Written by: Amelia Smith
The changing landscape of technology and innovation has brought about many revolutions in the world of today. Where a few decades back, the retail landscape was defined by physical stores, it has now shifted to online commerce stores, known widely now as E-commerce.
In the past few years, this E-commerce has displayed a remarkable growth rate globally. This can be ascertained from the figures which state that in 2019, retail E-commerce sales were estimated to reach USD 3.53 trillion worldwide, with an estimated projection of reaching USD 4.9 trillion in 2021.
This escalating growth of the E-commerce industry has compelled many new entrants to take their retail business online. This is the reason why many turn to professional translation agencies in order to get their E-commerce stores and websites translated according to the preferences of their target markets.
With online shopping becoming the latest trend to take up the world by storm, the E-commerce business is here to stay. Not surprisingly, the current year 2021 is the year of E-commerce growth and boom. Here we discuss some of the trends that are likely to affect this landscape in this year and coming years.
E-commerce Industry—the Latest Trends
- The Boom of Voice Commerce
The increasing popularity of smart speakers has opened doorways for many new businesses to consider voice commerce as the new promotion channel. According to some statistics, this number of smart speaker users is likely to rise by 18% by the end of 2021.
With these figures to boast of, analysts are of the view that these smart speakers, as well as the booming growth of E-commerce, will make smart speakers a ticket to the vast world of online shopping. This is why you should consider including voice commerce in your business before creating an online store for your business for a greater ROI and profit.
You can prepare your E-commerce website for voice search by optimizing content so as to appear in voice queries. Moreover, you can provide voice-based navigation on your website so as to attract a greater number of hits and likes.
- The Popularity of Social Commerce
One other trend that is sure to affect the business landscape is the trend of social commerce. With customers enjoying an integrated experience on social media platforms, they can have greater knowledge about the product before making a purchase. Moreover, the abundance of online advertisements is a way for these customers to choose from a wide range of choices and follow the links given to purchase the product of their choice.
It comes as no surprise that social commerce will soon be the latest and most popular market trend on a global scale. Social media integration can be done in order to develop and grow a brand on E-commerce websites, along with promotions that largely focus on social commerce growth and popularity.
- AR and VR Technologies
The shifting technological landscape has made many people aware of the latest tech developments—such as AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality). The rising popularity of these technologies is evident from the usage in the E-commerce industry, whereby a large number of retail stores are integrating AR and VR technologies to promote their products.
AR technology has opened doorways for E-commerce success since its inception. With AR technology, customers can now visualize products which allows them to understand the product thoroughly before purchase. Virtual Reality, on the other hand, connects the virtual world with the real, lending a virtual experience thought impossible a few decades back. With this VR technology, online stores can provide a greater in-store experience to customers, irrespective of where they are located.
- Omni-channel Shopping
As shopping and retail are shifting to new channels, one trend that has taken uphold in the world of E-commerce is omnichannel shopping. As people can purchase products from eBay, Amazon, Facebook, and other online platforms, this multi-channel selling has become the new norm on a global scale. This is why companies should consider omnichannel selling in their E-commerce development strategies for 2021.
In order to enhance this Omni-channel shopping experience, online retail stores can optimize their sites for mobile devices in addition to offering a personalized customer experience. They can also utilize tools such as SAP Commerce Cloud so as to offer a more personalized experience to global customers.
- Artificial Intelligence and E-commerce
The advent of Artificial Intelligence has eased lives for many, with retail stores using AI technology for intelligent product recommendations. This AI technology trend is not just limited to a single year, it is likely to grow in 2021 and coming years.
With the aid of AI technology, E-commerce websites can opt for smarter product recommendations and reviews in order to enhance the customer experience. This AI technology can help E-commerce businesses in analyzing the trends and buying patterns of customers, enabling these retail businesses to offer products that are most preferred by customers. This in turn, will boost the ROI of these businesses, helping to generate more revenues and greater customer satisfaction.
- The Rise of Mobile Shopping
As trust and reliance on online shopping increases, more people are now opting for online purchases via mobile devices. This has resulted in a sharp increase in the number of mobile device users across the globe. Needless to say, no business can ignore mobile optimization as far as E-commerce web development is concerned. Creating mobile-optimized websites has now become paramount in offering a good user experience to customers across the globe. In fact, creating mobile-friendly websites has been one of the most popular trends to pick up pace over the last few years and this growth is likely to increase in 2021 as well.
- The Popularity of PWAs
One other trend that has become very important in the E-commerce industry is the use of PWA (Progressive Web Apps). Since the main aim of online businesses is to offer innovative methods in their stores in order to give greater user satisfaction, a progressive web app has proven to be the best way to meet this need.
A PWA website is progressive application software, accessible both on websites and mobile devices. This is why E-commerce companies can glean the advantages of PWA to deliver a better mobile experience to their users. If you own an online retail store and are considering investing in Magento development services, chances are that PWA will deliver several benefits for your online retail business.
The Last Word
As online retail and shopping reach new heights of popularity, more buyers are opting for this type of shopping. If you are amongst the retail stores that still haven’t taken up a business online, a professional E-commerce development company can build a store for your business. Remember, you can leverage the potential of these E-commerce websites to grow your revenues both on a local as well as international level. Moreover, you can use the above-mentioned E-commerce trends to prepare your websites for online retail in 2021 and the coming years, as a robust website can pave the way for greater revenues for your business on a global scale.
