5 E-Commerce Trends to Grow Your Business

If there were 1.66 billion online shoppers in 2017, it is estimated that by 2021 they will increase to 2.14 billion, for a total turnover of 4.8 trillion dollars.

From the interactive display of products to new retail experiences, to chatbots and voice searches, there are many innovations that have crossed the eCommerce universe in the last year.

But what does the future hold for us?

E-Commerce Trends for 2020

Here are 5 e-commerce trends to consider to increase your online sales in 2020:

1. Social Commerce 

People love to shop online and increasingly do it through social media. Since 2017, Social referrals to e-commerce sites have increased by 110%, far exceeding the growth trends of any other channel. Shoppers look for the products they need directly on social media and read the influencers’ posts or comments from their online community to be advised along the purchase process.

For this reason we speak of “Social Commerce”, which represents the most important engine of the e-commerce explosion.

The reason? E-shoppers are first of all mobile users and, therefore, perpetually connected. According to the latest We Are Social report, 800 million users have completed transactions on the Facebook Marketplace and 90 million have used Instagram shopping.

In this scenario of profound transformation, the border between social media and e-commerce becomes increasingly blurred. The methods used by users to shop online are changing  and, consequently, the advertising strategies of the brands must change.

There are many social commerce tools: from ads on social media to clickable stories, through calls to actions that refer to the e-commerce site, up to social commerce plugins.

The strategies may vary according to the brands and industries of reference, but all have a single common denominator: they are designed to be enjoyed on mobile.

2. Green Commerce 

Almost 9 out of 10 consumers say they want to buy products and services from companies that show they are environmentally sensitive.

To meet this need, more and more e-commerce brands have put all their know-how in place to reduce packaging waste, using recyclable materials. Among these, a very famous case is that of Reformation which, to ban plastic, sends products in 100% vegetable and compostable packs.

3. Google Turns Into a Marketplace

Apart from the giant brands like Amazon, Nike or Ikea, it is very likely that your potential customers have landed on your site starting from the Google search network.

An excellent move to give more visibility to your articles on the web is undoubtedly to integrate your e-commerce platform with Google Shopping.

The advantage offered by Google Shopping cards is to highlight your articles and to place them on the top of Google’s SERPs (the search engine results pages). This ensures that you can intercept target audiences faster: through PLAs (product listing ads), users have a preview of your products even before visiting your site.

4. Virtual Reality (VR) & Augmented Reality (AR) 

Without a doubt, the biggest barrier for e-shoppers is the inability to try on items before buying them. Many users give up on the temptation to shop online because they fear of having products delivered that are very different from those promoted in online ads.

Strictly speaking, selling cosmetics, furniture, glasses and accessories would seem an impossible undertaking. Still, brands never cease to amaze us with their “special effects”.

Companies like Warby Parker and Sephora have developed apps that, through AR, allow their customers to try on glasses and make-up. Ikea uses virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to allow shoppers to have a preview of how the furniture on sale could harmonize inside the houses.

5. Flexible Payment Options

If your company operates in the luxury sector or otherwise offers high-end items, the price could jeopardize the completion of online transactions. To prevent this risk, the most effective e-commerce strategy is to offer flexible payment options through systems such as Final, Afterpay and Affirm.

These services automatically distribute the cost of the items in several monthly installments, meeting the needs of customers. Specifically, companies that use Afterpay have seen conversion rates rise between 20% and 30%.

The e-commerce revolution has begun, the time has come to promote your company online and grow your business.

Do you have a project? Contact us and we will help you make it happen!