The way in which buying and selling have revolutionized since the last decade is tremendous. And 2020, first-year a new era, has given a kickstart with the global pandemic that has kicked in. From mainstream brick and mortar stores to eCommerce, the global market is now online. Additionally, the pandemic and lockdown since the beginning of 2020 have added to the growth of eCommerce. Let us check out a few eCommerce trends of 2020 and how has COVID-19 been a part of this transition.
eCommerce Boom in 2020
Before we jump to what are the actual eCommerce trends that braces this year, let’s analyze a few facts and how has the industry notched higher.
- Almost 21.8% of the global population uses the internet to shop
- The global eCommerce market is set to rise at a value of $4.8 trillion by 2021
- eCommerce stores that have a social media presence have a 32% jump in sales
- There are more than 254 million active PayPal accounts across the Globe
- The digital population in India is $687.6 million
- The active eCommerce penetration in the country is 74%
- The estimated online retail size is around $73 billion
- Electronics top the list with the segment with the highest share in eCommerce
- The online store purchase for essential reached 26% post Lockdown
- Groceries and medicines were mostly purchased through digital payments
Trends Overview in The Global Phenomenon
Well, the above statistics definitely proved that along with India, the global eCommerce market has launched a step up. The lockdown paved the way for essentials items to be purchased online via various eCommerce websites. The rise in e-payments and digital wallets have contributed to the vision of Digital India by the prime minister of the country.
eCommerce and Covid-19 have walked parallel boundaries in changing the functionality of the industry. Most of the businesses, especially brick and mortar have switched online.
Listed below are a few of the eCommerce industries recorded by Researchgate that have seen a growth and rise in retail share amidst the pandemic.
- Amazon.com -$4059 Million
- Ebay.com – $1227 Million
- Rakuten.co.jp – $804 Million
- Samsung.com – $648 Million
- Walmart.com – $614 Million
These eCommerce companies have secured their ranks in the global eCommerce market. The pandemic has changed consumer behavior and purchasing strategies. Due to the Lockdown, companies have moved to an online mode of selling with transactions via digital modes. E-wallets like PayPal, Google Pay, Paytm, PhonePe, and many more have seen a drastic rise in a transaction in the last 4-5 months.
Challenges Faced by the eCommerce Market
The various challenges faced by the retail industry during the global pandemic were quite high. The various impositions by various authority officials that include the government lead to a direct impact on the eCommerce Industry. A few of the challenges faced were:
- Delayed delivery time
- Challenges while commuting
- Contactless delivery
- Social Distancing
- Hygiene Care
- Shortage of Raw Materials
- Low on Labor
- Reduced Selling of Non-essential Goods
- Hike in Price
This, in turn, led to the slow movement of supply and shipping. Although the eCommerce market didn’t halt or saw a complete pause, the demand for online products continued. However, there was a delay. Technological advancements led to errors and higher return rates. Due to which many retailers had to burn the pockets to pay the shipping cost.
While essentials such as groceries, toiletries, dairy products, and medicines saw a rise within eCommerce. Additionally, sanitizers, disposable gloves, and masks were few of the recent products whose demands touched the sky. The demand was so high, that many retailers failed to fulfill them.
In contrast to this, due to the pandemic and restrictions imposed by various country authorities, tourism, travel such as railways, airways, and cruises along with restaurant and entertainment saw a dip and heavy losses.
Global Emerging eCommerce Trends – 2020
Now that we have seen the impact of the pandemic on various industries lets take a look at the various trends that have taken a leap during the year 2020.
Augmented Reality (AR)
AR has changed the way of how shoppers view a product. In comparison to the traditional brick and mortar store, where a salesperson guides the shopper in regards to their demands, the virtual trend relies on AR. Customers are provided with the answers they are looking for eCommerce Trends global overview. AR enhances the reality of online shopping.
