Shopping online and online business is now becoming a norm unlike before when people only shopped for specific items online. This trend is seen globally across industries. For instance, in 2020 online business generated more than 4 trillion USD. The online market is still vast because only 22% of the global population shop online.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic plus the digital revolution that came with it caused a sharp increase in eCommerce and online business. For example, it’s projected that digital commerce will grow by 50% annually in the U.S to 2024. In China, and the rest of the world eCommerce is expected to grow with double digits in the next 4 years.
Now let’s look at trends in online business that are expected to continue beyond 2022.
Omni-Channel Shopping
This trend involves brands integrating all of their sales channels including digital and brick-and-mortar. Mixed channel shopping provides customers with a variety and amazing shopping experience.
As the boundary between the digital and the physical world become blurry, your business needs to implement Omni-channel strategies. This strategy is effective in growing revenue. Omnichannel sales contribute up to 80% of total store visits. Surveys have shown that 74% do online research before deciding to visit a physical store.
Al & AR in Online Business
The use of artificial intelligence and augmented reality have made chatbots, virtual assistance, and personalized shopping experience possible. Be among the companies that are using AI and AR to solve problems and keep up with the fast pace in the eCommerce business.
New Payment Option in Online Business
Technologies in E-commerce are geared towards making the shopping experience as easy as possible. It’s important to offer customers a variety of payment options that include:
- Digital wallets
- Mobile payments
- Cryptocurrency
Giving customers several options of making payments reduces the chances of cart abandonment and increases revenue.
Increase in Visual Commerce
We live in the era of information overload, where grabbing customer attention is difficult. This’s the reason visual communication is important. If you want to engage your customers, try using high-quality photographs, videos, and augmented reality.
Data-Driven Dynamic Pricing
Dynamic pricing is a concept that has been with us for a while. Nevertheless, AI and new technologies make dynamic pricing more accurate. Giant online companies like Amazon are already using technology to set optimum prices. Analysts have projected that businesses that use data-driven dynamic pricing realize a boost in earnings.
Voice Search
Voice search is gaining popularity as a method of shopping online. For instance, major online companies have launched voice searches. The most popular ones, for now, include Google Voice Search, Alexa, Cortana, Amazon, Google Home, and Siri.
Virtual assistants that use voice search train customers to search using their voice on search engines. It’s projected that voice search will be one of the most important innovation drivers in e-commerce. For example, stats by Google show that over 20% of searches done through mobile devices were voice-based. Furthermore, over 40% of members of the millennial generation search for products via a voice assistant.
Now that you know the key future trends in online business, don’t hesitate to contact us at de Haro Group for eCommerce solutions.
