eCommerce isn’t just changing, it’s changing at an exponential rate. It wasn’t too long ago that online marketing was the exception. But with the continual growth of eCommerce we are understanding the future of this sector. In this article, we’ll discuss the top future eCommerce trends in 2018 and beyond.

1. Multi-Channel eCommerce

Customers prefer shopping at eCommerce stores offering close to in-store experiences. Multiple shopping channels becoming the popular future eCommerce trends. The main reason for this popularity is it strays from the regular sales website and offers products through a multi-merchant system. The cool part of this system is that they only need to make a single payment at the end.

Social media is playing a vital role in multi-channel eCommerce system like never before. People are spending a lot of time in various social media platforms and looking something that are interesting. They are sharing experiences to gain a high ground for sales conversions.

2. OmniChannel Personalization

Omnichaneel means combining the ability to understand how an individual interacts with a brand in all channels, with the ability to act on that understanding by customizing their experience across every touchpoint. “Omnichannel personalization” refers to both the capacity to collect information with interaction and the ability to deploy it no matter where the interaction takes place, for a consistent and contextually informed customer experience.

With the increase of mobile device activity, expert are expecting that omnichannel will also increase. According to expertise, eCommerce will reach $523 billion over the next five years. As the digital and physical shopping worlds further develop, the click-and-brick, and click-and-mortar business model emphasizes hybridization over completely switching to digital.

3. eCommerce Drone for Faster Delivery

The most exciting breakthroughs in future eCommerce trends is drone delivery which already in testing stage. This promises an exciting transition from next-day, same-day, and even two-hour and one-hour delivery or even less from the time the order is placed.  Drones will be sent out from distribution centers and travel directly to the delivery addresses provided with significantly lower cost and logistical hassle. Amazon already seriously close to making this a reality across the entirety of their business and Walmart is going to follow suit as quickly as possible.

4. Beacon Technology

Another future eCommerce trends which will blast very soon is beacon technology. The invention of beacon technology brings the online experience to offline shopping. Apple debut this technology in 2013. According to the prediction of Global Market Insights beacon technology market is set to surpass $25 billion by 2024.

For those who have no idea about beacon technology we we’ll inform you what is this technology? Beacons are small, wireless transmitters that use low-energy Bluetooth technology to send signals to other nearby smart devices. The technology works even when your phone or tablet keeps searching for a beacon. Physical stores can implement physical beacons in the shops, so once someone walks in, their phone accepts the beacon signal and provides something like a promotion.

5. Popup ads as email marketing

Though consumer hate pop up. But it the last few months it has made a huge comeback and becoming the future eCommerce trends. According to Statista, 96.27 percent visitors leaves websites without successful transaction. A majority of these customers will never come back. But you can convince these visitors to come back later. For that purpose you need to have the email address of those customers. To turn that visitors into subscribers you can use pop up.

6. High Quality Images and Video Content for eCommerce Engagement

High quality images and videos are becoming the emerging trends for future eCommerce. Many eCommerce designers are putting focus on large images and videos. The main reason why people follow brands on social media is live videos. Video contents are so powerful that they can increase your sales as well as your site traffic. Now the most trending videos are shortly explained videos with products features.

7. Chatbots and AI for virtual sales

Chatboats powered by AI is another trends of future eCommerce. A chatbot is a kind of software that is powered by AI to hold conversations with human users. These interactions are mostly text-based, but through the conversational interfaces, they can occur vocally as well.

Some companies have been testing on chatbots. Many Facebook-based eCommerce store also use some chatbot functionalities to answer FAQs or facilitate transactions. Since it is easy to set up, we can expect a steady increase in use and overall good adoption from smaller business to medium.

AI assistants can handle a huge number of tasks that you can assign to a human, such as managing inventory or handling inquiries. These digital assistants can save your time to focus on running your business.

8. Mobile shopping is the new normal

The mobile buying customers are increasing in every quarter. According to the study by Statista, worldwide mobile sales trail desktop by over one trillion dollars and mobile conversion rates are less than half than desktop. So, don’t waste your time to modify your eCommerce site to make it mobile friendly.

9. Run Flash Sales

Some big companies like Gilt Groupe, Groupon, Fab and more are using Flash sales method to excite their audience. There’s something magical about showing your fans and followers that they only have 24 hours to get their attractive products.

If your site has huge traffic, you have a great chance of selling out of your flash sales offer.

10. Drop shipping

Now a days Drop shipping is an extremely popular business model for new entrepreneurs. It’s possible to start a drop shipping business in eCommerce with limited funds.

This eCommerce business model is very easy to start, involves less risk and has many advantages:

• You’re only going to buy the product after a customer places an order into your store
• You don’t have to spend money on keeping inventory
• You’ll have low overhead costs

According to the Merchant eCommerce report out of 450 online stores, 16.4% were using drop shipping in 2018.

Businesses using this model experienced an average revenue growth of 32.7% and an average conversion rate of 1.74%.

This platform connects you with verified suppliers from all over the world and making it much easier to find products to sell.

Conclusion

The eCommerce industry is growing dynamically every year. Pay attention to all the above mentioned eCommerce trends to keep the business up-to-date.