Introduction
Ecommerce is a growing industry that’s projected to reach $4.8 trillion in sales by 2021. As the market continues to grow, so do the trends that shape it. To help you stay abreast of what’s happening in ecommerce and how your business can benefit from these changes, we’ve outlined key trends below:
Ecommerce Will Increase By 6.5%
In 2019, online sales in the United States are expected to increase by 6.5%. This will be a slight decrease from the previous year when they grew by 8.1%, but it still represents a significant chunk of overall retail sales. For comparison, ecommerce accounted for 10% of total US retail sales in 2018 and 11% in 2017.
By 2021, mobile is expected to become the largest ecommerce platform in terms of revenue with 42% of total online sales coming from mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Mobile payments via smartphones have already overtaken desktop payments as well as most forms of payment available through traditional point-of-sale systems such as cash registers (credit cards) and debit cards (debit cards).
Mobile Will Be The Largest Ecommerce Platform
It’s no secret that mobile is where it’s at, and it will continue to be for a long time. Mobile users are growing every year, as are their purchases. They’re also more likely to convert and spend more than desktop users.
The majority of people worldwide now own smartphones, so it’s no surprise that ecommerce has exploded on mobile devices as well. In fact, mobile accounted for over half of all online purchases in the United States last year (that’s up from 46% the previous year). The trend is expected to continue upward so long as consumers continue purchasing their goods through their phones—and there’s no reason why they won’t keep doing so!
Voice Commerce Will Account For 50% Of Online Sales
Voice commerce is the next big thing in ecommerce. According to a recent survey by Adobe, 51% of respondents said they’ve used their voice assistants for online shopping in the last six months. And according to Statista’s projections, voice commerce is expected to account for 50% of online sales by 2022, with predictions moving even more emphatically toward virtual assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri over time:
2023: 54%
2026: 59%
Search Will Change In Response To Voice Search
You’ve probably noticed that voice search is growing in popularity. In fact, it’s the fastest-growing form of online interaction—and it’s not hard to see why.
Voice search is a natural way to interact with the internet because you’re using your voice instead of typing, which means you can find what you need faster and more efficiently. You can also say things like “I need an alternative toothpaste” or “What shampoo is best for my hair type?” if you don’t know exactly what product name would be best. That’s because when users do this kind of natural language query, they tend to filter out results more effectively than when they use keywords only. It also means that users are more likely to get relevant results based on their intent rather than just having a string of keywords match up—meaning there’s less wasted time looking through irrelevant information!
In short? Voice search will change how we buy products in stores (as well as online). As consumers become accustomed to using voice assistants like Alexa at home or Siri on their phones during daily tasks like cooking dinner or cleaning up around the house, brands that want customers’ loyalty will have no choice but to evolve with them…or lose them altogether!
Personalization Is Changing SEO Strategy
Personalization is a hot topic for ecommerce, and it’s changing SEO strategy. It’s also changing the way people shop online, as well as the way they interact with ecommerce sites and search engines.
Here are some of the ways personalization is affecting the industry:
- Personalized homepages based on browsing history and location
- Dynamic product recommendations based on past purchases or searches
- Ads tailored to each user based on their interests
Ecommerce Returns Are A Growing Issue
As the ecommerce industry continues to grow, so does the number of returns. In fact, returns are now the biggest challenge for retailers and something they’re investing heavily in to make it easier for customers to return items. If you’re an online retailer selling physical products, this is something you need to be aware of.
What Are Returns?
Returns refer to when a customer sends an item back or requests that you do so on their behalf because they don’t want it anymore or because it didn’t work as expected.
Cryptocurrency Will Be More Widely Accepted
Cryptocurrency is a digital currency that is not controlled by a central bank or government. It can be exchanged for other currencies, and transactions are made anonymously. Cryptocurrency is decentralized, meaning it’s not tied to any one company or authority.
Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to become popular, but there are now many others out there. In fact, people are even selling real estate on a blockchain platform in Dubai! As long as you have an internet connection and access to some crypto coins (which you can buy through exchanges like Coinbase), you’re good to go!
Ecommerce is a rapidly growing industry and staying abreast of trends in the market is key to success.
Ecommerce is a rapidly growing industry, and staying abreast of trends in the market is key to success. In fact, e-commerce is a growing market!
In India alone, there are more than 200 million online shoppers who are projected to reach $200 billion by 2022. Globally, the e-commerce industry has been valued at $2 trillion with an annual growth rate of 17%. The US accounts for around $500 billion of this total value while India contributes around $50 billion USD worth of goods purchased online every year.
Conclusion
We hope that this has been a helpful overview of some key trends in eCommerce. As we mentioned before, there are many more things to consider when it comes to staying on top of the latest developments. We encourage you to keep up with these trends and see how they affect your business or even start creating new ones yourself!