The Covid-19 outbreak had left the world changing in a way no one could have predicted before! Countries were locked down, vehicles were restricted, and fear of virus infection while going out prodded a huge number of retail buyers to switch to online shopping when the need for food, cleaning products, and shelter still prevailed. Simultaneously, many businesses were left with no choice but to close their brick-and-mortar stores. They started investing more in their online stores in order to maintain business performance amid the pandemic. This is how the market changed!
Thanks to these transitions in both retail sellers and buyers, the eCommerce market has seen an exponential expansion for the last two years. It has reached almost $5 trillion in 2021 and is projected to grow to $6.54 trillion or higher in 2022. With the world undisputedly whirling around online convenience for their shopping needs, there has never been a better time to embrace this wave!
But, being an eCommerce merchant isn’t easy. It invites a bunch of turbulence and challenges to overcome. But hey! There's a way to maximize your productivity and increase sales. As a Shopify merchant, you should look up to continuous advancements in your Shopify store. Having a peek at the eCommerce trends might help you in this journey.
With the changing outlook of the world of eCommerce, merchants are working on improving their eCommerce business more than ever. Yes! The competition is high but the risk is worth taking. We have listed down the top 6 eCommerce trends that tend to affect your business in 2022 and beyond. Read more to see how you can work on implementing these trends to take your business to the next level.
Have a Look at The Top 6 Trends
Additional payment choices
The sudden boost in technology has invited an extended number of online payment choices. From internet banking, debit, and credit card transactions to UPI, the payment preferences of people have drastically changed over the years.
The total global non-cash transaction value would amaze you. A report from Federal Reserve Payments shows the total money transaction value reaching $718 trillion with a total of more than $144 billion non-cash payments including card and check payments in the year 2015. You would notice how traditional cash payments have gradually moved to safe online transactions. This calls for action! An action for providing additional payment choices.
More payment options have the potential of not only benefiting the customers but as an eCommerce Shopify merchant, it can also aid in increasing conversion rates. Customers are more likely to make a purchase if they find desired payment choices available.
Another eCommerce payment statistic would set you to increase your payment choices. 82% of Americans use digital payment methods but at the same time 50% of people who never shop online admit lack of trust in eCommerce to be the reason behind. In this scenario, having an option of COD (Cash on Delivery) can majorly help. Thus, additional payment options at the checkpoint can help in increasing your profitability.
AI and AR enhances the shopping experience
Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality can be marked as a technological boon to eCommerce. AI is transforming business for merchants by impacting customer choices and at the same time, AR allows customers to preview and experience products before purchasing them. In the world of eCommerce, both AI and AR are paving steps towards increasing customer shopping experience.
You can add Artificial intelligence applications like Kit, Recart, SEO King, MorphL AI, etc, and Augmented reality applications like 3D warehouse and AR and 3D product viewer to your store from Shopify App Store. Adding applications can be a plus point for all Shopify merchants to enhance the selling and shopping experience.
The statistic shows 80% of the eCommerce customer interactions will be handled by AI whereas AR can increase eCommerce sales up to 200%. As a Shopify merchant, ignoring this top trend in eCommerce can lead to substantial losses.
Multichannel customer support
Multichannel customer support is an eCommerce strategy where a merchant outreaches maximum channels for reaching a larger audience. Presence on multiple channels like websites, applications, social media, emails, bots, chat boxes, etc. comes under multichannel marketing and customer support.
52% of the marketers use at least 3 to 4 channels as a part of their multichannel customer support and sales strategy and 72% of customers say they are more likely to connect and purchase from a brand with a multichannel presence.
With the growing use of the internet and social media, a large number of Shopify merchants have found profitability in having a multichannel reach making it one of the top eCommerce trends to keep an eye on in 2022. 45% of the customers admit that retailers fail to offer them multi-channel user support. This data can be utilized by eCommerce merchants to enhance their presence and user experience.
Boost in voice searches
No wonder voice searches have become the new normal. No one wishes to take their hands out of their pockets to type and see the search results. Even statistics prove the efficiency and customer demand of voice searches in eCommerce.
The success of Google voice searches has led various other eCommerce platforms like Shopify and stores like Amazon to install a model of voice search as a part of their sales strategy. Smart speaker sales have touched 150 million sales throughout the globe in 2020 and are expected to reach $30 billion by 2024.
It’s interesting to know that about 61% of the people in the age group of 25-64 admit to using voice searches in the future and 57% of people between 18-24 admit to increasing the use of voice searches.
Indeed, voice searches are growing in popularity. If you have a store on Shopify, activating voice searches both on web and mobile devices would be a smart action.
Big data analysis
As is said without big data, you are blind and deaf and in the middle of a freeway. In today’s world data rules! You would wonder why you should think about big data or how it can help you in your eCommerce journey. The answer is simple! There are multiple ways in which a Shopify merchant can use big data to their profit.
Here are some of the ways:
- You can utilize big data to analyze customer trends.
- Big data can be used to optimize the pricing of the products or services you sell
- Building an apt customer profile is one of the top areas of big data usage
- You can use it to personalize product and service recommendations
- Practical use of big data ensures enhance customer interaction
- Big data can also be used to predict and forecast customer demand
Researches show big data market is expected to reach $103 billion by 2023. Big data has played a major role in helping eCommerce to reach the position where it is today. It has assisted merchants in elevating the customer experience, has increased security in online payments, has also increased personalization, and at most has helped in optimizing product and service pricing. Overall, big data has tremendously assisted in increasing sales and boosting the economy.
Competitive advertisements
Since the past few years, online advertisements have taken a new shape in eCommerce. From programmatic advertising and beacon advertising to social media advertising, promoting and advertising has been a new field of competition for eCommerce merchants.
The more the brands have shifted online, the more online advertising is witnessed with higher competition. To stay in the market for the longest, you continuously need to innovate the ways of marketing and advertising. Statistics show the global spend in advertising exceeds $563 billion in 2019.
Shopify Facebook ads are a major part of Shopify advertisements. Also, various Shopify merchants now sell their products via online advertisements using social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.
The Bottom Line
It’s true that the expansion of eCommerce is nowhere decreasing in the coming years. It's a hike of improvement every minute. Amid this, lasting on a platform like Shopify with millions of competing users and merchants has its own challenges. It may require hours of study on analyzing trends. However, working on advancements by utilizing the eCommerce trends is what you should strive for every day. This spirit of improvement can help you in building an everlasting eCommerce empire on Shopify.
