5 Emerging Trends that will Influence E-Commerce Businesses in 2018

Setting up an e-commerce store is not just about creating a website, uploading images and descriptions, integrating a payment gateway, and waiting for the customers to come and buy from the store. The times are changing, and you should too. As per Statista, the global retail sales via e-commerce platform will be worth $653 billion by the end of 2018.

E-commerce business is constantly undergoing evolution, just like other industries. One who adapts according to the emerging trends will reap the benefits. Have a look at the latest trends to strategize your e-commerce business strategy.

Shop on Social Media

According to a report on social media, a person had spent 135 minutes daily, on an average, on social media in 2017. This depicts the influence of social media on our lives. The e-commerce businesses can exploit the potential of social media for driving sales via their online stores. The social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and others offer a shopping option.

The users can inspect products from their social media accounts, click on desired products, and check out on the e-commerce website. Facebook Shop and Pinterest’s Shop For Look are examples of social media shopping. Whether you opt for paid marketing or showcase products to your followers; social media can be used for boosting e-commerce sales.

Chat Bots

People prefer one-on-one interaction that can impart a personal touch, a customized experience. The probability of sales increases when you personally cater to your audience. You can enable chatbots on your e-commerce store so that anyone can initiate a conversation with the representatives. There are various live chat tools that offer feature-packed services to engage your customers. You can also use Facebook Messenger for conversations. As most of the users are on Facebook, this seems a viable option.

Mobile Shopping

According to eMarketer, mobile e-commerce accounted for 58.9% of sales in 2017. Undoubtedly, this number is expected to grow across all continents. You should strategize your e-commerce business around mobile, be it developing a mobile app, investing in mobile advertising, or installing secure online payment systems.

We have one-click payment systems that simplify payment processing, thereby, rendering a seamless user experience. The ease of payments via mobile is a major driving factor for the increase in mobile shopping trend. Further, as users tend to spend more time on their smartphones and tablets, it becomes obligatory to target mobile audience.

Voice Assistants

Do you that know that 40% millennial rely on voice search when making online purchases on mobile?  As voice search is convenient and more accurate than text-based search, users are opting for voice search. Moreover, mobile users are increasing at an exponential rate and voice search is perfectly aligned with respect to linguistic search. These all factors compel e-commerce business owners to integrate voice search in their online stores.

Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and Microsoft Cortana have made it clear that voice search is the future. Further, voice-based devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home rely on voice search mechanism for solving user’s queries. Optimize your e-commerce business around voice search to harness maximum benefits.

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

Once a buyer visits your store and buys a product or service, you can showcase similar recommendations at the same time or send automated emails regarding same or similar recommendations. Other than this, you can deploy artificial intelligence for showcasing retargeted advertisements on social media and search engines. The voice search and live chatbots work on the same principles of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and there are endless possibilities for engaging with the visitors and increasing your sales if you lay emphasis on these two parameters.

With increased digital exposure, e-commerce has tremendous potential. If you can utilize the right tactics at the right time, you can take your online business to the next level. Optimizing according to the latest trends will assist you in preparing for the future. Therefore, you will always be one step ahead and will be able to maximize online sales via your e-commerce store.