The eCommerce industry is growing exponentially due to various factors. There are new entrants, while traditional retail chains also take the online route to improve their revenues. It requires them to spruce up their online presence and have suitable changes to their marketing strategies too. These strategies can help them stand apart from their peers and increase revenues.
The eCommerce industry is changing rapidly due to the introduction of new technologies. The incumbent players quickly accept the changes and incorporate them into their business strategies. They must consider several eCommerce marketing trends when competing with their peers. The article discusses some of the eCommerce marketing tips and tricks that eCommerce companies can consider.
Table of Contents
Voice shopping
As voice search continues to surge, eCommerce businesses must embrace this new trend. As smartphones’ audio and voice search features improved, users also found it convenient to use them. Studies show that voice shopping will be a US$ 40 billion opportunity by 2022. (Source: Invoca) Ecommerce businesses must be aware of the changes in search behaviour to stay ahead of their competition and strategise for the future.
It has influenced search results as search engines, too, are adapting to this new consumer behaviour. One of the critical points to remember is that it is not associated with any visuals in several cases. Now, most of the search activities are limited to conventional products. However, all eCommerce businesses must optimise their website content for voice search.
Optimising for mobile
Google has made a critical adjustment to its search ranking parameters and prefers optimised websites for handheld devices. With increasing smartphone users, eCommerce businesses are increasingly targeting mobile users. According to sources, handheld devices account for around 40% of online transactions. (Source: Webfx) It requires the e-commerce companies to address this set of visitors and provide them with an improved experience.
One of the best ways to ensure this is by having a responsive web design. The content will automatically adjust itself on various devices and optimise the mobile experience. Hence, it will improve user experience as businesses add mobile-friendly components to the site. Developers can use commonly known icons to optimize the space on the device screen.
Increasing use of Virtual Reality
Significant challenge customers face when buying online is that they cannot examine the products. One of the upcoming trends in eCommerce marketing is the novel idea of allowing the customers to explore the product digitally before buying it. It provides a simulated notion of experiencing the product before purchasing.
Several customers still prefer visiting a store for their purchases, and Virtual Reality may be just the reason they can buy the products online. You can have a virtual trial room that can induce more purchases. The virtual trial rooms can help the customers to build a bond with your brand and ensure the visitors are sure about purchasing from your online store.
Marketing through videos
The audience will find it easier to go through videos and have a comprehensive view of the products offered on the website. Therefore, the business must understand the audience and create videos to influence visitors and culminate in a sale. One of the significant eCommerce marketing trends shows that there must be various types of content like videos, podcasts, videos, etc. It will help the audience understand the product’s attributes better.
As videos can create better awareness about the product, they can help you attract the target market’s attention. After making the videos, they must be marketed across multiple platforms to promote the content. It can also help the products garner more eyeball share, leading to more conversions.
Social commerce
Ecommerce businesses are continuously looking for newer channels to increase conversions. The advent of social commerce allows them to sell their products on various social media channels directly. The shopping experience happens over the social media channel with several apps supporting this new technology.
This new channel allows the target market to consult with their friends and family before purchasing. As a result, it makes the buyer’s journey smoother and speeds up the transaction process. Social commerce also provides an adequate setup for receiving feedback on the product portfolio. As a result, the audience has ready-to-buy products and makes it easier for businesses to target customers due to the enormous volume of available data.
Working with micro-influencers
Several eCommerce companies work with influencers to reach out to a targeted audience. Recent eCommerce Marketing trends show that businesses are also trying to collaborate with micro-influencers with a smaller audience. They appeal to a particular niche audience, and companies find improving their outreach to a targeted audience cost-effective.
If the business has targeted products for a particular audience section, they must also understand the audience’s behavioural attributes. So it will help them to reach out to the relevant micro-influencers. Then you can create relevant content along with the hashtags to reach out to the micro-influencers connections.
Increased use of omnichannel strategies
If you put all your resources into a single channel, you are mistaken. A closer look at the most reputable online businesses shows that you must allocate similar resources across multiple channels. It will help you minimise the losses from one channel and cover it up from other channels.
As eCommerce companies continue to find newer growth paths, they must try out multiple growth avenues. Remember that your audience is not present on a single channel only. Hence, eCommerce companies must ensure that they receive customers from various sources to ensure high growth.
Advent of hyper-personalisation
Ecommerce businesses are now present on several platforms. One of the trends in eCommerce marketing is gathering the audience’s behavioural attributes from all the platforms. Then, they use the data to make suitable changes to their website. Once they can assess the customer experience across the various channels, they can develop a comprehensive customer profile.
You can use the information compiled by the business across its customer-facing activities, including its marketing collaterals, brochures, catalogues, various sections of the website, etc. The audience is also benefitted through the targeted audience and is more likely to make a purchase.
Technology-assisted sales
We have already come across AI-based searches that help visitors on the eCommerce site. However, many of us are not acquainted with technology-assisted sales promotions. With several returning visitors, e-commerce websites must use this treasure trove of information to propose targeted offers for cross-selling and upselling.
It is difficult for anyone to suggest suitable products offered to loyal visitors. However, AI can compile historical search information and rapidly develop product suggestions to induce more purchases. It can also quickly create targeted offers that can result in more purchases.
Multiple payment options
Businesses must allow several payment options for the buyer. Some buyers may not be accustomed to online payments at all. If you currently accept only debit or credit cards, you must expand to include net banking, mobile wallets, and several other options.
Your customers will have their preferences in the mode of payment. If they don’t find their preferred payment method available on your eCommerce site, they will quickly abandon the cart and move to your peers. Also, ensure there are proper trust symbols on the website, and the checkout process is easy and fast.
Conclusion
The competition in the eCommerce industry requires businesses to adopt new online strategies and technologies that can help improve user experience and their revenues. However, these strategies must consider the ever-changing preferences of the audience too.
There are several trends in eCommerce marketing that businesses can consider. We have discussed some of them in this article that companies can consider. In addition, our experts can help you finalise the online strategies for your business to enhance your revenue streams. You can be in touch with us, and our experts are just a phone call away.
