Today, we are facing a pandemic that our current generations have never experienced. Its economic consequences are much worse and more frightening than all of the crises we had before. There is, on the contrary, an industry that has unbelievable growth in this hard time. In this article, we are going to discuss the eCommerce Industry. How is the pandemic changing the market and customers’ behaviour? Why are stores these days jumping online rather than opening contact shops? Should you expand your business into the Internet? Is it going to be as money-spinning and promising as it is now?
(Photograph by rupixen.com @ Unsplash)
What Does The eCommerce Market Look Like Now?
It is literally thriving! No matter how much we dislike the pandemic and quarantine methods due to it, these real store closings seriously elevated online shopping to a new level. In the United States alone, the eCommerce market grew 32% – from 598 billion USD in 2019 to 790 billion USD at the end of 2020.
The pandemic and quarantine restrictions are, hopefully, not eternal. It may seem like right after we start living normally, with fully opened “physical” stores and businesses, the eCommerce industry will begin to shrink. However, it is not what is predicted to happen. Vice versa, the industry and its number of transactions will carry on growing.
“Even as stores reopen and brick-and-mortar sales rebound, we forecast that eCommerce will lose just a 0.1% share of total retail sales in 2021, before gaining more than 1 percentage point each year through 2024.”
Future of eCommerce
Not surprisingly, the eCommerce area will expand and skyrocket the number of sales and revenues. The eCommerce transactions are predicted to reach 6.5 trillion USD by 2023.
The industry is also changing rapidly. As new trends appear, merchants seriously want to install or improve them to get more customers and meet their needs and desires. Let us have a look at several so far biggest and most discussed trends that will take place in eCommerce businesses.
“Buy Now – Pay Later” Method
Companies selling fairly expensive goods (e.g., electronic devices or jewellery) allow their customers not to pay a whole sum instantly. Instead, the customers may break the payment into even parts and pay each part separately. This way of payment is called payment by instalments. Not to confuse it with a loan or a mortgage, a customer is meant to not pay any extra above the price of an item, and the payment is usually split up for a relatively short period (e.g., 6 or 9 monthly instalments versus 2-4 years of a traditional loan). Nonetheless, some organizations or individuals sometimes refer to it as a micro-loan.
People (especially in nations with a broad loan system, like the US) tend to purchase high priced goods with this method. Even with a tight budget, one still can afford a certain commodity and pay in their wanted period of time and size of instalments – how flexible that is!
Voice Search
People today have a real futuristic feature – an electronic assistant. More and more homes adopt smart speakers that may complete some of their daily routines. Every 3 out of 4 American households are projected to possess at least one smart speaker by 2025. Alexa, developed by American corporation Amazon, by far is the most well known and purchased speaker in the world.
One of those daily tasks is a voice search for online shopping or ordering food. This feature is already popular and said to be convenient for shopping. No doubt more shops will employ voice-enabled solutions, and respectively more customers will search for goods to buy just by describing the desired item out loud.
Artificial Intelligence
An extremely vast topic that can be discussed forever. The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a real “golden” opportunity for online retailers. It operates chatbot services, analyses customer comments, and even personalises service up to every client. Nearly 80% of all customer interactions are now managed by AI technologies. Companies that want to stay up and be popular among customers always employ Artificial Intelligence tools.
Augmented Reality
Sometimes described as “magical” or “unrealistic”, Augmented Reality (AR) allows customers to experience an item without seeing it in person. Via a phone or a computer, the client can see a 3D model of the item, how it looks in a chosen environment. This is a tool that can really boost shopper confidence.
Not only companies that sell goods but also global corporations or mass media conglomerates now use Augmented Reality. In 2015, developers from Disney created a technology making colouring book characters 3D when they were coloured.
On-Site Personalisation
This is the process of constructing a visitor-friendly website or a decent advertising campaign or maybe a product itself. Implementing personalized experiences has been proven to have a great effect on the revenue and reputation of a retailer and a product.
A good example of both website and overall company’s philosophy is a Swedish brand Fjällräven. To encourage purchase completion and help its clients in discovering new products, Fjällräven used personalisation to optimise product recommendations and serve tailored messaging.
Summing Everything Up
In this article, we reviewed just very little of the vast, quickly changing online commerce area and its trends. Later upon, we will discuss more of the trends and forecasts for the eCommerce markets. But so far, no doubt that this online shopping niche is apparently enlarging and promising for big revenues. By creating a business on the internet (or transferring one online), you are going with the safe choice. When every aspect of this market is considered and everything done right, chances of success cannot be low.
About Viking Consulting
We from Viking Consulting can support you in entering the European market and find the optimal solution for your needs & wishes. This complies with our culture to build long-lasting beneficial relationships.
We welcome you to book your free meeting now to discuss further. Hit the “Let’s talk” button so we can start our journey together. As well, stay up-to-date and connect with us on LinkedIn. Glory and honour await us!
Friendly regards
Viking Consulting team
Who We Are?
We are Viking Consulting. The specialists within the fields of 3rd party integration and eCommerce software solutions. With 20+ years of experience in eCommerce, 15+ years of experience in development and integration, and 5+ years as a 3PL provider. We are the only contact needed for implementing integration, development, and consulting.
The company is based in Scandinavia and the team extends to even embracing more countries. We serve companies worldwide. Our foundation is based on the values: Be Brave, Be Prepared, Be A Good Merchant, and Keep the Camp In Order. Therefore, we see ourselves as business partners and friends of the clients, employees, companies, networks, and the industry.