Yes, we are at the height of the holiday season, but 2023 is just around the corner! 😅
There is no doubt that competition in e-commerce has increased significantly in recent years. Many companies have seized the opportunity to increase their sales by opening their online stores (Does any come to your mind?).
After the Covid-19 pandemic, which locked up every person in the world at home 🏠,
e-commerce has experienced nothing but GROWTH. Businesses around the world switched to a remote and socially distant way of doing things, and e-commerce helped fill in the gaps for consumers.
Many people thought that with the return to "normality", we would go back to brick-and-mortar stores to shop, but luckily for the e-commerce world, most of the new habits are fully entrenched now. The e-commerce boom is here to stay.
Let's take a look at some general statistics to explain where the industry stands in 2022:
The estimated global value of retail e-commerce could be $5 trillion or more, according to Statista. It's expected to continue to grow so that the total value of e-commerce could exceed $6 trillion in 2024.
Meanwhile, the total value of e-commerce in 2020 has surpassed $10 trillion. The figures for 2027 are estimated at $27 trillion if current growth rates continue.
According to Nasdaq, the world is increasingly focused on e-commerce. This means that by 2040, total e-commerce will account for 95% of global purchases.
Shockingly, about 46% of all U.S. small businesses still don't have a website, suggesting that for many small businesses, digital commerce and e-commerce aren't a priority. This has the potential to create a huge advantage for some small businesses.
Something is certain: the market will keep growing and there's still a lot to be done in the e-commerce universe.
But let’s focus on 2023! We want you to be prepared and at the forefront of the biggest trends, so here we share some of them 😉 check what's coming this 2023 and will be key to differentiating your business!
Let's talk about them one by one! 👇🏻
1. Increasing Personalization
Customers expect more personalized experiences. Companies are focusing on personalizing their services, products, and interactions with customers to create a more individualized experience.
E-commerce is increasingly using personalization to improve the customer experience and increase sales. Personalization strategies can include targeted emails, product recommendations, customized content, and dynamic pricing 🤯
Differentiation has become very important, and it's also very difficult to achieve. Customers are becoming more demanding day by day, preferring personalized products to mass offerings.
In recent years, big companies have introduced personalizable products with great success. Personalization not only helps increase sales but also promotes customer loyalty to the brand and creates a unique product.
The good news is that you can use a product personalizer like Customily to create customizable designs and allow your customers to create and purchase their own unique and original products 😎
Psst! If you have a Shopify store or you are selling on Etsy, don't miss this 9-day free trial and try Customily by yourself! 😉
2. Growing Mobile Shopping
Did you know that there are currently 7.26 billion cell phone users worldwide 📱🌐?
This means that 91% of the world's population owns a cell phone. It's also predicted that the number of mobile device users will increase to 7.516 billion by 2026.
This also means that the number of customers shopping on mobile devices is increasing 📈 Companies are focusing on optimizing their websites for mobile users and creating mobile apps for convenience.
Global mobile commerce sales are projected to reach nearly $4 trillion by 2024, representing approximately 70% of all e-commerce sales.
With more than half of all internet traffic coming from mobile devices, it's important that your website is optimized for mobile.
Three simple tips to do this:
Improve the loading time of your website: Pages that load within 5 seconds have an average bounce rate of 38%. If you optimize the loading time of your website, that will help you not only to lower bounce rates but also improve the user experience.
Make your navigation menu simpler: The screens of mobile devices are much smaller than those of desktops. Therefore, you should keep the navigation menu as compact and user-friendly as possible.
Make your pop-ups mobile-friendly: Pop-ups can be very useful, but they can also ruin the mobile experience. Screen space is extremely important on smaller devices.
3. Hello Voice Commerce
Voice Commerce is the ability to make online purchases using only your voice 🗣 and a compatible smart device such as a cell phone, hands-free device, or virtual assistant.
Voice Commerce allows users to search for a specific result using voice commands and within a search engine that enables voice search and results. Some of the best-known examples of voice search engines are Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, Microsoft's Cortana, and Google Assistant.
Voice search in 2022 continued growing: nearly 50% of searches were conducted by voice, an annual increase of nearly 10%. However, this growth tends to be focused on specific or impulsive searches, like: "How many inhabitants does Qatar have?", "Alexa, what's the weather like?", "Google, how do I get to the Empire State?" and less on searches focused on researching or purchasing a specific product.
