The pandemic has revolutionized a lot of things but more prevalently in the eCommerce sector. According to UNCTAD ‘United Nations Conference on Trade And Development’, the eCommerce field experienced a dramatic rise in sales from 16% to 19% in 2020, a year that recorded the highest surge in Covid-19 cases.
As millions remained behind closed doors, online platforms and sites became the best option to meeting daily essentials like groceries, bill payments and driving business. The year also witnessed a rise in global B2B online trade, eCommerce and accelerated digital transformation.
Studies indicate that the USA, China, and the UK experienced the highest turn-round from brick-and-mortar retail to eCommerce. As Covid-19 still takes its toll on humanity, here are a few emerging eCommerce trends that merchants and prospects can rely on to make formidable business decisions.
Ecommerce Trends Amidst the Pandemic Â
- Omnichannel eCommerce
Shopping trends changed dramatically the day governments and nations imposed lockdowns and travel restrictions globally. Many shoppers relied on digital stores for even the slightest needs like toiletries. However, that also proved a test to retailers to provide seamless experiences across, whether in-store or online. The new omnichannel era also cuts over to multichannel strategies because 73% of online shoppers utilize multiple channels while purchasing online. As we already discussed the benefits of E-Commerce in a previous post, it’s essential to fine-tune your eCommerce strategies to meet current customer demands.
- Personalization
Although they may all be consumers, they are certainly at different phases of their customer journey. To serve customers better and attract prospects, it’s essential to understand their consumer behaviours and habits. This can help personalize experiences to convert them better. Personalizing experiences is vital to omnichannel customers as this proves that you care about their needs.
- Curbside Pickup
With the fear of contracting Covid-19 and a motive to reduce its spread, curbside pickups became a reliable option during the onset of coronavirus. Curbside pickup services allow shoppers to place orders from anywhere and pick up the product at a local store or outlet. We believe this trend will continue to post the Covid era as it’s pretty convenient and flexible to the retailers.
- Analytics
Perhaps not many online businesses paid attention to advanced analytics before, but the sudden emergency of Covid-19 changed the story. Advanced analytics can help you manage your website performance and utilize the data for forecasting purposes, whether for a startup or enterprise-level business. Ecommerce websites can highly benefit from data analytics as it helps manage a store and use insights for corporate-level decision making.
Essential Tips for Modern Commerce
Invest in Online Technologies: If there needed to be a turning point, now is the turning point! Instead of operating a brick-and-mortar store solely, merchants can widen their outreach using digital technologies like social media and websites. Websites range in types and purposes; you may choose to craft an eCommerce website if you run an enterprise-level business, whereas if you’re a service provider or a motivational speaker, there are other options for you.
Freshen up your SEO strategy: Your SEO strategy needs to be aligned with the current situation, and it might require a fresh perspective in terms of keywords, site structuring, offers, localization, payment methods and content emphasizing safety measures.
Voice Search Optimization: A world facing the threat of infection and resultantly limited resources and income allocation require solutions that are safe, proximally close and rational in terms of prices. Voice search covers the entire bracket and allows users to explore near me options under specific price ranges without actually coming in contact with the surface of mobile or persons for inquiry purposes.
Smartly Automated SEO: Cutting off the heavy lifting from routine SEO functions can make retailers more productive and free up a lot of time for more inventive optimizations and strategies. Smart automation can, of course, significantly boost search performance by recognizing and optimizing real-time opportunities.
KEY TAKES FORRETAILERS
As the retail field evolves, retailers, whether online or offline, must gear up to meet consumer expectations amidst crystal clear challenges like supply chain troubles. Some of the best solutions to keep business running include;
Online Stores Through SMARTPHONE APPS
Many online stores and merchants have launched mobile apps for their e-Stores to cater to the mobile users’ market.These Smartphone apps enhance the experience of mobile customers and do great for customer retention and product promotion. The trend of mobile apps will rise for sure in similar situations, as people want everything accessible at their fingertips, flexible, and more future stores will use this approach for better sales.
If you haven’t optimized your e-commerc site for mobile devices as yet, the year 2021 is the best time to do it. Optimization may involve but not limited to adding responsive design and mobile-friendly payment options.
Cutting-Edge Technologies Like MAGENTO
Magento technology is a highly professional, feature-rich open-source E-Commerce technology that is being used for online store solutions since 2007. It offers all-round flexibility and control over the UI, content and functionality of an online store.One of the highlights of the Magento eCommerce platform has an outstanding interface, which contains powerful marketing, merchandising and content management tools.
Magento’s flexibility and enterprise-class features make it ideal for eCommerce solutions customized to unique requirements. All these things make Magento an all-time favourite solution for businesses; however, a merchant may explore related technologies like Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, etc.
Personalization Through APPS & SOCIAL MEDIA
Retaining a customer is a priority and most important for every business. You may utilize several tactics to retain an existing customer. Modern-day e-commerce tools and extensions allow online stores to save customer data to understand buyer journeys and craft experiences.
What items customers bought, preferences in previous visits, how long did they stay on a particular item page, what queries they filled, and what is the feedback for the overall experience? Mobile apps, discount codes, and promotional vouchers will add to the experience and engage customers with your business.
Inventory MANAGEMENT
Inventory woes were felt utmost during the initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic as many retailers were caught off-guard. Two years down the road, some stores still face inventory struggles due to the affected global supply chain. However, adopting better inventory management approaches like AI technology to support order management and fulfilment can help merchants operate efficiently even in the busiest seasons like Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas holidays.
Parting WordsÂ
As countries continue their fiery battle against Covid-19, eCommerce stores, on the other hand, must face the reality of supply chain crisis and competition. It’s ultimately a new phase of eCommerce; however, modern technologies currently support diverse business requirements like shipment, order management, customer experiences etc.
Analysts expect continuous growth in eCommerce across channels, with a hitch of 65% of online purchases made using smartphone devices in 2020 alone. Powered primarily by technology advancement, continued mobile shopping and linking more and more digital business touchpoints such as Chatbots, voice assistants, smart devices, social media, etc.
To know, which techniques suggested to businesses helped them survive COVID period, feel a little nostalgic by reading this blog: Don’t Quarantine Your SEO Marketing During Covid-19