Last updated: Click, click, buy: e-commerce trends driven by DTC, mobile, social

Click, click, buy: e-commerce trends driven by DTC, mobile, social

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Within half a year, online sales and strategies experienced about five to 10 years of growth acceleration. Let’s examine the 2021 e-commerce trends that are moving from the “trend” category to the “must-have” classification.

E-commerce trends reflect a society that’s forever changed. Brands must focus on DTC, mobile, social as a search and selling tool, and data.

Though businesses are happy (and eager) to watch many of their pandemic challenges disappear in the rearview mirror, experts agree that companies shouldn’t abandon their digital strategies as lockdowns come to a close.

E-commerce trends: Shifts in how we buy, sell, and consume drive massive change

The top e-commerce trends that are here to stay: 

  1. Personalization: Delivering in the moment and understanding preferences will be key to growth
  2. Service: If you’re not taking care of customers after the sale, you’re going to have fewer customers to take care of in the future
  3. Omnichannel: Always-on, data-driven efforts will boost engagement, sales, and loyalty across all sectors and industries
  4. Purpose: Sustainability, equality, environmental, and political stances are all now part of what makes a brand appealing – or not
  5. CX: The entire customer experience must be seamless, from search to handing off between screens, to customer service
  6. Payment and delivery options: Click and collect, curbside pickup, simple payment will all
  7. Direct to consumer: More and more brands are extending their go-to-market with DTC businesses
  8. Creative wins: To gain attention online, your marketing and messaging must stand out from the crowd
  9. Social commerce: By 2027, it’s projected that social commerce will drive $604 billion in sales

For many businesses and their customers, 2020 was marred by the stresses of living and working through a global pandemic. But Dan Gingiss, CX guru, notes there’s a lot of good to come out of 2020 – namely, innovations in e-commerce and the customer experience that helped digital shopping experiences mirror in-person experiences as much as possible.

The future of e-commerce: Consumers are changing – and organizational structures need to adapt, STAT

A crucial element to be aware of when it comes to 2021 e-commerce trends is that the siloed environments of sales, marketing, opps, IT, etc. are over.

To create the experiences that draw in new customers and retain present ones, mindsets within organizations have to pivot.

The internet has helped to level the playing field when it comes to e-commerce, and now that small and mid-size businesses have the ability to quickly build and scale storefronts within hours, the sky’s the limit when it comes to market growth for those businesses.

Discover what the experts have to say about e-commerce trends

In the premiere episode of the new LinkedIn Live series, “Keeping Up with E-Commerce,” host Dan Gingiss said he hopes to focus on positive discussions of such experiences:

Martin Newman, also known as “The Consumer Champion” for his expertise in customer experience, reflected on the pervasiveness of online shopping and, more specifically, the likely permanence of offerings such as curbside pickup. Customers who enjoyed their first time buying their groceries online and picking them up in the store are likely to continue doing so in the future.

In her experience, Maria Morais, global industry director of SAP Customer Experience, said that it was – and continues to be – important for companies to set their e-commerce options up for success.
It’s often as simple as featuring curbside pickup in an easy-to-find location on a retailer’s online homepage.

Many businesses that couldn’t offer same-day pickup saw success starting with next-day pickup and eventually narrowing that window as they perfected their e-commerce strategy. And this year, there’s plenty of room for perfecting.

Social commerce and e-commerce converge for massive results

“I interview consumers all over the world,” Newman said, “And when I ask them what’s frustrating about online shopping, they all say the same thing – and it’s what drives them into the store to buy fashion. They say, ‘I still like to touch the feel of the products. I don’t get the same experience online that I get in the store.’

I think there’s a real opportunity for retailers and brands and CPG businesses going direct to consumer to up their game and leverage their content more effectively within the transactional journey within that path to purchase.”

On top of that, Newman said, companies need to be where customers are. For Paul Smith, global industry principal of consumer industries at SAP, that means social selling.

“The historical dominance where people searched for products was always Google and Amazon. Last year, 8% more product searches started in a social network.

That’s a significant shift, and that’s only going to continue this year. So, I think we’re going to start seeing this convergence of media and commerce coming together,” Smith said.

“I think we’re also going to see significant growth from things like live video selling as well, to bring that human element and human interaction back into it.”

With data privacy affecting marketing, the ability to scale and build storefronts quickly, and competition being fierce, most 2021 e-commerce trends will remain a reality well into the future.

Interested in hearing the experts’ other predictions for this year? Watch the replay of the first episode now.

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