Latest ECommerce Trends shaping up
ECommerce
these days has exploded many times, hitting new milestones and
achieving numbers never seen. In the year 2014, sales hit a high of $1.3
trillion reaching almost $2 trillion by the end of 2016.
By 2020, it is estimated that the value of ECommerce sales will have topped $4 Trillion. This article discusses some of the top trends in ECommerce sales that has
had far reaching consequences in the way
enterprises
design a strategy, develop software and execute a plan that gives
seamless experience to the end users while keeping them in line with
latest trends
Multi-Device Shopping : Given that sixty-six
percent of all time spent on ecommerce sites is done across mobile devices, companies are aligning their web design aligned with the mobile first strategy.
eRetailers will need to ensure that the site is accessible from devices of different form factors like phones, tablets and laptops having different resolutions. 61 percent of customers leave a site if it isn’t mobile-friendly, it is hardly a surprise that responsive web design is becoming a key component of any web site’s strategy
eRetailers will need to ensure that the site is accessible from devices of different form factors like phones, tablets and laptops having different resolutions. 61 percent of customers leave a site if it isn’t mobile-friendly, it is hardly a surprise that responsive web design is becoming a key component of any web site’s strategy
Material Design – This vibrant and content
focused pattern has been gaining popularity since late 2014 and continues to be used extensively in modern ECommerce site. It is the unified and playful experience provided by
Material design which makes it extremely attractive. Even for development shops, this frameworks allows for rapid and consistent baseline that can be utilized for almost a “game” kind of experience.
Material design which makes it extremely attractive. Even for development shops, this frameworks allows for rapid and consistent baseline that can be utilized for almost a “game” kind of experience.
Custom Product demonstrations / Real time customization
– Providing interactive product demonstrations is a very
compelling way to showcase your product offering and how they work. Lot
of companies would like to give a real time experience of building
models and clothings so that it is customized to the
need of the customer
Hidden Menus – With
the advent of bold modern
designs, the concept of menus has been replaced with large images and
alternative mechanisms to toggle between choices. Even the hamburger
menu in the corner is being
replaced by innovative ways of allowing users to choose between different modes and choices.
replaced by innovative ways of allowing users to choose between different modes and choices.
Multi-channel marketing – Using
a combination of ECommerce
indirect and direct communication channels like websites, direct mail,
email, mobile apps and social media campaigns, companies are maximizing
their investment in digital assets and also investing in a variety of
digital asset management
products. As the pace of this marketing mechanism picks up, there will
surely an uptrend in the usage of these asset management products.
Location Targeting – Given
that there is an
innate integration of a GPS device pinpointing the location of a
customer, it is natural for companies to start focusing on location
centric targeting through relevant advertisement.
Using Beacons and accurate location sensors coupled with preferences and profile specifics of the individuals, it is even more possible to pinpoint the kind of discounts and promotions that could be transmitted to the individual to encourage buying specific merchandise.
Using Beacons and accurate location sensors coupled with preferences and profile specifics of the individuals, it is even more possible to pinpoint the kind of discounts and promotions that could be transmitted to the individual to encourage buying specific merchandise.
Social Media Advertising – Social Media advertisements
have come a long way in being used as an effective advertising mechanism. Taking the example of Facebook’s
Dynamic Product Ads which automatically promote relevant
products from your entire catalog with unique creative, showcasing one
or more products, across any device, users can be literally reminded
about the quality and uniqueness of the product that
they just viewed minutes back thereby refreshing their memory and giving
a good visibility for the product.
Marketing Automation – As
the email campaigns
to promote different products become more and more annoying, technology
has found ways to classify the mails as junk or “clutter”. Marketing
automation helps in a way that makes the emails a lot more relevant,
attractive and possibly worthwhile to the email
receiver to spend some time understanding the material.
Rich Media – Audio, Video Product – As
the
competition for attracting more and more eyeballs intensifies, companies
are trying to find every possible way to get more “stickiness” to their
ECommerce
channel. One very practical way to do this is by using rich media
generously. A recent survey has indicated
that more than 90% of the buyers have revealed that a video explaining
the features can play a much better role for them to make a buying
decision. Use of bold colors, pleasing to the eyes can surely help ECommerce retailers generate more interest for their
customers.
Data Aggregators – As
the concept of “Data
as a service” intensifies, using variety of data in real time and
aggregating it to give a contextual and specific experience continues to
help customers make their decisions easy.
In this information age, where data is on the fingertips of most millennials, nothing can be more irritating for the customer than to see outdated or wrong information just because aggregation and data cleansing has not been done correctly. This reflects very poorly on the quality of the product and directly influences the product buying decision process.
In this information age, where data is on the fingertips of most millennials, nothing can be more irritating for the customer than to see outdated or wrong information just because aggregation and data cleansing has not been done correctly. This reflects very poorly on the quality of the product and directly influences the product buying decision process.
Artificial intelligence in ECommerce – The
three areas that artificial intelligence is playing a big role in ECommerce is advanced search, Personalization and Predictive analysis. Given the behavior of the buyer, most AI algorithms
can foretell the taste of the individual and suggest specific products based on context when the user is trying to search. Given that the inventory of most retailers is considerable, it surely helps to zero in the customer to the required merchandise quicker. From a personalization standpoint, using the preferences that the user has mentioned in his profile as well as any traits that the algorithm can gather from his publicly available social or professional datapoints, companies will need to create a virtual profile of the customer and help in suggesting options accordingly. Finally, predictive analysis helps enterprises predict future purchasing patterns or possible interest points for the customer so that recommendations can be made accordingly. Used effectively by Amazon initially, this has now become a standard process
can foretell the taste of the individual and suggest specific products based on context when the user is trying to search. Given that the inventory of most retailers is considerable, it surely helps to zero in the customer to the required merchandise quicker. From a personalization standpoint, using the preferences that the user has mentioned in his profile as well as any traits that the algorithm can gather from his publicly available social or professional datapoints, companies will need to create a virtual profile of the customer and help in suggesting options accordingly. Finally, predictive analysis helps enterprises predict future purchasing patterns or possible interest points for the customer so that recommendations can be made accordingly. Used effectively by Amazon initially, this has now become a standard process
Emergence of Payment Wearables– With
the emergence
of mobile wallets, rings and small wearables capable of making digital
payments, there has been a new trends of companies using Tap and Go kind
of techniques for payments in the ECommerce arena. There is a huge market for this and it will continue to expand
in the coming years.
