E-commerce is a constantly growing sales branch. It brings better and better sales results every year. This is due to the development of technology responsible for customer service on the internet, but also thanks to the thriving and motivated entrepreneurs who care about their sites. E-commerce is still not ahead of traditional sales, but it is a big part of commerce. In 2019, holiday online sales reached $ 138 billion (Forrester, 2019 US Online Holiday Sales: Retailers, Buckle Up For A Strong Season). This number represents a 12.7% increase year-on-year. As much as 58% of network traffic in online shopping comes from mobile devices, but still only 36% of sales are finalized on phones and tablets (Adobe, 2019 Holiday Shopping Trends). As a result of the pace of changes in e-commerce, sellers do not always have the opportunity to prepare in time. For this reason, it is worth following the latest trends to keep up to date!

Trends in e-commerce

The future of e-commerce has arrived. So what can the seller expect in the next 12 months? Magento partners have gathered their thoughts (Adobe, Future of eCommerce) indicating the trends that we can expect in 2020. Get to know them today!

The main course of action is customer-oriented. This so-called ethical e-commerce, full integration of the omnichannel experience, personalization of orders and a convenient delivery method for the recipient. Technology-based trends include Headless e-commerce, Progressive Web Apps for mobile devices, GIFs to increase sales, and visual search. In turn, among industry trends we will find NextGen B2B and e-commerce supermarkets.

Ethical trends in e-commerce

In the modern world, consumers’ awareness of the impact of their consumption on ecology is definitely increasing. In 2019, we witnessed protest movements against harmful activities that exacerbate climate change. Emphasis is also placed on governments and industries to provide adequate solutions to reduce carbon dioxide, plastic packaging, harmful agricultural processes and to reduce waste.

Nielsen’s research (Nielsen, The Evolution of the Sustainability Mindset) found that 81% of people think companies should help to improve the state of the environment, and separate studies have shown that 68% of online buyers believe that the eco-product factor is important in making a purchase decision. These views on corporate responsibility have been shared over many generations. Millennials, generation Z and generation X in the largest amount. Although, older generations, not lagging behind, also recognize the importance of ecology.

Consumers’ awareness of the environment and ethical production will grow in 2020 and beyond. Buyers will strive to understand the actual or hidden impacts and costs of e-commerce and of consumption in general.

Integration of the omnichannel experience

If sellers look at their omnichannel strategy only from a sales point of view, they skip an important e-commerce trend. The marketing impact on the customer and the presence of the brand on the market has invariably a large impact on all purchasing decisions. However, channel sales and marketing are increasingly dependent on each other. So this indicates the need for consistent advertising and product presentation in all channels.

According to PwC (PwC, Experience is everything: Here’s how to get it right) research, 86% of buyers are ready to pay more for better service. Sellers understand the impact of bad product experience on sales results and try to improve the integration of their service across all channels.

Shopping personalization

To fully customize your e-commerce user experience, we will definitely use cognitive solutions in the future. Thanks to them that you can better understand customer behavior and identify various factors and features that will create truly individualized experiences when shopping online.

The basic personalization we are dealing with today will not stand the test of time. If buyers want to provide relevant and personalized experience for everyone, they will have to use artificial intelligence (AI). The new AI solutions are able to provide a positive experience in many sales channels, based on information gathered about the user. Therefore, they guarantee tailor-made shopping, ensuring full customer satisfaction. Therefore, it is important for sellers not only who, but where, when and how their store visits.

Shipping and delivery transformation

In 2020, a few more innovations will certainly change the activity in the field of e-commerce supplies. Courier companies are constantly looking for ways to improve parcel delivery thanks to information obtained by AI. As a result, the entire supply chain is changed, using ways previously impossible.

McKinsey predicts the future, where autonomous vehicles will be able to deliver 80% of the packages. Self-propelled robots that work like small cabinets are already being tested and may soon be hosted in our reality. There is a chance that in the next few years shopping will arrive at the door of the buyer without the participation of a living person.

