As we step into 2016 and keep barreling towards the end of January, there comes a lot of speculation about what the entire ecommerce industry has in store for us in the near future. With just about every industry, trends change, thereby making it necessary to follow and catch up in order to maintain relevant business. Hence, it’s high time that you look back at what you’ve done to your business so that you could effortlessly establish a plan for the unpredicted situations ahead.
E-commerce sales keep soaring, generating over about $300 billion in the United States alone in 2015. Yet e-commerce remains a small percentage of the overall retail sales industry. So what steps can the e-commerce retailers take in order to boost their online sales? In the present competitive market, it all comes down to how the customers feel about your online brand. Only those brands which can predict strategies and meet them and those who can actively engage online shoppers through mobile devices will be the ultimate winners of 2016. Here are few ecommerce trends which can help boost your conversion rates.
Personalization Will Be Replaced by Contextual Shopping
Although being addressed by name and having a website that remembers your preference is always nice but contextualization will become the new way of personalizing in 2016. With a context-based site, you don’t require registering or logging into a site in order to be able to receive relevant information. Due to the new customer-centric technology, brands can now comprehend customer journey and predict your needs. Brands can offer the online shoppers information whenever they need it, thereby eliminating the hassle of online shopping.
Mobile Ecommerce Will Keep Growing
There are expert predictions from the CEO of Coupon Daddy that by 2017, the mobile engagement behavior of customers will be so high that it will drive customer revenue to 50% of the entire online commerce revenue. In case a brand isn’t able to interact with the customers through smartphone, they are never going to reach out anywhere. Hence, being able to assist the customers with getting done what they’re trying to do through their mobile devices will measure the zenith of success.
Brands Will Ardently Engage Shoppers
As it is, shopping online is a drab experience as you’re alone and there’s no one to greet you like in a physical store. There’s no one to help you if you don’t get the right size or face a problem with coupon codes. Due to this, online conversion rates are lower than that of the stores, 1-3 percent as compared to 20-30 percent. This year, the ecommerce stores will ardently engage the consumers on the various product pages instead of simply waiting for the customers to contact them. There will be live chat to speak to representatives as well.
Retailers Will Employ More People for Online Stores
More and more brands will be creating virtual sales forces in 2016. Apart from the customer care employees who usually assist the customers after a sale has been done, there will also be virtual salesmen who will help the customers before their sale in a similar manner as is done in a physical store.
Online Loyalty Programs Will Gain Momentum
Online loyalty programs haven’t witnessed enough growth as the other online marketing techniques. But as there is a constant improvement in the technology, the credit card companies start getting involved. This will definitely improve the online loyalty programs.
