The Fast and Furious Future of eCommerce
By Christopher Knapp, VP of Global Strategic Alliances for Salesforce at Visionet
Despite the global pandemic taking a massive hit on many brick and mortar retail businesses worldwide, the future of eCommerce looks brighter than ever. Retailers are feverishly transitioning to online selling platforms, while fresh entrepreneurs are kick-starting new D-to-C ventures online.
By 2022, online retail revenue will grow from $3.53 trillion to over $6.54 trillion. Modern Commerce and OMS platforms from leading cloud providers such as Salesforce are increasingly being adopted by businesses worldwide to manage their orders better and satisfy customers all while maintaining profit margins.
Six eCommerce Trends to Watch
Understanding the potential of global eCommerce tools is clearly the current zeitgeist, but it’s even more crucial to be aware of coming future trends to stay at the top of your game. Let’s shed light on some eCommerce predictions for 2021 that can “future-proof” your business:
1. Omnichannel and Social Commerce
According to an HBR survey, 73% of the participants admit to using multiple channels for shopping. As voice assistants gain more momentum this year, the number of demanding omnichannel customers is expected to rise. Any website, online store, and other social media platforms need to be well-optimized for multiple customer experience channels.
2. Rise of Multiple Payment Options
Customers prefer stores that offer multiple payment options at checkout. Lack of seamless payment options has an adverse impact on sales at checkout. Along with traditional debit and credit card options, digital wallets, including Apple Pay, GooglePay, and PayPal are becoming widely accepted by most online stores and are no longer simply a “nice-to-have”. During this next half-decade, cryptocurrency (e.g. Bitcoin) could also become a trusted source of digital currency.
3. Mobile-First eCommerce
With an exponential increase in remote customers, total eCommerce sales by mobile are expected to reach 72.9%. Moreover, 30% of online shoppers choose to abandon their cart if the website is not rendering properly on their mobile phones. To ensure continuous and consistent growth of your eBusiness, make sure your website is seamlessly compatible with mobile, and your customers enjoy a rich UX for their shopping.
4. Dynamic Pricing Boosts Sales
Inaccurate product prices are one of the factors behind the decrease in sales. To boost sales and earn maximum profit, you must price your products dynamically. By leveraging Dynamic Pricing software, you can gather real-time insights into market prices, product demand, and supposed product value.
5. Integrated Online Stores with Voice Assistance
Virtual assistant Al technologies, such as Alexa, Cortana, and Google Home, are already establishing a firm position in the market. To be more convenient, Google and Amazon have built-in regional languages in their virtual assistant devices, which gives them an edge over the others.
According to a report by OC&C, over $40 billion will be spent on voice shopping by 2022. Retailers, who wish to flourish in this new realm, should start laying out strategies to integrate voice assistants into their online stores.
6. Augmented Reality (AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Enhance Customer Experiences
To enable a convenient, customized, and enriched shopping experience and customer journey, online retailers are expected to spend $7.3 billion on AI by 2022. For instance, for fashion and apparel retailers, AR allows potential customers to view how a product would look on them before making the final purchase, whereas AI helps recommend products to customers based on their purchase history, browsing behavior, and wishlists. A smart combination of AR and AI helps retailers boost conversions and decrease returns.
Modernize your eCommerce business with Salesforce Commerce Cloud
So how do I make this all this work? Modern Commerce and OMS platforms from leading cloud providers such as Salesforce are increasingly being adopted by businesses worldwide to manage their orders better and satisfy customers all while maintaining profit margins.
Salesforce Commerce Cloud received the highest possible scores from Forrester in areas crucial to customer success, market presence, personalization, artificial intelligence, business intelligence & analytics, and ecosystem. Innovative enterprise cloud eCommerce solutions are transforming retail, and empowering brands to do more, grow faster and more efficiently.
Forrester notes, “As legacy technology becomes outdated and less effective, improved evaluation criteria will dictate which providers will lead the pack. Vendors that can provide a better shopping experience with efficient business user interfaces and operational excellence position themselves to successfully help their clients grow revenue, deepen customer loyalty, and expand into new markets.”
· Salesforce’s new Storefront Reference Architecture empowers retailers to create rich shopping experiences quickly and easily
· Unleash the potential of omnichannel customer experience and boost your conversions
· Analyze data and gather valuable insights from Salesforce CRM Customer 360 platform to boost customer experience
· Introduce multiple checkout options to optimize the checkout experience for your customers
· Leverage Salesforce Loyalty Management to nurture brand loyalty by providing post-purchase support
Conclusion
If you wish to run a successful business in 2021 and beyond, the latest eCommerce trends are an imperative. Design your strategies around Mobile, Omnichannel, Voice, AR/AI, etc.
The fast and furious future of selling is here to stay, if you want to be a part of it, get in touch with our eCommerce experts at Visionet today.