There will be a growing volume of voice search.AI helps shoppers to know about the product. A personalized way of customer offering. With technological advancements, customers can even place their orders within clicks. Face recognition and fingerprint detection help easy login access. This paves the way for an interactive mode of shopping, while retailers can ship hassle-free.
eCommerce personalization
When we say eCommerce personalization, we refer to the ways in which an eCommerce website is personalized for better individual customer experience. Personalization includes different offers catered to an existing customer, various product recommendations, and much more. All of this depends on the customer’s purchasing behavior, actions taken by him/her, and other engagements on your website.
This eCommerce trend is one of the few which has picked up in 2020. Visitors register and sign up with a promise that there is something for them in-store. However, one thing to keep in mind is, deliver what you promise. When you personalize an offer, ensure that the offer is custom made, relevant, and step ahead from more than regular personalization.
Personalize across all channels. The three components to keep in mind are targeted, segmented and personalized communication is what can enhance the customer experience.
Big Data in eCommerce
Big Data in eCommerce plays a pivotal role in using analytics for any business. And this is mostly done for customer retention. Loyal customers help to build your brand and big data helps you know who these loyal customers are and their purchasing behavior. Hence, you cannot let them go! And so, Big data is your go-to solution.
It refers to a heap of information that helps any business understand which of their product, their pricing strategy, or the advertising method helped to stay on top with profit maximization. Big data strives to be a key term used in modern marketing management.
Big Data helps to:
- Improve business strategy and enhances decisions
- Know customers and their actions better
- Helps to reduce unnecessary costs
- Gives a detailed analysis of your consumers
- Enhanced Customer service
- Helps to create a personalized shopping experience
- Paves the way for targetted and segmented marketing
Chatbots – The Latest eCommerce Trend
A chatbot is nothing but a software that stimulates interactions with a visitor on the eCommerce website. The software conducts a conversation live through mediums of text or speech.
Since everything is online, it acts as a guide to deliver what the customer is looking for. From navigating the website to answering their queries, a chatbot does it all. Chatbots have picked up its pace in recent years, however, one can date back to 1960 for its inception. Through a recent survey, it states that almost 80% of eCommerce business is either using or may use chatbots as a part of their eCommerce website strategy this year.
Well, the new eCommerce trend of conversing with the customers have few benefits. Here’s why you should make Chatbots a part of your eCommerce business strategy:
- Proactive
- Available all throughout
- Immediate Response
- Helps to in data collection and analysis
- Applied via various mediums
The Shift To Smartphone Shopping
Almost everyone has a smartphone, whether a teenager, a working adult, a Gen X, or a millennial. Having said this, one can state that smartphone shopping to have gained momentum in recent years. This encourages retailers to create a mobile-responsive and mobile-friendly eCommerce store.
In comparison to a decade ago, a shopper would either browse online or visit a store before making a purchase decision. Cut to 2020, if in doubt, the smartphone is a go-to assistant. Furthermore, the biggest advantage of using a smartphone is access. It can be accessed from anywhere, at any time, and at your own comfort through the internet.
Mobile has played an important role in product research. A customer, even if they do not want to shop online, they research online. After gathering the right inspiration, idea, and review the nature of the product along with its price, will then head off to the store. if not this, then they would prefer to shop online, it is that simple. the growth of application for eCommerce businesses too has brought a store to the customer’s store. All that the visitor needs to do is download the app and virtually explore the store in the comfort of their homes.
All a mobile-friendly eCommerce website needs to give the customers is quick information and mobile-friendly user experience. This helps to eliminate any barriers to a good shopping experience while generating profits.
Implementation Of eCommerce Trends
The 5 emerging eCommerce trends need to be watched out for in 2020. Although, these trends have already helped many businesses upscale their eCommerce game and stay ahead of the competition. if you haven’t incorporated these trends in your business yet, well, now is the right time.
With the rise in eCommerce shopping, eCommerce shipping has also boomed. And for this, Dash101, your one-stop shipping solution. With 8 carrier integrations and a reach across 26000+ pin codes across the country, Dash101 delivers to the remote boundaries of India. Also, the channel integration feature allows you to integrate your eCommerce store in just a few clicks, Hence, Dash101, is not just shipping, rather a business partner.
