It comes as no surprise that e-commerce is one of the fastest growing segments to date. With the unprecedented growth ignited from the pandemic and projections indicating that this will only continue to rise, it is more important than ever to stay ahead of the curve.
The ever-changing landscape of e-commerce is something we all know far too well. It often feels like consumer tastes and industry trends change every single second! E-commerce markets continue to grow everyday, and of course, with this comes fierce competition.
But don’t worry. As always, we are here to lend a helping hand. We have compiled together the top 4 e-commerce trends this season, along with our top tips on how you can get ahead of the game and optimise these for your business.
So, go on…get stuck in.
Coming in first and quite unsurprisingly is personalisation. This is a trend we have seen for a while now, however as e-commerce increasingly becomes a more dominant force, the desire for greater personalisation rises. More and more we are seeing brands putting the “custom” in “customer”, and this season this is only set to increase.
But how can you offer a more personalised shopping experience to your consumers? By deep diving into your customer data analytics across all your marketing channels, you can generate a comprehensive targeting strategy to provide customized product recommendations, targeted advertising and personalized email marketing. There will soon become a time that customers not only want, but expect tailored shopping experiences. So, don’t get lost behind, stay ahead of the curve and start personalizing your customer experience today.
A trend that may not suit every business, but one that we are increasingly seeing on the rise is multi-sensory shopping. Many e-commerce stores are being transformed to create multisensory experiences for their customers online, in order to better stimulate in-person shopping.
But what could this involve? Several beauty giants now offer immersive visual and auditory content to their consumers. L’Oréal for example, uses novel auditory tech to convey the impression of the scent of its products online by using sound. Now this is revolutionary. We all know how powerful scent can be in the beauty industry, with it often being a sole intent to purchase in-store. But now think about the undeniable power this could have online. Something to think about at least.
#3 AI-Generated Content
Yawn…someone is talking about AI again. But it’s 2023, so of course it comes in as one of the trends this season. In just the first few months this year, we have already seen AI-generated content explode. From content marketing, to creative solutions and search engine optimisation, the possibilities of the technology seem endless and it has been quite worrying to say the least.
But like any trend, the hype cycle surrounding generative AI will slow down. But in the meantime, generative AI is resulting in a lot of entry barriers decreasing, in turn generating over-saturated markets.
What we recommend instead, is that in order to keep results going in the right direction and to not get lost in the world of AI generated content, is to protect your brand. Dial into your niche, look at ways to market your unique selling points and what really makes you special. Deep dive into your target audience, work out what resonates most with them and focus on this. The rate of generative AI will continue to explode, but human authenticity will always win every time.
We are quickly seeing more and more social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and Instagram become major players in the world of e-commerce. The integration of shopping features within these platforms such as Facebook’s Marketplace and Instagram’s Checkout, mean that users can now purchase products without even leaving the platform.
This seamless integration is great news for businesses and customers alike, as what better way to increase sales than by your customers having the ability to purchase your product on the platform they are first marketed to. Social commerce has already made its mark on e-commerce and this trend is only set to increase.
So there it is, those are the top 4 e-commerce trends that you can act on today in order to get ahead of the curve this season. More than ever, it is important to understand digital trends and shifts in order to gain a competitive advantage and deliver a positive digital consumer experience, as this is critical to success.
Interested in how any of these trends could help your business? We’d love to chat. Get in touch today and let us help you.
