Every new year brings excitement and new possibilities, and new year’s also bring new trends to the world of ecommerce. COVID-19 and the scarcity it has brought along with it has had a massive impact on online retailers, and brands need to stay relevant and up to date. We believe that these ecommerce trends will help you keep your foothold on your market in the coming year.
We’ve included our top four ecommerce trends to look for in 2022 below. These are definitely not the only trends to look out for in 2022, but we narrowed our list down to the four we feel will have the biggest impact on online retailers.
Increased AI Use
As an online retailer, you know the value of a personalized experience for your shoppers. In fact, Epsilon research indicates 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when they’re offered a personalized experience. But how do you create that personalized experience? Increasingly, retailers are turning to Artificial intelligence.
AI’s machine learning can do more than any number of human brains could possibly do for your retail website. With its constant collection of data and ability to group that data into meaningful segments, AI gives you what you need to create a more personalized experience for your shoppers.
Whether you’d like to serve up relevant promotions or encourage shoppers to pick up where they left off, or suggest an item that is complementary to one they have in their cart, AI can help provide the necessary data to make those determinations. Technologies like AI-Generated Content in E-commerce allow for highly personalized shopping experiences by leveraging customer data and predictive analytics. Incorporating AI Product Photography and Virtual Try-On Technology can further enhance the user experience, making it more engaging and tailored to individual preferences. Implementing conversion optimization techniques can also help to refine these personalized strategies, ensuring higher engagement and improved sales outcomes.
AI Personalization Examples
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming personalization across various industries, particularly in e-commerce. By leveraging AI, companies can analyze extensive customer data to create tailored shopping experiences that meet individual preferences and behaviors. For example, AI-driven recommendation engines suggest products based on a customer’s past purchases and browsing history, enhancing customer satisfaction and boosting sales. AI also aids in dynamic pricing, personalized marketing, and customer service automation, providing a seamless and engaging shopping journey.
To explore more about how AI personalization is revolutionizing e-commerce, check out ai personalization ecommerce examples. This resource offers in-depth insights into practical applications of AI in personalizing the e-commerce experience, providing valuable information for businesses looking to enhance their digital strategies.
Highly Optimized Websites to Maximize Conversions
Just like fashion trends, online shoppers’ buying habits and behaviors change on a regular basis. Therefore, you need to routinely test your retail site to ensure it’s highly optimized to bring in as many conversions as possible.
The easiest way to do this? A/B testing. We’re not saying test out two different colors for an ‘Add to Cart’ button for a week and call it a day. If you really want to stay ahead, you need to be testing out various elements (headlines, font color, font size, button placement, layout, etc.) to find what combinations produce the best results with your shoppers.
There are easy-to-use tools available (Google Optimize, Optimizely, VWO to name just a few) that your team can utilize to start testing out various elements. However, since you don’t want to test multiple elements at the same time (how will you know what actually performed better?) you’ll want to continually test to find the overall best experience for your shoppers. Factors such as site speed optimization can also play a significant role in improving conversions by enhancing user experience and reducing page load times.
And then, when you add new features to your site, you’ll want to make sure you test them as well. Maybe you add on the ability to choose from various payment methods, you’ll want to make sure new and returning shoppers are aware of this. Test out where on the page layout you notify shoppers, what the font color is, at what point in the buying journey is it shared with them, etc.
Increase in Mobile Shopping
This has been a trend for the last few years and it isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. According to Statista.com, mobile shoppers accounted for 52.4% of ecommerce sales in 2016. Fast forward to 2021 and mobile shoppers accounted for 72.9% of ecommerce sales.
On one hand, yes, there are more mobile devices in more hands now. Everyone from teens to grandmothers probably owns at least one mobile device. However, in addition to the increase in devices, is the improvement in functionality on mobile devices.
Gone are the days of staring at your phone as the blue bar at the top slowly made its way from left to right as the page loaded (unless you’re in the middle of the desert with no reception). And the designers of mobile devices have done their research to find out what size and design people are most comfortable with and, therefore, more likely to use than their desktop. Not to mention increased consumer confidence regarding buying online as a result of the pandemic.
In order to keep up with the improved functionality of mobile devices, you need to make sure your retail site is mobile responsive. Click here to learn more about responsive web design and how it can affect the perception and performance of your brand.
Multiple Payment Options to Reduce Abandoned Shopping Carts
Are you monitoring your shopping cart abandonment rate? Truelist reports that the global average rate of cart abandonment is 75.6%. As you digest that statistic, consider that implementing Gen Z consumer engagement strategies, including offering multiple payment options, can help address this issue. Understanding the preferences of your Gen Z audience and providing alternative payment methods can significantly reduce cart abandonment rates and boost conversions.
We would also suggest tracking whether the shopper was on a mobile device or desktop because Truelist also reports the average abandonment rate on mobile phones is even higher at 85.65%. If you’re not already tracking your retail site’s cart abandonment rate it’s time you start.
While these statistics may seem staggering, one of the ecommerce trends we’ll see in 2022 is the increased availability of multiple payment options which can greatly influence your shopping cart abandonment rate. One of the major factors at play in this trend is the age of your audience, something else you should be tracking if you’re not already.
A survey by Paysafe found Gen Z shoppers vary their payment options more often than Gen X shoppers. In fact, when comparing each age demographic from Gen Z to Baby Boomers, Gen Z and Millennials were comparable in regards to awareness of alternative payment options. If your retail website caters to a Gen Z or Millennial audience, alternative payment methods may soon become a necessity to compete at all.
The most popular payment methods today are:
- Google Pay
- Apple Wallet
- PayPal
- Payoneer
- Credit cards (traditional and contactless)
- Stripe
- Cryptocurrencies
While we’re not claiming to be psychics, nor do we have a crystal ball giving us a glimpse of the future, we’re confident these are trends ecommerce brands will be seeing in 2022 and continue to be on the rise in the years to come. No one likes getting left behind, but when it comes to your retail website, you really need to keep up with these ecommerce trends. Because there’s a good chance your competitors will be.
