The number of people shopping online has continued to increase yearly. We saw an especially significant jump during and after the COVID-19 pandemic when everyone was staying at home. Realistically, this steady upward trend is expected to continue for a while. In fact, the e-commerce market is booming and continues to grow as more people shop online and businesses transition to selling online.
This is a bit of a double-edged sword for those looking to begin selling online or who are currently. This is because, while the market is in excellent condition for running an online business, it also comes with a sea of competition. Of course, this doesn’t mean it is impossible to be successful in e-commerce. It just means that e-commerce businesses need to ensure they stay on top of emerging trends in the market to remain competitive and appealing to buyers.
The Top 10 Ecommerce Trends to Stay On Top
We have compiled a list of the current top ten ecommerce trends to help businesses boost sales. From seamless navigation to mobile optimization, these are the trends that will help you stay relevant in the market.
1. Seamless Navigation
Offering convenience to customers through seamless navigation is one of the most vital factors in ecommerce. So, what is seamless navigation? Simply put, this means offering user-friendly browsing to customers that allows them to find what they want and complete a transaction quickly.
The last thing a customer wants is to spend more time hunting for what they want or going through unnecessary steps just to buy. Seamless navigation will significantly help with customer retention and avoiding cart abandonment. The next question is how does one create seamless navigation across their ecommerce site? Well, there are many factors that can come into play to offer this benefit, including:
- Intuitive design: Intuitive design means an easy-to-understand layout and structure. In other words, organized categories and sub-categories, navigable menus, and other features allow visitors to find exactly what they want quickly.
- Responsive: In addition, ecommerce sites should be responsive and snappy. Modern technology has given customers the expectation of speed in their transactions, and sites must meet that expectation or they will be likely to leave.
2. Search Bar Functions
User-friendly search bars have become another critical part of any successful e-commerce website. There are several features that can go into search bars to make them significantly more appealing to customers, including:
- Visual Search: Visual search lets customers search for products across the site using images rather than text. This means if they see a picture of a product they like, they can upload that to the search bar to help them locate it. Visual search uses AI/machine learning, which analyzes the image for similarities to other products and previous user searches.
- Voice Search: As is probably self-explanatory, voice search allows visitors to search for what they want by speaking it instead of typing it. This helps to cater to a broader audience, including those with disabilities, and makes it easier for mobile users.
- Advanced Search Functions: A host of other integrative search features, such as auto-suggestions, typo correction, and predictive text, can help improve the service.
3. Mobile Optimization
More than ever, e-commerce businesses need to ensure that their storefronts are mobile-friendly. A majority of online shoppers now complete their transactions from mobile devices for convenience and other reasons. In fact, according to eMarketer, mobile commerce was expected to make up nearly 70% of ecommerce sales in 2024.
Mobile optimization includes ensuring the website operates as it should across a variety of mobile devices and minimizing load times.
4. Personalization
With the sea of competition across the online space, e-commerce businesses need to cater to customers’ needs to stand out. An excellent way to learn about this fact is through customer personalization.
But, what exactly is personalization? Well, there are several ways to achieve personalization across customer interactions, including:
- Personalized offers or deals
- Retargeting ads with items the customer left in their cart
- Collecting customer data to understand purchase habits
- Unique recommendations of products or accessories
- Follow-ups to ensure the customer is satisfied
These points help customers feel like the business cares about their satisfaction and bring a sense of connection.
5. Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs offer a payoff to customers for remaining loyal. Of course, the loyalty program must be worth it, offering an attainable goal for them. If the first thing they see is to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars before they get any sort of reward, it will likely be unappealing.
This depends on the business’s particular sphere, as this could make sense for more expensive or high-ticket items. To learn more about what customers would want out of a loyalty program, try surveying current customers.
6. Omnichannel Integration
For e-commerce businesses that have multiple channels, omnichannel integration is vital. This could mean across two different online storefronts, devices, or from a physical location into the online space. Customers should easily be able to pick up where they left off or find the product they were interested in.
An excellent example of omnichannel integration is Amazon, where a product added to the cart on a mobile device will still be in the cart when visiting the site on a computer.
7. Customer Interaction and Social Media
Many businesses have some sort of social media presence these days, but they may not be using it to its full potential. After all, social media is meant to connect people; this can also be true for businesses. People like connecting with their favorite brands and stores by interacting online. This could be as simple as responding to comments on one of the brand’s posts or posting content like videos thanking everyone for their purchases.
8. Customer Service
With the number of customers increasing, it is vital for businesses to stay on top of providing expert customer service. Depending on the size of the business, this can certainly seem like a monumental task. After all, it can be costly to hire a full-time customer service team to address every issue or question that comes in.
Fortunately, modern technology has made customer service a much simpler subject to tackle. This is especially true with the advancements in AI and auto-response systems. These systems can help funnel customer service requests by quickly handling all the simple questions and requests. Then, a live agent can handle any more detailed or complex situations.
9. Accelerated Delivery Services
Logistics is a critical component of any e-commerce business and optimizing this department is more important than ever. Modern ecommerce has upped the ante when it comes to fast shipping and delivery services, and businesses must meet these expectations. People don’t like waiting weeks for their products anymore, and if they face this, they may simply go elsewhere for the product.
10. Brand Building
Establishing a brand is often necessary for long-term success in the e-commerce space. At any given time, numerous other businesses are selling the same or similar products as your business. However, branding helps establish what makes you different from the others and helps the brand stick in the customer’s mind. Moreover, this can help establish customer loyalty so people keep returning to your business for their needs.
Graphem Solutions E-Commerce Services
If you are looking to build a customer-centric and optimized e commerce website, then Graphem Solutions is here to help. To learn more, give us a call at 1-800-590-0175.
