The future of e-commerce is untapped to say the least as the e-commerce industry is still growing and in its developmental stages. In this post we would talk about 10 E-commerce trends and how you can take advantage of them..
This one is simple, as the world gets faster and more people are adopting digital trends, we are expecting to see a rise in digital purchases for just about everything.
Over the last few years we have seen different strategies come and go, and new innovations to help drive sales being implemented. We have also seen the rise of platforms like eBay, Alibaba, Jumia, E-commerce enabling platforms like Shopify and the use of social media platforms e.g Facebook, TikTok, etc, and the use of contact platforms such as WhatsApp marketing and email marketing.
It’s fair to say E-commerce has drastically evolved over the last 10 years and we can only be sure of one thing; that there is more to come. Therefore, looking at the past changes and trying to predict the market, here are 10 trends that will affect the E-commerce market in the next 5 years which are already happening in 2022.
1. More online purchases
From buying everyday items like food to signing deeds of purchases for luxury items like lands, housing and automobiles; there would be exponential increase in the numbers of people adopting online purchases. In 2021 it was estimated that approximately 2.15 billion people shopped online.
Consequently, businesses who do not have an online presence will start to suffer and this is why we recommend putting your business on google and optimising your online presence to prepare you and your business for the e-commerce opportunities that will be emerging.
Learning how to sell online, including running Facebook ads and Google ads will be an asset and a highly sought after skill that if done effectively will bring in lots of sales. As a Facebook ads agency, you’ll likely see a surge in demand for your services. Learning how to position and distinguish yourself at the top will mean the difference between easing high (7 -figures) and earning meager fees for your services.
Let’s move on.
2. People will look for cheaper products online
Yes, more and more people will look for cheaper ways to get a product online. So what does this trend mean?
Well, let’s start with those who do not have their business online yet. Like I stated earlier, if your business isn’t online, you are being replaced – and fast. Since most people will be looking for a way to buy things cheaper online, and they’ll get them cheaper, operating just a physical store with no optimised online presence will be costly and ultimately unproductive.
Now, does this mean you should make your products cheaper? Heck no, you should increase your price if you are properly positioned. People don’t want to be treated like they are poor and certainly not online shoppers, but they want to know they are getting a good bargain.
3. More business will sell online than offline
This is a no brainer. Alot more businesses are going to choose selling online because of its numerous advantages such as low storage space required, no need to hire staff, just to name a few.
This means at least 3X more profit and less expenditure. With more businesses going online, learning to sell will be of emmerse value to the smart entrepreneur. It would also mean those businesses with online and offline presencess will sell twice as much. Another opportunity to double your income as an entrepreneur.
But the best part of this remains the ease of doing business. Before the advent of E-commerce, you’d have to gather enough money, buy equipment and rent a space, register with the appropriate authorities way before you start your business. Today all you need is a smartphone to connect you with your customers.
Click here to learn more of the advantages of selling online
4. AI will help platforms, business learn more about shoppers leading to tailored experience
Platforms such as Shopify, Google, Facebook, TikTok all learn from user data using artificial intelligence systems and this means they are able to serve customers tailored ads that best match their interests. With Facebook for instance, the Facebook’s algorithm is able to identify a user’s interest after only 3 visits to specific pages.
This means smart advertisers will be able to reach the right audiences with the right messages while spending less. Smart advertisers can take advantage of this by utilising keywords their customers use often and targeting those keywords in their messages. As AI improves so does its ability to find the right customer and interact better with humans.
Platforms like Facebook and TikTok rely heavily on AI for matching the right message to the right person, however its still in its early stages and requires the input of a smarts advertiser to achieve its goals.
Learn more about how AI can help your business here.
5. More people will opt in for non traditional payment systems
According to Financer Worldwide, we would witness a 13.7% growth in the adoption of digital payments between 2021 and 2026. For online marketers this is pretty juicy news.
In most African countries some people are still not comfortable with online payments and payment on delivery is still the norm with special emphasis on small businesses. Big brands however like Alibaba, Jumia do not seem to face this trust problem.
