the most important trends that are going to make a strong impact on the future of eCommerce:
– Widespread use of artificial intelligence and augmented reality
– More prominence for hyperlocal marketplace
– Wider acceptance of voice commerce
– Visual Commerce will make a strong impact on the future of eCommerce
– Omnichannel is the new buzzword
– Dynamic pricing will never die
– Emergence of new payment methods is a reality
Widespread use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AM)
When it comes to talking about the future of eCommerce, you cannot undermine the importance of refined technologies. You will be able to find increased dependence on AI and AR in 2021. This method of approach is going to improve the eCommerce experience manifold. Various market studies show more than 120,000 online stores will make use of the possibilities offered by AR technologies by the end of 2021.
Providing personalized support, advice, and guidance to customers, AI works as your virtual store associate. It offers valuable and insightful information on a wide range of aspects, including customer browsing behavior and purchase history for the shop owners. It always helps you show the right products for the right audience.
One of the greatest disadvantages of online stores is that shoppers cannot access products physically. Highlighting this aspect, many traditionalists support physical stores. This challenge can be tackled to a great extent with the help of augmented reality. Augmented Reality helps shoppers see the real image of a particular product with incredible clarity. You will witness the increased use of AR in 2021. So, both AI and AR will contribute immensely to make the future of eCommerce bright. To improve conversions and minimize returns, many eCommerce stores have started using these types of technologies in their eCommerce sites.
More prominence for Hyperlocal marketplace
The digital revolution is has reached new heights nowadays. One of the popular innovations that will transform the eCommerce sector in 2021 is Hyperlocal Marketplaces. It refers to a business model which allows sellers to target particular zones to meet the requirements of local buyers. With speedy delivery and instant goods processing, the on-demand hyperlocal marketplace is gaining in popularity these days.
It has been making a strong impact on the future of eCommerce. The recent Covid 19 pandemic and the emergency lockdown forced people to stay at their homes. That is exactly where the importance of hyperlocal on-demand delivery service comes in. Millions of people are making use of hyperlocal services around the world nowadays. You don’t need to travel to buy any item. Further, local eCommerce stores are also offering different types of rewards, discounts, and other schemes to attract customers.
One good example is the food delivery apps. When you run out of groceries, you can order them through the app from local stores. The local eCommerce stores drop all items you need at your doorstep to make life a lot easier for you. It the safest and most convenient option available for people during and after the pandemic. Creating a contactless delivery scenario, hyperlocal marketplaces are gaining in popularity in 2021. The compound annual growth rate is estimated to reach 17.9% within 5 to 6 years.
Wider acceptance of voice commerce
Voice commerce will transform the eCommerce industry in 2021. You can find many people increasingly depending on voice assistant tools such as Alexa and Google Assistant to buy products online. Voice commerce sales are expected to reach $40 billion in 2022. Improved convenience and growing precision of the technology are two reasons that play a very vital role in increasing the popularity of voice commerce. To accommodate the needs of a large number of people, Amazon and Google have been adding regional languages to their virtual assistant devices.
Smart eCommerce store owners have started optimizing their shops for voice search. Optimizing the top-level conversion funnel to integrate answers to the most popular questions related to your product or service is the best way to make stores voice commerce-friendly. The popularity of voice commerce will increase manifold in 2021.
Smart voice optimization tactics attract prospects and keep them engaged. It provides excellent value to potential customers. With targeted content, voice optimization lets store owners place prospects on your conversion path. If you are an eCommerce store owner, you should never underestimate the role of voice commerce in 2021. It is a very big factor that you need to take advantage of to beat the competition.
Here are the most effective four ways to keep your eCommerce site voice search-friendly:
– Focus on content optimization to improve your chances of getting found in voice searches
– Make sure that the products can be bought in an uncomplicated way with the help of a voice command
– Incorporate a new skill on voice assistant tools
– Equip your site and app with voice-oriented navigation
Visual Commerce will make a strong impact on the future of eCommerce
Visual commerce is going to get bigger in 2021. It lets eCommerce store owners use imagery on product pages, as well as on the entire store, to attract visitors. If you make use of the possibilities of visual commerce smartly, you can engage people and keep the conversions at high levels. Many renowned retailers are employing this method to motive their customers to take action. The key is to use appealing and innovative images on homepages with shortcuts to buy the products directly.
Mobile eCommerce is a big factor in 2021
Offering admirable convenience and affordability, more and more people prefer to buy online nowadays. Many reputed and reliable eCommerce stores are offering a safe and rewarding purchase experience for customers. As the trust of the people increased, they have started using their mobile devices to make purchases.
