 E-commerce is booming, and the trend shows no indication of slowing down. In fact, the trends indicate that there is a high degree of certainty that it’s going to overtake traditional retail in the future.
You can imagine that the percentage of Zoomers will be even higher. But what does the future of ecommerce look like in the near term? How has it changed in the post-pandemic world? And what does this picture mean for small and medium sized ecommerce stores? Here are our five predictions about the future of ecommerce in 2022 and beyond: 1. Increased Competition The expanding ecommerce sector means that there’s greater demand for online retail. It also means that there will be more competition arising to fill that demand. Small and medium sized ecommerce stores should start preparing to transact in a highly competitive market. To stand out, SMBs will need to take active steps to improve things like user experience on their websites with a strict focus on the mobile experience.. That’s because we’re seeing a huge increase in mobile ecommerce sales: Mobile accounts for up to 72.9% of the total ecommerce market share – a significant majority. If your website and ecommerce platforms aren’t made for mobile, you’re going to get drowned out by the competition. 2. Ease of Use Will Determine Success 150 million new shoppers came online during the pandemic. These are people who have traditionally shopped exclusively in stores, perhaps because they’re uncomfortable with technology. But lockdowns resulting from the pandemic left them no choice but to shop online. For ecommerce stores, that part was good news. It means your total addressable market increased by 150 million in the blink of an eye. But it also means that you’ll need to make your sales process and user experience as simple and straightforward as possible. In other words, it needs to be as customer-centric as possible.
The old adage of K.I.S.S. still stands - keep it simple for best results. 3. The Future is Eco-Consioucs Consumers expect more from brands than ever before. They expect them to deliver high-quality products in very short durations of time. They, more often than not, expect free shipping or some other perk from doing business. And they expect companies to be ethical and take stances on important issues like workers’ rights and the environment. That’s why, in addition to simply doing the right thing, today’s ecommerce store’s need to adopt business practices with environmental sustainability efforts front and center. This can be done in a multitude of ways including assessing the business's carbon footprint, reducing or eliminating plastic in products and shipping, and working exclusively with eco-friendly manufacturers.
4. Brand Building is Key In the nascent days of ecommerce, there were plenty of websites that were large transaction platforms. They sold products without any real attachment to a brand identity. In the modern ecommerce world, this model is being phased out because customers respond well to brands that they can identify with. A well-developed brand identity gives an online business an air of legitimacy. It also builds trust with shoppers, an important factor for getting them to convert to the purchase phase in the first place. Successful ecommerce branding answers the following basic questions:
Your brand is the larger motif of your company that ushers shoppers to a transaction. It’s the element of your business that consumers can identify with. It inspires them and builds trust and legitimacy in the process. 4. Building a Community Around Your Brand Requires Direct Contact The future of ecommerce is all about direct contact, specifically contact with your customers. Direct contact means collecting emails, getting subscribers, sending newsletters and any other marketing materials you can think up to build out customer loyalty programs. All of the above actions enhance your brand while it fosters a sense of loyalty and brand advocacy for your customer base. The value of personal and constant communication will become even more valuable and apparent as third-party cookies are phased out in 2022. With new privacy and regulatory laws coming into effect, consumer tracking and buying behavior tools will be less available, making it imperative to have a direct contact database of your own. Customer email messages are among the most powerful tools in your proverbial ecommerce toolbox. Use them correctly and you will dominate in the ecommerce space now and into the future. Unleash the Marketing and Get More withKlikenWe’re Kliken. And we’re ready to help you take your ecommerce marketing efforts to the next level. We’ll do so by getting your products in front of the right shoppers with our simple Google Shopping & Ads integration platform. With Kliken, marketing your brand has never been easier because we do all the heavy lifting for you. That way you can focus on running your business. As the world’s #1 Shopping and Ads marketing platform, Kliken has helped over 1,000,000 small businesses worldwide grow their sales on Google and get a return of up to 7x their original ad spend. Our proven marketing solutions can help you to unleash the potential of your ecommerce business. Learn more about how customers use Kliken to grow their businesses online here.
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