E-commerce has come a long way since the first online transaction was made in 1979. It’s now a $2 trillion dollar industry and one that many people take for granted. But just like any other industry, online shopping is constantly evolving. In fact, it’s estimated that by 2020 there will be over five billion connected devices globally which means that the scope of e-commerce is going to be significantly larger than it is today. So how do you stay ahead of this fast-changing landscape?
Well, there are a number of e-Commerce trends emerging right now that all businesses need to keep an eye on because they’re going to affect how you do business and grow your brand in the future:
1. Embrace Omnichannel Integration
The future of e-commerce is not one of a solitary channel but rather one that has integrated its online and offline channels. Achieving this level of integration requires more than just combining your sales and marketing teams, or even customer service teams. Instead, it requires that you integrate your product and inventory management systems with payment processing systems as well as shipping and logistics systems (in order to track orders).
This type of omnichannel integration will help you transform from a traditional brick-and-mortar business into an online marketplace where customers can shop from anywhere at any time–a model known as “omni.”
2. Engage Your Customers
Engaging your customers is important for building brand loyalty, which will keep them coming back to you again and again.
There are many ways to engage with your customers:
- Use social media to interact with them on a personal level. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter allow you to connect with individuals who are interested in what you have to offer, so take advantage of this opportunity!
- Use customer service as another way of connecting with people who have already purchased from or interacted with you (and are therefore likely invested). If someone has already bought something from your company, they’re probably more likely than most others out there who haven’t yet tried anything from it yet–so use this fact wisely by making sure that everyone receives great service when interacting with any representatives from said company! This could include answering questions about products or services offered; providing updates about new arrivals/promotions/etc.; helping resolve complaints/issues; etc…
3. Focus on Mobile-friendly Site Design
In order to stay ahead of the game, it’s essential that your e-commerce site is mobile-friendly. This means that it loads quickly and easily, as well as being easy to navigate. The best way to ensure this is by using a “mobile-first” approach when designing your site.
In addition to making sure your site is optimized for mobile devices, you need to make sure it’s secure–and not just from hackers trying to steal credit card information or personal information about customers (which could lead them straight back at you). You should also consider how much bandwidth people will consume if they visit your page on their smartphone or tablet; if there’s too much data being used up in one session then they may get charged extra fees from their service provider!
4. Create an Effective Mobile App
With the rise of mobile devices and apps, it’s more important than ever to create an effective mobile app. To stay ahead of the game, you need to make sure your app is easy to use and has a good user experience (UX). You also need to make sure that it’s available on all platforms that your customers use: iOS and Android devices are obvious choices but Windows Phone users have been gaining in popularity lately too! Finally, check out reviews from real users before launching so that you can ensure your UI is intuitive enough for even non-tech savvy people who might download it by mistake thinking they were getting something else entirely!
As far as security goes…well…if anyone asks us about our security practices we’re just going say “yeah we’ve got this covered.”
5. Integrate your Marketing Campaigns
You can integrate your marketing campaigns to make them more effective by using email, social media and SEO. You should also use marketing automation to automate your marketing efforts. For example, when someone buys a product on your site or visits a specific page of the site that has been optimized for search engines (which we’ll talk about later), they will be automatically added to a list in an email campaign. This allows you to send out automated emails whenever someone buys one of your products or visits the site–and it enables you to target specific customers based on what they’ve done previously rather than just sending general emails out into the world hoping someone will click on one of them!
Another way companies are using content marketing effectively is by creating relevant content for their audience through blogs or videos because this helps build trust with potential buyers who may not know much about what it is exactly that makes up their business model/product offering yet but want answers before making any decisions about where they should spend their money next time around!
6. Personalize the Customer Experience
Personalization is one of the most powerful tools in e-commerce. It allows you to create a more memorable experience for your customers, and this can increase loyalty, sales and revenue.
You can use personalization to:
- Personalize content based on customer interests or other demographic information (such as location). For example, if you’re selling electronics online, then it makes sense to show different products based on where they are located (so someone in London might see British brands while someone else sees American ones). You could also tailor advertisements based on location–for example showing ads for local restaurants when someone visits London.