According to eCommerce experts, mobile devices are going to dominate eCommerce sales in 2021. Authentic studies show that 75% of the total eCommerce sales will be done using mobile devices. So, mobile-friendliness is a big factor in 2021. You need to make your eCommerce site mobile-friendly to meet the changing needs of potential customers.
If your site cannot be accessed through mobile devices, around 30% of online shoppers are most likely to leave in pursuit of better options. They may even abandon their carts in the middle of shopping. You need to find ways to enhance the shopping experience for mobile users. That is why experts assert the importance of mobile responsiveness while talking about the future trends in eCommerce.
There are many different ways to make your eCommerce site mobile-friendly. With the help of Google mobile-friendly test, you can assess the mobile responsiveness of your site. It is always advisable to develop a progressive web app that loads much faster compared to a website. This feature also helps visitors view already browsed pages without going online. Other important steps that make your site more mobile responsive include:
– Make use of AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)
– Focus on providing a simple and smooth checkout process on mobile devices
– Find time to test your site manually using mobile devices. You need to make sure that your eCommerce offers easy navigation.
Omnichannel is the new buzzword
What is omnichannel shopping? If your eCommerce site offers a smooth and consistent shopping experience for visitors across different devices and channels, you are following omnichannel retailing. As mentioned above, a computer is not the only device that people use to shop online. With the ever-increasing popularity of smartphones, tablets, iPods, voice assistants, other types of user devices, you have to deal with an increased amount of omnichannel customers in 2021. The bottom line is that when you think about the eCommerce trends for 2021 , you must consider omnichannel shopping.
When it comes to offering an omnichannel retailing experience, you can come across several analytics tools that are capable of generating in-depth analytics to help you gain insightful information on customer behaviors. Allowing you to track all relevant details, smart analytics tools assist you in evaluating the product demand, revenues, profits, and customer loyalty. The best tools generate informative detailed reports that cover all aspects of your online business.
When you have such valuable details at your disposal, you can offer the right products for the right audience. The shopping experience becomes an enjoyable process for all types of customers, irrespective of the devices they use.
Importance things to remember while making efforts to offer a seamless omnichannel shopping experience for customers:
– Site optimization is very critical
– Develop a mobile app or progressive web app
– Offer a personalized user customer experience at every stage
– Make use of advanced cloud solutions and end-to-end retail processes to deliver an unparalleled user experience
It is impossible to underestimate the true power of omnichannel retailing when you think about the future of eCommerce.
Dynamic pricing will never die
How do eCommerce retailers keep the customers interested? Dynamic pricing is one of the most aspects that help online stores stay competitive and entice customers. No matter you are selling a highly attractive product, you need to price it properly to win customers. Even the best products fail to deliver the expected results in terms of sales due to incompetent pricing strategies.
Dynamic pricing will keep its dominance in 2021 as well. It is extremely critical to price your products rightly. Nobody wants to price their products very low to minimize profits. There should be a balance between product quality and price. The right price always helps you sell your product fast while maximum possible profits.
If you don’t have any idea about dynamic pricing, you can make use of top-quality pricing software to decide the right price for your products. Offering highly beneficial information on the perceived value of a product, market demand, and competitors’ prices, the best dynamic price software solutions help you make an informed decision. The bottom line is that the future of eCommerce will give great importance to dynamic pricing.
The emergence of new payment methods is a reality
Customers are always looking for safe and flexible payment options when they choose an eCommerce store. Many people select a particular brand due to its user-friendly payment options. All eCommerce stores must offer people their most preferred payment gateways to keep them interested. If they don’t find a suitable payment method, many of them won’t make a purchase.
Today, several eCommerce stores have started offering various types of digital wallets other than credit and debit card payment options. You can find increased use of cryptocurrencies nowadays. I noticed a Crane for Rental company that uses cryptocurrency for payment. Providing benefits such as the prevention of reversal transactions and reduced transaction fees, these types of digital currencies safeguard the interests of eCommerce store owners. You can find many stores promoting bitcoin payment methods these days. So, cryptocurrencies are going to play an important role in determining the future of eCommerce.
The future of eCommerce seems bright and promising. As an eCommerce store owner, you need to be aware of the latest trends that dominate the market to stay competitive. You can find AI and AR getting more prominence in the eCommerce sector. There will be an increased demand for hyperlocal marketplaces. Other factors like voice commerce, visual commerce, and omnichannel are gaining in popularity and this trend will continue in 2021 as well.
No matter what happens, dynamic pricing will retain its prominence. You can find more stores offering cryptocurrency payment methods in 2021. These are the most vital aspects you must remember while analyzing the future eCommerce trends for 2021.