The scene on the digital web is roaring. Social media is getting bigger; consumers have gone mobile more than ever. Consumers are embracing the web to do their shopping while entrepreneurs are busy hatching plans to launch their own businesses. The year 2013 is drawing to a close here are a few predictions related to ecommerce for 2014:
Always-on Commerce
Emarketer notes that online purchases are just a tap away. Smartphones is what they go to bed and then wake up the next morning with. Mobile alone will contribute to about 26% of US retail ecommerce sales by the year 2017. In the UK, this number is pegged to be at 24% of retail commerce sales and this number will be at 35% by 2017. Along with the rise in ecommerce generally, there’s also the spurt in m-commerce. Oh yes, you may add tablet commerce to it too.
Together, what do you think is going to be trend like? It’s “always on commerce” as the folks at eMarketer put it.
Social Media will drive ecommerce
Paul Chaney of Practical commerce wrote on social media makes an impact on ecommerce. According to Paul, Black Friday online sales this year touched a record $1.2 billion. According to another survey by Practical Ecommerce, a small percentage of this is contributed by social media.
But don’t underestimate social media for ecommerce yet. Google charted out the typical journey of online shoppers and it’s clear that social has a role to play it in.
Social media helps “assist” purchases online, directly influencing the “awareness”,“consideration”, and “Intent” stages of an online purchase
For 2014 and beyond, social will not only help “assist” but will drive more traffic to ecommerce stores. As usual, it’d help keep up the brand image, engage customers, build credibility, and invoke trust.
Go social, if you haven’t yet done so.
Multi-channel ecommerce will grow in prominence
For individual sellers on marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon, every cent counts. Ebay and Amazon – popular as they are – easily change the scope of profitability for small businesses and other ecommerce sellers even with a slight increase or decrease in their recurring dues, listing fees, etc. Dependence on any one platform can be disastrous for business.
That’s multi-channel selling is in. The rising popularity of several different marketplaces such as Etsy and the ability to set up shops easily and inexpensively on Shopify, for instance, will make it easier to launch your business across multiple platforms.
Scott Wingo on EcommerceBytes reveals that eBay makes up only for 25% of ecommerce. He insists on going “multi-channel” and leverage as many channels off digital marketing as you can.
Tomorrow, your products are bound to be all over the place. That is in addition to your own ecommerce store.
Create, converge, collaborate, engage, and sell
The digital marketing scene is changing as we write. Mobile is crucial but about 33% of Fortune 100 companies aren’t even ready for mobile yet, according to the folks from Pure Oxygen Labs. What does that have to do with you? Don’t be like one of those “too-large-to-make-changes-because-we-are-too-sloppy” companies.
Embrace mobile and make your ecommerce sites responsive. The marketplaces you might want to add to your list of active channels are already mobile ready.
Your success as an ecommerce seller, in the future, depends on how well you create content, how you manage to converge your multiple networks and channels, how you collaborate with others – all of this determines how (and how much) you’ll finally sell.
How do you want your 2014 to start off? What plans have you made for the New Year? What’s in store?