For small businesses however this is a major problem. In European countries and the USA, this is less of a problem as most people already buy almost everything online and use credit and debit cards.
However, newer methods of payment such as using gift cards, cryptocurrencies, PayPal, Google pay and the host of them will continue to get more integrated into our everyday commercial activities.
A simple way to cash in this trend is to offer multiple payment options to your customers. These are relatively easy to setup and most of them do not require any technical expertise.
6. Product videos will drive lower CPMs and higher engagement
One of the nightmares with advertising is high cost per impressions (CPM) and low engagement. However videos have shown to consistently produce more engagement and therefore lower cost per thousand impression.
According to AdQuadrant videos ads get
- 2x the increase in clicks
- Conversions increased by 20-30%
- 2-3x higher click-through rate
Using videos that show the products in action or product unboxing tend to drive more engagement as they interrupt the endless scrolling pattern and get the customer to engage.
Generally speaking videos will drive cheaper engagement than using photos therefore when advertising anything you should focus more on using videos of products, events, just about anything.
7. Subscription products / strategies will drive more sales
As a business, finding ways to make your products subscription based will drive more sales that one time products. A perfect example of this is the iPhone.
Creating upgradeable products that require the customer to make repeat purchases will definitely drive more sales as you’ll be spending less to acquire budget on acquiring new customers. This simply means the average lifetime value of a customer will be alot more.
This doesn’t work for only subscription products, as a business person, you could still achieve this by using email marketing and selling complimentary products. For example, a person who buys a juice mixer is 10 times more likely to buy a fruit peeler. Since we are still in the kitchen niche, that person is still very likely to buy a blender, a fridge, set of pots, frying pans and the list goes on.
This is one you should definitely not ignore if you want to make the big bucks with e-commerce.
8. Cost of advertising will continue to rise
You definitely don’t want to hear this one, but it’s not going away. As long as the cost of living continues to rise, just about everything else in life will continue to rise and advertising costs are not left out.
It would cost more and more to reach more people and it would take a smart advertiser to understand and apply the message with the best potential of engaging and stirring people to take desirable actions at the lowest possible cost.
This would involve using videos with benefit/fear based messages that are sure to break attention patterns and generate engagement. What you want to achieve is creating ads that generate alot of likes, comments and shares especially when using social network platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Figuring out ways to keep your advertising cost down while reaching a good number of people is fast becoming a trend and I recommend you learn more about how to advertise with more success for less on Facebook.
9. CRM systems, Lead generation strategies will continue to bring in more high ticket sales
As discussed earlier, cost of advertising will continue to rise and a smart advertiser must find ways to keep cost down. One of such ways is using Customer Relationship Management systems and Lead generation strategies.
Having a credible and efficient CRM system will ensure that you spend less to get and keep customers, enabling them make repeat purchases. This increases the lifetime value of a customer by several folds.
Using lead generation strategies will make advertising even cheaper, however it’s a long time strategy, but one that will pay off 10X more than just trying to make the sale today. Some lead generation strategies to implement include email marketing and WhatsApp marketing.
These two , CRM systems and Lead generation, especially when combined will be more useful in selling high ticket products that require a good deal of trust and longer time for the customer to make up his or her mind. It’s like building your own advertising platform where you can reach your customer anytime.
Learn more about CRM systems and Lead generation strategies here .
10. Competition will get fiercer
This goes without saying but, I’ll say it anyways, your competition will simply get fiercer. Even though it would be easier to do business, this very reason will make business competitive. As more and more people start to do business online, you’ll be having to spend more and get creative to reach acquire and keep more customers.
Smart advertisers will therefore try to figure out ways to outsmart the competition without having to reduce prices or spend too much on advertising. One good way to achieve this is via niching down.
By selecting one really good niche and dominating it, you become an authority name in that industry leading to easier trust from potential customers and therefore more sales at higher prices.
Summary
So there you have it. My top 10 future trends for e-commerce that are already happening in 2022. I’ve also shared with you simple strategies to position yourself for these changes.
If you advertise with Facebook, this course is highly recommended for you if you’d want to make lots of sales.