The eCommerce market has grown dramatically in recent years, with COVID-19 lockdowns being one of the most powerful boosters. When people were forced to stay at home in 2020, one of the options was to go online and shop. That’s when the industry got a new lease on life, though we should note that it was expanding even before the pandemic. In such a situation, it was not surprising to see an increase in demand for advanced eCommerce development solutions.
Forecast and Statistics for eCommerce
eCommerce sales worldwide increased in 2020, accounting for 19% of total retail sales. This figure was 16% in 2019. According to experts, this increase should be attributed to the shift to online shopping as a result of coronavirus restrictions. Furthermore, it is supported by statistics..
What are The Latest eCommerce Trends?
Online shopping is becoming increasingly common and convenient as a result of the advancement of current technology and the rise in computer knowledge among the people. However, there are other forms of eCommerce solutions available today, and the market for these solutions is seeing an increase in competition. Let’s look at some technical advancements in eCommerce that we can see today. In one of our earlier posts, we offered some general advice on how to start your own online shopping business.
- Voice search
Though some people still find voice assistants “weird,” the number of people who use them is steadily increasing. Even if we exclude smartphones with such capabilities, the smart speaker market is expected to reach $30 billion by 2024, a rather impressive figure.
- Chatbots
Chatbots can greatly assist you in streamlining various internal business procedures as well as improving the client experience. Organizing a round-the-clock customer support service can be difficult, especially if your workforce is small and you are just starting out in the company. Customers nowadays expect to be able to get the help they need at any time and on any day of the week.
- AI
AI-powered features now handle 80% of customer interactions in eCommerce. This type’s features are fairly diverse, ranging from personalized product recommendations and preferences to innovative predictive pricing powered by ML algorithms. These tools can analyse a variety of factors, including general market trends, demand, and user behavior, to change prices in real time.
- Augmented and Virtual Reality
Consider this: over 70% of consumers say they are willing to place more orders on websites with AR/VR features. Isn’t it therefore an argument to consider such features for your platform? These tools assist in avoiding one of the drawbacks of online shopping, which is the inability to view products in their natural environment. It is now possible thanks to AR/VR.
- Quick Payment Modes
Have you ever been ready to place an order online, tried to pay for it, but something went wrong, and you ended up leaving the website without purchasing anything? Have you ever left a website without purchasing because you needed to create an account or couldn’t find any payment methods that worked for you? To avoid such situations on your eCommerce platform, we recommend seriously considering the payment methods that will be available to your customers. You should offer a diverse range of secure and dependable payment options that enable users to pay quickly and easily.
- Visual Marketing
This concept is based on the need to increase customer satisfaction by providing high-quality visual content. However, it is now essential not only to provide beautiful large images with the fastest loading speed, but also to diversify the content formats you use. Interactive designs, user-generated content, videos, 360-degree images, and AR-powered features can all help to increase sales significantly.
- Social Media Shopping
Companies can use social media platforms to raise social awareness about their activities and brands and reach a large audience. Furthermore, these platforms offer a variety of marketing tools and facilitate informal interaction with your customers.
Wrapping up
As you can see, all current eCommerce trends are primarily aimed at making the purchasing process easier for consumers by streamlining all processes and making them more convenient and engaging. That is entirely natural. Technology should make our lives easier, and this is a key principle to remember when launching a software product. Users should enjoy interacting with your app or website and understand why they should choose your platform over those of your competitors.
At Milkyway Infotech, we strive to assist you in developing software products that capture the attention of users at first glance. We can develop products that meet all of the requirements because we have extensive experience building eCommerce websites and a robust tech stack. To learn more, simply contact us.