The eCommerce world is moving ahead with every passing day and the only way to stay in business is to be aware of the latest technological curves and customer demands. The eCommerce industry is considered to be an area of intense development and in the coming years it is surely going to witness a huge growth in many countries. If you are in the eCommerce business, then you just got lucky! Because in the year and in the coming years, you will witness an increase in the revenue and your business reputation as well. Right from going mobile to incorporating the new marketing approach, the eCommerce business is evolving and so should you.
Take a look at some of the greatest eCommerce trends that will be the catalysts of business growth in the year and in the coming years after that:
Mobile Integration Is Important
A prominent concept that is leading the eCommerce evolution in the year is the mobile technology. As online shop owners realize the importance of having a presence in the competitive market, the businessmen who are ready for the switch will surely get rewarding dividends by investing in the mobile technology. It is a fact that smart phones and tablets have taken the place of PCs and laptops and people have become comfortable in browsing the internet on their mobile devices. All the eCommerce companies must respond to this change for staying in the business. The business owners who stay a step back in providing the shopping convenience to the buyers will lose out on a lot of potential customers.
The mobile technology can be exploited in multiple forms. Firstly, you can focus on having a responsive website design. This is a method of designing websites that can be accessed through a wide range of devices as the design is adjusted according to the respective screen resolution. This will provide the buyer with the ease of browsing your website at home, at a subway, while traveling etc. The mobile payment options like PayPal and Google Wallet will enable the customers to buy online without the tedious task of entering the card information manually. Finally, the growing methods of tracking sales conversion through mobile activity will allow the business owners to identify the right efforts that are paying off and the methods need further improvement.
Integrated Solutions
As eCommerce businesses recognize the importance of delivering customized content, efficient product offerings and reaching out to their customers with perfect marketing strategies, new platforms will keep evolving to facilitate these ideologies. Currently, businesses count on the eCommerce systems for tasks like completing the transactions, delivering content marketing through content management systems and for email marketing. The main issue with this approach is that the individual platforms do not connect and communicate with each other. As a result of this, there is a disconnect between the customer behavior and the information created to hold the customer interest.
The eCommerce platforms will incorporate a centralized system for targeting the audiences and individuals on the basis of product purchases and online activity. By detecting the trends in customer purchases and market information, the eCommerce businesses will be in a better position to understand their audience and thereby they can make a stronger impression in front of the current customers and potential customers.
Marketing Through Multiple Channels
Customer emphasis is no longer concentrated on any one online channel for the respective amount of time. Today, a modern internet user is identified by his/her rapidly moving and engaging online activity. A modern internet user utilizes multiple channels for achieving multiple goals at different times of the day.
It is important for the eCommerce businesses to adapt to the browsing habits of the internet users for maintaining relevance. The way in which this can be accomplished is by marketing through multiple channels and creating a strong web presence. The main motive of the eCommerce business owners should be to establish a coherent brand spreading over various internet channels that get noticed by the potential customers. The result of this approach is that potential customers are reminded of your brand name wherever they go on the internet.
For business specific approach, it is crucial to know your target audience and creating marketing strategies for establishing a presence on the venues of customer interest. Most of the prominent businesses are conducting market research for identifying the user behavior and for creating social media presence with customized content that engages the users. An efficient eCommerce business must have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Pinterest filled with content that holds the interest of the target audience.
Personalization
As the methods of tracking the customer behavior and customer preferences evolve, customers have started expecting a personalized experience from the companies both online and offline. Therefore, apart from sending emails that feature product information, you must feature content that offers recommendations and highlights the sales that are relevant to the individual preferences.
This can be done through growing the brand recognition among the customers through promoting your brand actively. Engagement with customers can be enhanced through various ways like commenting on social media channels, starting an important conversation in any of the online communities or giving an online shopping advice. This is an influential way of communication with people and identifying your target audience.
Alternative Funding Channels
Traditionally, venture capital was the main source of raising start-up capital for the businesses that wanted to make an impact within a short span of time. Since that time, the sources of raising venture capital have increased and we can see the non-traditional platforms coming up that enable ‘crowd funding’. Crowd funding is a method of collecting start-up capital with the consent of interested individuals. The most unique aspect of this method of funding is that apart from the source of capital, it generates interests of many individuals. Especially in case of a small business, crowd funding is an excellent opportunity to have an appealing connection with the potential customers.
In the coming years, more number of businesses who are looking forward to innovation and business success will utilize the crowd funding platform to a great extent. The primary aspect is emphasizing your human connection and giving the best results to the generous sponsors through special access to the events and information on product tests. The perfect combination of engagement and involvement will help the customers to connect with your business and build the required resources for uplifting your efforts.
This new year promises greater customer involvement, engagement and accommodation. The businesses, who understand the importance of having a presence on the smart phones and other mobile devices, will get the benefit of existing where their customers are. The integrated marketing platforms and efforts will create sense from distributed activities and thereby they will enhance the product presence. In the coming years, customer engagement will be directly related to business revenue and it will be the primary source of generating the funds as well. eCommerce is not confined to a specific location, it is evolving and changing and with the right strategies, your business surely stands to benefit from this evolution!
Marketing Automation
As a result of marketing automation, advertisements, campaigns, and follow-up emails can reach a large number of people at once.
To frame the personalized messages, such processes collect the customer’s valuable data and their choices. By doing so, we will be able to enhance customer engagement and increase conversion rates.
Subscription Models
Due to the ease of online shopping, consumers prefer to subscribe to e-commerce websites to get easy access to the items and receive their products quickly. It is estimated that the market value will reach $478 billion by 2025 as a result of such trends.
Three ways to get the subscriptions:
This is a benefit for members-only that allows them to receive lower prices and samples of new products.
Member curation – members receive personalized products such as self-care products and coffee. The replenishment program includes items such as fresh produce, diapers, and pet food.
