Ecommerce is evolving faster than ever with the rise of new technologies, logistics, mobile commerce (mcommerce), artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and much more. If you are involved in the ecommerce business, then it is important for you to be aware of the latest trends and stay ahead of the competition. Here are the top 10 ecommerce trends that will be dominating the ecommerce business in 2017:
1. ChatBots
The usage of chatbots will increase this year as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Google Allo are all coming up with these bots in order to provide excellent customer service such as assistance while shopping or making bookings. As the year will progress, people will gradually become accustomed to interacting with machines.
Spring founder, Alan Tisch stated, “Customers aren’t spending their time on a sprawl of apps anymore, but there’s a high concentration of engagement on Facebook Messenger. So we created an experience to fit into the natural behavior that’s already happening on the platform”. Tisch named this conversational commerce.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming famous and beneficial for people on daily basis. There has been a huge acceleration of digital assistants, for instance, Amazon’s Alexa (on the Echo), Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Google’s Assistant (housed in Google Home) have got people used to talking to machines. Gradually, people will do their research process by chatting to a personal assistant. It will become crucial for ecommerce businesses to incorporate this trend and observe the developments that will be made in AI to stay ahead of the competition.
3. Maturation of Mobile/Responsive Ecommerce Design
2017 will witness the maturation of responsive and mobile-first design in ecommerce. People are increasingly spending more time on their mobile phones and tablets rather than desktops or laptops. Various ecommerce sites have realized that a considerate amount of traffic is generated from mobile. They spend a lot of time on the layout, content, and user experience and making the site as much mobile friendly as possible. The introduction of apps will also see huge development.
4. Goodbye to Wallets
People are now moving away from wallets and cash payments as digital wallets are gradually becoming popular among them. Currently, the customers who make digital payments on ecommerce stores are presented with incentives, promo codes and other attractive offers. This practice is bound to allure more people to start using wallet-free payment modes. In 2017, throughout various industries and particularly in the ecommerce industry, digital wallet apps such as Apple Pay, Google Wallet, PayPal, CurrentC, etc. will be utilized on a considerable size.
“McKinsey on Payment report October 2015 said that by 2020 at least 9% of consumer spending will be through digital wallets or mobile payments”.
5. Impact of User Experience (UX) on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Sales
This year, seamless user experience (UX) for online stores will become crucial because the conversion rates rely a lot on how simple the checkout process of your website is. All the elements of ecommerce website will be made simple such as simple product searches, simple payment processes, and simple returns policies.
According to Formismo, “a simpler UX that does not demand too much out of customers will definitely help save at least 12% of cart abandonments.”
Merchants and developers now fully comprehend the effectiveness that UX, performance and accessibility have on the search ranking, sales, and conversions of their site.
As Gavin Ballard, Shopify Expert, consulting developer and CEO of Disco says, “Since ditching the easily-gameable algorithms that rewarded sheer volumes of links and keywords, Google’s ongoing mission has been to work out how to rank sites in its results by usefulness to the end user. Recent examples of this have been the addition of HTTPS support, mobile-friendly design, and site performance as ranking factors. In 2017, this will be kicked up a notch, as Google starts penalizing sites that force users through interstitial pop-ups to get to site content.”
Ecommerce Trends That Will be Dominating 2017
Infographic Source: visualistan.com
6. Fast Same Day Delivery Process
Delivery and returns are two crucial factors of online shopping and 2017 will witness the rise of make delivery as fast and easy as possible. The speeding of deliveries will bridge the difference that is left between online and offline shopping. A Forrester report states that 29% of consumers would be willing to pay extra for same-day delivery. Amazon started the trend with Amazon Prime and other global e-retailers are trying to diminish the time that is consumed while getting the products delivered.
7. Multi and Omni-Channel Shopping
In 2017, businesses that are prepared to provide multi-channel or omni-channel experiences to the customers will see a considerable expand in their sales figures. There have been advancements in Multi-channel shopping and this year, it will transform into a full-fledged shopping fashion. Omni-channel shopping experiences, on the other hand, will act as a brand differentiator for e-retailers. Furthermore, omni-channel selling will also provide a 360-degree view of the customers.
8. Big Data and Analytics
Big data is a much talked about topic throughout various industries and this year, it is anticipated that it will have a far-reaching effect in the ecommerce sector. It will help in developing personalized product portfolios, tailor-made shopping experiences, and precise online advertising. Also, merchants now know the vitality of data and analytics that is why they are integrating with third parties, and using Google Analytics and UTMs to pursue the traffic that is coming from Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat.
9. Subscription-Based Business Models Are The Future
Established by SaaS business, the subscription-based business model established for software and determines it can be very efficient for not just businesses but consumers as well. The reason why it’s so is the recurring revenue it allows businesses and the flexibility that consumers receive. Considering its extensive development over the year, it is highly anticipated that it will continue to grow at a robust speed in 2017 as well.
10. Augmented Reality (AR)
2017 will be a crucial time for development of augmented reality, a technology that saw a revival by Pokemon Go. AR has gained traction among enterprises. Organizations will be using AR for various purposes such as training, tours, demos, communication, prototyping, and more. In the coming years too, augmented reality will be attracting an increasingly stronger audience comprising of both businesses and enterprise organizations.
As now you have everything you need regarding the trends of ecommerce industry, gear up for the year!
Zahoor Bhat has over 10+ years of experience as an online editor and media manager. He has worked with major online news and content sites as a media manager. He is well versed with major content management systems and web platforms such as WordPress and social media networks including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Google Business, Yelp, Instagram & Linkedin. He is an expert in content creation, proofreading and finally making it live. Being a social media expert, he is able to make relations with social media influencers and make sure to generate leads and grow business via different social media platforms.
