8 Must-Know E-commerce Trends for a Successful Year

It’s hard to believe it was over 27 years ago when Amazon’s first order was placed. Fast forward to today, presently the e-commerce industry has made more than $5.5. trillion in sales worldwide. As the world of e-commerce continues to evolve, it is vital for businesses to stay up-to-date on the latest trends to remain competitive. In 2022, there were significant changes in how e-commerce businesses interact with customers and how they market to them. While there are many more, our 8 must-know e-commerce trends are some of the most important ideas to be successful in the coming year.

1 – BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) 

The number of BNPL users in the US will likely grow from 45.1 million in 2021 to 76.6 million by 2025. The BNPL model has dramatically increased the purchasing power of the American consumer. Furthermore, this flexible finance option has encouraged new growth in the lending sector with companies like; Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay and Sezzle. The buy now, pay later model has been shown to reduce cart abandonment, boost sales, speed up the checkout process, and increase the order value size. Expect an expansion of this trend as inflation rises and discretionary income wanes.

2 – Sustainability

The rise in sustainable e-commerce practices will continue to be a trend. Therefore, as Millennials and Gen-Z age into power-buying consumers, they bring an environmentally conscious mindset. According to Forbes.com, almost 30% say they want to improve the environment, with 23% wishing to reduce production waste, 22% desiring to reduce their carbon footprint, and 17% concerned with animal welfare. Therefore, to stay competitive in the e-commerce marketplace, brands are shifting product manufacturing and fulfillment to more sustainable options. One way that brands can adopt sustainable practices is by partnering with a 3PL that is environmentally conscious. Here are a few other ideas to help implement sustainability in 2023.

• Go paperless.
• Cut waste out of your manufacturing process.
• Streamline transportation routes.
• Recycle old goods.
• Source sustainable brands and products.
• Explore the rental business model.
• Use refurbished or recycled materials for in-store displays and decor.
• Reduce returns and upcycle exchanges.

3 – Social Commerce

Social commerce is where the entire shopping experience occurs on social platforms, from product discovery to purchase. According to The Future of Commerce, “Global sales via social media platforms were estimated at 992 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, and forecasts suggest that social commerce sales will reach around 2.9 trillion U.S. dollars by 2026. Social application technology has advanced to include much more than a promotional tool. Subsequently, today customers can discover new products, purchase them, and even receive customer service via social commerce. Here are some of the most relevant benefits of investing in social commerce solutions.

• Reaching customers in an age where Google has abandoned cookies, and Apple is restricting retargeting
• Keep the shopping experience native to the social platform (no need to go elsewhere to complete the sale)
• Provide a seamless and personalized shopping experience
• Cultivate community and sales 24/7

4 – Expanding Omnichannel Capabilities

Expanding the omnichannel experience for customers isn’t optional for e-commerce brands that want to remain competitive. An Aberdeen Group study showed companies that delivered solid omnichannel customer engagement retained — on average — 89 percent of their customers, compared to 33 percent for companies with weak customer engagement. Here are a few of the top ways that brands are expanding omnichannel capabilities:

• Decentralizing customer care – it’s a company-wide initiative from the CEO to the customer service representative
• Personalized experience (more on this later)
• Improving the knowledgeability of customer care staff
• Ensuring cross-channel inventory visibility with automated inventory management
• Multi-site delivery or pickup options (BOPIS)
• Provide virtual shopping experiences
• Improve the ease of making returns or exchanges

5 – Video Marketing

Video marketing is one of the best e-commerce trends for a successful year to get a jump. Why? Because video marketing is one of the most effective tools to improve customer engagement, brand loyalty, and sales. Approximately 88% of consumers have been convinced to purchase from video content. Here are a few video marketing trends to consider adding to your content arsenal this year.

• Live video – utilizing the attraction of something happening right now has proven to keep audiences engaged 3x longer than pre-recorded content and has 6x the number of engagements. Regardless of the platform used to broadcast the live content, make sure to consider adding a few to your marketing lineup.
• Search-optimized video – because videos are becoming the preferred medium of content consumption, it’s no surprise that it is essential to ensure they are showing up in relevant searches.
• Vlogs – up your brand storytelling by sharing vlogs. These can include a general overview of what your brand is about, product tutorials and overviews, as well as user-generated content.
• Silent videos – Yes, that’s right…silent videos are coming back. Many customers are scrolling social channels with the sound muted. Therefore, a video that tells a compelling story without the need for sound is performing well.

Video production doesn’t need to cost a fortune, either. Most video trends can be adopted using a simple smartphone and a few lost-cost editing tools. Even more, some editing tools are found right within the social platforms for which the video is intended. Improve your customer engagement with more video marketing this year.

6 – M-commerce

According to Statista, mobile commerce (m-commerce) accounts for 73% of the global e-commerce market. Driving this mobile commerce trend is the estimated 292 million people expected to have their own mobile devices by 2024. And it’s predicted that some 187.5 million will shop via smartphone. Therefore, while m-commerce isn’t a new trend, it continues to be a growing area of focus for e-commerce retailers. A few things m-commerce basics to ensure your company implements for 2023 to stay competitive include:

• Ultra-responsive mobile site design – Google has started to include mobile responsiveness in its search algorithm. Hence, your organic search rankings could suffer if your site is not built for mobile.
• One-click ordering – shoppers abandon carts quickly when the checkout process is too long or cumbersome. More brands are investing in streamlining the checkout process to include one-click ordering.

Shopping via mobile app – many brands are driving consumers to a mobile app built for buying. 85% of users prefer a mobile shopping app to a mobile-responsive website. Plus, mobile apps are converting sales at a whopping 157% more.

7 – Personalization

Personalization is using personal data to provide tailored experiences to shoppers of products in a retail environment. Whereas every path to purchase is different, and personalization in retail aims to serve each individual based on their needs and behaviors.  Even though personalization has been part of the e-commerce conversation for more than five years now, it remains a relevant trend in 2023. Here are some specific personalization trends to adopt in 2023.

• Leveraging AI/Machine learning to provide nuanced personalization for each customer
• Implementing “Zero-Party Data” mining
• Location-based marketing and geotargeted sales, promotions, and discounts
• Personalized loyalty programs
• Security and data-privacy improvements

8 – Using AI/Machine Learning

AI, or artificial intelligence, can mean many things, but when it comes to e-commerce it includes; machine learning, predictive analytics, and advanced AI that can convert troves of data into actionable insights. Ultimately, the utilization of AI is a must-know e-commerce trend for a successful year more than ever. AI can be most helpful for retailers in a few key areas. They are:

• Interactive Chatbots – As customer service becomes a trend that will soon be a primary differentiator, chatbots powered by AI will be a tool that improves customer satisfaction and can perform routine requests 24/7 without the need for human resources.
• Dynamic Marketing Outreach – Advanced CRM systems are learning customers’ behaviors and preferences to create a detailed shopper profile and utilize this information to deliver proactive and personalized outbound marketing — tailored recommendations, rewards, or content.
• Operational AI – programs can preemptively manage orders, staffing, and inventory levels and predict sales cycles. This technology streamlines operational processes and improves efficiency.
• Personalization – AI can help offer a unique shopping experience to all customers, making recommendations, rewards, and discounts based on consumer preferences and behaviors.