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11 Trends in Ecommerce Marketing You Need to Know in 2022

June 8, 2022 Marketing

To keep up with the ever-shifting preferences and expectations of customers, the e-commerce business is going through a period of rapid development. Meanwhile, due to the advent of new and improved technology, e-commerce merchants have a much easier time adapting their digital marketing strategy to match these adjustments.

You have a high chance of satisfying the ever-evolving requirements of your clients as long as you are aware of the e-commerce marketing trends that you should implement. There are a number of trends in ecommerce marketing that can assist you in providing customers with more satisfying interactions and in growing your revenue from online purchases.

The Most Important Developments in E-Commerce Marketing to Keep an Eye On

In the paragraphs that follow, we are going to discuss some of the most significant marketing trends in ecommerce that you need to be aware of in order to be successful.

More Visual User-Generated Content

You are well aware that information provided by users, such as reviews, can be an effective approach to acquire the trust of customers shopping online. You’ve probably gone as far as to incorporate customer evaluations onto your product pages in an effort to boost conversion rates.

You might take things a step further, though, by incorporating images taken by customers into your digital marketing and retail plan.

Visual user-generated content is becoming increasingly popular in the field of ecommerce marketing, and the primary reason for this is that it is more appealing to customers and generates better results than written material. This is due to the fact that people are able to observe the exact interactions that your customers are having with your brand.

You can highlight user-generated pictures on your product pages or on your social media for the purpose of marketing your ecommerce business. Doing so will allow you to follow the current trend. It is even possible to accomplish both.

When conducting business online, the buyer is purchasing the image of the company, and they expect the actual goods to be identical to the picture when it is delivered to them. When it comes to creating high-quality product photos, having access to a clipping path service from UK Clipping Path is a vital requirement. Now, let me present to you the technique that is both the most economical and the most professional for you to acquire fantastic photo editing work. It is to work with excellent online services such as UK Clipping Path, since they are outstanding, experts in their field, and unquestionably the finest at what they do.

But how exactly do you go about accumulating UGC?

You can use a branded hashtag to encourage your consumers to post about the things they’ve purchased on social media and tag their posts with the hashtag. After that, you can compile such photographs, and then publish them on your social media platforms. In addition to that, you could also showcase some of the most impressive user-submitted pictures on the pages that are relevant to the products.

The watch brand Daniel Wellington does a fantastic job of capitalizing on this trend. On the product pages of their online store, they showcase pictures of their customers that were sent in by those consumers. The following is a screenshot taken from one of their products’ user-generated content (UGC) sections. As can be seen, they have taken great care in selecting some of the most visually appealing photographs that they believe would convince their online customers to make a purchase.

The use of artificial intelligence and machine learning

The utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning is currently one of the most important trends in the e-commerce industry. You can utilize them to provide a more personalized experience for customers, which will in turn boost the efficiency of retail establishments. And with the quick developments in technology, it is quite likely that eCommerce retailers will be making more investments in tools and platforms that integrate AI and/or machine learning. This prediction is based on the fact that it is highly likely that eCommerce will continue to grow.

According to the findings of a study conducted by Zebra Retail, 68 percent of respondents intend to make an investment in machine learning and cognitive computing in the not too distant future (by 2022). Retailers are hopeful that by utilizing this technology, they would be able to increase their capacity to foresee and manage customer demand for inventory, as well as give customers a more individualized shopping experience.

When it comes to your digital marketing, you may improve the quality of your forecasts and suggestions by putting AI technology and machine learning to work for you.

For instance, you may be currently employing retargeting strategies, such as displaying advertisements on social media platforms or sending emails containing purchase recommendations for items in which your consumers have demonstrated an intense interest.

However, a considerable number of stores continue to make the same recommendations, even after the buyer has previously purchased the product or a product that is extremely similar to it. This is despite the fact that both of these products have been purchased by the buyer. As a consequence of this, the recommendation is rendered irrelevant to the customer, and as a result, your efforts are rendered more or less superfluous.

