Top Trends in the eCommerce Industry in 2021

Today, businesses are moving online in droves. This process accelerated with the beginning of the pandemic. And since it does not tend to stop or slow down, you need to adapt to it and be on trends in the e-commerce industry for sales to grow and your business to flourish. If you are going to be successful in 2021, you need to understand how to make it happen.

People Buy in Marketplaces More Often Than in Unfamiliar Online Stores

Giants, such as Amazon or Walmart, guarantee customers a secure deal, fast delivery, a wide range of products, reasonable prices, and other benefits. There are a lot of advantages for online entrepreneurs as well. At the same time, sellers complain that detailed data analysis is not the basic functionality of marketplaces. But special Amazon seller software helps here. This tool gives your business all the data you need to be sure that everything runs perfectly. There are even more advantages at Amazon or any other marketplace:

• A huge loyal audience that the marketplace shares with you.

• Low start-up costs. It is more expensive to create and promote your own online store.

• The ability to sell any number of goods and advertise your store separately.

• Huge help from the marketplace as it is also interested in your success.

People trust giant marketplaces because they are reliable, and they value their reputation. You can trust them because dealing with them is beneficial in terms of conversions and sales growth.

Also, take a look at a few numbers. Amazon's revenue grew 38% in 2020. Brands that sponsored Amazon as part of the Prime Day promotion saw a 240% increase in sales, more than doubling their ad spend.

AR Technology and Visualization Help People Make Purchasing Decisions

The augmented reality technology in e-commerce allows potential customers to take a detailed look at the product before buying, see its benefits and ways of using it. AR technologies work especially well in the field of home decor, fashion clothes, and accessories.

However, marketers have noticed that visual sales dominate. Clients perceive visual information better: photos, videos, animation, as well as interactive content.

Voice Assistants Will Be Used More Often

If you're looking to be a successful entrepreneur in 2021, keep in mind that voice search is coming to the fore. Voice assistants like Siri help with not only routine tasks but also online shopping. Implementation of a convenient search system within the online store is definitely a good idea. It will help increase customer loyalty and sales.

AI Will Bring Even More Value to Online Entrepreneurs

AI can build algorithms, create recommendation systems, and so on. And its capabilities are expanding in 2021. Now, it collects specific data about customers, such as preferred products, date of last purchase, even characteristics of a particular product that was previously searched by the user.

For example, a woman is looking for shampoo. AI forms a group of recommended products based on the previous purchase of shampoo for colored hair. The woman quickly finds what she wanted among the recommended products and adds the shampoo to the shopping cart. As a result, the customer wasted no time, and the store made a profit. All thanks to AI.

Mobile First

About 73% of purchases are made via mobile devices. The mobile version of the site or mobile app helps with it. Online shopping via smartphones helps people pass the time profitably. During the quarantine, the trend became especially noticeable.

Chatbots: A Сonvenient Way to Сommunicate with Сustomers

Buyers don't like scrolling through 20 pages looking for the right product. They don't like contacting technical support either. Chatbots help solve both of these problems. Chatbots are equally well implemented on both websites and Facebook.

Chatbots are a technology that interacts with customers like a regular salesperson. The chatbot answers popular questions as well as helps the client find the desired product and place an order.

The client receives answers instantly, regardless of the time of contact: day or night. The chatbot responds to any request in seconds and helps not to miss a buyer who is ready to make a purchase.

Opportunity to Pay in any Way

Sometimes, clients leave just because they can't pay the way they want. Add the ability to pay not only from a debit or credit card but also from e-wallets, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc. And at the same time, make sure that you encrypt confidential information well, especially the customer's payment data.

Join the Eco Trends

The idea of ​​preserving the resources available to mankind for the benefit of future generations is being heard louder in the world. There is also a tendency to reduce waste, recycle, and zero-waste.

The number of conscious buyers is also growing. According to Harvard Business Review, today, more than 50% of buyers choose eco-friendly products, and they are attentive to the ingredients of each product. Besides,75% of respondents indicate that they would like less packaging of products. . If businesses try to produce biodegradable or recyclable packaging, it will definitely help sales to grow.

Some brands are successfully adopting non-toxic and eco-friendly products, while others refuse to test goods on animals and stop producing things from leather and fur. If you also share an eco-friendly philosophy, show this in promo videos, as Garnier does. Write about it on the package. Explain the safety of the product's components or how to recycle the packaging.

A striking example: Adidas has released a collection of sneakers from recycled material (the ocean coasts were previously cleaned of this garbage). The solution proved to be successful and economically viable.

Influencers will Promote Brands

Influencers on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram create quality content to ad products and brands themselves. This is beneficial for companies: they get advertising that people believe and, at the same time, save on the production of advertising materials. We are already seeing a trend that brands turn to bloggers and celebrities more often than to PR agencies. However, it is important that influencers themselves share the value and philosophy of your brand. In this case, the promo campaign will be more native and recommendatory than intrusive.

A key point in the e-commerce industry: focus on the needs, habits, and interests of the end consumer. This requires building a multi-channel strategy. But now, you can turn all the trends and tendencies for the benefit of the online business you are developing.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the management of EconoTimes