5 game changing e-commerce trends in 2022
Author: Jake | Created: 03-02-2022
As a result of the effects of Covid in 2020, the year 2021 saw tremendous shift in the e-commerce industry. The epidemic ushered in a paradigm shift from "the old way" to "the new way," from enhanced automation to artificial intelligence to virtual and augmented reality.
Many e-commerce organisations were forced to pivot to a new method of doing business as a result of these new shifts.
One recent example is how Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, failed to deliver on its promises to Prime users of one-day delivery for non-edible items and same-day delivery for food items.
To address this, Amazon launched "Amazon Scout." This all-electric self-driving delivery device walks down the sidewalk and delivers directly to customers. A chain of new e-commerce trends will arise as a result of a major participant in the industry changing to an improved delivery method.
Due to the lasting effect of the pandemic the e-commerce industry is to hit £1 trillion in 2022 - and below are 5 trends that will contribute towards that.
Voice search for shopping
Simply speaking to any of your voice-enabled gadgets makes things a whole lot easier, whether you're at home, in the office, or nearly everywhere. It's no surprise that voice-search AI’s such as Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Google's Assistant use it.
According to current estimates, the voice-assistant-speaker market will be worth £4 billion in 2022. With voice shopping anticipated to grow by 55 percent by 2022 and reach £40 billion, it's safe to assume this will become a trend.
This provides a chance for e-commerce business owners to use voice-search optimisation tactics to rank for keywords and phrases that exactly match voice-search requests.
Demand for personalised products
It's nearly impossible to completely satisfy a customer, and forcing him or her to sort through several categories doesn't help.
Personalising a product, on the other hand, improves customer happiness by giving clients a sense of exclusivity when purchasing. In exchange, 22% of consumers are willing to provide their personal information.
Customers can make their own designs and choose their favourite colours using Nike's Lunarglide shoe version, for example. Enfamil, is the same, they ask expecting women for their baby's due date in order to deliver individualised information throughout the pregnancy.
Personalization makes customers' buying experience easier and improves brand loyalty, thus more brands are embracing it, and most e-commerce enterprises will do so by the end of 2022.
Customer service management with chatbots
Customer service is an important aspect of mid-sized and large e-commerce enterprises. Customer service is one thing; addressing those problems is another, and few organisations can afford to employ thousands of customer care personnel to do so.
Meanwhile, the development of chatbots in recent years has simplified customer support. Chatbots can do a variety of functions, thus incorporating them into your customer service is the smartest move you can make right now:
- Survey input is being gathered
- Answering the most common inquiries (FAQ)
- Making suggestions for products
- Informing customers about current sale opportunities
All of these duties can let you communicate with thousands of clients at once in a faster, more accessible way, with customised responses based on their questions.
Augmented and virtual reality shopping
It feels fantastic to go to an online store and shop for any thing you want, because it saves you time and effort. However, there is a difference between what you see online and what you receive.
Augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) bridges this gap by demonstrating how a product will look in real life and how it will fit into your daily routine.
This gives customers the assurance they need to make informed purchasing decisions. Around 71% of consumers agree that they will shop from e-commerce firms that use virtual reality more frequently.
According to this, over 120,000 establishments are expected to use augmented reality (AR) in 2022 to provide customers with a better shopping experience.
Omnichannel selling
Focusing on a single channel for selling your items and making the most of it by bringing people directly to you demonstrates that you're doing everything right, especially in terms of customer acquisition.
This, however, hinders your ability to interact with additional potential clients through numerous means. According to Sprout Social, 84.9 % of customers won't buy something unless they've seen it many times. According to the Global Web Index, 37% of users use social media to research products and companies.
In the meanwhile, increasing your reach to social media platforms and big online-retail websites such as Amazon, eBay, and Etsy puts you in front of your potential clients.
This tendency is a major driving force for major corporations like Amazon, which sells 52% of its units through third-party sellers.
Start pushing into new markets to acquire a bigger audience to optimise this possibility for your e-commerce business.
Conclusion
The above trends are insights into what businesses what an e-commerce website should be paying attention too. After all, you don’t want to be playing catch up with your competitors.