eCommerce business growth has skyrocketed in recent years and might be the only industry that has seen consistent growth even during the global pandemic. Here are some of the trends to follow in 2023.
India played a significant role in the exponential growth of the eCommerce business worldwide despite the disruption caused by the global pandemic. However, during the last couple of years of unprecedented business transformation, the eCommerce industry had to adapt to the changing dynamics of the market and consumer behavior.
With the accelerated growth of eCommerce during the pandemic, the Indian eCommerce industry is projected to reach ₹7 trillion by 2023, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.6% between 2019 and 2023. With the advancement in digital technologies and digital payments, consumers are shifting towards online shopping for convenience and health safety measures. After all, the user penetration in the eCommerce market has reached 52.6% in 2022 and is likely to reach 65.6% by 2025.
Most of the industry leaders believe that India is progressing towards becoming the second fastest growing economy in Asia-Pacific based on eCommerce sales this year. This steady double-digit growth is likely to continue through 2025. Also, one of the major contributors or drivers of this growth is the steady rise of mobile commerce, or m-commerce as popularly coined.
What do eCommerce Trends mean?
Online shopping trends, usually denoted as eCommerce trends, represent constantly changing consumer behavior. Though earlier consumers had turned a simple feature like a 360-degree view of a product into a trend, consumers nowadays are smarter and digital-savvy, expecting much more from the brands they support. With digital advancement, online shopping is going through a major paradigm shift in terms of consumer expectations and demand.
Consumers nowadays are not limited to only laptops to view your product online. After all, with the advent of devices, your customers view your product or services on as many as five devices. So, they expect advanced digital support to consume your content and expect you to reach them in their preferred digital platform if you are looking for engagement. However, these expectations are also not constant. It changes every year; hence, eCommerce brands need to always “be on their toes” to keep up with the changing consumer behavior and market competition.
eCommerce Trends of 2023
As we have seen, online shopping trends dictate how eCommerce businesses work nowadays. So, here are some of the top eCommerce trends you should follow to grow your business in 2023:
Mobile Shopping will Continue to Grow. Mobile shopping or m-commerce has been one of the major drivers of eCommerce growth in recent years. Online shoppers are increasingly getting habituated to the convenience of purchasing products or services using their mobile. eCommerce brands should adopt a mobile-first approach to create an amazing customer experience.
Voice Shopping is on the Rise.It is gaining popularity even in Tier 1 and 2 cities as its easy to operate. Nowadays, almost 30% of online shoppers have used a voice assistant to search for products or services online. This number will keep growing, as evident from the increase in voice search. So, most major big eCommerce retailers, such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Alibaba are already providing voice shopping.
Personalization Across Channels.Customers nowadays want a personalized shopping experience from the brands they purchase frequently. Though arguably it might seem an invasion of privacy, many consumers like the convenience of personalization with suggestions based on their past shopping behavior. After all, 75% of consumers prefer to purchase from a brand that offers a personalized digital experience.
Social Media Continues to Drive Shopping.Though previously, social media was a platform for people to connect, now it has transformed into a channel for eCommerce brands to connect and engage with their consumers. Also, it has emerged as a powerful medium to influence your consumers and their purchase decisions. Thus, following the consumer behavior trend, some social platforms provide options for e-retailers to sell their products directly on their platform, such as Instagram Checkout.
Multiple Digital Payment Options.Though difficult to believe, till today, many eCommerce merchants lose almost confirmed sales due to payment processing issues and lack of multiple payment options. In the recent days of digital payment advancement, you need to make it simple and easy for your consumers to pay for their orders. The current trend among e-retailers is to simplify the checkout process to reduce the cart abandonment rate.
Apart from offering multiple payment options, eCommerce merchants can make it simple for their consumers by limiting the checkout process to fewer steps, not making it mandatory to create an account to make a purchase, and transparency with costs and policies, especially return policies.
Sustainability on the Rise.Sustainability is a significant factor influencing the purchase decisions of consumers currently. People are becoming more conscious of environment-friendly practices and are willing to pay more for sustainable products. So, in this age of green consumerism, ensure you have greener products and packaging and adopt your operations with environmentally friendly practices. After all, 60% of consumers worldwide confirmed sustainability as a significant factor impacting their purchase decision.
Increased Use of AI. Most eCommerce brands use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve operational and business efficiency nowadays. AI helps you deliver an improved shopping experience to your consumers. Additionally, AI-powered data and analytics help better forecast demand and track and monitor your supply chain operations.
Subscription is on the Rise.Leveraging subscription models to increase retention rates and revenue is becoming increasingly popular among eCommerce merchants nowadays. Per an online report, almost 35% of weekly online shoppers use subscriptions, and with the right combination of business and fulfillment, these numbers will grow. After all, customer acquisition is costly and lengthy without any assurance that a new customer will remain with your brand for long.
Augmented Reality Trend.Augmented Reality (AR) and videos are emerging as game-changers for eCommerce and e-retail businesses. Video demo of products is a more engaging way of informing and showcasing product features to your consumers than simple images. Additionally, AR takes things another step ahead, enabling online shoppers to see the products in 3D, thus enhancing their shopping experience.
Conclusion:
To sum it up, following the eCommerce trends is significant for an eCommerce merchant to remain competitive and updated on the latest industry trends. After all, it will help them stay updated on the ever-changing consumer behavior and help them provide a better customer experience. After all, the success of your business depends on keeping your customers happy.
So, learn of the latest trends and prepare to delight your customers.
About XPDEL:
Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, XPDEL recently launched its expert fulfillment services in India. Our Fulfillment Technology Platform makes it effortless for eCommerce brands to improve their speed to market. Led by industry veterans with more than a decade of experience, we are also steering our path to success in the Indian market.We cater to a diverse clientele with a wide range of customer experience-based fulfillment and logistics solutions empowered by leading, advanced technology to provide data insights for informed decision-making.