2021 was the year of digital growth and progress as the pandemic put a stop to brick and mortar businesses and walk-in customers. This propelled many offline organizations to transform themselves digitally and prepare for an online future where they interact with, attract and serve customers via their websites. This was the only way for them to stay in business during the crisis caused by the pandemic.
These business owners are now looking for ways to strengthen their digital presence in 2022 and beyond. Read on for the top 6 eCommerce trends and find some practical advice and tips to keep up with innovations in online selling. Let's get started!
6 eCommerce Trends To Make Your 2022 Profitable
Trend 1: Voice Shopping
Smart speakers have become a thing of this age. People are now looking for features that support the use of smart speakers. For instance, we have witnessed a massive demand for purchase and product search using smart speakers in the recent past. This makes voice searching and voice shopping of primary importance to this generation.
Therefore, when you're talking about the trends of 2022, you can't leave voice shopping out. In fact, it is one of the most dominant eCommerce future trends. Statista declares that in 2022 the volume of voice shopping is predicted to reach up to $40 billion.
Amazon is a prime example of a business that has adopted voice shopping successfully as 41% of its customers are interested in using the voice shopping function through Amazon Alexa.
Voice commerce has helped customers receive instant recommendations once they interact with a business. Hence, if you are an eCommerce business looking for ways to enhance your customers' shopping experience, Voice Shopping can most likely improve your customers' satisfaction.
Here are three tips to help you implement voice shopping capabilities for your online store:
- Optimization of content is essential, and do not forget to emphasize the search volume
- Develop a website as well as a smartphone version of your eCommerce website
- Test the voice command functions multiple times, and ensure that the end-users have no trouble using Voice Assistant to purchase commodities
Trend 2: Multiple Payment Methods
Undoubtedly, next in line with the trends of 2022 comes the need to enable diverse payment options.
Customers like to pay in many different ways. Some want to make online transfers, while others prefer credit cards. And if the customer doesn't find the one suitable for them, they will most likely walk away from the purchase and abandon the cart.
Focusing on diverse payment technology is important because it can help reduce cart abandonment and increase consumer spending.
Another feature that the customers love is when they don't have to add all the payment details every time they process a purchase. So, you must offer the customers an option to save their payment information on your website. That way, it can help save time during the checkout process for a hassle-free purchase.
This feature has become more critical after the pandemic as social distancing and exposure limitations mandate touchless and digital payments.
If you are planning to follow this trend, you can:
- Implement e-wallet payment such as PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay
- Consider implementing 1-click payment options and interest-free financing solutions
Trend 3: Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality
Digital transformation, AI, and AR have become the most used terms for marketing professionals looking to enhance the online shopping experience.
However, these are entirely different from one another. AI helps businesses personalize recommendations using past interactions and purchase history to highlight products for the customer they would be interested in. Doing that raises the chances of boosting your sales.
On the other hand, AR addresses the most significant barrier people feel in online shopping. It helps customers experience the product before they buy it, reducing the gap between physical testing they could do in offline stores and the impersonal nature of online stores. Through its application, your online business can attract and retain more customers.
AR technology has brought a revolution in the eCommerce industry – especially for businesses in cosmetics, fashion, and home décor niches.
For instance, if you sell skincare and makeup products, there are chances that most people are walking away from your online store without shopping anything because they like to test before buying. In that case, AR can come to your aid.
Most people struggle when buying makeup as they believe they need to apply a product in real to know if it suits them. But, you can help them by introducing beauty cams like L’oreal. This allows consumers o try different shades of lipsticks to know which one works the best. Moreover, L’oreal has also launched Effaclar Spotscan, allowing users to consult with skin specialists online and buy skin care products to help resolve common skin issues.
That is how implementing AI and AR can increase conversion rates to help you exceed the bar for customer satisfaction.
Trend 4: Video Commerce
There is no doubt that customers today are lazier than ever before. They don't wish to read long written posts. Instead, they might prefer something more prompt that would require less effort. So, you can't keep posting 1000-word blogs and expect to score new customers. To have a better impact, you need to create more effective, creative, and original content.
Compared to static images, videos are more powerful at inspiring your audiences. That’s because videos can offer a more vivid view of your products and services, helping viewers imagine and experience your brand more holistically. This can go a long way in inspiring them to buy from you.
One platform that proves the preference of the users of this age is Tiktok. It is one of the most used platforms by the young generation, which allows users to post only short-form video content. YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram have also introduced YouTube Short and Instagram Reel features to meet the need for quality visual content.
Here are a few things that can help you get started with video commerce:
- Make short-form videos instead of long videos
- Diversify your video content with tutorials, unboxing videos, explainers, etc.
- Post videos on social media, your home page as well as product pages
Trend 5: Chatbots
Another trend that you need to consider in 2022 is chatbot integration into your website and social media pages.
In the recent past, chatbots have transformed how brands and customers interact with each other. Hence, if you wish to enhance your customers' online shopping experience, chatbots can be a beneficial feature to add to your eCommerce website. It will help you offer faster and improved responses to the queries of your customers.
Research shows that over 41% o customers used conversational marketing tools like this one to guide their purchases. This indicates that modern chatbots aren’t just good at chatting up the customers but also have an important role in conversions and sales.
You can also use them to provide a personalized shopping experience. Doing that will help you retain customers on your website for a longer time to eventually boost the sales on your eCommerce websites.
Make sure to deploy:
- Effective voice bots
- Well-designed omnichannel bots
- Payment through chatbots
- Chatbots on messaging apps and social media
Trend 6: Loyalty Programs
Winning brands use their customer service capabilities as their strength, and a good part of it depends on retaining your loyal customers. It will help you grow your business exponentially. It may sound tricky, but you can do it in the simplest way – reward your customers. There are many ways to reward your customers. One way is to set up an eCommerce loyalty program.
This program will keep your existing customers engaged, encouraging them to continue shopping from you and coming back more often to buy in higher quantities. Moreover, they will increase their interaction with your brand so you can present them with marketing collateral without the worry of annoying them.
To design a program that works effectively, you need to ensure that it is easy to understand, shows a clear route to higher levels of rewards, and offers an enjoyable experience.
You can also set up a loyalty program for customers who contact your help desk with queries or issues. The way you respond to them either earns you their favor or lose them. So, you must identify your loyal customers and ensure that you address their complaints. Moreover, offer them loyalty points as it is a great way to apologize when orders arrive late or go unfulfilled.
Loyalty program types:
- Point-based loyalty programs
- Perk programs
- Tiered loyalty programs
- Subscription-based loyalty programs
- Hybrid programs
Wrapping Up
To become a market leader, you must stay ahead of your competitors by implementing new trends. And this year has arrived with many new opportunities for business owners. Hence, the trends mentioned in this blog will help your online business grow in multiple ways. But make sure that you invest in the relevant trends to your business (also make sure to build the ecommerce website with Zaapi). Direct your investment in the right direction, and it will reap the sweetest fruits for your business.
Photo Credits: Alex Knight, RODNAE Productions