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The last decade has witnessed a rise in online shoppers, E-commerce businesses, and many new technological advances. With the COVID pandemic, affecting the shopping behavior of the people, online shopping became the primary way of shopping. With all these advancements and changes in the audience’s shopping pattern, the E-commerce sector gears up for some significant changes in the year 2021. Let’s take a look at the trends that we can expect in the year 2021:
1. Increase in Voice Search
With people becoming adept at the technology, it has been observed that every household owns at least one smart voice device. Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa are being used happily by many of us to check weather details, latest news, and even to buy products online.
With people becoming comfortable using these voice devices, E-commerce businesses have an excellent potential to make voice search a part of them and grow to new heights.
2. Increase in the use of Augmented Reality (AR)
The year 2020 saw an increase in Augmented Reality (AR) use by a few major brands. It even worked in favor of the companies. Online shopping saves time and has many other benefits; one of the significant disadvantages is that the customer cannot feel the product in real-time. In the present time where customers expect a personalized shopping experience, brands are expected to use AR technology to help the potential customers know the product more deeply and make a purchase quickly.
Many major brands like Shopify etc., have integrated programs like Shopify AR to give a 3D view of the customers’ products. In the year 2021, we expect more brands to integrate AR to enhance the customers’ shopping experience.
3. Live Chat will become an Integral Part
Online shoppers usually don’t have the patience to send a query via email and wait for a reply. Rather they want everything instant, and therefore, instant live chat is the best option to answer all the queries of visitors in real-time. We can expect many E-commerce companies to integrate this feature in the year 2021.
4. Mobile Devices will be Important for Shoppers and Businesses
This is no news for all of us, but it can’t even be ignored. Almost every person is having a mobile device today, and in the year 2021 and coming years, mobile users will be increasing at a good rate. It is estimated that almost 55% of the customers shop online using mobile devices in Europe, whereas more than half of the customers shop online via mobile devices in the U.S.
E-commerce companies try to provide a smooth customer experience and bridge the gap between users and companies in every possible way. And, one best way is to have the E-commerce website mobile-friendly and mobile-optimized. Having done this, there are high chances to be on top of the customers’ online shopping list.
5. Multiple Payment Options for the Customers
The last year saw smoothening of the checkout process and security of the same. Along with it, many new and quick payment options were developed and integrated. The year 2021 will also be witnessing further making the checkout process easy, quick and safe with automatically fetching the customers’ details and integrating various payment options like Apple Pay, Google Pay, Paypal, and other options.
6. Financing Options for Big Purchases
Another trend that can be seen in full swing is the financing option for the big purchases. Many major E-commerce stores, like Myntra, Dell, Amazon, etc., have started offering financing options for purchases that are expensive to lure more customers. The year 2021 may witness an increase in financing options with the majority of the E-commerce stores.
7. Free Shipping
Many brands offer free shipping on their E-commerce stores already, and this trend is going to increase in the year 2021. Companies that do not offer free shipping have usually witnessed a decreased rate of orders as compared to the ones which offer free shipping. Many major brands like Amazon etc., have set a minimum limit of amount reach which the shipping will be done free of cost. Many E-commerce companies are expected to allow the same in the coming year.
8. Better Return Policies
Another trend that we can expect in the E-commerce industry is to witness is an improvement in the return policies. Many companies offer refunds or exchange of the products if they are at fault, and many others even offer free returns to beat the competitors. In the year 2021, we can expect more improved offerings on return policies from the E-commerce stores.
9. A Rise in the Personalized Content
In the year 2021, E-commerce is expected to generate emails, text messages, Slack messages, etc. It is seen that brands that create personalized content for its customers witness an increased overall sale. So, more E-commerce businesses will be creating personalized content to enhance user experience.
10. Rise of Brands that Focus on Sustainability
People at the present time are more concerned about the environment and leading a sustainable life. Therefore, building a sustainable brand and talking about it on the website or other social media channels will be more important than ever. So, it is expected the companies selling sustainable products will be outperforming the companies not doing so in the year 2021.
These are the major E-commerce trends that the E-commerce industry is expected to witness in the year 2021. By understanding and analyzing the consumers’ behavior of shopping, what they are expecting and how to provide the same will help your brand to stay ahead of the competitors.
Sigma Infosolutions has helped its client stay updated with the latest trends by integrating new extensions and rising technology with their e-commerce store. Contact Us today if you want to take your business on the top.
