As we enter the new year, things are looking up for the ecommerce industry. The brick-and-mortar stores are still there and quite popular, but people are increasingly switching over to the comforts of online shopping. In 2021 Statista said the number of online shopping customers reached a shocking 2.1 billion. Other research from Statista predicts that retail ecommerce revenue will reach $502,577 USD in 2022. Therefore, organizations in the ecommerce world must compete to gather maximum profits and satisfy customer needs. This brings up the question, “What new ecommerce trends will impact retail in 2022?”.
As time goes on, customers are getting used to convenience and ease of use. To exceed consumer demands, any commerce organization that wants to stay relevant needs to watch the changing factors and adapt accordingly to retail trends. The purpose of this blog is to explore, guess, and speculate about the different ecommerce trends that are bound to emerge in 2022 to keep the industry informed.
The Ever-Green Concept of DTC
Businesses that follow the direct-to-consumer model sell their products directly to consumers. There is no third party such as retailers or wholesalers. The main benefit of following DTC is that businesses come into direct contact with their customers, which creates a good relationship between the two (provided that all goes well throughout the sale purchase process). By creating and maintaining great relationships with customers, businesses will establish a loyal consumer base that serves as good advocates for their goods and services.
Ecommerce makes the implementation of the DTC model a very easy trend to adapt. This is why a large number of organizations are continuously switching to it. While the concept has been around for a long time, the direct-to-consumer concept holds a promising future. As per Statistica, the sale of direct-to-consumer will reach 151.2 billion USD in 2022, and this number is bound to increase in the coming years.
There are a few tips and tricks that organizations following the DTC business models need to keep in mind to keep themselves up to speed in 2022, one of them being the core value of their business. It is essential to focus on the value that any DTC business provides to its customers. Keeping their focus on unique products that are of exceptional quality, delivered within the promised time frame, and through good customer experiences guarantees the continuous success of DTC businesses in 2022 as well.
Rapid Increase in the Popularity of Conversational Ecommerce
The process of selling products and services to customers via chatting applications such as WhatsApp, WeChat, Facebook Messenger, and other similar platforms is known as conversational ecommerce. The process is quite simple; a customer asks a question on the application, and the business directly replies to their query promptly.. Organizations that follow conversational commerce have dedicated customer support available or a chatbot placed to answer the questions.
It is observed by Wordtracker that live chat improves the conversion rate of a business by 82%, and even if there is a single reply from customer support, there is a 50% chance that the prospect will convert into a customer. This is because the person feels heard and understands that the business is genuinely interested in queries and satisfying the customer. H&M reaps the maximum benefits of conversational commerce through its chatbot. It asks the platform users to make suggestions of their preferences and then suggests outfits or trending pieces of clothing accordingly. The H&M chatbot not only creates an enhanced shopping experience for the customers but also helps the organization gain useful insights about customers.
An increasing number of organizations are incorporating chatbots, live chats, and voice assistants. Due to its many advantages, conversational commerce is predicted to increase in popularity in the coming years. Some experts in the ecommerce industry even consider that conversational commerce will take over ecommerce businesses completely and wipe out any other traditional models. Keeping an eye on where this concept is shifting in 2022 is necessary for new and established online shopping platforms.
Continued Popularity of Quick-Commerce Delivery Model
Quick Commerce Retail Model allows organizations to deliver their products to the doorsteps of their customers in just a few minutes. Most of these products are utility items such as vegetables, fruits, medicines, and other things for personal care. Ecommerce businesses can benefit from this trend by creating small storage spaces within the city instead of large warehouses in the outskirts. Each storage space delivers the available products on the shelf to nearby destinations that are reachable within a few minutes.
As per the report by World Economic Forum, every year the sales of e-grocery services are bound to increase 10% by 2030. The organizations following Quick Commerce held a 10-13% share in the total online sales of CPG goods as per CoreSight Research. These statistics serve as proof that Quick Commerce is here to stay. The pandemic has also played a significant role in firming the grounds for quick deliveries. But convenience, lack of time, and old ages are some of the contributing factors to its increased popularity.
