Three E-Commerce Trends to Boost Your Business Growth

E-commerce is bigger and better than it ever was, with retail e-commerce sales  expected to reach $7.4 trillion by 2025. Survival can be tough in this ultra-competitive world. As reported by Forbes, new entrants into the market are pushing up advertising prices on popular social media channels like Facebook (ads are up by 47% on this channel), pushing ROI down. Moreover, Apple’s recent privacy updates in iOS mean that cross-app data sharing is prohibited unless users choose otherwise. This makes advertising on typical channels less useful. Whether  you are an ecommerce startup, or you are a seasoned business worried about the onslaught of competition, the following trends can keep you on the track to success.

You may not be able to attract the attention of every single new customer, but you can ensure your continued success by taking steps to retain your e-customers. This can be achieved through a multifaceted strategy that begins by personalizing their journey. If you are using a CRM platform like Salesforce and you notice that there are multiple users with the same name, then using the platform’s  Salesforce merge accounts feature will enable you to join all information and create one account. The latter will have as much information as you need to create targeted campaigns for individual clients. Other key strategies include creating personalized homepages (via cookies), offering online assistance to enable your customers to make the right purchase, displaying previously viewed items, and  personalizing your on-site messages by offering new users an incentive for getting on your email list.

Approximately 75% of US households will be using voice search in 2025, per research by Loop Ventures. The rise of voice search should be a big motivator for you to amend your keywords and content in accordance with this trend. The main strategy to focus on is answer-based content. Try using a short, 40-word introduction, followed by tables and bullet points. Write in a way that people speak. Verbal queries on voice search are longer than written searches, so you can avail of long-tail keywords. For instance, someone using text search might write “weather New York” but when using voice search, they might ask, “What is the weather like in New York right now?” You should also aim to include more synonyms for keywords and phrases,  so they genuinely match the way a person asks a question. Review your existing content and amend it, so it has precise solutions to specific problems or queries. Divide large topics into smaller ones and create paragraphs and videos that address specific questions.

Some industries—particularly fashion, jewelery, makeup, and interior design—are offering customers augmented reality experiences, enabling them to see what their chosen items would actually look like on their faces or bodies, or in their homes. The virtual fitting room market alone is  expected to hit $12.97 billion in 2028, with brands ranging from Adidas to Gucci vying for buyers’ attention with savvy apps that allow virtual try-ons. If you will be creating an AR app, opt for one with scanning technology. The latter allows customers to scan themselves using their smartphones, so they can see how chosen items of clothing would look ‘in real life’. The more real and more personalized the better, and AR apps are an excellent way to stand apart from your competition.

E-commerce is booming, and for new startups, this means that attracting business can be more difficult. The cost of advertising on media like Facebook and Instagram is rising, while ROIs are lower. To boost your chances of success, invest in personalization, create question/answer-based content, and consider adding top tech like VR to your business app.