Top 10 eCommerce Development Trends in 2021

eCommerce development is here to stay. Due to the significant advancements and adaptations from both sellers and consumers, it is clear that there is no turning back now. eCommerce development trends continue to revolutionize how everyone acquires everything from necessities to frivolities.

And, for the most part, customers like these innovations. Thus, businesses continue to implement new eCommerce methods. This implementation causes novel eCommerce development trends to continue sprouting.

For millions of individuals worldwide, online shopping is increasingly becoming the preferred method for purchasing items. Global eCommerce sales are estimated to reach over $4.5 trillion by 2021, nearly doubling the volume expected last 2017. Businesses must come up with new strategies to better engage their customers to keep up with this development.

Fortunately, as modern technology becomes more accessible, various trends in eCommerce have emerged that make online purchasing easier for both businesses and consumers.

Make sure to take advantage of these rising eCommerce trends in 2021 to take your eCommerce business to greater heights.

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Full Mobile Support

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Today, mobile devices account for the majority of internet interactions, including eCommerce.According to one study, in the second half of 2017, 62 percent of smartphone users completed an online purchase using their phones. That corresponds to more than 75 million shoppers in the United States alone, and that number should rise as smartphones and tablets become more widely used throughout the world.

For most customers, however, having a mobile-friendly website is not enough. When customers have a poor buying experience, 40% of them will exit the site and go to a competitor instead.

As a result, having a strong mobile presence will make you more available to customers and give you a measurable competitive edge. SEO optimization, adaptable layouts, SMS integration, and visually oriented content are just a few of the tactics that can help you build a more engaging mobile experience.

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Chatbots

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A growing number of websites are using automated chat assistants, also known as chatbots, to assist customers with operations. Natural language processing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are all used by chatbots to connect with users as if they were actual people. As a result, users get a seamless, dynamic, and realistic chat experience that answers practically instantly.

Chatbots are speedier, scalable, and can pull from massive data sources to personalize outcomes, particularly the user's demands, compared to traditional customer support employees. Chatbots have grown in popularity to the point where they get predicted to handle 85% of customer service conversations by 2020.

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Voice Shopping

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For most people, Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri are no longer a secret. They are all over the globe, changing how individuals look for their favorite song or needed information. Thanks to the power of a voice command, people can enjoy the switch from "typing in" to "speaking out.”

According to Google, 72% of those who own a voice-activated speaker claim they use it regularly. As a result, people will speak in extended sentences to search for anything. This option is where businesses must include relevant, long-tail keywords on their product page to ensure that it appears in people's searches.

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Headless eCommerce

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Headless commerce is a method of totally decoupling an online store's eCommerce infrastructure from the frontend presentation layer. More eCommerce organizations are going headless because of the flexibility on the backend and the increased SEO, content marketing, and digital experience capabilities.

Finally, businesses can control their content and consumer journey through the checkout with headless eCommerce. Companies can use headless eCommerce to integrate all of their stores onto a single domain, for which they can develop additional features.

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AI & ML Tools

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The world of business is undergoing a major transformation as a result of AI. A well-defined AI strategy is in place for 47% of digitally advanced firms. Experts project that an increasing number of businesses will adopt this technology to change their processes.

Most businesses are already using AI to discover market patterns and segment customers based on their browsing history. Indeed, companies have seen a large increase in sales revenue after implementing AI-based personalization tactics. Personalization, after all, is the key to improved customer engagement and, as a result, a better brand identity.

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Augmented Reality to Showcase Products

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Nowadays, online buying is very popular because it makes shopping much more convenient. However, a sizable portion of customers prefers to do things the old-fashioned way. They like to purchase a product after having first-hand experience with it. If a consumer wishes to buy furniture online, it will be more helpful to show them how the piece would look in their living room.

Augmented Reality (AR) delivers this. Customers have gotten whisked away into a lifelike simulation that provides them an accurate representation of how something will seem and feel in real life. Because most eCommerce websites do not have this function, you can set yourself apart from the competition by including it.

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Personalization Throughout the Buying Cycle

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Online shoppers of all kinds — both B2C and B2B — want individualized, unique shopping experiences. For this matter, a buyer can receive individualized product suggestions and detailed customer assistance, thanks to the data acquired by AI.

Personalized experiences on-site or in marketing efforts have demonstrated increased sales, with one study revealing that shops with advanced personalization capabilities saw a 15% increase in revenue.

To put this in perspective, this accounted for 19% of participating companies, whereas businesses who were developing basic personalization capabilities saw a sales increase of 10% or more; retailers in this tier account for 40% of participating companies.

Ultimately, as more data is gathered and analyzed, businesses will provide buyers with highly personalized experiences.

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Expanded Payment Options

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Customers have different payment preferences, but they may cancel a possible sale if they cannot pay how they want on an eCommerce site. Providing a range of payment options is a fantastic method to boost mobile conversion rates. Even better, customers will be able to checkout even faster the next time they purchase to save their payment information on your site.

With the rise of social payment options, consumers' purchasing experiences will become more seamless and straightforward in 2021. Social payment options, popularized by Paypal, allow customers to pay for items through social media.

Almost all of the biggest social media platforms now have their version. ApplePay, WhatsApp Pay, GooglePay, Facebook payments, and Twitter Buy are just a few examples. These payment options function similarly to a digital bank account. It is just that it gets transacted through social media. Users can buy things on these platforms or from online retailers who cater and accept social payment options.

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Subscription Services/Products

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In recent years, subscription-based businesses have exploded in popularity. Much of it is due to the results they produce. People in their twenties now have more disposable income than they did twenty years ago. However, overall wealth is smaller, implying that this generation makes fewer large one-time purchases, giving rise to subscription-based service or product models.

The business sector predicted that the number of subscription-based enterprises would skyrocket to unprecedented levels by 2020. This option is a notable eCommerce trend that has been slowly increasing in recent years.

However, maintaining a sense of value and variation with each monthly delivery is one of the most difficult areas for subscription-based businesses, particularly those that send product boxes every month. This maintenance necessitates a solid idea-generating process that gets backed by a thorough understanding of the target market.

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Social Media Integration

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Getting visitors or potential customers to your website is one thing; getting them to convert is a whole other thing. Businesses want to boost their conversion rates by improving their product pages in 2021. Whether through Facebook ads or Google shopping ads, multi-channel selling is yet another technique to increase conversions.

More and more brands are vying for the same consumers' attention. Facebook's algorithm favors video and motion-based content since it is more likely to engage the audience fast. Not to mention, customers have also become more demanding, impatient, and curious than they have ever been.

As a result, companies must learn the ins and outs of Performance Ad Creative that not only looks good but results in customer conversions. The only approach to ensure that ads will uniquely position their company to stand out in the always shifting digital marketing landscape is to use those channels effectively.

Customers now use social media to find businesses and connect with them online. The eCommerce industry is growing and will continue to do so shortly. However, there is a lot of competition in the eCommerce world. To convert users on eCommerce platforms into clients, one must employ social media integration.

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Conclusion

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Thanks to these eCommerce trends in 2021, businesses are given a vast selection of techniques to keep up with modern technological advancements and shifts in consumer behavior. Whatever eCommerce trend you choose, keep in mind that you ultimately want to improve your consumers' purchasing experience and develop a long-term relationship with them.

Take your eCommerce evolution to the next level by evolving alongside it and leveraging these eCommerce trends.