Ecommerce has developed dramatically in the previous decade. New business structures and ecommerce trends have complicated the environment. During the COVID-19 epidemic, digital usage increased worldwide. Some estimates put internet shopping at 50% of retail sales by next year.
However, many organizations realized that increasing their internet presence or focus didn’t ensure success. McKinsey calls this “the e-commerce catch-22,” since many merchants with strong ecommerce sales growth in 2020 and 2021 saw margins fall.
Due to market saturation, electronics and home goods retailers increasingly compete internationally with tiny online businesses like Amazon. This may drive companies to lower prices to compete.
New markets may complicate shipping and logistics and disrupt global supply chains. Since they’re used to same-day delivery and tailored items, consumers anticipate a unified digital shopping experience. They intend to utilize their preferred payment method. These clients increasingly want free delivery and reward schemes. Businesses must also focus on sustainability to reach digital natives like Gen Z.
Businesses must be innovative about their digital strategy and how to build dynamic, interactive shopping experiences that increase consumer interactions in the ever-changing, fast developing ecommerce environment. Here are some ecommerce trends that will effect the global USD 3.3 trillion industry and improve customers’ digital experiences as consumers change how they buy products and services:
- Artificial intelligence
- Augmented reality
- Live commerce
- Online-to-offline ecommerce
- Collective commerce
- The voice helpers
Artificial intelligence trend
AI has greatly impacted digital commerce and is regarded as the fourth industrial revolution. Customers now demand personalized purchasing experiences. Digital optimization and automation solutions make using consumer or third-party data to create intelligent ecommerce sites cheaper and simpler. If used properly, AI-enabled marketing and product discovery technologies improve consumer engagement and retention.
Personalization
To provide individualized product suggestions and shopping experiences, AI systems can evaluate massive quantities of user data, including browsing history, purchase behavior, and demographics. AI-based customization recommends products, reminds consumers to reorder, and customizes shopping experiences. These tailored shopping experiences may be used on product sites, email marketing, and checkout.
Dynamic pricing
Dynamic pricing, popularized by ride-share firms but increasingly utilized elsewhere, lets shops modify rates in real time depending on demand, inventory, and rival pricing. Dynamic pricing may help certain ecommerce firms optimize income while staying competitive, but the AI’s settings must be carefully selected to prevent ridiculous price structures that may repel new consumers.
Virtual assistants, chatbots
Gartner predicts that by 2027, 25% of firms would use chatbots to provide customized customer assistance in natural language, answer inquiries, and resolve consumer problems in real time. To create a positive online purchasing experience, conversational AI-assisted customer service and its managers must work together, according to some academics.
Find and discover
Machine learning algorithms let AI-powered search and recommendation engines understand user intent, increase search relevancy, and identify products. To help buyers locate the right product by pattern or style, many retailers are using third-party AI to simplify natural language product searches.
Technology-based ecommerce firms have also emerged from the AI revolution. Many subscription-based ecommerce firms like Blue Apron and BarkBox have grown over 1,000%. AI and advanced analytics help direct-to-consumer subscription companies choose products.
Augmented reality trend
AR and VR technology allow marketers to improve digital experiences and integrate digital touchpoints into conventional purchase channels. Consumers may minimize uncertainty and return rates by “trying it out” in their living room for purchases that are significantly reliant on environmental context, such as a new sofa. AR and VR may improve customer experiences in travel, hospitality, and consumer retail by providing the finest product previews before purchase.
Product visualizations improved
A vivid and immersive product preview is one of the main advantages of integrating AR and VR into ecommerce. Industries where customers make significant, contextually sensitive purchases might benefit from this feature. Several real estate businesses have tried remote property viewing technology. Recently, IKEA launched a successful AR smartphone app that lets shoppers explore its products in their homes.
Virtual try-ons
Properly designed virtual try-on experiences may alter fashion and beauty. This technology lets consumers remotely try on clothes, accessories, and cosmetics via cellphones or webcams. Some optical stores let customers “try on” glasses online. Sephora’s real-time cosmetics app is very successful.
Live-commerce trend
Live commerce started in China. Within six years after its 2016 launch, the sector was expected to generate USD 647 billion. The US market is still growing, expected to generate USD 32 billion by 2023.
Live commerce events allow consumers to connect with a host via livestream while buying things with digital wallets. Alibaba pioneered the sales strategy, which TikTok, Amazon, and Poshmark have emulated. Influencers or celebrities may promote items during shopping events, encouraging customers to speak about and buy them. Live commerce lets firms promote discounts and builds community around an event.
Online-to-offline ecommerce trend
Many online-to-offline (O2O) ecommerce solutions seamlessly combine digital channels with physical retail experiences, offering a comprehensive consumer journey across both channels. Though contradictory, several internet merchants prioritize luring consumers back to purchasing in-store. Offer chosen experiences in physical places to build client loyalty and find new markets.
Amazon bought Whole Foods and combined in-store food purchasing with its digital environment. From China’s Alibaba to Magnolia Market, a direct-to-consumer furniture brand, several other companies have launched physical storefronts based on their internet sites.
Online-to-offline ecommerce projects include:
- Omnichannel purchasing involves ordering online and picking up in-store.
- Furniture showrooms for online orders and home delivery
- QR codes or bar codes for in-store product information
Social-commerce trend
Between 2021 and 2025, social commerce ecommerce that uses social media as a marketing tool and shopping destination is anticipated to rise by over 50%. It’s a prominent ecommerce trend that’s predicted to earn USD 1.2 trillion by 2025 and features mobile shopping like live commerce.
Organizations may utilize social media to promote product discovery, social buying, and consumer involvement. Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have integrated social commerce to make it easier.
Seamless social media buying experiences use social behaviors to shorten the purchasing process and boost conversion rates. Social recommendation and discovery help shoppers identify relevant items. Social commerce firms often collaborate with influencers or leverage user-generated content to reach their audience. Clinique has engaged younger audiences with smart social media marketing and social commerce.
In trend: Voice assistants
Smart speakers and speech assistants simplify online purchasing and customer relations. This technique utilizes AI to search for items and submit orders using multiple payment options. Use voice commands to monitor shipments and obtain unique suggestions.
Voice search-assisted ecommerce makes purchasing easier for multitasking online customers and makes conventional interfaces more accessible. Grocery and home goods stores may benefit from voice ordering’s simplicity. For years, firms have been generating speech search-friendly product descriptions and back-end voice assistant solutions. Dominos has had a smartphone app for ordering pizza since 2017.
The future of ecommerce
Ecommerce is growing internationally, thus new digital commerce formats are sprouting quickly. China, which accounts for more than half of global digital retail sales, has developed social commerce and live commerce rapidly. Live commerce in China went from an emerging invention to a channel where two-thirds of people purchased a product in a year in less than five years.
Most companies now need more than just PayPal hookups or listing things from their brick-and-mortar shop on an ecommerce platform. The IBM Institute for Business Value found that 14% of 20,000 customers in 26 countries were happy with internet purchasing. Innovation is needed to make ecommerce enjoyable.
IBM and ecommerce trends
Trade is difficult. Business consultancy thrives on powerful ecommerce and AI-driven omnichannel commerce. IBM iX provides digital strategy, design, implementation, integration, and operations consultancy and world-class ecosystem connections.
IBM Consulting professionals help organizations achieve their objectives by using data, AI, best ecommerce practices, and the open-source IBM iX Experience Orchestrator. You get insight-led, outcomes-driven client experiences that establish trust and boost your company’ relevance.
