In the pre-pandemic times, eCommerce seemed like a grand and far-fetched idea that did not appeal to the masses. Sure, online shopping did have its own merits.
From being a convenient option for busy people to have a much more extensive collection of items than any retail store, online shopping sites did have their customer base.
In March 2020, the pandemic happened. To curb the virus from rapidly spreading, governments announced lockdown measures. As we were forced to stay indoors, physically walking into a store became an unsafe and almost impossible task.
This is where online shopping sites made a breakthrough. Retail companies could deliver their products to a customer’s doorstep when they place an order on their website, and it was safe and followed all social distancing protocols.
Thus, online shopping sites became more mainstream and accepted by most users. Emerging trends in eCommerce show that the ecommerce industry is only set to grow.
The pandemic has completely changed the scenario, and now there is no looking back for this industry. According to Statista, retail ecommerce sales amounted to approximately 4.9 trillion U.S. dollars worldwide in 2021. In this blog, we will discuss the recent trends in online shopping in 2022.
7 eCommerce Trends For 2022
1. Providing a personalized shopping experience for customers:
A customized and tailor-made expertise has always been an essential part of eCommerce businesses. Learning about customer behaviour and then leveraging this information to target customers with products they might purchase is one of the Retail eCommerce trends in 2022.
Providing consumers with a personalized shopping experience reduces cart abandonment rates and increases revenue.
Collecting customer data is key to understanding customer behavior and providing them with a more individualized shopping experience. However, with the rising concern about online privacy, brands have to make sure they source this data ethically with the customer’s permission.
The data that has been collected is valuable and provides insights into a customer’ buying tendencies. This data can now be leveraged to market only those products that the customer is likely to purchase. For example, it’s amazing how Amazon recommends products to us.
2. AI and chatbots improve the shopping experience:
Artificial Intelligence marketing is increasingly integrated into online shopping platforms to learn about customer behavior more effectively. Using chatbots in customer support is another trend that will gain popularity in 2022.
Having these features on your site helps customers have a more human experience shopping from your platform. Having an intuitive chatbot that understands a customer’s preferences will increase revenue on the site.
3. Offering multiple payment methods:
Brands integrating various payment gateways in their eCommerce platforms will be another significant online shopping trend in 2022.
Different clients have different preferences, and brands need to cater to them to reduce cart abandonment rates. Some users prefer pre-paying for their orders to avoid the hassle of carrying cash.
Others might be concerned about revealing their bank details online and prefer cash-on-delivery. Either way, eCommerce platforms need to give the customer a variety of choices regarding payment options like Paypal, Netbanking, and digital money solutions.
4. Integrating voice search on the eCommerce platform:
Allowing users to voice search for products on the shopping website will become an important trend in 2022.
An ever-increasing number of users have smart speakers in their homes, and this naturally shows an increase in voice search by users. Optimizing your online store for voice commerce will help you build better customer relationships. Moreover, the data collected will help you serve your customers in a better way. From placing a food order to search for a product online, users are now finding voice search more convenient.
5. Having an efficient delivery system:
On-time delivery is a massive aspect of the success of an eCommerce platform. Customers expect free and fast delivery, and the cart abandonment rate can increase significantly if these expectations are not met.
Studies have found that if the customer is not informed about the delay in delivering a package, a whopping 69.7 % of customers will not purchase again from that retailer.
These stats show how disastrous it can be for businesses if they are not transparent about their delivery times. The key here is to communicate with users how much time delivery could take.
A great way to communicate with customers is to have a notification option on the product description page. This notification option will keep customers informed when a product is restocked and when that particular product can be delivered.
This can also be a golden opportunity to engage with customers and stand out from the competition. Instead of offering just a single method to deliver products, brands can allow customers to split orders, place a pre-order, or collect a product from the store.
6. Subscriptions help build a loyal customer base:
A tried-and-tested business strategy that will remain in trend in 2022 is offering subscriptions and loyalty programs to retain customers.
Offering subscription services to regular customers and offering extra discounts to new visitors can boost revenue and help build customer trust. These can be done in multiple ways: offering points that can be redeemed on the platform or coupons that can be used while checking out.
7. Project your platform as a sustainable eCommerce solution:
One of the biggest retail eCommerce trends in 2022 is brands becoming more sustainable.
Customers have become more concerned about the environment, and rightly so. They are now more aware of how their shopping preferences affect the environment.
Projecting your platform as a genuinely sustainable alternative to traditional shopping platforms. However, with so many eCommerce platforms jumping into the sustainability bandwagon, it can get complicated for clients to determine which ones are living up to their promises.
Customers want to see the genuine efforts brands and businesses put into creating a sustainable marketplace. You have to show clients whether you are ethically sourcing products, which is manufacturing them, and if they are environment-friendly.
Customers also want to know how you are repurposing the returned products so that they don’t end up in landfills. We can see how 4ocean is taking sustainable footprints with a one-liner on their website.
Customers these days also want to know whether you are using sustainable packaging. Cutting down on plastics and using recyclable packaging will show customers that your brand is not just about false promises, and you do care about the environment.
Stay Prepared for Emerging trends in e-commerce:
Not every trend is suitable for every commerce website, and you have to decide which trends can benefit your platform and which ones can go for a pass.
Always stay up-to-date with market trends and follow blogs that discuss business trends for eCommerce platforms. Use the latest tools to engage clients. Make sure to ask for customer feedback to show that you value them.
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Author bio:
Vishal Lakhani: CEO and Magento Solution Specialist at Rock Technolabs with over 10+ years of experience in eCommerce. Apart from blogging and playing with Magento, he loves to read, travel, and learn new technologies that help make the development process easier and more appealing to clients.
