For years, everyone has been saying that ecommerce is the future. Well, the future is finally here now that 2018 has arrived and we’re only two years from 2020. Ecommerce and dropshipping business models like Oberlo may once have been popular only amongst millennials, but things are different now; 51 percent of Americans prefer online shopping these days.
As anyone invested or interested in ecommerce knows, the industry is always changing, and 2018 is promising to bring some huge, exciting trends our way.
1 The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI has already been making huge strides in the ecommerce world, but its impact is only going to increase in the new year, especially when it comes to customer service chatbots becoming more widely implemented. According to James Gurd, owner of DigitalJuggler, “In 2018 we’ll see more companies investing in chatbot services to automate part of their customer service process. The market for chatbots and automated customer service is growing; a Business Insider survey reported that 80 percent of businesses expect to have chatbot automation implemented to some extent by 2020.”
2 On-demand commerce
If you’re a big user of ecommerce platforms, then you’re going to love this trend, since on-demand commerce is all about getting what you ordered super fast. Think Deliveroo or Seamless, but for non-food products; Amazon Prime Now is already making such a service available to certain parts of the country to tremendous success. 42 percent of American adults already use on-demand commerce — almost half the population — and with more vendors joining the movement every day, there’s no doubt this sector will grow in the new year.
3 Brick and mortar integration
Sure, ecommerce may be the most popular way to shop now, but that doesn’t meant that brick and mortar storefronts are totally outdated. Instead, brick and mortar stores are finding new ways to cooperate with with their online counterparts in order to bring the best of both worlds to a variety of shoppers. After all, 50 percent of millennials actually prefer going to physical stores at a certain point in the buying process or for specific needs and services. So for example, you’ll see more clothing stores offering online sales but in-person tailoring and fitting services at their storefront.
4 More mobile spending
If you’re one of those people who prefers to go on Amazon.com than use the Amazon app, it’s probably because you’ve come to expect the all-too-common reality that apps are usually not as streamlined and intuitive for buyers as websites tend to be. In 2018, however, you should expect that to change. Considering we spend over 4 hours a day on our smartphones and you can even store a digital wallet on your device, it only makes sense that ecommerce stores are going to start perfecting their mobile-based shopping experiences. So make sure you update your phones this year and save storage space for all the most up-to-date apps.
5 Personalization
Ironically, even though this is one of the biggest trends in ecommerce this year, it could also be argued that personalizing the ecommerce shopping experience is one of the greatest challenges of the industry. Fortunately, challenges drive innovation. According to Merehead, many clothing and accessories shops are finding personalization solutions, for example the “e-commerce lenskart website… created awesome augmented reality application that allows you to екн on glasses on your face in a real-time. This small app was downloaded [by] more than 5 million people and provided thousands of new sales.”
6 Voice shopping
Considering the rise in the use of smart home technology and digital assistants such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, more and more ecommerce orders are going to be made by voice command in 2018. Virtual, digital assistants will overtake the world population by 2021, and according to Micha Kaufman, CEO of Fiverr, “The rise of personal assistants has absolutely increased engagement, and as more consumers become comfortable with the process, more will rely upon the technology to accomplish everyday tasks, including purchasing.”
7 Video content
When it comes to marketing ecommerce platforms to the rest of the world, video content is going to take over. It’s been estimated that, by 2020, video will make up 80 percent of all online consumer Internet traffic. Why? Well, it’s one of the best ways to get attention online these days, especially with the highly ad-averse generations of Millennials and Generation Z. They’re more likely to read a blog post if it’s partnered with video content, so expect the number of videos in your Facebook feed to go up this year.
In conclusion
Lots of changes are coming to ecommerce in 2018 and the years to come, in large part due to all the technological advances that have been made in the past few years. Whether you’re passionate about the subject as a consumer or as an entrepreneur looking to invest in new TrustToken cryptocurrency and incorporate blockchain tech into your online business, staying tuned to the changing landscape of the ecommerce world.
What ecommerce trends are you excited about this year? How do you think they’ll change our lives?
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