×

Posted on

5 Ecommerce Trends That You Need to Know in 2020

Tag: global trends

PayTabs
Mohab Ecommerce 0

5 Ecommerce Trends That You Need to Know in 2020

Ecommerce has come a long way since its beginning in the late last century. In the present era, most of the offline businesses have their online iterations live. With new technologies coming up and more and more people adopting the latest trends, eCommerce is not only here to stay but is bound to grow by leaps. The segment also sees frequent changes and new trends. So, here are some new concepts making waves in the eCommerce sector that you need to know to remain updated:

  • Mobile Ecommerce is on the Rise: While eCommerce in general is on the rise, mobile eCommerce has outpaced the general trend. According to a number of studies done on this topic, the growth in revenue generated through sales made from mobile devices have increased 15 percent since 2016. It is also estimated that 73 percent of the entire eCommerce transactions will be carried out on mobile devices. This trend is mainly fueled by millenials and gen Z. In order to fully exploit the opportunities thrown open by this trend, it is important to ensure that your business is mobile friendly. You can either optimize your website for mobile browsing or can develop a standalone app for this purpose. Whichever way you choose, the proliferation of mobile eCommerce will help you expand your market.
  • Social Media to the Rescue: As more and more people alter their shopping habits for eCommerce, the role of social media is becoming vital. Social media is not only important for promoting products and services of your business but is also required for engaging your clients. Through optimal use of social media, a business can create a loyal customer base and maintain rapport with them. Further, you may also engage the services of social media influencers which may help you in getting your products discovered by hitherto untapped markets. Social media channels employ different formats ranging from simple texts to videos, thereby providing your business with a wide range of choices.
  • Artificial Intelligence & Customer Care: Another big trend in eCommerce is related to the incorporation of artificial intelligence or AI. While AI is being used to manage various aspects of online businesses, it is particularly useful for addressing customer grievances and maintaining client relations. AI assistance and chatbots have revolutionized the way online businesses interact with their client base. These bots may be used for attending to customer inquiries and for handling complaints. Further, there is also ample scope of customizing these services to meet individual requirements. Clients are also becoming accustomed to interacting with these AI-enabled customer care personnel.
  • Personalization: In order to survive intense competition and prosper, online businesses are now personalizing their offerings. With this approach, the customers are made to feel more connected to the business as the products and services are modified to meet their specific demands. Personalization helps in gaining new customers while also helping in retaining the older ones. The main aim of personalization is to increase the stickiness so that the client keeps coming back to the business in future. Apart from customizing the products and services, the online businesses also seek to personalize their marketing and advertising messages to gain maximum advantage.
  • Social Concerns to the Fore: Ecommerce is recognizing its social and environmental responsibilities as well. The rise of green consumerism is the main force behind this change. Online businesses are now working towards more sustainable practices and products. Some of the main steps in this direction are to source materials from ethically proven sources and cutting down on plastic packaging, etc. Additionally, eCommerce is also working towards offering more environment-friendly products. The emphasis is on ensuring that the products use minimal chemicals which may harm the environment. These green products generally command premium pricing. However, businesses are now looking for the ways these products and services may be made accessible to and affordable for the masses.

While the above-mentioned trends are quite prominent, the other developments in this segment are also noticeable. Ecommerce is now experiencing resurgence in QR code payment and the use of augmented reality. It is important for online businesses to be aware of these trends and adapt accordingly.

4 years ago
Top Five Online Payment Trends to Look Out For in 2019
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Top Five Online Payment Trends to Look Out For in 2019

As e-commerce continues to grow, the robustness and security of online payment systems becomes an important concern. More and more people are now buying products and services online, exposing their highly sensitive data. In order to provide a secure and efficient experience to online buyers, it is important to look at the following online payment trends.

