The e-commerce sector has been unprecedented in the last few years proving its growth and high demand in the present time. Worldwide online sales have grown by 20% on average over the past decade reaching a total sale of $26.7 trillion US dollars in 2021 as it has been fueled by pandemic. The access to the multimedia world and the usage of modern technology led to an increasing online consumer base rising income and greater variety of goods and services that can be brought over the internet.
Now it has become the main source of income for many business owners and continues to grow over the internet making impact to the economy and the future of online shopping. If you want to plan out your ideas in selling and making an online shop, learn how to start an ecommerce business online firstly.
What is E-commerce?
Electronic commerce or E-commerce generally refers to shopping digitally from the internet with the intent to purchase goods and sell products and services in the market. This industry has a lot of varieties on their selling point and forms such as:
- ordering goods to be delivered or pick up
- purchasing a service
- buying a subscription to any paid contents or apps
- expansion of your physical stores or business in the online market
- in demand contents that can be only purchased online
The Rising Ecommerce Trends for 2022
As the number of new businesses and consumers arise, new sellers also has grown to a significant amount since the pandemic started, turning any kinds of work and products into a sellable goods.
Many people started their business online, offering different services and varieties of things that have been only recently available to the market. Having many business owners in the Ecommerce industry only increases the competition to find new products, new changes and new trends.
Here are some business ideas that are now in the trend for 2022:
Artificial Intelligence on Online Shop Websites
Most e-commerce websites today have been using AI in their websites even integrating it to be used in customer service and one example is chat bots that stores general details for consumers buying their goods. The concept of machine learning has become more mainstream and it will continue to be used in 2022.
Having that in the online business doesn’t only meant for updating the new trends but it is actually helping boosting sales and providing help for most business owners. As a result, the usage of AI by many online business owners have increased and took a focus on creating more sales ideas by hiring programmers to develop more services using AI.
Some of the reasons why Artificial Intelligence is bound to boost business performance:
- Using Artificial Intelligence in the platform business is not only used in customer service but also develop patters to provide relevant goods with the help of past transaction history and browsed items. This will allow the consumer to see more options that ranges from different attributes and prices.
- Instead of hiring more people in virtual chat or customer service about a certain goods, developing an AI in the business website reduces manual labor.
- Increasing engagement for customers by providing details in a short time making it more effective than costumer services.
New Advanced Payment Options
Increasing payment options in the e-commerce processing is a critical part of the customer’s buying journey. And as such, it assumes an essential role in the conversion process.
Keeping it simple with payment section and having different kinds of payment options is one of the important factors in having business increase the total sales. By speeding up the transaction process, most customers will only go for a specific brand due to the payment options it offers.
Today, most e-commerce businesses accept digital wallets such as:
- PayPal
- Google Pay
- Apple Pay
- Cash on Delivery
- Cryptocurrencies
Aside from having bank payments and other online E-wallets as an option in business payments, a lot of large online stores have already started accepting payment via cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
- Bitcoin provides many benefits for online shop owners, including low transaction fees and no reverse transactions. This trend is likely to take shape in the e-commerce world all throughout 2022 and in the coming years because another factor of successful marketing is providing easy and hassle-free transactions.
Green Consumerism
For starters, “Green Consumerism” is a term used when customers look for products that have been produced in an eco-friendly & ethical way to preserve the environment and reward the labor involved fairly. Several global movements are promoted to ensure the environment is safe and most consumers generally choose to shop brands or businesses that are eco-friendly and cruelty free.
In the online world where most people promote sustainable products and criticize the unethical processed products, most online business has to act quickly to adapt to this uprising trend to keep consumers interested. Besides, studies have shown that 65% of consumers say they want to buy products from purpose-driven brands that advocate sustainability. Therefore, e-commerce businesses that will prioritize environment-friendly practices will clearly dominate the market in years to come.
Augmented Reality (AR)
Many big online retailers have already started to take advantage of the opportunities available from integrating augmented reality with their shopping experiences.
- Augmented Reality, commonly referred to as AR, is an immersive technology that blends real-world surroundings with virtual elements.
- Well, it may sound high-tech, but it’s far from being that complex. Unlike in physical stores, online shoppers can’t try on or physically inspect the product they intend to buy. So, Augmented Reality (AR) helps eliminate this hurdle by letting customers see how a certain product would look on them even before they buy it.
- In the e-commerce world, AR adds another layer of engagement and interactivity to the online shopping journey. This, in turn, helps retailers to meet higher customer expectations for more fabulous e-commerce experiences. In fact, AR is possible to become a mainstream feature in online retail in the future. By implementing AR in e-commerce stores, there is likely an increase in conversions and a decrease in the return rate.
