Selling goods and services online has been in a high position since 2019. So, we can’t deny that the amount of both online shops and buyers is constantly growing. However, why are some online shops thriving while others fail? Well, even being difficult to handle, it is still possible to survive in this competitive run if you go with the times and use the available resources correctly.
Why are eCommerce trends so important?
The associations that arise in our head hearing the word "trends" sometimes might cause negative feelings. It's mostly because trendy things are something that all implement at once and lose their identity by following them in the long run.
This thought is right, however, most trends that you see in eCommerce are based on the customer's behavior and the navigation data that was extracted during online purchasing. That's why trends in eCommerce are targeted to find out ways to make clients' journeys easier and more pleasurable, making them return to your services whenever they need to.
Overview of the eCommerce Industry
The reports that were made at the end of 2022 predicted that this year up to 78% of people will stick to purchasing online. Just say, in 2020 the percentage barely reached 50. That happens mostly because, during the past two years, the eCommerce owners didn't seem to give up and were implementing new things that online customers enjoyed.
Taking a look at the popular online shops that we have nowadays we can notice that they are no way near to something that was before. For instance, who has ever thought that we could have the possibility to upload our photo and check whether the lipstick matches our face color? What about the innovation of downloading a photo of your car to the automotive shop and seeing only those details that are made specifically for your vehicle? There is no need to look for specific information on dozens of websites as everything is all in one.
The eCommerce trends aren't something that we can copy from others. But it is something we should know about to innovate them and use them to our advantage. So let's take a closer look at the upcoming trends in the eCommerce industry.
Top 15 eCommerce trends for 2024
eCommerce integrations
Easing customer journey is much easier once you take advantage of different integrations that ensure a seamless buying experience. We highly recommend implementing such integrations as:
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Social media
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Shipping and fulfilment
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Accounting
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Customer support
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Payment gateway.
Such an eCommerce innovation will be beneficial not only for potential customers but for businesses as well. You can find more information on the 10 best eCommerce Integrations in our blog.
Personalization
One of the latest trends in eCommerce is using AI for getting human loyalty due to the personalized experience. That’s why more and more business owners put their money into training AI to adapt to clients’ behavior on the website. Depending on your eCommerce, there are two ways you can do that.
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The first option is monitoring the customer's way from the starting point, analyzing it, comparing it with purchases, and then using this information for showing alternatives that might interest them. Such a thing can be done for selling any goods. For instance, using such a well-trained AI you can offer footwear or clothes that are based on a person's site navigation process. Or send personalized sales announcements of your products to show your client that very soon his or her favorite item will cost less.
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One more alternative for AI implementation is the option of empowering your client to upload a photo to the website and be able to see personalized products that are available in your store. It can be the photo of a plant to choose the needed treatment, or your car picture to see the details, or the picture of your favorite beverage to order the one with a similar taste.
Active comments
A lot has been said about the need of having both positive and negative comments on the things you sell. Even though negative words are quite a rare option, they still help our customers to have the right perception and understanding that there are some negative sides. But the problem here is that a lot of these comments have been made by business owners that want to show their items on the bright side.
People are clever enough to understand such tricks and once they come to eCommerce and see fake comments, be sure that there is a big possibility that they won't click on your website next time.
One of the latest eCommerce trends that you can apply is to make those good and bad comments available to follow. The simple idea here is to make those comments more realistic by making an active link to the commenter's shopping profile. For sure, that might work for not all niches. However, if you are selling quite unusual or expensive goods, you should consider active comments. Not everyone will communicate with people who have bought this item before, but shopping will look more secure.
Mobile purchasing
There is a rapid rise in people who are buying things using their phones. It is even said that mobile is the future of eCommerce. You can check it yourself by tracking the gadgets people are using specifically in your shop by using site analytics. Taking a look at the overall tendency in the past year online sales by phone made up 56% of eCommerce sales in 2022.
That's why checking whether your website is optimized for mobile use is vital to any type of eCommerce. Take a thorough look at whether your design adjusts itself depending on the device's size and whether it is easy to navigate with fingers.
Intuitive UI
As we have mentioned before, clients nowadays are looking for fast solutions and they are likely to stick to the online shop that is actively using current trends in eCommerce regarding user interface (UI).
An intuitive UI on a website incorporates such things as:
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Clear navigation
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User-friendly forms
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Easily accessible buttons
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Visual hierarchy
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Colour scheme
You can get more knowledge on this topic from our article on the Top 13 Web Design Trends in 2024.
The fewer clicks, the better option
Living in today's fast-flowing reality, people are seeking quick solutions. The times when people were able to buy a particular item on only one website have passed away. Statistically speaking, if potential customers don't find a particular item within one minute, they will just go to search for the solutions somewhere else. That's why one more eCommerce trend that we have right now includes easing the navigation process and allowing to make purchases in 3 clicks:
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The first one is responsible for entering the site;
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The second one is for clicking on the right item;
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The third one is the final purchase.
It's a tendency for making the buying process so easy that the client has little time for doubting.
Voice search
Once you consider eCommerce trends, it is impossible not to mention voice search. Because of its convenience, such an alternative is liked by a lot of customers.
Knowing that a great number of people use the help of voice assistants whenever they need to complete daily tasks, prompted the owners of online shops to enable such a search on their websites.
Being one of the recent eCommerce developments, more and more shops start to incorporate it adding some new options. For example, they enable clients not only to search for specific items using their voices but also to ask questions directly about the product size, colors, etc.
If you aren't ready for this kind of voice optimization in site search, you can optimize it for Google. For instance, knowing that voice search is quite popular these days, we can conclude that users are searching for specific items using the question words like “who,” “what,” “where,” “why,” “when,” and “how”. You can use it for changing your product descriptions so that they stick to the way the potential client is looking for the solution.
