Despite the economic crisis and other negative effects worldwide, the eCommerce market is evolving profoundly. According to eMarketer, the global eCommerce market was 18.8% in 2021.
According to Statista, the global eCommerce market will likely reach 24% by 2026. This makes it important for companies like fashion and retail, entertainment, and more to invest in eCommerce.
What’s interesting is that the large companies today that are in the eCommerce market once started their journey with offline origin. And now you can see the all-around transformation of the market rushing towards eCommerce development.
So, what incredible opportunities should you be aware of and follow to achieve convenient results?
eCommerce as an economic development opportunity
In many parts of the world, online markets are still shallow. And in such instances, eCommerce can be a key opportunity for economic development.
With the help of online sales, you can reach more customers across the globe. Also, it creates new jobs in supporting sectors like technology companies, payment service providers, and logistics companies.
While the pandemic has significantly increased the number of online shoppers worldwide, this is only the beginning. The latent demand for eCommerce in emerging markets remains large.
According to cross-country data, online markets can take off rapidly as income rises. Further, the benefits of 24-hour online shopping and home delivery doubled with much greater product choice, which will likely become increasingly valuable to customers everywhere.
Role of local entrepreneurs
If you have developed an eCommerce store with the help of a Magento agency like Bytes Technolab, you are uniquely positioned to take advantage of the digital trade opportunity.
Although, a small national online market might be limited for eCommerce giants. But still, there is a lot of space to grow as low-cost local startups. While these small-scale businesses might start with less established brands and small product ranges compared to large stores, they offer better and tailored services to conditions in their home market.
International eCommerce giants are constantly evolving.
With each passing time, the international eCommerce giants are constantly under pressure to expand their geographic footprint because of the advancing market. Moreover, markets are getting increasingly attractive in developing countries with rising incomes.
M-Commerce
There was a time when online shopping through mobile devices was the exception rather than the rule. But today, about 25% of purchases are made through mobile devices, and this segment is growing at the speed of light every year.
If your store is not responsive, you will lose around 25% of potential buyers. And with the latest Google updates coming into the commission, your rate of potential buyers will tend to get lower if your website is not adaptive.
So, make your eCommerce store compatible with the latest Google updates, and you can get expert help from the best Magento development company.
Personalization
Personalization is a special tool that is used for merchandising and more. A few years back, it wasn’t easy to personalize the store. And because of this, store owners used information provided directly by the customer in the user account.
When a customer specifies a region, the store has to switch products and prices according to that region. But with the help of Big data development, any store today can be configured according to each customer.
With the advancement of technology, it can not just be able to understand a consumer but also predict their behavior and provide them with recommendations based on their order history.
Why Personalizing an Online Buyer’s Journey is the Key?
A recent Accenture report says 91% of consumers are more likely to buy from companies who remember them and provide relevant offers. Further, 83% of them are willing to share their data in exchange for a personalized experience.
Now, envision this scenario: You are a regular customer of a retail showroom of cosmetics and beauty products where everyone knows you and greets you by your name. The staff knows your likes, dislikes, top preferences, and wishlist to have shortly. Moreover, they know what suits your hair and skin and will only recommend the best products based on your request.
In short, they know you pretty well to make your overall buying experience as smooth as silk. It would be an ultimate and classic shopping experience in real life. Well, in the eCommerce world, you can make it possible to treat every single customer.
The bottom line is, Personalization is particularly critical in eCommerce, as it always makes us feel super special. This is why it should be used wisely. It is incredibly important for businesses to form a connection with end customers, nurture it, and ultimately grow their sales and revenue.
Socialization
Socialization is important for any eCommerce startup because it has been trending for the last few years. People influence other people for purchases when eCommerce becomes social. This strategy is known as word-of-mouth marketing.
Word-of-mouth marketing, or WOM, is generally a free advertising method that customers trigger. For instance, when consumers talk about a company’s services or products with their friends and family.
And this is done through different types of mediums, such as creating a buzz or through blogs and social media marketing along with socializing of the web stores and the data obtained through Personalization.
Shipping
Shipping is another incredible opportunity where eCommerce stores can make a difference. This includes receiving and processing orders, picking and packing purchased goods from the warehouse, printing shipping labels, and managing returns.
To increase your customer base:
- Offer them different shipping options and price rates.
- Promote services like free shipping or flat-rate shipping on certain high-profit items.
- Reach your target audiences by shipping to new geographies.
- Decrease the cost of shipping by working with multiple logistic partners.
Further, as an eCommerce store, you can add mixed and alternative strategies like standard and expedited shipping, allowing you to upsell on shipping by showing the estimated time in transit for customers waiting for fast delivery.
Moreover, you can also add a free standard and expedited shipping strategy to tempt your customers to pay for faster delivery. Lastly, adding in-store pickup and same-day delivery options is great for local customers.
Also, adding different types of payment gateways is a great option to entice more customers.