You may avoid doing this by employing AI to gain an understanding of the behaviors that particular clients have exhibited while online purchasing. This will allow you to provide more precise recommendations for your ecommerce marketing. For instance, you could suggest a supplementary item to the consumer that they may require in addition to the product that they have already purchased. 

Even if they visit your e-commerce storefront, you should still provide them with recommendations and experiences that are pertinent to their previous online purchasing behavior so that you can cater to their needs. Perhaps you could showcase a selection of items coming from the categories that they appear to be most interested in purchasing. For making a quality user-oriented image you must take the photo editing service to maintain your product quality.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning have a wide variety of applications.

You can even leverage the technology to provide your customers with a personalized shopping guide to use while they are in your store.

For instance, Unisport has come out with The Ultimate Boot Selector, a tool that assists customers in finding the ideal pair of boots that are tailored to fit their requirements in particular. They have been successful in attracting internet shoppers by capitalizing on this trend.

People who shop online will be required to respond to a series of questions that will determine the types of boots that are most suitable for each specific person. For instance, they will be required to provide responses to questions such as which position they play, which type they favor (speed, comfort, control, etc.), which price range they are able to buy, etc. For the sake of your eCommerce marketing, all of this information is helpful in presenting the ideal recommendation, one that is tailored particularly to each individual buyer.

The technology will determine the top three boots that are the best match for your requirements and tastes based on the answers you provide. You can see that the recommendations are arranged in the order of their usefulness in the screenshot that follows.

Improved Performance on Mobile Devices

You also need to pay attention to another major trend, which is the development of improved mobile experiences for customers of online retailers. Since a long time ago, it has been generally accepted that the majority of individuals use mobile devices when conducting online product research. After that, they really complete the transaction by utilizing their desktop computer.

This indicates that there are a lot of mobile eCommerce sessions, but the revenues coming from mobile are not very high.

In 2019, mobile devices contributed close to 51 percentage points to the total web traffic. Therefore, you will lose a significant number of customers if your e-commerce website is not optimized for mobile devices. As a result of this, you really ought to jump on board with this trend and begin building websites that are responsive.

If you do this, you can see an increase in income coming from people using their mobile devices to shop. Even if there is not a significant improvement in revenues from mobile devices, it will still have an impact on your overall revenue because the enhanced experience may entice online shoppers to buy from you even if they do it through desktop. This will have an impact on your overall revenue even if there is not a significant improvement in revenues from mobile devices. This could be the case even if there isn’t a significant improvement in revenues from mobile devices.

Whatever the case may be, improving the mobile user experience is absolutely necessary for e-commerce marketing. Be sure that your mobile web pages load quickly and correctly so that visitors can see every part of the page as it was intended to be seen.

You have a responsibility to ensure that mobile users do not experience any difficulties when navigating or viewing the site. They should be able to locate what they are looking for without much difficulty and read the information that they require without any problems. 

Using a tool known as the Mobile-Friendly Test, you are able to determine how effectively your website caters to people on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

An Increase in the Use of Buy option on Social Media

The use of social media platforms will continue to have a significant impact on the lives of average consumers. They also have a huge impact on the marketing of e-commerce businesses because they drive visitors to online shopping websites. Because of this, it is considered to be one of the most significant trends in e-commerce.

According to research that was only recently provided by the Pew Research Center, fifteen percent of internet buyers in the United States have completed a transaction after clicking on a link that was initially sourced in social media.

However, in order to raise these statistics, businesses will need to make it significantly easier and more convenient for their customers to shop online through social networking platforms. Therefore, it is to be anticipated that an increased number of shops would integrate “Buy” buttons onto social media sites whenever this is feasible.

By clicking on these buttons, online consumers will be able to purchase things that interest them without first having to look for the product on the website of the brand. They have the option of completing their purchases immediately on the platform, or they can be taken directly to the product page, which will help improve e-commerce marketing and need to improve your product image photography. They have the ability to pursue one of these two options.

