Innovation and change are indispensable conditions for any business. The unstable environment has recently spurred consumers to try new brands and look for better deals. With lockdowns eased and borders reopened, 41% of shoppers have abandoned brand loyalty in favor of new opportunities. Due to the global political environment, inflation has skyrocketed, and consumer spending has plummeted. This trend means businesses must become more flexible and customer-oriented to remain competitive.
The lockdown is still taking its toll, and consumers need to watch live streams of unboxings or product reviews before buying. This eCommerce trend is only one that will be even more influential in the future.
To keep up with competitors and be at the center of customers’ attention, you should always keep an eye on eCommerce trends that can affect your company’s success. By following this rule, sellers will be able to prosper both this year and in the future. Only by following all the new trends can you easily anticipate customer needs, identify competitors, explore new opportunities and always be up to date.
We’ve compiled a list of eCommerce trends for 2023 to help you and your business leverage your online presence for profit.
Omnichannel Shopping Experience
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, buyers accustomed to online shopping after the COVID-19 period are now paying special attention to their online purchases. Almost 75% of customers browse several distribution channels before purchasing to research and ensure they get the best value for their money. Shoppers want to be able to conduct online research even if they are already in the store and looking at the product.
Solution: Consider this factor and prepare all your channels so that customers get a smooth transition between them, with each channel continuing the previous one. Allow your customers to buy a product on any of your channels and provide relevant descriptions and data specific to each channel. Shoppers can browse social media, check the price and return information on your website, and finally purchase in the store or through any channel they choose.
Mobile Shopping
We’ve already talked about the omnichannel experience trend, which means that mobile shopping is also becoming more popular than ever. According to Tidio, mobile devices account for 41.6% of eCommerce sales, nearly half of all online sales.
Solution: You need a responsive website that customers can use regardless of their shopping device. If you have a lot of loyal customers and high sales volumes, you can create your application for mobile devices. If you need help, our team will quickly adapt your site for any device and speed up and optimize.
Customer Personalization
The next trend is personalized experience; customers now expect individualized offers based on data collected from their accounts.
Solution: If customers are willing to share data with you, take advantage of it and personalize the experience. With your data, you can create personalized offers for your customers and show them that you value the information they share.
Social Commerce
With the advent of the omnichannel shopping experience, brands have begun to use social media for more than just brand awareness and customer acquisition. Sales through social networks have become a new trend for businesses, meaning customers can place an order directly on social media platforms. These social networks are Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Twitter.
Solution: If you still need to jump on the social commerce trend, now is the time to start thinking. Analyze your audience and choose the right and appropriate sales channel for your audience. However, do not make a store out of social networks, dilute the page with helpful content, find influencers, constantly communicate with your audience, and analyze actions.
Subscription Trading
A new and popular trend is subscription sales. This method allows customers to make monthly/weekly purchases without thinking and spending time on them. As a business, this is a way to retain customers in the long run. 35% of shoppers use digital subscriptions, and this trend is set to go up by KEARNEY.
Solution: If you have a business that can launch such a service and it can be in demand, take this chance. Analyze the purchase history; if you have customers who make such purchases, take advantage of this, and make their life easier.
Buy Online, Pick Up in Store
Buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) is still one of the most popular and current shopping models. This model combines the best in online shopping and fast ordering without long delivery and additional delivery costs and at a convenient time for the buyer. According to Fit Small Business, 70% of BOPIS customers improve their shopping experience.
Solution: If you have a physical store and many local customers, take advantage of the opportunity to offer customers a click-to-collect service that will help promote an omnichannel experience, better manage customer experience, sell additional products, and process returns efficiently.
Customer Service
Customers appreciate the opportunity to receive support from the store at any time. This support applies both before and after the purchase. Most importantly, the support is prompt and effective in solving problems.
Solution: New technologies offer great business opportunities. Chatbots can answer most questions from customers. According to HubSpot, 89% of consumers are more likely to make another purchase after a positive customer experience, so remember to pay attention to customer service.
Here are some chatbot concepts:
- Remembers essential details about buyer’s previous orders eliminating the need for customers to re-enter information
- Provides answers to inquiries about goods or services
- Offers excellent customer service
- Interacts with clients
- Makes customer support available 24/7
- Expands worldwide at no additional cost
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI is an excellent opportunity for businesses to offer an improved customer experience. With the help of AI, companies will be able to create personalized content and recommendations. AI will help you improve marketing campaigns, personalize the customer experience, and predict buying behavior based on a user’s browsing history and online searches.
Solution: Take advantage of AI technology and provide customers with these individual product recommendations; this approach will provide you with many cross- or up-sells.
Voice Search
Every year more people use smart speakers to get things done. According to Insider, more than 33% of US residents use smart speakers like Amazon Alexa and Google Home and mobile services like Siri and Cortana. According to Think with Google, the data shows that 72% of smart speaker owners use them daily. Most also use them to create shopping lists, order groceries, perform other household tasks, and surf the web.
Solution: Optimize your store for 1) keywords, 2) content related to voice searches performed on these devices, 3) conversational keywords, 4) question-type keywords, and 5) natural language. Your customers will likely use voice search to get an answer to a question. Pay attention to this fact and build content that will answer questions about your products that your consumers will ask through voice search.
Additional Payment Options at Checkout
Omnichannel sales channels, mobile sales, and social commerce give the understanding that customers want to use convenient and fast payment methods. Providing businesses with simplified checkout or payment methods will help reduce cart abandonment.
Solution: Offer your customers the opportunity to pay for purchases through leading digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal.
In addition to digital wallets, there are many payment methods.
- Digital Wallets — PayPal, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, Apple Pay
- Cards — Visa, Mastercard, Maestro
- Buy now, pay later — Klarna, Walley, AfterPay, and PayPal Pay in 4
- Online banking
Analyze what payment methods are popular in your country and what payment methods your customers use. Consider these results, and give customers the freedom to choose.
Customers Have Less Patience Due to Shipping Delays
The new trend of the year is the transparency of order fulfillment. It is essential for customers to deliver their goods on time and understand where their package is and how long it will take to be delivered. Providing this information is a crucial part of your after-sales service.
According to FedEx, 70% of consumers say they are less likely to buy from a retailer again if delivery is delayed and the retailer does not inform them. This statistic means that this condition is vital for obtaining repeat orders.
Solution: Offer customers transparency in delivery times, give accurate estimates before placing an order, keep customers informed of progress and delivery delays, and enable customers to track their orders.