2021 was a challenging year for everyone. In the last two years, businesses were preoccupied with adapting to the ongoing marketplace conditions and the ecommerce growth due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While we’ve managed to somehow adapt to the new reality, the expectations are that 2022 will be even more challenging for the eCommerce businesses and consumers alike, and brands must keep the momentum going to maintain the competitive edge.
1.Providing Personalized Experiences
One of the trends that defines e-commerce as the new-age store business model is personalization.
Thanks to a combination of real-time search, browsing, and purchasing data, you are now able to recommend the product that your potential or current customer prefers. That is why personalization is pivotal to modern eCommerce.
With personalization, eCommerce companies can bring more repeat purchases and upsell their existing customers on more related products.
2.More Social Media Commerce
In 2021, the usage of social media for making online purchases was one of the major eCommerce trends, and things won’t slow down in 2022 as well.
Through platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, consumers can purchase an item on the spot, as they discover it via browsing on the platform.
Social media platforms have the power to personalize the customer journey since they know exactly what the consumers are interested in, which is why the presenting tailored content and product offers is more precise.
3.Conversational & Voice Shopping
Conversational eCommerce represents the selling of products or services to customers via live chats or messaging tools. Messaging bots, for example, they can answer consumers’ questions about a given product make the entire purchasing process much simpler for everyone.
Moreover, via voice shopping on technologies such as Amazon Echo & Alexa, eCommerce brand can now have even more realistic conversation with consumers that can lead to a purchase.
Proving a personalized conversational online shopping experience for consumers enables you to build greater trust for your brand and provide a more amicable purchasing experience, being always available to customers in the process.
4. Expansion of Delivery Models
Home deliveries are evolving with bolt-lightning speed. Moreover, since the COVID-19 pandemic started, brands rose to the challenge of meeting consumer demands for quick and touchless doorstep delivery. Efficient distribution chains and software-assisted deliveries are already changing the rules of the game, and that will continue in 2022 and beyond.
5. Diversification of Payment Methods
Consumers are after their most preferred payment options whenever they want to purchase a certain item. Therefore, diversifying the payment methods that you provide them would help you build more trust with your online customers, alleviate cart abandonment, and motivate customers to purchase more.
Favourable discounts, financing options, and 1-click payment options will continue to rise in popularity and attract consumers to buy.
Wrapping Up
The opportunities in the eCommerce segment are unlimited and forming trust while keeping up with the trends is the playing field where consumers are either won or lost. Thriving in today’s landscape requires understanding of your consumers and action, as well as strategizing about what you need to offer to stay ahead of your competitors. eCommerce’s rapid rise will continue in 2022 and beyond, and while you keep up with the latest trends, make sure that customer retention is on top of your mind while providing the best possible experience for the shoppers at the same time.