What to Expect From E-Commerce in the Next 12 Months?
The previous year didn’t turn out to be how we have all expected. The rising COVID -19 situations affected us in every way possible, whether its communication, socializing, or business.
Every little ordinary task of our life was disturbing. And that was the last well-needed push for all of us to turn our attention to the benefits of remote shopping aka e-commerce.
That’s why 2020 turned out to be in the favor of e-commerce businesses. And even though some time has passed, the COVID has not taken a seat back.
Under these rising and falling COVID circumstances, the online business trend is massively accelerated. It packed years of e-commerce growth in a year.
Millions of existing e-commerce businesses were forced to invest in their online e-commerce channels or websites. Those who were not remote also had to go online for the first time.
The demand for customers is still shifting in 2021, and e-commerce has provided the ease of getting everything right in front of our doorstep.To reach a whopping five trillion dollars (USD) in sales in 2022 is the expectation of this industry.
Furthermore, to give you a better picture of what’s happening on the ground, I have gathered some of the notable E-commerce trends. This collection will best describe the future of e-commerce in the next 12 months.
After you are done reading this article, you should be able to use these insights to better manage or build your online business.
Privacy Improvements Will Make User Tracking Harder
The last year turned out to be the last holiday of the third-party cookies. Now the enterprises must address the dreaded upcoming “cookie apocalypse”.
Following the lead of many browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari has prohibited third-party cookies. Google has also targeted 2022 to be the decline phase to cookies from Google Chrome as well.
These changes will cause a drastic and major shift in many retail e-commerce business growth strategies. Their advertisement will take a hit due to limited tracking.
In turn, the enterprises have to focus on the way to understand their existing clients better and aim to extend their relations and optimize their long-term value.
Digital Direct-to-Consumer Connection Will Become Even More Critical
The global pandemic has affected daily life for the most part. But it hit the out-of-the-home advertisement the hardest. After the fall of the era of public advertisement, the question arises that where did the ad spend go? Well, the answer is easy and simple: it went digital.
Mobile ad spend has scored more than 75% year-on-year. Social media rose to 50% year-on-year at the peak of the holiday season. The big platform players, such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and TikTok, saw a sharp rise in ad revenue.
As the pandemic has lasted till almost half of 2021, paid digital media spend won’t go down. Retailers might still prioritize paid search advertisements that can reach customers without creating organic content.
A Return to In-Store Dominance in E-commerce?
The sudden rush of online shopping with lockdown providing the perfect catalyst to the situation has made an incredible mark on brick-and-mortar business.
Once most prosperous and thriving businesses are getting dethroned by a far younger online retail businesses. And there is absolutely no telling when things might change.
However, everything is not always dark. If the current vaccination program continues on its success trajectory, and the lockdown ends by the end of 2021, the in-store markets have a greater chance of rising back to power again.
In other words, there can be a physical in-store market rebound. But e-commerce is not going anywhere.
2022 Is Expected to Be the First Trillion-Dollar Year for Online Sales
E-commerce may have its first trillion dollars of sales in 2022, as people are shifting their spending habits online. The pandemic gave e-commerce sales an “extra boost” because consumers moved online to meet their daily needs.
Adobe said in its report that in 202 online consumers’ spending records hit a record 813 billion$, which was 42% more than 2019.
For the current year, Adobe predicts that online sales will fall between 850 billion and 930 billion, paving its way for 2022 to become the first trillion-dollar year in e-commerce.
The customers have built an online shopping muscle that is here to stay for a while now. At just the beginning of this new year, consumers have spent almost 121 billion$ online within the first two months a 34% increase from the last year.
As the pandemic hit everything from buying groceries, these types of products have become more accessible online, and now people are enjoying this luxury.
Almost half of retailers are thinking of an online makeover for their businesses because people are more likely to buy stuff online than go to a pickup in-store. So, you can say the future of marketing is going digital.
The Key for Retail E-Commerce Growth: Know Your Audience and How They Communicate
Moving forward, retails brands can reach the right customers at the right time with the right message. Furthermore, given the acceleration of online shopping trends in 2020, the key to success will be a well-planned customer journey mapping and robust engagement strategy.
By knowing your customers and how they want to engage, the retailer will be better equipped and will increase the results of their campaigns. You will also be able to enhance your personalized customer experience while respecting their privacy and preferences.
What’s your prediction about e-commerce in 2022? Let me know in the comments below.
