The year 2021 raised the level of competition, customer’s expectations, and the new hope to succeed. The previous year was a setback for many. Many businesses experienced huge losses and/or were on the verge of shutting down their companies. However, a noticeable change in the customers buying behaviour changed the perspective of many companies.
The pandemic gave a sudden push to the e-commerce industry worldwide. Buying and selling via the online channel is not new. Perhaps, the importance of e-commerce can be observed by a forecast that predicts an astonishing rise of online sales to 265% in just 6 years. Nevertheless, the effects of the pandemic massively accelerated the e-commerce trends and the dramatic shift from offline purchases to online purchases forced many companies to invest in online channels.
The sudden rise in online competition makes it essential for businesses to play wisely and embrace the latest trends. Given below is the list of top 10 e-commerce trends that you need to spot and apply to your e-commerce shop:
- Social Media and E-Commerce
Social media is the most popular platform for product promotion and advertising. The websites like Facebook Marketplace and Instagram Shoppable posts makes it possible to let the customers make purchases as well on the same page. The products and services listed on these platforms are highly shareable and influence the potential customers to convert quickly.
- Voice Search Option
The e-commerce retailers must make sure to opt for the voice search option to their selling page. This can typically give a boost to your sales as most of the customers are falling for the voice-controlled virtual assistant like Alexa or Goggle Assistant. Optimizing your online business with this option can give you an edge over other competitors and a user-friendly environment for your targeted audience.
- Personalized Shopping Experience
Who doesn’t like a personalized treatment? The personalized shopping experience provided to the customers is considered one of the best investments by the companies. With the change in the latest trends, websites like Amazon has also started giving suggestions to potential buyers after monitoring their purchase pattern.
- Varied Payment Option
Another way to engage and push customers to create and retain an interest in purchasing the product is to give them diversified payment options. This is a recent trend where customers can select the method of payment. The seller may give interest-free, easy instalment options to the buyers which allow them to purchase expensive items too.
- Dynamic Pricing Option
Flexible pricing is another 2021 trend that allows sellers to remain in the league by lowering or raising the price of the product on the basis of various factors like competitor’s pricing, the demand of the product, climate, location etc. There are many paid software available that follow the market trend and accordingly set the price of the product automatically.
- Social Responsibility
Buyers today are more aware of environmental and social responsibility while making purchases. It has been observed that 7 out of 10 customers look for sustainable products rather than those which give harm to society. The e-commerce platforms are the best way to float the information about retailers’ core value and interest in environmentally friendly products.
- Drone Delivery Option
Drone delivery is a new concept, tried and availed by many businesses these days. It is a time-saver, cost saver and safer delivery method as compared to the manual option. People love to prefer something new and innovative and welcome the ideas that captivate their minds. Drone delivery can attract many customers and ultimately give a boost to your sales. Many e-commerce websites like Amazon provides this option.
- Chatbox and AI
An Artificial Intelligence-powered chatbox is a great option that should be given place to the company’s website. Through an AI-driven chatbox, one can easily interact and get answers to all the common questions. It saves time for the retailers to keep on clearing the common doubts over and over again and also makes the website more interactive for the potential customers.
- Goggle Ads Accounts
Another trendy method to advertise and promote the products and services is to use Google Shopping Ads. Google made it free of cost for the businesses to list their product from 2020. Here, retailers can easily list their product which comprises the product description, image, pricing, customer reviews and the company name that sells the product.
- Secured Environment
Ensuring the customers for secured payment gateways and restricted disbursement of information leads to raising the level of trust towards the retailer. The seller can take the help of authorized third-party solutions for online payment and use only the information like buyer’s interest and purchase pattern for further promotion of their products.
With the advent of the internet, the online industry started to rise at a slow pace. But in recent years, a noticeable change has been observed related to the change in customers’ perspective to make purchases from the comfort of their home. So, embrace the new e-commerce trend of 2021 and get into the list of top rankers.