What Will The future of eCommerce Look Like
We’re still a long way away from transporting matter. However, the future of eCommerce will take on a high-tech appearance for us all. One of the best ways to understand where eCommerce is heading is to look at its history. 45% of eCommerce activity comes from mobile. 83% of eCommerce retailers manually input information & process orders. Businesses that want to survive in the future of eCommerce must understand facts like these and how they can improve them, if at all.
The Emergence of B2B eCommerce
More and more e-commerce platforms serving business to business needs are popping up. It seems every country has their version of a B2B eCommerce marketplace. Imagine an Amazon that only sells products and services to businesses. For the past few years, this concept has been helping suppliers, vendors, and buyers come together in one easy to maneuver space.
However, more recently, times have called for a greater reliance on digital platforms such as these. This greater shift from the offline world into the online world has stimulated a renewed interest in B2B eCommerce. It can be as small as finding a commercial cleaning service to cleaning your office or as large as an enterprise organization sourcing wholesale Chinese merchandise. B2B eCommerce platforms have taken an inclusive approach to help increase convenience.
It would help to be prepared for this coming shift towards a reliance on B2B eCommerce. Do you find yourself with a quality product or service to offer? B2B eCommerce platforms can be a great place to find new growth. Just like consumers, businesses also need many of the same supplies and conveniences.
Eco-Friendly Products Will Outperform Non-Recyclable Goods
Many brands and organizations have understood the importance of having a strong social message. Whether it’s supporting the rainforest, fighting pollution or protecting the polar bears, shoppers love to see a portion of the profits going towards environmentally sustainable objectives. This is a growing trend that has never gone away. The eCommerce of tomorrow will undoubtedly make having a social message a priority.
As the world shifts away from environmentally damaging materials and processes, a green revolution is taking over. More electric cars are showing up on the road, solar and wind energy is reaching more and more users, and household consumer product manufacturers are ditching the plastic for more sustainable materials.
With e-commerce globally bringing in trillions of dollars, the industry overall has an obligation in helping preserve the planet. More and more eCommerce giants have recognized this and are making changes to promote sustainable products above all else.
Additionally, everyday consumers prefer to engage with products and solutions that fit their philosophical beliefs. Whether it’s wholesale Chinese products or USA grown goods is not important. What matters is how it’s quality and production positively or negatively impacts the world. Those products with a positive message will always win in the eCommerce of tomorrow.
Automation Will Dominate Everything
The topic of eCommerce automation is a broad subject that encompasses many different things. It stretches into global supply chain logistics, warehousing, and even the sales of products.
When thinking about eCommerce automation, it’s perfect to start with a goal in mind. What is your objective? Do you want to reach more prospective buyers, are you looking to speed up your order processing times, are you struggling with inventory management and need an automated system to help you there. First uncover what your greatest need is before trying to understand how eCommerce automation can help you.
Now that you know what your business needs, you can start finding automated solutions designed for that specific task. As an example, if you were looking for an automated way to reach more buyers, you could look at how robotic business processes can help in email marketing and other areas.
Automations of all sorts are dominating the landscape of business right now. It would help to dive deep into a little bit of what makes automation so special and how you can leverage it to your advantage. Businesses that ride the wave of automation today will do much better in the future of eCommerce tomorrow.
Consumers Demand Personalization
The days of mass-producing thousands of products every day to be stored in stores are over. Customers are demanding more personalization in their lives. Personalization trends can get as specific as the individual or as broad as the county.
Apparel was the first industry hit by the personalization demand from consumers. In today’s apparel industry, you can order a customized article of clothing directly from the manufacturer and have it arrive in your door within 24 hours. This level of personalization is slowly but surely working its way into every facet of the eCommerce industry
You can expect the future of eCommerce to be dominated by suppliers offering each customer a way to personalize their products. It’s already happening in other areas and it will soon become mainstream with eCommerce.
eCommerce Expands Across All Devices
Traditionally eCommerce platforms maintained a presence on desktop and mobile devices. It wasn’t until the past few years that the mobile eCommerce experience became the dominant experience. It’s not just because people primarily utilize their smartphones to engage online. It’s also because the mobile experience has become so optimized and convenient in comparison.
The future of eCommerce is looking at how to expand across the new world of IoT. Things like voice-activated control centers, wearable technology, and other innovative devices offer eCommerce platforms a way to expand. Currently companies like Amazon, Google, and others are racing to develop a full-proof way to utilize voice to engage in eCommerce.
