2018 has been a year full of exciting changes in the world of ecommerce. Faster shipping times, greater integration of artificial intelligence and a shift towards mobile shopping are just some ways ecommerce has transformed over the past year.
2019 is set to be just as influential and trend-setting, impacting the future of the industry for years to come. Keep reading as we delve into 4 of the key trends that are set to take off in the world of ecommerce in 2019 and beyond…
1. Increased mobile shopping
2018 has seen a huge growth in the use of mobiles for ecommerce shopping, and 2019 is set to continue this trend. Statista predicts that 2019 will see a $0.5 trillion increase in total mobile sales, up from $1.8 trillion in 2018.
2018 year saw the release of Google’s mobile-first indexing system for search engine rankings, meaning many ecommerce sites rushed to up their mobile game. This indexing isn’t set to go anywhere, so businesses must work to keep both their desktop and mobile platforms running to the best of their ability.
2. Environment-conscious consumers
Environmental concerns have grown over the past few years, with the amount of global waste reaching an all time high. Shoppers have voiced their concerns when it comes to delivery methods, packaging and the amount of waste produced through online shopping.
2018 saw many large multi-national companies making changes to ease the environmental concerns of governments, businesses and shoppers. Walkers have introduced the first crisp packet recycling programme, aiming to make their packets 100% recyclable by 2025. Similarly, Amazon have started to work with their manufacturers to use only Certified Frustration-Free Packaging, utilising recyclable materials and decreasing the amount of packaging used overall.
With Walkers, Amazon and many others paving the way for ecommerce businesses worldwide, 2019 is bound to see an increase in the amount of environmentally-friendly policies, in order to meet new regulations and keep up consumer demand.
3. Social media boost
Social media saw huge progress in 2018, with more active users than ever before across all social media platforms. Ecommerce businesses have been wise to make the most of this growth, and introduce an increasing amount of shoppable content across social media sites.
The use of social media in the ecommerce industry isn’t set to slow down in 2019. In fact, we predict that more and more businesses will start to allow shoppers to purchase products directly from social platforms. Not only will this cut out the lengthy process of being transferred to a site to checkout, we could see an increase in conversions as more people will be interacting with your products or services.
4. Use of AI in ecommerce
A lot of the websites you visit today will use some form of chatbot or pop-up to gain information from visitors and aid their website journey. This is set to take off more than ever during 2019, as the amount of people using chatbots to purchase goods increases.
According to a Ubisend report, 1 in 5 consumers are willing to purchase products or services through a chatbot, with a further 40% of people using chatbots to search for offers and deals. This is a huge percentage, meaning those without AI could be missing out on valuable sales and conversions.
Keep up to date
Fluid Digital’s team of ecommerce experts are always up to date with the latest trends, to make sure our clients stay at the forefront of the industry. If you want to make 2019 the best year yet for your ecommerce business, be sure to get in touch with our team.
