The eCommerce trends we’re seeing in 2020 are still at the forefront of online shopping in Australia. These include mobile online shopping, sustainability, variety in payment options, and digital marketing. Should eCommerce businesses still be putting a focus on these? And what new eCommerce trends should businesses start leveraging?
In today’s article, we’ll go through the future of eCommerce both in Australia and internationally. We’ll go through a number of eCommerce trends and consumer trends that you’ll want to stay ahead of the curve on. At the end, we’ll run through a few of the top rising retail categories so that you can figure out what your product offering should look like.
eCommerce trends 2021
- Voice assistants for search
- Organic + paid + influencer social media marketing
- Omnichannel online shopping
- Sustainable eCommerce practices
- Even more payment options online
- Mobile online shopping
- How have we seen these eCommerce trends appear at Workit?
- Rising retail categories
Voice assistants for search
If you’re really looking to stay ahead of the curve, tapping into voice assistants and new search habits will definitely make you stand out. Voice assistants include Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa and Samsung’s Bixby. With the rise in both voice assistants and eCommerce, we’re now seeing the growth of voice search.
How do you take advantage of voice search? Well, on top of your existing SEO strategy, you’ll want to consider what people would be searching if they were to use their voice. For example, if you’re an eCommerce business in the gifts industry, you might want to target phrases such as, “What are the best presents for Father’s Day?” or “Gift shops near me.”
Organic + paid + influencer social media marketing
With eCommerce becoming such a saturated market, you’ll need to tailor your social media marketing strategy depending on the type of products or services that you sell. The organic aspect would involve creating and regularly posting content on relevant social media channels. The paid aspect would mainly be creating optimised paid advertising. Finally, the influencer aspect would involve reaching out to social media influencers to promote your brand.
You’ll want to focus on different aspects depending on your business and what stage it’s in. For example, some industries such as beauty and fitness are more reliant on influencer marketing than the gifts industry might be. This means that it could be more effective, but also more expensive. All three functions are super important and you’ll need to figure out what the best way to attack social media is for your eCommerce business.
Omnichannel online shopping
‘Omnichannel’ is a new term that has been thrown around a lot recently as an eCommerce trend. The growing trend is that consumers are looking for an ‘omnichannel experience’ when shopping. This means that regardless of if they’re engaging with your brand on your website, on Facebook, or in a physical setting, they’re receiving the same messaging.
For example, if you’re a fashion retailer with both an eCommerce site and a brick-and-mortar store, you’ll want to make sure your customer relationship management systems, and inventory management systems are synced. Your rewards systems would work across all channels, your in-store staff would be able to see a customer’s online activity, online customers can pick up items in-store, etc.
Following on from the last tip about social media, creating an omnichannel experience could involve things such as social shopping. This involves allowing customers to purchase your products directly from Instagram or Facebook. For example, a potential customer would be able to click on one of your posts, see prices tagged on items, and make the purchase then and there.
Sustainable eCommerce practices
In 2020, sustainability really took off. Though it’s not a new trend, it’s definitely something you don’t want to miss out on. Though sustainability has been dubbed as a recent ‘trend’, it’s much more than that and will hopefully become ingrained in our culture as time goes on. About 75% of millennials say they would change consumption habits to reduce environmental impact, whereas only 34% of baby boomers say the same, according to a study from Nielsen.
Even if your actual products don’t address sustainability concerns, there are many sustainable eCommerce practices that you can consider. For example, consider reducing packaging, reduce energy use, or add a carbon offset option at checkout. On top of the environmental factors, you can make economic and social considerations as well.
Even more payment options online
As we mentioned in our 2020 post on eCommerce trends, having a range of payment options has become super important. Of course, Visa and Mastercard options are a standard now. Consumers also expect to see PayPal when shopping online. Nowadays, buy now, pay later options, or BNPL, are becoming more popular. This includes Afterpay, ZipPay and Klarna.
Part of making the payment process better involves making it frictionless. Though consumers want multiple payment options, consumers also want the payment process to be as quick as possible. The longer they have to wait to complete the purchase, the more likely they are to abandon the cart. Research from Amazon found that basket abandonment rates increase by 15% for every extra click the customer needs to make.
Mobile online shopping
Last but definitely not least, the last eCommerce trend that you can no longer ignore is mobile online shopping. Believe it or not, there are still a tonne of eCommerce sites that aren’t optimised properly for mobile. Optimising your site involves making sure potential customers can easily navigate through your site, pages load quickly and layout is responsive.
Last year, mobile online shopping made up 69% of sales on the major online sales channel, Shopify. If you haven’t looked into your own analytics before, take a look and see what your customer base is like. Most likely, mobile online shopping will make up half or more. If you haven’t worked on mobile optimisation, it should be a top priority for the next couple of months!
How have we seen these eCommerce trends appear at Workit?
Workit Spaces is a coworking space made for eCommerce businesses, meaning we work with them everyday. We’re definitely seeing a greater emphasis on SEO, social media marketing, omnichannel presences, sustainability, BNPL, and mobile online shopping. These are the trends to get ahead of before the end of the year.
eCommerce trends: Rising retail categories
If you’re interested in trending eCommerce categories, looking at the rising retail categories based on Google Search can be extremely useful. You can filter these results by country and by time period. These results are often influenced by seasonality. For example, Costume & Stage Makeup is currently at the top of the monthly list because it was recently Halloween.
Here are the top rising retail categories in Australia over the past year:
- Prefabricated Kitchens & Kitchenettes +5000%+
- Flavored Alcoholic Beverages +900%
- Travel Trailers +600%
- Inflatable Party Decorations +300%
- Snack Cakes +300%
- Prepared Appetizers & Side Dishes +300%
- Candle Making Kits +300%
- Paper Napkins +300%
- Baby & Toddler Furniture Sets +200%
- Model Making +200%
You can draw a bunch of different conclusions from these trends. For example, maybe more people are trying to redo their kitchens now that they’re spending more time at home. Maybe everyone needs a flavoured alcoholic beverage right now. How you take advantage of these trends will depend as well. Of course, your business might not be able, but try to have fun with it and get creative!
