3 Trends That Will Define eCommerce In 2022

2021 was full of changes and challenges for every business online. If businesses weren’t trying to transition to being online, they were working through opening the doors again to their customers. With these digital transformations getting better and business owners becoming more well-equipped, 2022 will be the year for prioritizing customer experiences to gain and maintain momentum along with adding a competitive edge.

Today we’ll be breaking down 3 major eCommerce trends you should be keeping an eye on for 2022 that will dramatically change your business marketing & customer experience. No matter the size of your business or niche, it is imperative to refresh your marketing strategy often. Cultivating the eCommerce ecosystem in your company has been made easy as long as you invest in your current marketing areas. Today, let us help you navigate through these trends.

Multiple selling and payment options

We’ve seen it time and time again; customers demanding more than one way to pay for their desired products. As the digital market grows, it’s crucial your business grows alongside it. A great way to dramatically change your business marketing & customer’s experience is through multiple selling & payment options. What do we mean exactly? It’s not simply about a credit or debit card, but realizing that your customers will have different methods of paying and broadening your streams of income at the same time will essentially expand your business globally.

Consider providing interest-free financing solutions like buy now, pay later, or even 1-click payment options. These continue to grow and appeal to shoppers globally. These options bring flexibility not only to your business but also to customers, knowing that they could potentially buy more of your product with more options. A greater sales turnaround comes from customers’ trust for companies that offer more than one way to pay. Truthfully, if you have their option, they have the money for it. Let’s look at some options that are growing faster each day and setting a president for international companies:

Monthly subscriptions

A recent study has shown that 70% of business leaders say subscription business models will be the glue to their prospects in the years ahead. Customers want something reliable and high in quality. They find that typically in subscription boxes. This can potentially build your brand as your loyal customers will connect with you and your products and be more inclined to become ambassadors. Subscriptions look like anything from masterclasses to TV/Movie providers for service-based businesses. No matter what niche, it all has value.

Live chat

Live chat customer service can help convert your website visitors into customers. We see businesses integrating a live chat feature into their website to make it effortless for customers to buy products. This allows interaction with customers in real-time to cater to what they’re looking for from your brand. Many small businesses have been experimenting with chat apps like Facebook Messenger, and with Bookmark, you can easily add a live chat feature to your website! Start allowing customers to engage with your business and get recommendations alongside making purchases. 

Mobile sales

As the world adjusts more to the life that COVID has left us in, selling via mobile has been on an all-time high. By 2025, more than 10% of all retail sales in the United States alone is expected to be generated via mobile commerce. To keep up with this trend, your business will need to ensure an accessible & engaging experience for your mobile shoppers. Providing push notifications, SMS alerts, high-quality mobile content, and optimized website content will retain your mobile clientele. 

An omnichannel strategy is necessary

To dramatically change your business marketing & customer experience this year, it is crucial to have a strategy in place for omnichannel marketing. For any new business owners reading today’s blog, omnichannel is basically having a seamless integration of the various channels used to interact with consumers to create a consistent brand experience. This can include physical stores and, of course, digital websites as well.

This strategy will guarantee quality service to your customers and provide them with convenient buying options, rather than losing a client to a competitor or not getting insights into the purchase path. Consider a potential customer visiting your website only to find your eCommerce storefront as the only option to purchase from. It could cause a break between trusted online buying options like brick-and-mortar stores to choose from. 

This can frustrate your customers and subsequently leave them going to your competitors. The question will arise whether or not the customer opted to buy the product from their favourite retailer, or, alternatively, did they decide to buy a competitor’s product instead? Now, you’re left in the dark and will potentially have a spike in your bounce rate percentage. This is the type of situation we should be avoiding.

Ideally, omnichannel will continue to expand in 2022. Today’s shoppers value convenience above all else. Hoping to strive as an eCommerce business without omnichannel options often leads to your brand missing out on sales and valuable insights.

However, studies showed just in 2021, companies with strong omnichannel customer engagement saw a 9.5% rise in annual revenue. An omnichannel strategy eases the customer’s journey from touch-point to touch-point, guaranteeing they make their purchase from whichever channel suits them best.

Take your visuals to another level

Navigating through significant trends in 2022 also takes some open-minded and creative business owners. Dramatically improving your business marketing strategies & customer experience requires thinking outside the box. How could one do that, you ask? Think about how many times you’ve seldom used product photos. Simple and familiar to everyone else, right?

Here is how you can take advantage of visual commerce:

• Change your default products from JPG/PNG to a WebP format to improve quality and loading speed
• Implement more 360-degree images or videos of your top-selling products
• Invest in a visual search tool to allow customers to search for products using images
• Ensure you’re repurposing user-generated content on your product pages to boost conversion rate
• Leverage visual shopping ads on social media apps like Pinterest to drive traffic to your website and increase sales
• Don’t be afraid to use QR tagging to connect and blend offline and online content 

Psychologically, videos have a higher engagement when it comes to visuals rather than photos. So these will essentially be a driving force for marketing your products and attracting new customers. A great way to use this trend and tool would be to create and place videos both on your social media and in crucial sections of your website. (Such as your homepage, about page, or product pages). 

A few ideas would be to create unboxing videos, tutorials, explainers, and any popular #hashtag content that can resonate with customers and provide excitement for them to buy your products. Customers love feeling a part of their favourite stores on and offline. Make sure they get that and more from your business.

For more ways to convert your website visitors into loyal customers, check out this blog!

To wrap things up…

Refreshing and reforming your business will always consist of adding new trends and experimenting with them. These 3 significant trends are not going anywhere anytime soon. Having monthly subscriptions, voice assistance, and more mobile eCommerce opens your business to more flexibility. This gives a high turnaround in traffic and sales.

With a 9.5% rise in annual revenue, omnichannel strategies will continue to expand throughout 2022. Providing your customer with the journey from touch-point to touch-point guarantees they make their purchase from whichever channel best suits them. While creating more high-quality visual-generated content takes your business to the next level through inclusion. Having video tutorials, explainers, and interactive content help round out your customer’s experience with your brand.

At the end of the day, these trends and tools will help you stick out among your competitors and keep your conversion rates up. We want to leave you with the fact that we at Bookmark.com are here to help you stay on top of all trends and help your business as a startup founder or entrepreneur with our all-in-one website solution. Next week, check us out for moretips & tricks in the eCommerce world.