If there is one thing that certainly will be on our radar in 2020 (apart from TikTok videos – can we cancel these already?) it will be the boom in Ecommerce. If you don’t trust us, we got the stats, According to Shopify, worldwide Ecommerce sales got to 3.5 trillion USD in 2019, a growth of 18% from the previous year which is unlikely to slow down in 2020.
There are multiple reasons for this growth – convenience, personalisation, flexible payment, free deliveries, and, did we mention convenience?
With some of the unfortunate recent events around the world, Ecommerce is probably the only way people can get food and home deliveries while still being conscious and protective of other people’s well-being.
Needless to say, consumers evolve as well as their needs and expectations. With market leaders such as Amazon, we are becoming spoilt. Yes, we want this £19.99 air purifier and yes, we want it with 1-day free delivery. This scenario now sets the baseline for consumer expectations from Ecommerce.
So, where is Ecommerce heading in 2020? We’ve collected some of the hottest Ecommerce trends you should keep an eye on this year.
Let’s bring the robots in…
AR enhanced shopping
AR or augmented reality helps you visualise products in real-time from your home. (We visualise ourselves right now in the Bahamas, but that’s one for another time.) It can be any product such as testing how a new couch would fit into your interior or a pair of sunglasses that suits the shape of your face.
On a psychological level, consumers prefer to try a product before they buy it, so AR increases conversions. We know AR sounds a bit futuristic, but a number of businesses such as Ikea and Sephora are already using it.AR for Ecommerce is definitely here to stay.
Voice search (“Alexa, play Despacito”)
Consumers are using voice search not only to play the absolute banger of summer 2017 but also to perform searches and even to order on the consumer’s behalf. Some of the most common virtual assistants are Apple’s Siri, Amazon Echo’s Alexa and Google Home. They can use voice search to search for a product online and then order it.
Virtual assistants can check for previous purchasing history, and if there is none, they suggest another product based on the search query. All you need is a virtual assistant and mobile device and you are set to go.
**This part is for the stats nerds, skip it if you don’t identify yourself as one (we’ll also add bullet points because we like bullet points)
- 20% of all mobile searches are done using voice search (in 2019)
- Voice-based shopping is expected to reach $40 billion in 2022
- 55% of teens use voice search on a daily basis
- 50% of households are expected to have a voice search device by 2022
*sources: Search Engine Land, PR News Wire, Dialogtech
Some things to keep in mind if you are opting for voice search optimisation are to have a mobile-friendly website, fast loading speed, content optimised for long-tail keywords, questions and much more. We promise we’ll write a follow-up article on this topic.
Artificial Intelligence-based recommendations
If back in the day we were expecting companies to know us individually and provide products based on our preferences, today AI companies know us better than ever. AI can learn the customer’s habits and send them emails just when they are about to buy a new product – creepy right? AI also generates content for marketing emails and collaterals and you won’t even notice that you’ve been emailed by a robot.
Chatbots
We already touched upon this topic in our previous blog post, so you can go and refresh your memory. All in all, chatbots are the ultimate customer support nowadays. It’s immediate, learns from case to case and doesn’t sleep – so you can get your issue resolved 24/7. This innovation completely revamps the way we think about customer service and there are definitely even more coming up **suspense music**
Delivery
Amazon definitely messed up our expectations – now I would almost never buy a product if it includes shipping cost and takes more than 5 business days. Free delivery is not a trend anymore, it’s an expectation and consumers will continue demanding this in 2020. Now that a lot of businesses are trying to catch up with Amazon and understand the psychological element of free delivery and free returns, it enables people to see Ecommerce shopping as something just as effortless as brick and mortar shopping.
Subscription-based models
Millennials, or young people in general, have more disposable income compared to previous generations but less overall wealth. That means that people, in general, are willing to spend less, and less likely to spend a lump sum in one go. So, in 2020, subscription models will be even more on the rise. People are a lot more willing to go for subscription models and we can see this around us – Netflix, fitness apps, software tools, food box delivery, make up – such as Birchbox and many more. And to be fair, it’s not a surprise that even though a year subscription is generally cheaper than a monthly one – consumers still opt for a month-on-month subscription.
Flexible payment options
We are not talking about PayPal and debit cards but about credit options of a new generation such as Klarna and Clearpay. These services are seducing millennials to spend more by spreading the cost over 3 months or pay later options.
No, you are not spending £300 on a pair of Yeezys, it’s just £100.
This psychological trick works on millennials who shy away from large purchases. This is the reason more and more Ecommerce businesses are opting for flexible payment options as they bring customers that otherwise wouldn’t purchase. Another point for the flexible payment options is that it doesn’t influence your credit score.
Social media shopping
The number of worldwide social media users is expected to reach 2.9 billion in 2020 (that’s 40% of the world’s population). No wonder social media has a huge potential to bring untapped revenue to Ecommerce ! The market is becoming so important that it gave a rise to a new term – ‘social commerce’.
Through social media, you can not only go through a discovery stage of options but also look up a product’s price and get redirected to the brand’s website where you can complete a purchase. A study by GlobalWebIndex points out that 21% of consumers will complete a purchase on social media and this number is likely to grow in 2020. A huge part of the social commerce boom is in influencer marketing, where your products are being advertised by the so-called influencers and quickly reach a vast audience.
*source GlobalWebIndex: https://www.emarketer.com/content/social-media-moves-down-the-funnel-as-commerce-opportunity-arises
Shift your focus from the Homepage
Last but not least, some onsite trends..
A lot of Ecommerce businesses focus on optimising their homepage while neglecting other important pages for conversion. It almost feels like they are picking the favorite child that will go to college. It is important to know where your visitors land and convert the most and to optimise these pages further. Most of the time new visitors will land on a product page while looking for a specific product online while returning visitors will probably land directly on the homepage.
Innovation is happening so fast, especially in the world of Ecommerce, that we probably will need to update this article in the near future. However, we tried to cover the hottest trends and must-haves for an Ecommerce website.
If you are an Ecommerce newbie and have no idea how to track your sales or what the best Ecommerce marketing strategy is to reach your audience – reach out at contact@taksudigital.com.
