2019 is well and truly under way. But that doesn’t mean you should forget about the last 12 months. 2018 saw a number of key trends emerge and develop, which could shape ecommerce for years to come. Staying on top of these trends could give your business the edge in 2019.
In this post, we look at 6 of the most important ecommerce statistics from last year and how you can use them to boost your brand.
1. Only 52% of ecommerce stores have omnichannel capabilities
One of the best ways to boost customer engagement and increase conversions is to offer omnichannel capabilities for your ecommerce stores. Rather than viewing your different platforms as separate experiences, businesses must start pursuing one, holistic approach to shopping. No matter how or where a customer reaches out, you should be able to meet their needs in an integrated and cohesive manner – with the same great user experience.
2. Online sales accounted for 17.4% of all retail sales in the UK
2018 saw the growth of online sales continue, rising to 17.4% from 15.9% in 2017. It’s clear that ecommerce isn’t slowing down any time soon, making it even more important for retailers to have a strong online presence. An attractive, user-friendly website will help even the most traditional ‘brick and mortar’ stores make the most of the customers that are out there, rather than missing out on a significant share of sales.
3. Negative mobile shopping experiences lead to a 62% decrease in future purchases
M-commerce is growing rapidly, with more customers preferring to do their shopping on their smartphones. But it’s not enough to simply provide a second-rate mobile site. Users who have a negative mobile shopping experience are 62% less likely to shop with you again. To avoid this, your site should be mobile-friendly, fast and responsive to any screen size. In 2019, optimising your mobile site could be just as important as your desktop site, especially with Google’s mobile-first indexing system.
4. Mobile page load speed directly correlates to probability of user leaving page
A lot of work goes into attracting visitors to your mobile site. Once they get there, you want to keep them as long as possible – and convert them into customers. But if your site takes too long to load, the probability of them leaving increases at an alarming rate. If your site takes up to 10 seconds to load, for instance, the probability of a user leaving the page increases by 123%! In 2019, optimising mobile speed will be vital for boosting conversions on your site.
5. 85% of consumers research a product before making an online purchase
Impulse shopping is slowly becoming a thing of the past, particularly in the world of ecommerce. Salesforce estimates that a whopping 85% of online shoppers will research a product before completing a purchase, with 38% of that research taking place on social media. This reinforces the need for a strong presence across all social media channels, where your brand can interact with potential customers and provide more information on products or services.
6. 58% of consumers have used voice search to find local businesses
If your business doesn’t have a clear presence on search engines, you could be missing out on vital sales. 58% of smartphone users have used voice search in the past year to find local business information, with 18% of local searches resulting in a sale within 24 hours. In 2019, businesses should consider search engine optimisation and pay-per-click campaigns to target these valuable searches.
Improving the numbers that matter
At Fluid Digital, we help ecommerce businesses use the latest trends, statistics and data to improve the numbers that matter. With lightning-fast websites, tailored PPC campaigns and expert conversion rate optimisation, we make sure your ecommerce brand is truly leading the pack – with the sales to reflect it.
Get in touch with our team today to find out more about any of our services.