Table of Contents
Consumer and technology are the two major players driving e-commerce trends. This vibrant market is viewed as an endless loop. It’s because a minor change in consumer behavior can spark major changes in e-commerce technology, which leads to new experiences. The other way around is also true: an innovative intervention will drive new consumer behavior. Let’s now see how these two factors are shaping the current e-commerce landscape.
Table of Contents
1. Shoppers are the new marketers
5. Augmented Reality is the new future
6. Social Media e-commerce explosion
7. Headless commerce on the rise
1. Shoppers are the new marketers
Nowadays, consumers always search for social proof of how many people have bought a particular product before actually buying that product. They look for product reviews, which heavily influence their buying decisions. Because of that, influencer media is now not only limited to e-commerce sites but has also extended to all the social media platforms, where people constantly share their experiences with brands.
Brands are taking advantage of social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook to encourage consumers to become active marketers of their products.
2. Speed and Accuracy
Long gone are the days when customers have to wait for a week or more to receive their packages. With e-commerce giants like Amazon fulfilling orders at lightning speed, users have become familiar with next-day or even same-day delivery. These delivery options have led to customers becoming less patient. Users want everything to be instant, be it customer care, product selection, payment process, or delivery time.
Speed does not mean any compromise with accuracy. Today’s users expect precision at every step of the process, right from the product details, pricing reviews to the time the package reaches their doorstep. A study by NN/g showed that many respondents are frustrated with generalized product descriptions, hidden, or additional charges.
3. Anytime, Anywhere shopping
Consumers these days seek seamless shopping experiences that can give them a blend of both offline and online options. These types of experiences include having a track of the nearest inventory, choosing the time of delivery, tracking the package, payment options.
In addition, now with the widespread popularity of progressive web apps, the fine line between Mobile commerce and e-commerce seems to have vanished.
The e-commerce world is now trending towards mobile. By combining modern design methodologies and next-gen technologies, e-commerce businesses can deliver unique shopping experiences that exceed consumers’ expectations and beat sales goals in record time.
4. Consumer-driven trends
Understanding consumer behavior is essential when it comes to designing e-commerce experiences. Not only is customer behavior changing rapidly, but also the number of users switching to the online shopping world is growing significantly.
Once you crack the behavior pattern of the users and the way they interact with your system, the job is half done. The deeper you dive into customers’ psychology of purchasing, the more user-centric the platform will be.
5. Augmented reality is the new future
Augmented reality is shaping a new future of the shopping experience and introducing an experiential store to customers’ doorstep. Now with just a click away, customers can access products and stores from far away. Customers no longer have to visit physical stores.
Instead, they can use the virtual world that is the e-commerce site and choose the best for them. The downside of the traditional commerce model, which is not being able to visualize and feel a product on an online platform, is all taken care of by Augmented reality.
6. Social media e-commerce explosion
Social media is the new marketplace where the players like Tiktok, Facebook, and Instagram are providing a platform to the e-commerce sites to promote their brands. User-generated content is on the rise.
Purchases done by social media users are posted in the form of pictures and videos. This marketing strategy has the potential to turn into a chain reaction for promoting a brand. Since these users posting their experience do not belong to the brand, they become more strong influencers for the other users on social media than the brand content.
7. Headless Commerce on the rise
Although having multiple platforms can increase your reach, integrating them all in one system can make it harder to manage the server, not to mention it is also time-consuming and complex.
Headless commerce is the detachment of the user interfaces (front-end) from the server-side (backend). It allows you to layer key functions in your digital system—websites, microsites, and other multiple apps—design, and customize them while keeping your backend intact.
In headless commerce, components can also be edited and updated independently without relying on developers. Thus, headless commerce is more flexible since it allows you to easily scale up and meet the unlimited demands of your users on time, leading to a seamless user experience across all channels.
Nike, Target, Redbox, and Annie Selke are some major brands that are applying this headless commerce approach.
Conclusion
The ever-changing e-commerce landscape can seem overwhelming, and the competition can be steep. Nevertheless, one thing is sure: its future is rewarding for those businesses who can take the chance.