Subscriptions
A few years ago we used to associate subscriptions only with specific niches that include film and video production, photo editing apps, and games. However, eCommerce market trends show us that such models can be applied to every business type. The overall popularity of subscriptions has risen mainly because of instability and inflation. By subscribing to the services for one price, people can be sure that they can enjoy particular items for some time without the feeling that they may disappear or become more expensive. Thanks to such kinds of trends in the eCommerce industry, you can gain one of the most valuable things – loyalty.
Sense of community
The shops now need to change the way people perceive purchasing. It's not just about taking money from customers and waiting for their return. The trends in eCommerce show us that people are likely to choose the eCommerce that has a sense of community. It's difficult to deny the fact that people are always in search of communities. Family, friend groups, or coworkers, being a part of something always inspires us and makes us content with our lives.
Naturally, this idea has expanded to our digital experience. So, eCommerce businesses have a unique opportunity to use different ways of engaging with customers. There is no perfect option for having a sense of community as it can be either a group on social media platforms or on the website blog, where people will be able to interact with each other. Take a look at our article about the best eCommerce platforms to choose the option that will match your needs most of all. The only sure thing here is that the place of interaction should encourage clients to communicate by making different types of experiences sharing content, funny pictures, etc.
Custom illustrations
Stock photos can be put far away as custom pictures are coming on stage becoming one of the most remarkable eCommerce industry trends in 2022 and still keeping the position. Customized photos are not only user-friendly, but they also help to build a brand identity and make users remember you. This idea also sticks to such a small and almost unnoticeable thing as hand-written lettering. Moreover, it is one of those eCommerce trends that is expected to evolve. Who knows, maybe your online shop will take the custom illustration idea and will bring it to the top of the eCommerce trends in 2024!
Fast and free delivery
Two years ago customers were ready to wait for their orders for 6-8 days. But the current eCommerce industry trends show us that the delivery can't be longer than 3 days. Otherwise, people will find another option when they need to buy something. That's why you should make a thorough analysis of the shipping system that you have and do everything to provide your business with the needed management. If you want to have the ability of constant goods monitoring, you can do that by implementing AI. Such technology will do that faster and help you to supply the customers with fast shipping. Check our article about delivery and gain new knowledge on how to create a strong eCommerce logistics value chain. Additionally, providing clients with such a present as free delivery will also help you to gain their loyalty.
Applications
Big shops like Adidas, Nike, iHerb, etc., admit that even though they have a user-friendly website, still however people that purchase using phones stick to the applications more. For sure, this option is perfect for those customers that are already familiar with your brand.
Quite often eCommerce news and trends show us that no matter how user-friendly your site is, people will use the application finding it more convenient. Have you ever been in a situation when you needed to buy something, you started the Google search and then found yourself scrolling through funny pictures? Unfortunately, forgetting why we opened the search is a quite often situation. There is no reason in blaming yourself and thinking that you have memory loss, it's just the Internet and business owners that want us to spend as much time as possible on their web pages.
Customers have already noticed this thing. That's why whenever they need to buy something and they can choose between the site and the application, they stick to the second alternative.
Interested? Well, you can learn more about eCommerce App Development from our blog.
Please note that sticking to this online shopping trend, you should keep in mind that eCommerce app development is quite a time-consuming and costly experience. So, if you have limited resources, it will be better to direct them on the website development or just stick to the eCommerce platforms, which is one of the next trends in online shopping.
eCommerce platforms
With the rise of businesses that want to sell their goods online, we see that far not every business owner can afford to build a website or these people are at the beginning of their business journey and simply don't need a website yet. Because of this various eCommerce platforms have become extremely popular. Most often people are now benefiting from Shopify, OpenCart, WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce, Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace.
You can find more information on the 8 Best eCommerce Platforms in our blog. The good news is that online retail trends can also be implemented on these platforms. For example, you can also offer some kind of personalization, upload quality photos of your goods, and write engaging descriptions. Everything is up to you!
Video descriptions
One of the eCommerce trends that is slowly coming on stage is uploading videos alongside pictures and descriptions. Here is the same problem as with fake comments. Everyone has ever been in the situation of ordering something and then receiving an item that is slightly different from the one placed on the website. That’s why people have become more careful and skeptical about purchasing online.
One of the ways you can tell customers that they can trust you is to show them the item that they get using no filters or perfect angles. Just show them the real thing and they will know what to expect valuing your genuine attitude.
Depending on your niche, you can delve even deeper and upload YouTube videos on how a specific good can be used or give some useful advice.
Virtual reality
A few years the ability to do a virtual apartment tour was only a dream, wasn’t it? However, it’s our reality and one of the biggest eCommerce trends. Being previously implemented by Airbnb now more and more traveling websites take advantage of it.
Depending on your business, you can take this one of the most powerful eCommerce new trends and see a rapid rise in overall web engagement.
As you can see all the eCommerce trends are made specifically for easing customers' experience. They won't harm your business or make it any kind of usual one simply because all these eCommerce trends should be implemented by adding your shop identity. That's why there is no need to worry that you will become any way similar to other companies.
You might notice that all these new trends in eCommerce are connected to site navigation, data analysis, etc. That's why technology implementation to improve navigation and management is always a good idea.
However, it is important to know that not all mentioned tendencies work well with each type of business. Providing a deep data analysis is crucial before making the changes.
Our specialists at SolidBrain are constantly looking for new eCommerce trends and know exactly what your business niche needs. All decisions that we make are based on customer behavior analysis. We are eager to help you and make the clients’ experience more pleasurable. Check our eCommerce Software Development page for more information about our services.
