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5 Most Innovative Trends in Ecommerce in 2016 |
As
New Year's approaches, many people begin to review what they've been
able to accomplish in the past year, and to think about what they
want to see happen in the year ahead.
Online
sales are going to continue to grow, and if you want to be part of
the new wave, you have to prepare. To help you do that, here are five
ecommerce trends for 2016 to be aware of
1.
Improved
mobile shopping experiences
Mobile
commerce is constantly growing. In the past, many challenges
associated with getting people to buy through smartphones and tablets
have arisen, but a lot of those kinks have been ironed out.
some
retailers are already taking things to the next level by offering
live chat support. This creates an immediate point of connection with
customers. If you can reliably and consistently offer them good
advice via their devices, they are far more likely
to become loyal customers over the long term
2.
Context
will become the new personalization
Data-based,
personalized shopping experiences are now the norm. And though many
shoppers appreciate customized product suggestions, others are
annoyed when a product they viewed just once on Amazon continues to
follow them around for weeks or even months on sites like Facebook,
regardless of their actual interest level.
The
idea is that if you become a member of an ecommerce site, it will
remember your preferences. And the same personalized experiences are
now being offered even to those who aren't even registered or logged
in.
3. Real-time analytics
Data
is an invaluable resource in helping you determine how your business
is doing. Unfortunately, with traditional analytics, spotting trends
or problems was a time-intensive process. Traditional analytics also
slowed things down because you couldn't provide immediate assistance
to your customers before they left your site, perhaps for good.
Real-time
tracking will allow online retailers to offer a more holistic
shopping experience, leaving fewer opportunities on the table.
4. Video marketing
We've
known about the importance of optimized product descriptions and
high-quality photography for ecommerce sites for years. If you want
to remain competitive, however, these are mere prerequisites.
Many
businesses are now taking things to the next level, with branded,
custom video content. Video builds a lot of trust with prospective
customers.
Video
can boost your site's SEO, increase conversions, make your content
more shareable and help your shoppers consume more information in
less time.
5.
Social
collaboration
Social
collaboration is on the rise in the ecommerce world. It's one thing
to have products your customers want. It's quite another to allow for
further customization by the users, but this is exactly what's
already happening on marketplaces like Etsy.
Social
collaboration isn't just about having a site where shoppers can drop
their templates into existing designs. Prospective customers can
actually alter the designs of existing products and come up with
beautiful, professional-looking one-of-a-kind wares.
Expect
to see more social co-creation in 2016, especially in the apparel and
accessory e-commerce sector.
With
the courtesy of : entrepreneur