The Future of E-Commerce: 8 Trends to Watch in 2021
In 2020, consumers shifted from shopping in physical stores to online shopping. With the pandemic, customers turned to digital stores, resulting in a major increase in e-commerce. Businesses that hadn’t yet embraced digital retail began exploring online solutions.
However, e-commerce is a constantly evolving industry, and every year, new trends emerge that can help your business grow and stay ahead of the competition.
Let’s look at the e-commerce trends to watch in 2021:
- Voice Commerce Will Increase
Optimizing your top-of-the-funnel content to answer common consumer questions about your products or market is a simple yet effective way to drive more organic traffic to your e-commerce store through voice searches. This method attracts potential customers by engaging them with targeted content and providing value, leading them along the conversion path for future purchases. For example, an internet user searching for tips on “how to reduce injuries while running” may be led to read your solution-based blog post, eventually purchasing your running shoe insoles. Voice commerce has become too big to ignore, so if you own an e-commerce store, you should leverage this technology.
Four ways to prepare your e-commerce site for voice queries:
- Optimize your content to increase the chances of appearing in voice searches.
- Add a new skill for voice assistant devices like Alexa or Google.
- Offer voice-based navigation on your website and mobile app.
- Ensure that your products can be purchased using voice commands in a simple flow.
- Omnichannel Shopping Will Become the New Normal
Omnichannel retailing refers to providing shoppers with a seamless, consistent experience across channels and devices.
With the increased adoption of mobile devices and voice assistants, the number of omnichannel customers is expected to grow even more in 2021.
Use analysis tools like the Recommendation Engine, which provides detailed e-commerce analytics to track everything about customer behavior. Such tools help analyze which products are in demand, monitor profits and losses, and assess customer loyalty.
Additional ways to deliver a seamless omnichannel experience include:
- Optimize your website for mobile devices. If you have the budget, consider creating a mobile app or a Progressive Web App (PWA).
- Personalize the customer experience at every step possible.
- Use tools like SAP Commerce Cloud to provide a personalized and comprehensive e-commerce experience through end-to-end online retail processes.
- Offer various purchasing options, such as:
- Buy online, pick up in-store.
- Buy in-store, choose home delivery.
- Buy online, receive doorstep delivery.
- New Payment Options Will Emerge
Payment options are one of the main reasons customers choose a particular brand. If you don’t offer your customers’ preferred payment methods, they won’t shop at your e-commerce store.
Currently, most e-commerce businesses accept digital wallets (such as Google Pay, Samsung or Apple Pay, and PayPal) in addition to bank and credit cards. Cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, have many advantages for online store owners, such as low transaction fees and no chargebacks.
For example, Overstock partnered with the Bitcoin platform Coinbase to allow customers to use Bitcoin as a payment method.
In 2021, it is predicted that more e-commerce businesses will start accepting cryptocurrency for transactions.
- Brands Will Continue to Embrace Dynamic Pricing
Dynamic pricing allows e-commerce retailers to stay competitive and attract more customers. Even if you have the best product in the world, if it’s not priced correctly, you won’t make enough sales.
Ensure you choose the right price for your products. Set the price where you have the highest chance of selling your product while achieving maximum possible profit.
Use dynamic pricing software to determine the best price for your products. These tools provide real-time information on competitors’ prices, market demand, and the perceived value of your products to set the optimal cost.
- Mobile Commerce Will Dominate E-Commerce
As consumers gain more trust in online shopping, they feel more comfortable shopping using their mobile devices.
By the end of 2021, mobile devices are expected to account for nearly 73% of total e-commerce sales. Additionally, 30% of online shoppers are likely to abandon their carts if they find that your website isn’t mobile-friendly. As an online retailer, focus on improving the customer experience for mobile users.
Some ways to prepare your e-commerce site for mobile include:
- Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check your website’s mobile compatibility. Simply enter your URL, and it will show whether your online store is responsive and indicate any loading issues.
- Create a Progressive Web App (PWA) for your online store. PWAs load faster than websites and allow customers to view previously browsed pages even without the internet.
- Implement Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) for customers visiting your site via smartphone.
- Provide a seamless checkout process on mobile devices and look for ways to simplify it further.
- Manually test your mobile site. Check if navigation is easy, whether viewing products on a phone is convenient, and if there’s a zoom option.
- Sustainability Practices Will Impact Sales
Green consumerism is rapidly increasing, and brands need to act quickly to remain relevant and competitive. Green consumerism refers to customers seeking products produced in an environmentally friendly way, including recycling efforts.
65% of consumers say they want to buy products from purpose-driven brands that support sustainability. Focusing on green consumerism is a clear indicator that e-commerce brands prioritizing eco-friendly practices will dominate the market in the coming years.
Major e-commerce brands have already started planning more sustainable practices. For instance, the world’s leading e-commerce company, Amazon, has committed to reducing its carbon emissions to zero by 2040.
Some ways to attract green consumers to your e-commerce store include:
- Take a clear stance on sustainability, decide how you will contribute to the environment, and set a target date. Share your practices to achieve this goal with the world.
- Switch to eco-friendly packaging. Use packaging materials with low environmental impact, such as recycled paper or fabric.
- Send receipts exclusively via email instead of paper slips.
- Reduce energy consumption as much as possible.
- Look for eco-friendly alternatives to your current products. You may also add new products that promote sustainability.
- Visual Commerce Will Grow
Visual commerce refers to using images not only on product pages but throughout your store to encourage users to engage and convert.
Use high-quality images on your homepage and shortcuts for directly purchasing the product.
Ways to leverage visual commerce:
- Change your default images from JPG to JPEG2000 or WebP formats to improve quality and loading speed.
- Create 360-degree images or videos of your best-selling products.
- Invest in a visual search tool that allows customers to search for products using images.
- Reuse user-generated content on your product pages to build interest.
- Create visual shopping ads on Pinterest to drive traffic to your website and increase sales.
E-commerce businesses that want to dominate the market should prepare to adopt the latest trends as quickly as possible. In 2021, voice commerce, omnichannel shopping, AI, and AR are likely to become widespread. More online businesses will begin accepting crypto payments to persuade more customers to choose their brands. Dynamic pricing will remain an effective way to attract shoppers.
To manage your e-commerce processes seamlessly and adapt to innovations easily, contact us.