Headless in e-commerce

Headless architecture and microservices provide better operation and performance compared to monolithic systems. The benefits of them flow almost immediately. Thanks to the ability to develop applications in parallel and thanks to isolated and scalable microservices, you can quickly and efficiently create advanced e-commerce websites based on Progressive Web Apps.

To make changes you don’t often  even need developers and you can do the work yourself. This is a big simplification especially when it comes to website development. In the past, if a team from UX approved design changes that could increase sales, it had to wait for developers to handle it. Thanks to Headless in e-commerce, people responsible for image and advertising are free to make changes, are able to conduct tests and experiments more often and obtain better information that will ultimately lead to increased conversions.

Progressive Web Apps (PWA)

Mobile sales are the main trend of recent years. Progressive Web Apps is the next step in the evolution of e-commerce solutions, and it may become a standard in 2020.

Through PWA, customers can interact with brands how and where they want in a completely free way. What’s more, thanks to PWA, store visitors can see the same thing on the website on their computer and on their phone. Such consistent visual and technological identification facilitates the decision to finalize purchases and convinces the customer to be loyal to the brand.

Due to the increasing popularity of PWA, their cost will decrease, making them more accessible to more sellers.

GIFs to increase conversions

Animations like GIFs have been around since the early days of the internet, but today their use is expanding from memes and entertainment to the latest e-commerce trend.

The use of GIFs in e-commerce can add a breeze, improve UX, and ultimately increase the conversion rate. It will certainly help to reach the group of users from the Z generation.

Visual search in e-commerce

Today’s consumers, especially from 18 to 20 years old, as well as from 21 to 34 years old, are showing a growing interest in using visual search and image recognition to discover new brands and products. By 2021, modern stores will design their websites to use visual search. It turns out that such an action can increase sales by up to 30%. For this reason, it is one of the biggest trends in e-commerce this year!

In the context of personalizing e-commerce sites, visual search gives you a great opportunity to strengthen customer relationships by making it easier to find the right products they care about.

Voice search as a sales channel

Many people say we’re still in the early stages of voice technology, but almost three quarters of people would prefer to use it as a search method. The survey (Digital Commerce 360, The state of voice shopping 2019) shows that 76% of companies have already achieved tangible benefits from using voice and chat tools. It was also found that approximately 20% of consumers using intelligent voice technologies use them for shopping. It is estimated that interest in voice search will increase to 50% over the next 12 months.

B2B NextGen e-commerce

Only 14% of B2B stores are customer oriented. Why? It turns out that many of them do not try to understand the buyer. B2B companies should consider building a direct channel to reach buyers. This would bring them invaluable information about their clients and their behavior, which could then be transferred to other platforms and channels.

In 2020, the digital transformation of B2B stores will shift the focus from products to the customer. So we will see many e-commerce websites expanding their sales by using new technological opportunities and broadening the target group.

B2B markets and B2C sales

It is said that this year the revolution of e-commerce platforms will reach a critical point. It is mainly driven by buyers looking for an easy, familiar and competitive shopping experience. McKinsey predicts (McKinsey & Company, Insurance beyond digital: The rise of ecosystems and platforms) that e-commerce platforms can generate more than 30% of global corporate revenues over the next five years. And not just for B2C stores. B2B sellers are also slowly favoring this type of supermarkets, wanting to convince contractors.

The top 100 online stores are already earning $ 1.8 trillion each year (Digital Commerce 360, Top 100 Online Marketplaces Database). Those companies that are in the first places in this new digital ecosystem experience double revenue growth compared to companies that do not take risks. Although they will not be pioneers, they still have the opportunity to succeed.

The future is now

All of these trends are at various stages of development. Some of them are just being tested by the first users. Others are well on their way to finding themselves in the industry mainstream. The sooner companies decide to implement them, the sooner they will become our reality. If you care about adopting the image of a modern brand, use the latest trends and focus on the development of your business!

Find the definitive list of the best bigCommerce development companies here: https://www.ecommercecompanies.com/bigcommerce-developers/