For brands who use popular e-commerce marketplaces to sell their products, it’s crucial to stay on top of best practices. As we prepare to enter a new decade, the stakes will be higher and competition will be stronger. Continue reading to learn about five important e-commerce trends shaping the future of the industry.
Almost 70% of shoppers go to Amazon first when shopping online. The marketplace giant is the leader in online sales and shows no signs of stopping. As brands begin to plan for 2020, they will have to embrace the platform. Brands that underestimate Amazon’s importance could risk falling behind.
Consumers use Amazon as more than just a transaction tool. They use it to compare prices, read customer reviews, and find new products and brands. Amazon has become a place where shoppers research to make an informed purchase decision. Because of this shift in consumer behavior, brands have the opportunity to use Amazon as a marketing platform. When used to their full potential, insights available through Amazon make it possible to increase conversions and discoverability on and off the site. Amazon continues to help brands improve how they reach customers, making it a key element of a brand’s strategy.
The device used to access a website or product page online has been something brands have considered in their strategies for more than a decade. As e-commerce continues to drive retail, mobile matters now more than ever.
In fact, mobile will make up 45% of e-commerce revenue by 2020. This forecast accounts for about $284 billion.
Brands will need to pay extra attention to the experience shoppers have on all devices. To optimize for mobile, brands will need to focus more on design and short-form copy. Long titles and paragraphs for descriptions don’t often display favorably on mobile. So, brands will need to remember to create direct and easy-to-digest content.
E-commerce is only one of many different elements of a brand’s online strategy. For example, brands also focus on social media, email, influencer marketing, and content marketing.
As brands focus on their 2020 plans, it’s necessary they streamline their strategies, especially since 73% of shoppers use multiple channels to do their shopping. Retailers will need to ensure their email, social, content and website strategies are all aligned with each other and to their e-commerce strategy as a whole.
Although retail giants like Amazon make meeting customer expectations look easy, it can be a major challenge. Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) have come a long way in helping brands achieve what only recently seemed impossible. As e-commerce continues to evolve and consumer demands become more aggressive, brands can leverage machine-learning.
Some ways brands can use technology to their advantage include providing a more personalized experience, increasing customer engagement, and improving customer service. For example, in 2018, AI handled 45% of customer questions on its own. As technology develops, this statistic will likely increase.
Over the years, brands have been encouraged to incorporate rich-media elements into their strategies. Now, it’s becoming more of a requirement as the e-commerce industry continues to develop and consumer expectations rise.
Consumers have proven video to be a preferred source in which they interact with content. Product pages with video see 37% more conversions and 58% of consumers think companies with product videos can be trusted.
These e-commerce trends can serve as a baseline for retailers to focus on over the next year. We look forward to how the industry will continue to change in the next year. If your brand could use a strategic partner or resource, schedule a free consultation.