There are some systems available right now that allow you to make Amazon purchases with only your voice and nothing else. In the future, we can expect this to expand deeply into other areas of our lives. Imagine having the power to order products and supplies using your voice from the car or even wi-Fi. As more and more innovative devices are developed, eCommerce innovators will adapt to them.
Western CountriesDon’t Have a Monopoly on eCommerce Anymore
In the beginning, it was primarily American and European companies that dominated the eCommerce landscape. Today’s market is increasingly international. Many countries like China, South Korea, and others have eCommerce markets worth trillions.
As the world shifts into an incredibly more digitized way of living, other countries are experiencing their eCommerce boom one by one. While larger and more developed nations have already been through the grand unveiling and extreme popularity of purchasing products online, other countries are just going through that now.
The future of eCommerce looks incredibly even more internationally diverse than it currently is. With more and more nations still developing their internet infrastructure, we can look forward to countries not relying on foreign vendors to provide the products they need. As an example, as the tech revolution booms through Nigeria, more and more Nigerian eCommerce retailers are offering the products that Nigerians want. This unintentionally helps push forward another growing sentiment; The demand for local products versus overseas merchandise.
eCommerce Marketing Takes An Offline Approach
Currently, there is a revolution of hyper-localized marketing taking place. Brands and organizations are giving up the large national marketing campaigns in favor of local specific regionally targeted advertising. This has caused eCommerce retail marketing to take a more off-line than online image.
Brick and mortar stores as well, have begun offering their online discounts and promotions in-store. You’ll find that many companies around the world utilize physical square footage to promote eCommerce activities. This offers us a shining example of how secure the future of eCommerce is.
Additionally, completely digital brands that don’t have a physical presence are starting to take a lean offline approach to advertise. By specifically targeting regions with local offline promotional techniques, they can stimulate a controlled purchasing of their products almost instantaneously.
A campaign like that could look like a partnership with a local church, a special offer for the students, an advertisement in a duty-free airline magazine, or any other targeted off-line form of advertising. The main objective would be to utilize your available data and insights to determine which regions and populations are more likely to purchase your products.
Independent Fulfillment Centers
While we don’t expect to see independent Amazon sized fulfillment centers popping up. We do look forward to an expansion of independent fulfillment centers helping brick and mortar stores manage eCommerce orders. Certain multinational chains like Target, Walmart, and others have large eCommerce needs. To help offload some of the fulfillment responsibility, they can contract with third-party fulfillment companies willing to take on the task.
As we move into the future of e-commerce, you can expect to see more independent fulfillment centers offering their services around the world. The industry has been slightly on the rise. While giant companies like Amazon and eBay maintain their advanced fulfillment centers, smaller companies with less capital could find great use from working with independent fulfillment centers.
Video Is King
Nothing captivates the attention of a viewer more than video. It’s better than a picture and more engaging than a soundbite. A video offers an immersive experience people can relate to. The use of video in selling products is nothing new. Many e-commerce platforms have always allowed you to upload videos for the benefit of your consumers.
This will require the sophisticated skills of an experienced videographer. While it is possible to go at it alone, you don’t want to risk your reputation with unprofessional videos. It takes a lot of trust to build up respect. Don’t waste it in the blink of an eye.
Professionally crafted videos, incorporating local influencers, and other value-added resources are tactics on the rise. Therefore, it’s completely understandable for experts to expect video to dominate the future of e-commerce marketing.
One of the ways agencies take advantage of video is by collaborating with other non-competing brands. Creating a joint video between two products will enhance each other's added value for the customer. Whether you combine two products sourced from wholesale Chinese suppliers or locally produced goods, you stand to benefit greatly. It’s really easy to spot those companies doing video right just. Look through sponsored advertisements on TikTock to see some of the most innovative video content around.
Is The Future of Ecommerce Worth Investing In?
The answer to this question is undoubtedly yes. Certain things in the world never depreciate and always appreciate. Assets like real estate, vintage cars, and a few other markets always seem to grow in value. eCommerce is one of those industries that have never shown a decline in growth.
As technology develops and populations grow larger, it’s extremely natural for eCommerce figures to grow with them. As an integral part of the way we live and do business as a society, everyone from the elderly to internationally based businesses and beyond can find a solution from eCommerce. It’s about more than delivering products through the internet. It’s about solutions that make our lives easier. For this reason, the future of eCommerce looks as bright as a midday's sun.
