If you’re hoping to get more traction for your eCommerce brand, drive more traffic and convert that traffic into buying customers, then it’s important to know the latest trends shaping the industry.
The year 2020 was a massive one for eCommerce given the effects of COVID. The pandemic sped up changes across several verticals, and that acceleration is expected to continue in some capacity as we move into 2021 and beyond.
Here are 10 eCommerce trends that you need to be aware of in 2021:
- Customers will shop in marketplaces rather than eCommerce stores
- Online buying will not be limited to B2C products
- Self-service platforms will continue to rise in popularity
- Shoppable video ads on social media
- Omnichannel selling will be the norm
- Analytics will flourish
- Influencers will become brand partners
- AI will get less artificial and more beneficial
- Personalization will go beyond making a purchase to making a bond
Green consumerism will grow in popularity
1. Customers will shop in marketplaces rather than eCommerce stores
Businesses that didn’t even have a website before 2020 have suddenly come online. However, consumer behavior continues to favor convenience. Many newer eCommerce businesses lack the backend infrastructure to cope with an increase in traffic and the requirements of shipping currently being placed on them.
On the other hand, companies such as Amazon and Walmart have the experience and infrastructure required to satisfy today’s customers.
How to take advantage
Think of it as another channel and diversify your brand by listing products on marketplaces.
While it’s important to grow your digital presence through a website or eCommerce store, the most critical thing is your customer’s convenience.
If you’re just starting out or have a brand with low exposure, become a seller on your industry’s top marketplaces. This way, you can take advantage of the high traffic reach, swift shipping and overall experience of these larger companies.
2. Online buying will not be limited to B2C products
Disruption wasn’t merely a buzzword in 2020 as businesses accelerated their digital transformation efforts amid global changes. Consumers with no other alternative turned to eCommerce to get everything necessary for their daily lives.
Suddenly food, fashion and gadgets weren’t the only things people could purchase online and have delivered to their doors. Groceries, furniture and even vehicle parts have joined the list.
These changes to buying habits might slow down slightly as people are able to return to their regular routines, but they certainly won’t stop.
The shift of eCommerce from something people became dependent on rather than a simple convenience will mean that brands need to adapt their strategies accordingly.
How to take advantage
Whether you’re a manufacturer, B2B or something else, start selling D2C or D2B.
The products you’re selling can now be bought online. You simply need to make it easier for your customers to buy from you.
You can start by creating an online catalog which contains all of your products. Next, build a user-friendly buying experience by augmenting that catalog with relevant content.
3. Self-service platforms will continue to rise in popularity
Getting started online was once a long and painstaking process. But, 2020 has changed the narrative and shown us how quickly small businesses and solopreneurs can digitally pivot their businesses.
How to take advantage
Rather than going the expensive route the first time around with your eCommerce store, search for platforms that can help you get up to speed quickly.
If your brand is already established, consider creating templated content that can help your audience get up to speed quickly with using your products or solving a common problem within your industry.
4. Shoppable video ads on social media
Social media consumption won’t slow down in 2021, and brands will begin to advertise in different ways on channels such as TikTok and Instagram.
Brands have already started to get a lot of value from placing ads in stories on apps like Instagram and Snapchat, so this is just the next step in the evolution of social media selling.
This year we’ve seen Facebook launch Instagram Shops and Shopify partner with TikTok. In 2021, we’ll see what brands can do with these changes.
How to take advantage
Video provides another dimension when it comes to marketing your products. If you’re a D2C brand, then record videos of your top-performing products and place them on the social media platforms where your audience can be found the most.
Your videos can vary from unboxing videos to tutorials or explainer videos. Product images can even be converted into a slideshow and user-generated content can be reposted to capitalize on the video frenzy.
5. Omnichannel selling will be the norm
Most businesses are already aware that customers want to view content in multiple ways. Tablets, mobile phones and desktops are just the beginning. And like we’ve mentioned in other trends, brands are discovering new ways to sell their products through social media.
