The e-commerce industry is expected to grow continuously in the coming years. Due to advancement in the technology and variation in the consumer shopping preferences, it will be tough to hold the forts in 2019. Retailers who are well equipped with the latest trends and technology will be more successful compared to other retailers. As per the report from Statista, global retail e-commerce revenue will reach up to $4.88 trillion by 2021. Hence, you can imagine how fast the market is going to evolve with the latest tech and trends in 2019.
This year is going to be a year of growth there will be more and more new businesses joining the market. It will be a ferocious competition for all the giant retailers in the market like Amazon, eBay, etc. If you don’t keep up with the changing trends, you can end up being closed like many big retailers that got closed in 2018.
Let’s take a look at some of the emerging e-commerce trends that you should be following this year.
Drop Shipping
The 2018 State of the Merchant e-Commerce Report found that 16.4% of ecommerce companies were using drop shipping from 450 online stores. Drop shipping is an effective business model to cut down the inventory cost and increase your profits. Businesses with less capital are benefitting from this model. The online store acts as a middleman between the supplier and the buyer.
In simple words, the marketing and selling are done by you while shipping is done directly by the manufactures. Thus, you save money on the shipping and also, in managing the store inventory or its handling cost.
In this model, online retailers have a lesser risk and better profits as you will be buying the product only after your customer has placed an order. Also, it reduces the overhead costs. E-commerce retailers who are already using this method and making huge success are Home Depot, Macy’s and a few more.
An online business that uses drop shipping experiences average revenue growths of 32.7% and had an average conversion rate of 1.74% in 2018. With such profit rates, e-commerce market will see more of the drop shipping models in the coming years.
Multichannel Selling
The internet is easily accessible to most of the world, but buyers are utilizing multiple channels to shop. In fact, according to the 2018 Omnichannel Buying Report, around 87% of consumers in the United States are offline shoppers.
Additionally:
- 78% of consumers said that they made a purchase on Amazon
- 45% of consumers purchased from an online branded store
- 65% of consumers purchased from a brick-and-mortar store
- 34% of consumers made a purchase on eBay
- 11% of consumers made a purchase through Facebook, sometimes referred to as f-commerce.
Looking at these numbers, shoppers are everywhere and prefer to have access to the products on every platform where they can find you. The advantage of being present and accessible through several channels can boost your business with great revenues. More and more online retailers are turning towards multi-channel selling… you should as well.
Popular channels include eBay, Amazon, Google Shopping, and Jet. Social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are also transforming the e-commerce world with its growing demand.
Smooth Checkout
A study from Baymard Institute found that approximately 70% of the shopping carts get abandoned with 29% of abandonment happening due to an overwhelming checkout process. Your customer, who was fully prepared to make a purchase, changed their mind due to the process (not the price and product). Every year, many retailers lose customers because of a lengthy or hectic buying process.
In 2019, retailers are expected to tackle this situation smoothly with easy checkout and payment steps. Online retailers will take a step further to improve their checkout process making it more secure, simple, and convenient for their customers.
If you have an online shop that sells internationally, it’s beneficial to have a local payment option for your global customers. The best way is to consolidating your payments into a single platform, providing a smooth payment process to your customer all around the world.
Personalized Experiences
Treating your customers special is the key to success in any business. In a digital world, a satisfied customer is the most effective marketing strategy. Being available on every channel is not sufficient, you have to recognize your customer on each platform and provide them special treatment based on their previous history with you.
If a customer who recently visited your brand on Facebook, for example, is visiting your website, provide that customer experience based on the last encounter they had. What products were you displaying? What content were you discussing? A seamless omni-channel experience will drive greater engagement and conversions.
According to an Evergage study, only 27% of marketers are syncing half or more of their channels. In 2019, you will see a rise in this number as sellers are focusing more on AI-driven targeting to recognize their customer on different channels. This will be one of the most popular e-commerce trends in 2019 that you should adopt.
One Last Ecommerce Tip
These are the four most trending e-commerce strategies to follow in coming years. Staying updated with the technology is the best way to keep your online business flourishing in the future. You can always take a step forward by meeting the needs of your customers. Be sure to survey your visitors to find out how you’re performing online. Having timely feedback from random customers can give you a great insight of your business status in the market.
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