Pinterest

The “Buy” buttons found on other social media platforms are often best shown by the “buyable pins” featured on Pinterest. This is owing to the fact that buyers can complete their purchases without ever having to leave Pinterest, which is why it is so successful.

This eCommerce trend may be seen in action in the following pin, which was created by Afloral. As can be seen, there are several product specifics, such as pricing and the availability of stock. In addition, there is a button labeled “Add to Bag” located directly below the image.

In addition, if you put this item in your bag, you’ll be able to finish the purchase process without ever leaving Pinterest. The following image is a screenshot of Pinterest’s checkout page, which allows customers to enter their shipping address and payment information without having to go away from the social networking platform.

You can only access the “Shop Now” or “Buy Now” buttons on other social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, when you display adverts to individuals who are the best fit for your demographic profile.

Instagram

Instagram is beginning to make improvements by offering Instagram shopping for eCommerce marketing. This will allow shops to add product tags to their organic posts on Instagram, which is a step in the right direction for Instagram.

Users can obtain an enhanced view of the product details by tapping on these tags, which will show them things like pricing and product descriptions, among other things. In addition to this, they will see a button that reads “Shop Now,” and when they click it, they will be taken to the product page, where they may complete the purchase they were beginning.

However, shopping on Instagram is presently only available for a limited number of retailers. However, a significant number of online influencers have already gotten on board with the e-commerce trend, and they frequently form partnerships with firms in order to assist those brands in selling their items. The “Shop Now” button on Instagram is going to be a tremendous success as soon as Instagram makes the decision to make this online purchasing feature available to each and every retailer.

The increased use of live chat support

It is essential to the success of an e-commerce marketing campaign to give an unparalleled level of customer care and online purchasing experiences. You have a responsibility to put the needs of your clients first and remove any obstacles that may stand in the way of their purchasing from you.

This indicates that if they have any concerns or problems while they are shopping and they are unable to discover the answer or solution instantly, you will need to deal with it as swiftly as you possibly can. Because of this, almost 19 percent of large organizations and 18 percent of small businesses responded that the experience they provide their customers is the most exciting potential they have.

The provision of live chat support or the implementation of chatbots is the most effective strategy to improve the experience of customers.

According to research conducted by Avaya, customers would rather send messages than make phone calls to businesses in order to communicate with them.

Therefore, you can give a better experience for them by answering their questions and resolving their issues in real time through the use of chatbots, social media messaging apps, or live chat assistance.

Chatbots

Ecommerce is seeing an increase in the use of chatbots, primarily because of how efficient they are. Despite the fact that they are classified as Artificial Intelligence, it is essential that the benefits of using them in customer assistance be explained in greater detail.

One hundred percent of individuals believe that chatbot interactions are more desirable if they are truly able to save time and make it simpler to solve problems, according to the findings of a study that was carried out jointly by Bentley University and NeuraFlash.

And as artificial intelligence technology continues to advance, merchants will soon be able to deploy chatbots to automate customer service discussions and provide individualized support experiences to their clientele. Customers will have the ability to employ chatbots as an element of the self-service options available to them, particularly in the event that they require assistance with routine transactions. However, in the event that customers have questions that are more sophisticated, chatbots can summon a live agent into the conversation to assist the clients.

Help Available Via Live Chat

E-commerce businesses are realizing the importance of providing live chat help, which is also growing in popularity. There is a possibility that consumers will not find all of the information that they require by reading either the frequently asked questions page or the product description. In addition, if they email you, it can be many hours before you get a chance to react. There is a possibility that they will call you, however, the waiting period could be significant.

That leaves live chat assistance, which enables customers to communicate with actual people and receive immediate resolutions to any problems they may be having.

It should come as no surprise that well-known companies such as H&M have begun providing live customer service after seeing the potential of e-commerce.

This eCommerce trend is being utilized by Warby Parker, an online retailer of spectacles, to better serve their clientele. By bringing attention to the many communication channels, it makes it simpler for customers to get in touch with them. You can also avoid consumer dissatisfaction by following their lead and clearly displaying the hours during which the live chat agents are available to customers.

