Noticeable Ecommerce Trends That Are Shaping up the Industry

Ecommerce newbies who aspire to succeed should not expect an easy time just because the industry has been growing a lot in recent years.

Newcomers will need to go up against the competition. A competition that had a head start and established themselves in their respective niche.

Nevertheless, just because you need to compete with other brands, it should not be enough to discourage you from trying your best and working hard toward creating a profitable venture.

No, if anything, having competition can work in your favor because you will have someone to learn from. Besides, successful ecommerce stories are an excellent source of motivation.

Keeping up with the recent ecommerce trends could also be a good way to gain an advantage. Unlike those who fail to adapt to some of the trends, you could be one of the first to emphasize a particular innovation or technology and gain an edge over your competitors.

Let's take a look at some of the trends that have been shaping up the ecommerce industry and how implementing them can help a business.

Custom Merch

Find a supplier who can manufacture high-quality custom mugs, t-shirts, face masks, stickers, and other merchandise. The goal of getting these products is not necessarily to sell but use them as complimentary gifts to your customers or as giveaway prizes on social media.

For example, if someone drinks from a mug that has your logo on it, the odds of other people noticing it are quite high. A similar thing can be said about wearing a t-shirt. In other words, custom merchandise raises brand awareness.

Dropshipping on Established Platforms

In 2019, the top 10% of eBay dropshippers made on average $7,731/month profit. It is no secret that eBay is one of the largest ecommerce platforms in the world. Therefore, if one chooses to dropship their products there, they can expect to benefit from the users on the website.

Other noticeable ecommerce platforms include Amazon and Aliexpress. Instead of developing a store from scratch yourself and optimizing it for search engines, you could try your luck on well-known ecommerce websites.

Artificial Intelligence

So far, there are two noticeable uses of artificial intelligence in ecommerce. Chatbots are the first, and data processing is the second.

Chatbot technology is quite neat because it replaces real people in customer support. Brands can rely on AI to respond and solve customer questions immediately because these bots learn in real time and adapt to changes quite fast.

As for data processing, businesses need to deal with a vast amount of information about the competition, customer behavior, and industry trends. Processing so much data manually is not efficient. Instead, it should be left to AI software that does the work for you.

eWallet Technology

eWallet technology is one of those things that should be quite obvious, yet some businesses still fail to introduce payment method alternatives in their online stores. Instead, they offer only credit cards because those are supposedly the only safe option.

However, the reality is that services like Payoneer, Skrill, and PayPal are just as worthy of adding. Cryptocurrency might also be worth consideration, given how more and more people use it.

Failing to include these payment options will lead to more abandoned shopping carts. When a customer proceeds to the checkout and does not find a preferable option to pay, they will not finish the transaction.

Advanced Customization

Advanced customization is another interesting trend that has been gaining more momentum in the ecommerce industry. For instance, if you have a store that sells sneakers, give customers the option to choose how they want the shoes to look.

Do not limit colors, fonts, or words so long as they are feasible to add and for you or your supplier to manufacture.

Voice Commerce

By optimizing their online store for voice commerce, a business gives an opportunity to shop for those who prefer to use voice commands on their smartphone or virtual assistants like Alexa.

In addition, you should also consider people with disabilities. There is a demographic of online shoppers who have no option but to use their voice to purchase goods or services. Accommodating to their needs would be another victory for an ecommerce store.

Virtual Reality

Some would argue that virtual reality is a gimmick for video games, and it has nothing to do with ecommerce. Well, it just so happens that the likes of Alibaba and Amazon invested in VR to improve customer experience.

One of the downsides of shopping online is not having the option to try products in person. You may now know what you will get delivered after paying money. However, by putting on a VR helmet, you can enter a virtual store and browse through products as if you were there in person.