Voice search option
The voice search option, sometimes called voice shopping/commerce, is a great feature to add to your eCommerce store. Although it is a relatively new feature for the eCommerce industry, it is getting popular nowadays.
So much so that according to PWC.com, around 40% of consumers use voice search options to order or buy something every month. So now, how does voice skill integration improve customer experience?
Voice search is much faster than any other means, making it a swift and seamless shopping experience.
AI and ML for the ultimate shopping experience
With the help of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, your consumers will have an automated and personalized shopping experience. That’s because AI web development is done is that it continuously collects data on how customers shop, when they buy, and what they are looking for in a product or service.
Advantages of AI and ML in eCommerce – Enhances your products
AL and ML can enhance your products through the feedback you receive, and the trends you analyze can be used to improve your product offers.
Enhance the business process
thanks to advanced technologies, you can maximize the advantages of your delivery and warehouse options,
More informed business decisions
With the help of AI and ML, you can make more accurate predictions through real-time data, market analysis, and other information.
Automate your business workflows
Automating physical and digital processes results in huge savings of time and resources.
Improve your target by identifying new market
Advanced tools like building customer persona and marketing research will allow you to expand your target customers.
Implementation of Augmented reality
Ever since the inception of augmented reality, it has been a game changer for many industries, including eCommerce. AR has made online shopping hassle-free by bringing everything to your doorstep. This will, in turn, save a ton of time and resources.
AR is very flexible as it lets users browse various products and compare their prices in no time. However, apart from numerous benefits, there are one biggest problems associated with online shopping. Users cannot see the product in detail every time, leading to high dissatisfaction.
This is where AR helps to bridge the gap between such scenarios. And provides a 360-degree view of any product.
Multi-channel connect experience
Also referred to as omnichannel, multi-channel is a modern way of sales that doesn’t hamper the shopping experience for customers. As the name suggests, multi-channel marketing promotes the sale of products on multiple channels like eCommerce websites, marketplaces, and offline.
With this, your customers will have more chances to get information about the products and services. In addition, multi-channel allows customers to switch devices during their shopping process. For instance, you can add products to the cart from your smartphone and complete the payment from your laptop.
That’s why brands have adopted the multi-channel or omnichannel marketing approach to boost their eCommerce business.
Order flexibility
As more and more people shop online, they are also looking for different choices and options when it comes to ordering options.
For example, they want to order products online and collect them from a brick-and-mortar store. Therefore, every eCommerce retail store should offer flexibility while ordering while offering options like split orders, pre-orders, in-store pickups, and clicks to bricks, a way to connect online stores with in-person selling.
Although, when a product goes out of stock, eCommerce retailers should provide their customers with the option to be notified when it’s stocked back. This is also a smart lead generation plan because you can get your customers on the email list.
Automated services
Automated services like chatbots are the perfect option for eCommerce stores that are not big enough to have full-time customer representatives. Chatbots can identify what users need and can recommend products based on the implementation of certain keywords and the use of artificial intelligence.
Incorporating chatbots will change the customer service landscape exponentially. Chatbots can help you in:
- Reaching more people
- Provide 24-hour service
- Generate customer satisfaction
- Reduce human failures
- Provide answers 24/7
Subscription models
Subscription models are another trend that has been going on in the eCommerce market. Online customers prefer subscription-based business models as it makes them confident about spending.
While for eCommerce owners, this makes it easy to onboard new customers and entices them to visit the shop frequently. Subscription models are getting popular in recent years. You can set up your online business by understanding how it works and setting up a realistic pricing strategy.
Based on the subscription model, you can charge minimal recurring fees on a monthly or yearly basis for accessing a product or service, and they don’t have to pay big bucks all at once.
Wrapping up
The eCommerce industry is still rising and will not slow down soon. According to Statista, the global eCommerce market will reach around 8.1 trillion USD by 2026! Therefore, this is the right time to take action and set up your eCommerce store with the help of a Magento development company like Bytes Technolab.
They have served the eCommerce industry for more than ten years with services like eCommerce app development, Magento integration services, and eCommerce store integrations. If you are willing to own an eCommerce store and looking for eCommerce development services with Magento, Bytes Technolab is the preferred choice.
About Author-
Mitul Patel – Founder & CEO at Bytes Technolab Inc. with a demonstrated history of scaling up the company in the ever-competitive Software Industry. An elite mentor & problem-solver to a dev team of 120+ software experts. A growth strategist and dynamic tech consultant helping global clients to scale up their businesses.
I Have 17+ years of experience. My colleagues in the leadership team are like-minded with ONE GOAL – to use our expertise in web, eCommerce, and mobile app spaces to deliver digital excellence for global startups, SMEs, enterprises, and Fortune 500 brands. We have registered offices in the USA, Canada, and India to serve globally.
Our ODC in India has developed & delivered 300+ business solutions. Our clientele encapsulates 500+ clients from 30+ countries.