- Use data collected from previous interactions with customers to deliver a more customized service each time they interact with an organization’s digital channels such as websites or mobile apps; this includes things like product recommendations based on past purchases or email campaigns tailored according to past interactions between sender/recipient pairs
7. Use Data to your Advantage
Data is the new oil, and with it you can mine gold. Data is an essential resource that should be used to your advantage when it comes to running an online store. Here are some ways you can use data:
- To make better decisions: If you want to create a successful business, then data will help guide your decisions. You should be able to analyze information from sales figures and customer feedback so that they can help improve the product or service offered by your company in order for them not only sell well but also satisfy customers’ needs.*
- For customer experience improvement: The more information about what kind of products people want on their wish list as well as what kinds of marketing messages resonated better than others (i.e., what drove them into making purchases), will give an idea where improvements need made based on these findings.*
8. Don’t Forget About Security and Regulations!
Security and regulations are a top priority for e-commerce sites. Whether you’re an existing platform or just starting out, it’s important that your website is secure from hackers and cyber criminals. In addition, privacy laws have changed significantly over the past few years–and will continue to change even more in the future. This means that if you don’t take steps now to ensure your site complies with these regulations, then any fines could be costly!
9. Utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are the future of e-commerce. They’ll help you improve your customer experience, content, marketing and site design.
AI can help with things like:
- Personalizing product recommendations based on customer data
- Automating certain tasks such as abandoned cart recovery emails or product reviews (and even writing them!)
Machine learning algorithms can be used to:
- Detect fraudulent transactions on payment gateways
- Identify trends in customer behavior over time so that you know where to invest resources next
10. Make use of social media and influencer marketing
Social media and influencer marketing are two other powerful tools you can use to promote your brand, products and services.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram allow you to connect with consumers in a way that wasn’t possible before the internet was invented. You can use these platforms not only as a way of keeping up with what your customers are saying about you but also as an opportunity to engage them directly by posting content on social media channels such as blogs or videos (for example). Influencer marketing involves working with people who have large followings on social media – influencers – in order to promote products or services through their channels; this method enables companies like yours reach huge audiences at low costs compared with traditional advertising methods such as television ads which cost thousands of dollars per minute!
Influencers help build trust between brands and consumers by providing honest opinions about products/services so always make sure any endorsement made by an influencer is clearly labeled as “sponsored” so there’s no confusion about where information has been sourced from.”
11. Provide fast and reliable delivery options
If your customers are looking to purchase products online, they want to know that they can get their hands on them quickly. The importance of delivery speed and reliability cannot be overstated. This is why it’s important for you as an e-commerce business owner to provide a wide range of options for shipping, including:
- Free shipping on all orders
- Next-day delivery (for those who need their purchase fast)
- Same-day delivery (for those who need their purchase immediately)
12. Continuously evaluate and adjust strategies.
In order to stay ahead of the game, you need to continuously evaluate and adjust your strategies. This means gathering data and making decisions based on it. For example, if a certain marketing strategy is not working as well as expected, you can make adjustments accordingly.
If a new customer acquisition channel proves more effective than others in generating revenue for your store or company, then consider focusing more resources on that channel (or even discontinuing other channels). You can also use data analysis tools like Google Analytics or Salesforce Visual Workbook to measure how effective your marketing efforts are at driving sales within eCommerce stores such as Amazon and Walmart
If you want to stay ahead of the game, you need to embrace all the latest trends in e-commerce
To stay ahead of the game, you need to keep up with the latest trends in e-commerce. The world of e-commerce is constantly evolving and changing–and if you want your business to succeed in this competitive environment, you’ll need to adapt as well.
Here are some of the most important trends that will drive change in 2019:
Conclusion
As the world of e-commerce continues to evolve and grow, it’s important that you keep up with the latest trends in order to stay ahead of the game. By embracing omnichannel integration, engaging your customers, focusing on mobile-friendly site design and creating an effective mobile app; integrating your marketing campaigns; personalizing the customer experience; using data analytics; utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning tools such as chatbots; making use of social media influencers as well as traditional advertising methods like TV commercials or radio ads – all these strategies will help boost sales while keeping costs down at the same time!