At the start of 2022, it can be safely predicted that the share of Q-Commerce will increase. Organizations that offer consumer goods should consider implementing this model of delivery. There is considerable scope for it in the online shopping world. Of course, those organizations who pioneered this venture are difficult to compete against. But the market is still growing and is penetrable for newcomers.
Interested to know more about Quick Commerce? Read everything about this trend in The Rise of Quick Commerce in the Ecommerce Industry blog.
Social Commerce, the Latest Ecommerce Trend
Organizations that utilize social platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and other social websites to sell their product follow the social commerce model. The rise of the influencer industry paved an excellent way for social commerce over the past 5 years. Apart from that, social platforms have provided market spaces and landing pages for customers to complete their shopping. Social commerce is great for all kinds of devices. Mobile users tend to buy from social platforms more than their website applications.
According to a survey performed by Instagram, more than 60% of consumers become interested in a product or service after seeing a story or post about it on the platform. Similarly, another statistic presented by Instagram, showed that more than 200 million users of the platform visit a business page at least once a day. That is a massive number and an excellent resource for most businesses.
The trend of purchasing through social platforms will not shift any time soon. Instead, as per consumer behavior, the popularity of selling commerce through social media is going to increase in the coming years. In 2022, organizations that do not focus on marketing and presenting their products or services through social media can face huge losses. Apart from increasing sales, social media is the perfect place to raise awareness about the offered product or services and get authentic feedback from customers. It is also the ideal place to get people talking about your product and create hype. This is why businesses must focus on social commerce and incorporate it into their businesses.
Enhanced Customer Experience via Personalization
Always remember, everything you do in the world of ecommerce will amount to zero if you are unable to create the perfect user experience. This is one of those trends that will never go out of style. We live in times when every business is customer-oriented and revolves around catering to their needs. To gain attention, convert, and then build the loyalty of customers, it is vital t to create an unforgettable experience.
Competition in the ecommerce industry is at an all-time high. This is why you need to create a business strategy that hyper-focuses on customers apart from high-quality products. According to a survey performed by Tech Jury, 86% of the customers agreed to pay more for the same product if they get a better shopping experience. By keeping your approach customer-centric, you can gain an obvious advantage over your competitors. And at the same time increase your revenue and profit margins.
Word-of-mouth marketing strategy is now more common than ever. Consumers can share their experiences via social platforms and review boards in seconds. Keeping in mind the statistic presented by Forbes, a customer with a happy experience talks about a business with at least 9 different people but a customer with a bad experience will share it with at least 16 other people.
How to Keep Your Organization Ahead of Ecommerce Trends?
Knowing the top trends of the ecommerce industry in 2022 is not enough to become successful. Here are a few things that you must keep in mind to stay relevant within the industry.
Keep an eye on where your website lands on search engine result pages. Study the SEO updates provided by Google related to the crawler bots and optimize your content and marketing strategies accordingly.
- Adapt Customer-Centric Approaches
As mentioned above, customers should always come first. Ensure that you provide a reliable and consistent customer experience to build loyalty. Keep in mind, the cost of retaining a customer is lower than finding new ones.
- Target Customers on Multiple Channels
Assuming that your website will do the trick and bring in enough revenue will not generate business growth. Instead, you need to utilize and harness the power of multiple social platforms. They can help in redirecting traffic towards your website and even some conversions in the marketplaces within those platforms.
- Collect and Promote Customer Reviews on Social Platforms
Social media is the perfect place to gain insight into reviews of people about your product. Take regular feedback and conduct online surveys or polls to know where you are standing with your customers.
Final Words on Ecommerce Trends
At the start of 2022, it is very fascinating to speculate on the emergence of new trends. But, it is important to keep in mind that penetrating the world of ecommerce is an ardent task. This is because the trends in ecommerce change rapidly. The first ones to dive into new ventures always end up with the most revenue and success. Read about dropshipping in 2022 in our previous blog post to see if this ecommerce trend is past or present.
UpStart Commerce is a fast-growing organization in the ecommerce industry. We are keen to keep up with all the trends and look forward to helping organizations accomplish their goals.