Influence Marketing

The use of influencers marketing in e-commerce is becoming an increasingly common strategy. According to the findings of a recent survey that was carried out by Twitter, customers place almost as much trust in influencers as they do in their friends.

The following are some of the more intriguing findings from this study:

  • A little under forty percent of users stated that they have made a purchase as a direct result of a tweet made by an influencer.
  • Forty-nine percent of those who participated in the survey admitted to have depended on influencers for product suggestions.
  • Only referrals from friends and family received more mentions from respondents (56 percent), making this the second most popular source of information.

Your e-commerce company can benefit tremendously from the involvement of the appropriate influencers in an efficient marketing campaign. The influencers that you decide to collaborate with will have a significant impact on the overall success of your campaign.

For those who own an online store that focuses on selling exercise equipment, for instance, an influencer who emphasizes the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle might be a good candidate.

You can find the ideal influencers to connect with and connect with them with the assistance of a variety of marketing tools for influencers such as BuzzSumo and Ninja Outreach.

This eCommerce trend is utilized very effectively by the online fashion company Revolve, which helps to promote their products and increase sales for the purpose of eCommerce marketing. It is common knowledge that the company posts photographs on Instagram on a daily basis showing influencers wearing Revolve apparel. When endorsing a brand, influencers often include hashtags in their posts to further the business’s reach.

To take things a step further, Revolve even provides holidays for these influencers, during which they are photographed wearing ensembles purchased from Revolve. It is common practice for these influencers to post images that they take during events in order to promote the company.

Videos

When it comes to e-commerce marketing, videos are quite effective at grabbing the attention of users. Videos are far more engaging for audiences than still images or text-based advertisements. This is due to the fact that videos typically feature a narrative. This helps users better relate to the films, which enhances engagement for online retail promotion.

One of the increasing trends in e-commerce involves the use of videos, particularly live videos. Videos are seen on a daily basis by more than 500 million users of Facebook. Facebook has also projected that users are likely to spend three times as much time watching live videos as they do watching videos that have already been recorded. When it comes to marketing, this demonstrates that both pre-recorded and live videos have the potential to be game-changing tools.

The online clothing company Nine Line has effectively implemented this e-commerce strategy. It has made a name for itself by producing entertaining and captivating product films.

Content Marketing

When it comes to e-commerce marketing, where customers are inundated with information on a daily basis, having material of high quality can help you stand out from the competition. Your target audience does not have the time or the desire to engage with the conventional banner or pop-up advertisements anymore.

According to research that was recently issued by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), ad blockers are utilized by 26 percent of desktop users and 15 percent of smartphone users respectively. Therefore, the only way to successfully overcome this obstacle and engage your target audience is through the utilization of efficient content marketing strategies.

Blogs, podcasts, and video series are all wonderful options to consider when it comes to promoting your company in a way that not only keeps your audience interested but also retains their attention.

This development in e-commerce is being leveraged for marketing purposes by Zappos, an online retailer of footwear. It boasts an excellent blog, which it uses to disseminate information about the culture of the organization. They do not put their faith in traditional forms of advertising since they consider it to be intrusive at times and hence do not trust it.

Instead, they utilize their blog to talk about the things that are important to them and the passion that drives them. You can differentiate yourself from the other businesses in your industry by utilizing this one-of-a-kind tactic.

Personalization

Personalizing your content helps enhance retention for eCommerce marketing, and as a result, this trend is becoming increasingly crucial. Having high-quality content helps you stand above your competition. There will always be a mixture of first-time visitors and returning clients purchasing from any given online store. As a consequence of this, a tactic that takes the view that “one size fits all” will probably not result in an encounter that the consumer will find to be fulfilling.

A remarkable experience for your customers in using your product can be achieved through personalization. Imagine being in a position to make product suggestions to a consumer based on that client’s previous purchases or the kinds of products they tend to prefer. Your customer has the impression that you know and understand them extremely well, which boosts the possibility that they would shop online and return in the future.