Although voice search hasn’t yet exploded when it comes to shopping, it continues to grow and it won’t be long before it takes hold in the e-commerce world.
Better to be an early adopter than a late runner 🏃🏻♂️
A few recommendations:
Use keywords 🗝 to describe your products.
Answer questions concisely.
Write attractive and optimized content.
4. The rise of Video Shopping
By incorporating video 📹 into your e-commerce strategy, you can provide a more authentic and personalized experience for your online shoppers. For example, they can see how the fabrics look when the wearer moves, or even a 360-degree view of the product that offers more insight and detail than a static image ever could.
Just as videos give your customers a better insight into a product, they also give you a deeper understanding of their customer journey. It can give you a unique perspective on how often a video is viewed or how long shoppers watch content before making a purchase.
When you link these insights to your e-commerce platform, it shows you areas where you can improve the performance of your content or optimize your product pages. Imagine the power of this: You could know how each video increases your company’s sales and what type of video gets the most attention.
It's enough to look at a few figures to see what an opportunity this is:
According to Google, 60% of shoppers say online video has given them ideas or inspiration for their purchase.
Nearly 50% of people say that the biggest concern when shopping online is that products don’t look the same when they arrive.
If there's one thing brick-and-mortar stores have over online stores, it's that customers can actually handle the products before they buy them.
Videos allow potential customers to see products from all angles and maybe even in use, and this will persuade them, even more, to buy online.
5. Emergence of Chatbots
Data from Google Trends shows that search volume for "chatbots" 🤖 has increased in the last five years as individuals and businesses have recognized their value. And according to HubSpot's research report, 71% of people use chatbots to get their problems solved quickly. 56% of people would rather write a message 💬 than call 📞 customer service, and 53% of people would be more likely to shop from businesses they can message.
According to surveys, the biggest advantages of using a chatbot are:
The ability to get 24-hour service (64%)
To get immediate answers to queries (55%)
To get answers to simple questions (55%)
Chatbots are becoming increasingly popular, providing customers with real-time customer service and product information. Remember that your online store is working 24/7!
6. Expansion of Social Commerce
Social media 🤳 platforms are becoming an important platform for businesses to reach their customers, as well as to provide an easy and fast shopping experience.
Brands have previously used social media to increase awareness and attract new customers. In recent years, when more and more customers prefer omnichannel shopping, e-commerce has begun to increase sales by selling their products directly through social media channels. This has led to customers going directly to social media platforms on their mobile devices to find and buy their favorite goods in one place.
Every year the reach of social media is increasing. Right now, 59% of people around the world are using social media platforms, and you shouldn't be surprised if that number continues to grow in the coming years. It's predicted that social media platforms will generate at least 2.5 trillion in revenue in 2026.
7. Make room for the Green Consumers
During the pandemic, people have become more sensitive to the environmental impact of their purchasing decisions, and companies are responding to this. Gen Z consumers not only have a major influence on their Gen X parents but also on their Boomer grandparents when it comes to sustainable shopping.
In the last two years, Generation X's preference to buy sustainable brands has increased by nearly 25% and their willingness to pay more for sustainable products has increased by 42%. In fact, consumers of all generations - from baby boomers to Generation Z - are now willing to spend more on sustainable products ♻️
In other words, you're no longer just dealing with a new generation of young people who want environmentally friendly products, but all generations have become more aware of environmental protection.
Sooner or later it'll be an obligation for brands to contemplate this. But in the meantime, it's an opportunity for your brand to position itself as different and attractive.
Here are some things you can consider:
Be more energy efficient
Try to sell sustainable products
Make sure your packaging is plastic-free
Be thoughtful when choosing your delivery services
Choose green partners and providers
Consumers are becoming more conscious of what they buy and from whom, so make sure you clearly communicate all the eco-friendly actions that you do on your website!
We hope these tips can help your business be successful this upcoming new year! ✨ Remember the importance of embracing new trends and adapting to them if you want to keep growing!
Also, if you want to see which products will be best-sellers this 2023 don't miss this article! Maybe another great strategy could be adding some new products to your store 😉
Can you think of any other trend that will be important in 2023? Feel free to comment below, we would love to read you!
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Customily Product Personalizer is the best solution to sell personalized products, both in the e-commerce and the print-on-demand market. With the widest range of personalization tools, free clipart designs, realistic live previews that increase conversions, and printing files that help you automate your printing business; Customily is the ally you need to boost your profit margins in a high-competitive market.
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