What is the Future of Ecommerce?
Since Amazon sold its first book in 1995, ecommerce has completely revolutionised the retail landscape. The key to that revolution has always been consumer convenience. Products could now come to buyers instead of vice versa, saving buyers time, money, and effort with just the click of a button. In the beginning, ecommerce rapidly supplanted the high street because of the way it could adapt to consumer needs in a way that the latter simply could not.
Here at Allegro Logistics, we are experts in ecommerce fulfilment. We help businesses of all shapes and sizes achieve a seamless integration to provide pick and pack fulfilment solutions from our warehouses bases outside of Bristol. It’s through this success that we can better understand the trajectory of ecommerce.
In today’s post, our team have used this principle to construct an informed and comprehensive overview of the industry’s future trends.
The Ecommerce Market
In 2021, the total value of ecommerce purchases globally was estimated to be $4,921 trillion. This is expected to grow to almost $7,500 trillion by 2025.
But what constitutes consumer convenience has always been changeable, due largely to developments in technology. And so, ecommerce companies have had to remain flexible to compete with one another and those who don’t adapt to consumer convenience suffering the same fate as the high street retailers of the 20th century.
When conducting the cost benefit analysis of a potential strategy, businesses should keep in mind that its true worth lies in the knowledge that if you don’t put the effort in, then another business will. And the consumer, as they always have, will take their money to the business that appears to best facilitate their convenience.
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Future Ecommerce Trends
Rise in Mobile Shopping
Mobile shopping allows customers the freedom to order products and services while on the go – an increasingly important convenience in a busy society in which smartphone ownership is becoming ever more integral. With just a simple click, people can place orders while on the bus, at the airport, at a friend’s house, et cetera. If your company does not have an app – or at the very least a web page that functions well on mobile devices, then you are missing out on a vast revenue stream.
The Expanded Use of Chatbots
As technology enhances the capacity for convenience, consumer expectation increases and patience decreases. Chatbots can help consumers to navigate your website, resolve problems, and make enquiries. By providing the consumer with this resource, you reduce confusion (thereby saving sales) and ultimately streamline the sales process. Advances in chatbot software will see them become more intuitive, more personalised, and more varied in their responses.
Augmented Reality Looks Set to Transform the Way We Shop
There are certain products – such as clothing items for example – that buyers still prefer to purchase in person to better assess their future use. AR (Augmented Reality) looks set to negate that advantage, allowing consumers to visualise the implementation of products on their phones.
For example, consumers shopping for a bookcase can point their camera at the corner of their bedroom and AR will display the bookcase as a 3D overlay, perfectly to scale, on the screen. People will be able to try on clothes, see how furniture fits into their available space, or assess how well a new carpet looks against the rest of the room, all from the comfort their mobile devices.
You can even interact with the items, dragging the bookcase into different positions on your screen. This technology, which is currently snowballing in momentum, will allow consumers the freedom to make more informed decisions – reducing the anxiety they might feel about whether a particular product will look, function, or fit the way they hope when it arrives. This will also incentivise consumers to opt for ecommerce sites rather than their retail competitors, as they will now be able to get the benefit of trying or applying a product without having to go to the store.
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The Continued Growth of Voice Searching
As the amount of people owning smart speakers increases, so too does the number of consumers searching for products with voice inputs. Voice searches only yield the top few results in search engines, meaning that those companies that don’t invest in speech-compatibility for their platforms will inevitably fall behind those that do. The rise of voice searching is another example of the consumer desire for expediency and a variety of options.
Delivery Drones Will Roam the Skies
Automated delivery drones have already seen widespread investment and testing by the likes of Amazon and UPS. The use of drones to distribute products to consumers holds many benefits for the ecommerce industry. They are faster, safer, and less prone to error – all of which greatly increase customer satisfaction. They’re also much better for the environment – a factor that is growing in significance for consumers and which ecommerce companies cannot afford to ignore.
Shopping on Social Media Will Become Mainstream
This is one that is already widely popular in Asia and which trend forecasters predict is an inevitability in the West. In Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia, social media ecommerce has already overtaken physical retail in popularity. It makes sense – consumers are already on social media all the time; rather than directing them to another website to make their purchase, why not simply let them purchase from your company’s social media platform?
Once again, the underlying strategy is one of convenience- streamlining the customer’s experience. It should also be said that social media ecommerce expands your company’s ability to make use of influencers, whom you can partner with to market and sell your product. Consumers are following them already – and the less clicks between them seeing your product and purchasing it, the greater the likelihood of a sale.
High Quality Ecommerce Fulfilment with Allegro Logistics
At Allegro Logistics, we pride ourselves on our forward-thinking approach to ecommerce and the innovative solutions we offer our clients. Our state-of-the-art, integrated warehouse system provides businesses with seamless order fulfilment and real-time inventory reporting. Whether you need bespoke marketing projects or fast, hassle-free distribution of your goods, efficiency is the guiding principle of what we do.
For more information about the ways Allegro can help to grow your business, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our friendly staff today.
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