  • Mobile Payments Reign: As mobile shopping trumped browser-based shopping, it seems like the same thing is going to happen in the case of online payment segment as well. As more and more people are using mobiles for their shopping and internet browsing, payments from mobile phones are increasingly becoming the norm. Consequently, there is also an increase in mobile payment scams as evidenced by the proliferation of mobile phishing sites. It has become imperative for online payment system providers to be aware of this trend and take remedial measures accordingly.
  • Massive Data Breaches Become Commonplace: The use of Artificial Intelligence and bots makes it easier for hackers to undertake massive data breaches. Stealing information from a large number of accounts simultaneously is highly lucrative for criminals and they are using increasingly sophisticated technologies to undertake such attacks. In order to protect the users, it is important for the websites and payment gateway providers to ensure that their information is safeguarded appropriately. For this purpose, they may go for security audits, Blackbox practices, and social engineering.
  • Apps Go Rogue: As mobile internet grows, so do the mobile apps. Hackers are now increasingly focusing on these apps to steal data and financial credentials. It is believed that there is surge in the number of rogue mobile apps which are designed with the sole purpose of stealing data. App stores have yet to wake up to the threat of such malicious apps. However, lately there has been a spurt in the number of apps getting banned or kicked out of app stores for containing malicious codes.
  • ATOs Proliferate: Account takeovers are becoming common in online payment systems. Account takeover is a type of data theft where a hacker uses bots for gaining illegal access to a victim’s online payment account. Such compromised accounts may then be used for theft or for unauthorized purchases. As technologies improve further, it is expected that such ATO attacks will become more commonplace and more sophisticated at the same time.
  • Focus on Behavioral Biometrics: To provide a secure online payment experience, the providers mainly rely upon their authentication systems. In order to keep up with the emerging trends, it is important for the providers to incorporate new changes in their authentication process. One such emerging trend is to use behavioral biometrics for identifying potentially risky accounts. Any sudden change in behavioral biometrics of an account may also indicate that the account may have been compromised. In such cases, swift remedial actions may be undertaken.

Overall, it is safe to assume that service providers are becoming increasingly aware of online payment security threats. Analysis of emerging trends allows them to design new policies to effectively counter such threats.

5 years ago
Forging the Future of Payments – The Emerging Trends
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Forging the Future of Payments – The Emerging Trends

With the rapid pace at which the payment industry is gathering momentum, the global payment environment will go through a sea change in near future. There are many factors responsible for an ongoing shift in the payment industry.

We are going to discuss these trends in the light of the 5 major factors that are as follows:

  1. Increasing regulations and compliance post global recession of 2009
  2. Entry of new players in the market and increasing competition
  3. Economic growth in emerging markets and a resultant boom in payment flow across new regions
  4. Innovation and unprecedented growth in technology

Technological innovation is paving the way for increased accessibility, efficiency, velocity and reach, as far as payment transfers are concerned. It is responsible for a complete shift as to where, when and how payments are initiated and transferred.

Banks need to be cautious and monitor the situation carefully as to how developments are taking place in the payment industry and what opportunities and threats it is posing for the banks. In order to thrive, they need to be alert and ready to capitalize on the emerging possibilities.

  1. The impact of regulation

Increasing regulations is the biggest factor that is going to impact this industry in future. With an unprecedented growth in the volumes of cross-border payment transactions, the volume of these transfers has doubled from US$10 billion in 2012 to US$18billion in 2018.  Such a huge volume of international transactions warrants strict monitoring and control.

Banks need to keep an eye on the complexities involved with local and international regulatory framework. The other influencing factors are current practices, currencies and payment formats.

Changes in regulatory compliance can lead to enormous innovation, where it becomes necessary to reevaluate both internal and pan-industry practices.  It will open a whole new world of opportunities for banks and corporate sector.

To simplify and harmonize payment practices across Europe, EU has introduced the Single European Payments Area (SEPA). Fixing regulatory and compliance issues, SEPA has harmonized and standardized the payment market and eased local transfers. Such integration activities are likely to take place in other regions as well.

