Trends shaping the E-commerce industry

The Ecommerce industry has gained a lot of traction over the last couple of years all over the world. Ecommerce as a market has evolved almost continuously at a rapid pace on a regular basis to incorporate and set new trends. This industry is booming and there seems to be no sign of it slowing down; the only way for the ecommerce industry to go is in the upward direction. The store system has struggled a bit in the wake of ecommerce’s success but now is finding ways for in-store purchases to be influenced by the digital commerce. The trends in any industry keep changing and ecommerce is no exception to this. The trends which are shaping the ecommerce industry right now are mostly favorable for buyers as well as sellers.

Image Search

Take this as an example – You walk into a store, find the kind of shirt you were looking for but it is expensive and you have a limited budget. You know you can find this shirt on an ecommerce site slightly cheaper. You can take a picture of the shirt and search it through image search feature on an ecommerce site. Here comes the benefit of having an image search feature.

The consumers today are very much aware of what they want, how to get it and on a budget. They have a fixed idea about a certain product like the kind of mobile phone they want or a couch. When they come across the specific product which they want and like they can use image search to find that same exact product and eliminate the process of going through product lists to find the product they have in mind.

There are a few ecommerce websites and applications which have successfully implemented image search feature. It is only a matter of time before every other ecommerce website will try and implement this in their systems because it will get results. This is a trend which will shape the ecommerce industry in the near future.

 

Manufacturers will directly engage with clients

The manufacturers are now taking advantage of social media platforms to reach their customers directly. The manufacturers before had to market their products through a brand, and then the products went through the middleman then to the customers. The supply chain is going to be changed when more and more manufacturers will figure out ways to approach the clients directly.

The boom of online marketing has enabled the manufacturers to market their products on a wider scale through their own websites and offering offers and different options to the customers. As a manufacturer, it has become really easy to stop attaching your products to a brand and build your own marketing strategy for targeting the customers directly. The manufacturer can find a digital platform suitable to their particular needs and get all the necessary tools to make this change.

Enhanced Personalization

As a customer, you love the personal experience you get face to face like in a favorite restaurant you visit frequently when the server remembers your favorite order or even a dish. The online experience is trying to find ways of making their services more personal for each one of their customers. This will give the buyers that personal experience or touch one gets at a store.

Chatting to customers on social media or even their own websites, sending promotional and offer emails addressed by the name of the customer etc. These are small steps the ecommerce industry has already started taking towards personalization of the shopping experience for their customers. These processes are set to become automated to reduce the amount of work on the people behind the scenes.

The responsiveness to the sites which added personalization is said to have shown steady growth and gained an edge somewhat over their peers. The element of personalization will be determined on a lot of factors like age, area, order history etc and try to provide a similar experience to physical storefront shopping.

B2B Ecommerce will continue its growth

B2B Ecommerce has shown immense growth over the years. It is believed that around 56% of B2B buyers made their purchases online just in America only. The B2B market is growing every day with more and more businesses joining in. Since the B2B marketplace is getting squeezed, there are bound to come up new channels, which will also include the digital channel.

With the of RPA (Robotic Process Automation) and IoT (Internet of Things) are new and interesting developments. These processes are rapidly changing the business operations, shifting away slightly from the traditional modes. RPA is advancing quickly and alongside IoT it is set to bring a dramatic change to the marketplace.

Since giant corporations like Amazon which entered the B2B market with Amazon Business in 2015 and has received a massive response from customers. Going digital in the B2B marketplace is the next logical step for companies. Digital markets will help open a new market and also lead to fewer clashes in reaching the target customers.  B2B digital commerce may be able to come up with new algorithms for pricing and payments which will be dynamic.

Also read – Latest Ecommerce Trends

Influencer Marketing

The rise in the use of various social media sites is probably riding very high right now. The millennial generation is completely embracing everything the internet has to offer and social media is a lure for them. Due to a high number of users social media platforms have proved as useful channels for marketing.

Influential marketers aren’t just D-list celebrities but are people who actually have a certain influence on their followers. These people are responsible for generating a number of followers who in some ways look up to them and hence they are influential marketers. The products and services they recommend are not in the standard form of marketing but they actually talk about their experience with the product or service which creates a buzz on social media.

With influential marketing, products, services, and their brands are promoted and there is a growth in response. One can find influencers in a particular niche to promote their product be it cosmetics, furniture or clothes. This type of marketing takes investment and patience but there is a very good chance of returns. If some surveys are to be believed, people are more likely to buy products promoted or recommended by influencers 30% more than proper celebrities.

 

Ecommerce is an industry which is going to keep on evolving for the coming years, adding new trends on a regular basis to make their mark amongst the competition. The trends in today’s digital age keep on changing and evolving. It is up to you to keep a tab on these trends and utilize them to your maximum benefits.

 

 

 

 

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