How the New Year Will Shape the Ecommerce Landscape

Ecommerce Marketing

With the new year just around the corner, emerging marketing trends are taking shape. The trends certainly are impacting the landscape of ecommerce marketing. True, some of them will make a bigger splash than others. Nevertheless, all are likely to have a noticeable influence.

Take, for instance, the growing prevalence of ‘social commerce’. In a nutshell, social commerce is the process of buying and selling merchandise from a -- surprise -- social media site. Many brands already make use of this option. Currently, 73% of businesses are social selling their wares. But there’s more on the way --79% of them are expected to be on board during the next three years.

Along with the convenience of social commerce, people welcome its interactivity. Through this process, shoppers can vote yay or nay on products, view brand demos from multiple angles for a ‘complete’ look at the goods, respond to requests for photo submissions and feedback, and partake of many other appealing options.

The rising use of augmented reality (AR) will be another prominent ecommerce trend in the new year. Emphasizing 3D realism through sophisticated graphics, AR aims to provide a ‘hands-on’ experience – without actually having anything to put one’s hands on. Pinterest, Snapchat, and Facebook are among the platforms already utilizing this technology -- which is projected to spur even greater usage in the next 12 months.

Last but not least, ecommerce will see an increased prominence of chat technology in the coming year. Immensely popular, chat options are readily embraced by consumers the world over. In fact, according to recent research, about 40% of shoppers don’t care if questions are answered by a human or bot. What ultimately matters is that those questions are answered – and answered promptly. Which puts bots and your friendly representative on a level playing field – except one costs a lot less and doesn’t take lunch breaks.

If you have questions or comments about ecommerce marketing trends, or about any other brand-related topic, feel free to send them our way.

You can connect with the Young Company team at 949-376-8404 #4033 or bart@youngcompany.com. And be sure to follow us for the latest brand marketing news and tips.