  1. Entry of new players

Many new players are likely to enter the payment industry and those can be online payments providers, virtual marketplaces and large technology and social media companies such as Google, WhatsApp, Amazon, and Apple, etc.  A thriving fin-tech ecosystem will boost the market.

The factors that are responsible for attracting new players in this market are the current secure payment propositions. The industry as a whole is gravitating towards new payment methods that are not constrained by banking regulations and offer convenient and innovative methods to the customers.

  1. Economic growth in emerging markets

Shifting economic landscape and changing global demographics across the planet will also shape how future payment flows will take place.

A soaring middle-class population and changing economic landscape is creating global opportunities in this industry. In the year 2000, the US and Western Europe together controlled 70% of global financial assets, but by 2020, it is estimated to fall to 45%. China, on the other hand, is flexing its economic muscles and it has seen a 600% growth in global financial assets since then.

  1. Rapid growth in technology

With the rapid pace of change in financial technology, many regions such as Latin America have experienced unprecedented growth in smartphone penetration. Nearly half of the adult population in this region doesn’t have a bank account. So, there is huge potential for payment processors and mobile banking.  Technology allows you to not only transfer the funds instantly but also to track it in real time.

Payment processors like PayTabs have a real advantage here because they have future-proof strategies in place that include customer-centric approach, convenience, flexibility and multi-currency support.

6 years ago
The State of Global Payments: Part 2
Mohab Super Merchants 0

The State of Global Payments: Part 2

In one of our earlier posts, we touched upon the upsurge in non-cash transactions across the world and how developing countries are driving the growth of online/digital payments. We looked at some hard numbers from Capgemini’s World Payments Report which justified the growth in non-cash transactions across the world.

In this piece, we will look at key trends that are key to driving global payments in 2017 and the future:

  1. Technology vis-à-vis International E-Commerce: It is indeed true that international transactions have increased in recent times but the subsequent pace of developing fast, secure, transparent and efficient solutions have not quite been there. Currently, there’s a need for more payments solution to cater to the growth in international e-commerce.

 

  1. Need for Agility and Pace: Whilst the growth in FinTech investments over the years, there is currently a tremendous hunger in the marketplace, for companies to deliver more instant gratification moments in terms of payments and flexibilities in payments solutions. Which means different types of payments solutions accepting multiple currencies.

 

  1. Enterprise Payments: As per the World Bank’s Cost of Sending Remittances report, checks are still prevalent in most organizations across the world, especially smaller organizations. As of 2015, 90% of small organizations across the world, used checks for making payments, primarily to freelancers and commission based sales force. Large banks and credit card technology companies still dominate the international payments space, which is plagued by complexities and very high fees. There’s a huge scope for new age payments solutions providers to solve some pressing international payments issue in the B2B space.

 

  1. The case of the Unbanked: According to a Citibank report in March 2016, there are still 2.8 billion unbanked and underbanked people in the world, especially in developing countries, where FinTech solutions have outpaced the penetration of legacy banking. The key to the growth of FinTech and Payments solutions has been because of the huge growth in mobile payments, aided by the tremendous penetration of mobile in developing countries.

 

  1. Banks and Technology need to be friends: Banks need to accept and recognize the fact that digital payments can do much more than automation. Digital and online payments solution providers shouldn’t view banks as their adversaries, rather recognize the value that they are adding to the global financial system, thereby cultivating opportunities for greater innovation and efficiency through collaboration.

 

  1. Transparency: There’s been a paradigm shift in the needs of the global payments market, in the context of more transparent pricing, flexibility in integrations and innovative customer service. It is an imperative for global payments solution providers to track all transactions in the entire payment process/cycle to ensure transparency.

 

Therefore, as you can probably gauge that despite growth in FinTech and digital payments, there remains a lot of opportunities/gaps in the marketplace that needs to be fulfilled/filled.

We would love to hear your viewpoints in the comments below and click here to experience a new economy payments solution that truly manages to fill existing gaps and adds tremendous value for your business.

Click here to read State of Global Payments: Part 1

7 years ago