Lesson #304: Top 4 Ecommerce Trends of 2018

Ecommerce has become a key part of consumers’ everyday lives. Many people have embraced the ease and convenience provided by ecommerce, often at the expense of offline retailers.  The rapid growth in ecommerce has encouraged many companies to take advantage of this online shopping trend.  But with the ever changing technologies in ecommerce and its increasingly competitive environment, one needs to keep abreast of future trends that will shape this industry in order to stay ahead of the competitors.

Here are four top trends shaping the future of ecommerce, which I curated down from this list of 60 trends and other data points detailed in this great infographic from my ecommerce colleague, Josh Wardini at Subscriptionly, a curated ecommerce subscription box reviews site.

1. Mobile Displaces Desktop as Ecommerce Method of Choice

Since the usage of mobile devices is nowadays widespread with most people using smartphones more than desktops to search online (56% of shoppers research products at home using smartphones), it’s imperative to have a mobile-friendly site.  Moreover, a great percentage of mobile searches lead to purchase within an hour. It’s estimated that by 2020, mobile ecommerce will constitute 45% of the entire ecommerce industry.  Therefore, you need to create mobile-friendly stores because customers prefer getting brand and product information through mobile phones over desktop sites.

2. Hyper-Personalize the Consumer Experience

Online shoppers prefer buying from stores that offer them a hyper-personalized experience. And they will switch to shopping from another retailer without any qualms if the personalized experience is poor.  According to Gartner, brands that will effectively manage to personalize the shopping experience will enjoy a 15% increase in profit by 2020.  Hence, only show your customers content that they would most likely be interested in. You can figure this out from their previous purchases to encourage them to continue purchasing from you, as well as by tapping into data that is specifically relevant for them. For instance, one retailer grew its revenue by 5 million dollars when it delivered personalized weather-sensitive updates to its clientele, promoting rain gear prior to known rainy days in the forecast.

3. Cryptocurrencies As Payment Methods

The cryptocurrency revolution has brought about disruptions which cut across all industries, including ecommerce. Today consumers want cheap payment methods, which is why they’re turning to cryptocurrencies as these have low transaction rates.  For example, Bitcoin transaction rates are around half of the rate charged by credit cards. Therefore, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will become a popular payment method in the near future.  Besides, the privacy they provide appeals to many shoppers worried about credit card fraud.  Adding cryptocurrencies to your payment methods will both attract new customers and increase your sales.

4. The Race to Same-Day Delivery Service

Although most ecommerce businesses find it hard to make same-day deliveries, online shoppers have come to expect this kind of service from the biggest online retailers, like Amazon. It is forecasted that same-day shipping will soon become the norm because 72% of shoppers claim that they would be more receptive to shopping online if companies were to deliver their products within a day.  To emphasize this point, it is believed that Macy’s 2015 partnership with Deliv, which saw the company providing same day deliveries for a $5 fee, is one of the reasons the brand become the second-largest online clothing retailer in 2016.  Many changes in delivery services are expected soon to become a reality. It is forecasted that deliveries by drones should take no longer than two hours by 2028. Consumers are even willing to pay as high as $10 to see this speed of delivery happen.

Start adapting to the above mentioned trends and effectively apply the necessary changes to yoru businesses, to ensure that that you stay one step ahead of your competitors.

Thanks again to Josh and the Subscriptionly team for sharing their ecommerce trends infographic with me.  It was great reading, that clearly communicated all the same trends I am seeing in the space, and was worth sharing with the Red Rocket Blog readers.


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