This e-commerce trend is one that the online retailing giant Amazon capitalizes on to its advantage. Every person who visits its website is given a unique and individualized experience by the company. They will use your location in order to direct you to the local website that is likely to contain more pertinent information.

They show both the goods you have added to your wishlist as well as a list of items you have viewed on prior visits. This is unquestionably a wonderful time for the user. It is not necessary for you to do another search for the item that you had chosen previously but did not purchase the prior time.

Shipping & Returns

Before making a purchase on an e-commerce website, one of the most important things for buyers to think about are the shipping charges and the return policy. Therefore, although your shipping or return policy might not be a direct strategy, it might nevertheless function to attract customers to your business. Therefore, you want to think about how you might benefit from this trend in online retailing.

Customers see free delivery as a valuable benefit, and as a result, it can help businesses increase their visibility.

In a similar vein, when it comes to e-commerce marketing, clients crave a return policy that is both accommodating and easy to use, as well as a flexible refund policy. Customers can be drawn to your website and their loyalty to your brand can be strengthened by providing free shipping and an easy return policy.

Customers with an Amazon Prime membership have the option of selecting free shipping within the same day or within two days for their orders.

They show both the goods you have added to your wishlist as well as a list of items you have viewed on prior visits. This is unquestionably a wonderful time for the user. It is not necessary for you to do another search for the item that you had chosen previously but did not purchase the prior time.

Easy Shipping & Returns

Before making a purchase on an e-commerce website, it is important for potential buyers to take into account the delivery charges as well as the return policy. Therefore, although your shipping or return policy might not be considered a direct strategy, it might nevertheless work to attract customers to your business. As a result, you should give some thought to how you might benefit from this e-commerce boom.

Free delivery is quite beneficial to customers, and as a result, it can assist you in increasing your brand’s visibility.

In a similar vein, when it comes to the marketing of e-commerce businesses, customers want a return and refund policy that is both adaptable and simple to use, in addition to easy pickup alternatives. Customers can be tempted to frequent your website, and their loyalty to your brand can be increased, if you provide free shipping and make it easy for them to return things they have purchased from you.

Customers with an Amazon Prime membership have the option of receiving their orders the exact same day or within two days, both at no additional cost.

The faster packages can be delivered to the consumer, the better the odds are that the customer will choose them over one of their rivals. In addition, the fact that over 50 million different products can be shipped for free is undeniably a compelling selling pitch.

Remarketing

Simply said, remarketing is a marketing tactic in which an advertisement follows you around as you use the internet.

Take, as an illustration, the scenario in which you have conducted a search for hotels on a travel website in preparation for an approaching vacation. However, you did not immediately make a reservation for the room. You have made the decision to return at a later time, conduct additional hotel research, and then make a reservation.

It’s possible that later that day, while you’re scrolling through the newsfeed on Facebook or LinkedIn, you’ll come across an advertisement for the same hotel. You could even come across them on the results page of a Google search or on other websites.

Because a potential buyer will be exposed to your goods more frequently as a result of this tactic, there will be a greater likelihood that they will make a purchase. This trend in e-commerce is becoming increasingly popular, and a lot of firms have already started implementing it.

Companies in the e-commerce business with a primary focus on travel, such as Booking.com, have only recently started implementing this trend in the industry of online shopping.They undertake a significant amount of remarketing based on the searches that consumers conduct. If you have done a search for hotels in Dubai and then continue to browse the web, you might come across advertisements similar to the ones that are shown below.

These advertisements not only enhance the number of client touch points that are used in eCommerce marketing, but they also underline the necessity of making a purchase.

Final Words

Although each of these fashion movements has its own unique identity, they are all rooted in the same fundamental principles. All of them are predicated on the necessity of providing improved online purchasing experiences, which, in turn, can help enhance your interactions with customers.

Create a strategy that will allow you to incorporate these patterns into your overall plan, and then determine the extent to which doing so will improve your overall performance.