E-commerce is going to go through a series of changes in the coming years due to technological and social factors which will shape the industry. We are in an age when almost every business is integrating the eCommerce business model into their business, so because this post is so relevant, my goal is to get you to start thinking about these 7 hot trends shaping the future of eCommerce because most of these innovations are already being deployed and used so that you don’t miss out on these trends. If you need help with integrating some of these trends into your existing E-commerce platform, feel free to chat me up below. If you read to the end, I have a bonus for you
. Let’s take a deep dive into the future of E-commerce focusing on just these 7 hot trends that will shape this trillion-dollar industry in the years to come.
- AUGMENTED REALITY: AR is one technological trend that is set to cause a ripple through this industry. With AR, customers won’t need to buy a product to test it just to know if it will deliver its expected value. Customers will test the products live on the website using AR Web features. In fact, wearable like smartwatches, glasses, and phones are already being fitted with these features, Shopify AR is already functional on their platform. Some people don’t realize it but AR projected market size is larger than virtual reality. Check out this post where I wrote some details about this trend in relation to Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality
2. AI ASSISTANTS: services like Google Home, Alexa, and Apple home pod are examples of AI assistants. These gadgets are extending beyond the homes to becoming everyday tools even in the e-commerce space. If you saw Avengers and the way Tony Stark used Javis, I am sure you can relate to this. Nowadays, these AI Assistants are now being used for online purchases especially Alexa. So, without a doubt, AI Assistants are definitely going to play a huge role in the evolution of this industry.
3. CRYPTOCURRENCIES: considering that the population of Millenials and even Gen Z are increasing in buying power, online stores will need to increase their payment options to include cryptocurrencies which are definitely popular among these demographics. In the coming years, cryptocurrencies fluctuation rates will begin to stabilize which will then increase its adoptions on mainstream e-commerce and payment platforms like amazon and PayPal respectively. Another thing that will make them even more attractive is the fact that these currencies run on blockchain technology platforms which is one of the most secure platforms today. According to grand view research, the global blockchain market is set to grow from $6B to $300B in a couple of years’ time. So if your product attracts a good number of these demographics, it’s time to start making plans to integrate Crypto payment options, Check out this post to understand some of the players in this space.
4. AUTONOMOUS DELIVERY DRONES: The Autonomous Delivery Drones tech trend is about the become mainstream in the area of e-commerce shipping and delivery. The reason is that these drones have been tested to deliver products faster with little or no human interventions, other benefits of Autonomous Delivery Drones tech is the significant reduction of freight cost, accidents, and human error in delivery logistics not to forget CO2 emissions reductions which are gaining popularity these days. For example, Amazon has been testing its Prime Air System which is Amazon’s Autonomous Delivery Drones System in several countries including the US. UPS is also at the forefront of this in the U.S being the first company to become fully certified to run a drone airline. Personally, I think Autonomous Delivery Drones Tech will take a couple more years to become mainstream in a lot of countries because of the infrastructures that need to be put in place for it to work seamlessly. That said, it’s good to be aware that it is on the horizon.
5. VIRTUAL REALITY: This is going to play a major role in the future of e-commerce especially in the Experiential Marketing space. People will now be able to see any products in multiple environments with a click of a button. It is set to be a game-changer in industries like real estate, education, health, and several other industries. Check out this post for more details on this.
6. IN-APP PURCHASES: In addition to purchases available on game apps and productivity tools. Several social media platforms are integrating social shops into their apps e.g YouTube Merch, Facebook Shops, Instagram shoppable Posts, and Pinterest Carts. This means that sellers can now increase revenue with these features. Research shows that 54% of social media users make buying decisions through social media. Plus that, these features reduce customer journeys and reduce cart abandonment. So it is a game-changer for e-commerce business owners, this is not a trend that is coming, it is already here, just not as popular as it’s about to be. So if you own an e-commerce store, you can start taking advantage of it on the above-listed social platforms.
7. VOICE COMMERCE: voice shopping is set to hit $40B in a few years. This means that more and more people are set to order products online, not by physically challenged people only. People are generally using voice shopping more and more probably because of its ease of use. Literally, every mobile OS comes with voice assistance software like Siri or Google Assistant these days.
BONUS: VIDEO PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: more and more customers are increasingly preferring video descriptions to make buying decisions because it is easier to understand video product descriptions than text products descriptions. Social Media Today did a study and they found out that 60% of shoppers will rather watch video descriptions than text descriptions and 64% of shoppers are more likely to buy a product after watching a video description on social media. These studies prove that people want a more interactive experience to better understand the value proposition of a product. Amazon is already on this video description bandwagon and we are sure the trend will continue. Having a video description of your products is actually not as difficult as it sounds, contact me if you need help with this.
Thanks for reading to the end, I hope you learnt a few things. Remember to subscribe to my newsletter. Thank you and have a great week.
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