Amazon Pinpoint and Amazon Personalize are two products from Amazon Web Services (AWS) that enable brands to improve the customer experience and communicate with customers across multiple channels.
How to take advantage
Start by doing a deep dive into your customer and understand the things that matter the most to them and the channels they frequently visit.
Today’s customers are seeking a cohesive buying experience across multiple channels. To facilitate this, brands need to use headless commerce architecture that delivers content and products to any screen or device with the help of APIs.
It can be enticing to want to be everywhere, but you should start by focusing on the channels where your customers go the most and sell to them there.
6. Analytics will flourish
In the world of eCommerce, customer data will continue to gain value. Many brands focus on the basic, but vital metrics provided to them, such as click-through-rate on specific campaigns and conversion metrics that indicate where the bulk of traffic and sales are coming from.
However, as we roll into 2021, many will uncover data capabilities and get even more granular.
How to take advantage
See what data you currently have available about your customers and your eCommerce stores. Are you able to gather enough insights from it? If not, see if you can upgrade to another tier that enables you to really drill down into the data.
If you can’t, see what other analytics platforms can help you as better data can yield better results, such as:
- Segment your audience by geographical location, age and gender, buying habits, total spendings, and more.
- Determine which channels led your customers to your store.
- Understand which content leads to the most conversions.
- Generate ready-made reports.
Integrate with your CRM, CMS and more to gain a 360-degree view of your eCommerce business.
7. Influencers will become brand partners
Most eCommerce brands have tapped into influencers over the years to leverage their vast audiences. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, the influencer marketing industry was expected to reach $9.7B in 2020.
How to take advantage:
Reach out to influencers in your niche and get them to help create content for your business:
- Make a list of local or micro influencers that share your brand value.
- Build a relationship with them by helping them to grow their audience first and/or providing free merchandise.
- Give them the freedom to create the way they want to create.
Influencer content doesn’t need to be limited to ads for B2C companies either as the goal should be about providing value for your customers.
8. AI will get less artificial and more beneficial
In previous years many of the benefits of artificial intelligence were a bit early to be realized in eCommerce, but that will change dramatically in 2021.
As concepts such as machine learning and chatbots become more mainstream, brands can leverage AI to yield real business impact.
How to take advantage
Buy into AI and don’t see it as something for the future. Start by using AI tools that can help you streamline your marketing, improve the customer experience or perform critical tasks for your business much faster.
There are many tasks which eCommerce brands might have hired a virtual assistant to cover that AI can help you tackle, allowing you to put your human resources in more creative roles.
9. Personalization will go beyond making a purchase to making a bond
Customers much prefer when their experience is tailored to their unique needs. Smarter HQ has learned that 72% of customers only engage with personalized messaging.
While personalization was initially limited to email marketing, customer expectations and technology capabilities have changed what is possible.
How to take advantage
Personalization aims to create a long-lasting customer relationship by recording information about your customer (with their consent) and using it to remember things like the last time they made a purchase, the types of items they usually buy, and then provide recommendations for next steps.
Brands should also use information stored in a CRM database to create a personalized customer service experience, no matter where a customer chooses to interact, whether via email, phone or another channel.
10. Green consumerism will grow in popularity
Sustainability is no longer reserved for a few brands. In fact, changes in the economic, cultural and social landscape in many countries worldwide have shifted the focus towards making products that protect the environment.
Brands such as Amazon have taken the pledge towards sustainability, and other eCommerce brands are likely to be following suit as humans look for ways to reduce waste and preserve the earth for future generations.
Green consumers are also flexing their purchasing power, with 65% of buyers wanting to make purchases from brands that aim for sustainability according to the Harvard Business Review.
How to take advantage
Analyze your current products to determine if they are being made through sustainable processes or with sustainable materials. If they aren’t, consider making changes to adopt a more sustainable process by reducing the amount of packaging waste or outlining ways for your customers to recycle your products when they’re finished with them.
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