It’s no secret how the world of eCommerce has grown exponentially over the last few years. The sector was in growth pre-Covid and the lock down pandemic simply added fuel to its trajectory – BOOM!
Intellectuals and research firms have been watching this sector closely and have identified emerging trends. These are fantastic at guiding our strategy as they teach manufacturers in the supply chain, what it is the e-Commerce sector is looking for. The reports are long (and quite dry in places) so we’ve summarised the top 4 key trends for you to digest at your leisure.
TREND 1 – PERSONALISATION
Without doubt, the number 1 trend!
Customers want to feel special and have the best possible experience. Personalisation helps with this and e-commerce personalisation starts on the channel the vendor is promoting on, and then selling their product. It’s the process of delivering personal experiences by dynamically showing content, product recommendations, and specific offers based on previous actions, browsing behaviour, purchase history, demographics, and other personal data.
Not only is this important for engaging shoppers but also to increase repeat purchases, drive sales and increase conversion.
Personalisation comes in many different forms, and vendors can choose to personalise as much as possible. We found out that 77%* of consumers have chosen, recommended, or paid more for a brand that provides a personalised service or experience! *Source: Forrester
Custom boxes and packaging are important branding tools for businesses today. For ecommerce companies, it’s a must-have!
A lot of brands today still stick with plain cardboard boxes to present their items. But having custom packaging makes brands stand out from the sea of boring boxes. The packaging really is just as important as what you put inside the box. We’ve got some great insight in our blog about the importance of first impressions. You Never Get a Second Chance to Make a First Impression
We worked with our client to create this stunning packaging for their jewellery items. On opening the box, the customer is met with a stunning and vibrant internal print. Printing internally ensures you have the opportunity to reflect your brand and create a real WOW factor!
TREND 2: TOTAL EXPERIENCE
This is a business strategy that integrates employee experience, customer experience, user experience, and multi-experience across multiple touchpoints to accelerate growth.
The key factor the researchers keep coming back to is experiences! The vendor’s customers demand a great experience and if they don’t get it, the competition is just a few clicks away.
That’s why the unboxing experience is so key. Getting the things right like printing inside and outside, making sure the values are reflected in the packaging i.e. if 100% plastic free is claimed; make sure Sellotape isn’t used to seal the packaging! Are too many types of filler used and can the packaging be designed to avoid these extra packing elements?
TREND 3: OMNICHANNEL TO THE MAX
No, this isn’t a new game consul or adrenaline ride at Alton Towers, an Omni-channel retail experience includes:
- brick-and-mortar stores
- app-based options
- online platforms
For instance, a clothing brand might sell its products on its website, app, Instagram’s “Shopping” tab, and Amazon, as well as brick-and-mortar stores.
But that’s not all because Trend number 3 is about taking the Omnichannel to the Max!
TREND 4: SHOPPABLE EMAILS
We’ve been doing lots of reading and the next trend to watch out for this year is Shoppable emails. This is a direct quote from Peter Sheldon, Senior Director of Commerce Strategy at Adobe:
“Shoppable emails will be a very interesting trend to watch in 2022. AMP-enabled email clients will unlock for the first time the ability to transact and complete a purchase directly in the context of the email client”
Peter Sheldon
This will potentially have a profound impact on the effectiveness of email marketing as a direct purchase channel, because buyers will no longer need to be redirected to the merchant’s website to complete the purchase.
The process of fulfilment will therefore need to be extra snappy to respond to an additional channel of purchase. Easy assembly packs and custom sized packaging are essential and avoid the need for fillers which slowdown the packing process.
TREND 5: DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER
Millennials do 60% of their shopping online and are accustomed to buying directly from brands. Therefore, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-Commerce platform is a great way for manufacturers to connect with these millennial buyers, enhance their customer experience, and collect data for product innovation, customer journey insights, and marketing purposes.
Buying direct “from the factory floor” means that by eliminating the middlemen, the product is instantly cheaper thus providing the buyer with higher margins. With D2C you can not only sell directly to consumers but also hear directly from them what they need. Manufacturers also want to know what drives their consumers and this D2C movement enables this to happen.
We hope you’ve found our 5 trends to contemplate and digest insightful and a good ready. In true research debrief style, we leave you with a list to click to and ponder on.
The Top 25 eCommerce Startups to Watch in 2022.
Great to see so many UK companies on there too!