Best Ecommerce Trends To Follow in 2021

Last year brought a lot of good things for the world of ecommerce. Stuck at home, a lot of people inevitably did their shopping online. Experts have actually said that the pandemic brought the adoption of online shopping 5 years into the future.

But there’s still a lot for retail businesses to do in order to fully complete their digital transformation. In order to be truly prepared for the coming year, and in order to capitalize on the great shift to ecommerce, we’re going to outline the biggest ecommerce trends to follow in 2021.

The Ecommerce Trends To Watch In 2021

Before we get into each trend that will impact ecommerce in the coming year, it’s important to note that your top priority – the most important trend you should be focused on – might not be on this list. That’s because different niches will sway towards different directions, which may at times be completely opposite from each other.

That’s why you need to analyze your own market, do your own research to see the most important trends for your business. However, we will cover the trends most experts cite as important, so this is a good starting point.

1. B2B and B2G Are Growing

B2C (Business To Customer) used to be the only avenue for exponential growth in ecommerce. It’s what turned Amazon or eBay into the giants they are today, and for the longest time, it was the only viable choice when setting-up shop online.

But that’s slowly changing. B2B (Business To Business) and B2G (Business To Government) stores have slowly creped up in the past years, and with the pandemic in full swing, that process only accelerated.

It’s viable to seek an alternative business model in the online world, since everyone – from the construction site manager to the acquisitions representative of the City Hall – everyone is doing their shopping online.

2. Marketplaces Continue To Dominate The Landscape

Marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, or regional equivalents grew exponentially in the past years because they have an enticing proposition for customers – convenience, standardized services, and a huge variety of options for everyone to choose from.

If you’re starting from scratch and creating your own ecommerce store, it will be hard to compete with these behemoths. Let’s say you have a store that’s selling jewelry for example. Imagine you’re a possible customer having to choose between your brand new store, and Etsy, which features dozens of product variations and extremely well refined shipping policies.

You’d probably choose Etsy too.

So what can you do in this situation?

Well, if you’re just starting out and you don’t have your own audience, engaged on your own site, you can set-up shop on the big marketplaces in your market. If that’s not possible, you can even consider starting your own marketplace, as long as you have the funds to develop and promote it.

3. Sales Happen Everywhere

While ecommerce sites and marketplaces are wonderful for selling online, omnichannel sales are slowly becoming a staple of modern online shopping. Things like shoppable ads on social media, representatives handling instagram dms to close deals, and email buy buttons are converting more and more.

That’s because, again, they’re convenient, and with the extra influx of money in ecommerce, it’s only natural that people can be easily persuaded to buy anywhere.

Even if your sales campaign on Facebook doesn’t garner much conversions per se, it’s still a great avenue for increasing brand recognition and getting leads that you can sell to later. That’s why, in 2021, you need to have an omnichannel sales strategy, if you didn’t already.

The first step for that – understanding your audience. Analyze your ideal buyer persona to figure out the channels they spend most of their time on. Then, formulate an online marketing and sales strategy that uses those channels to their full potential.

4. Influencer Marketing Is Growing Even More

Influencer Marketing is a powerful tool for ecommerce site owners, because it can help them increase their sales, and more importantly, fill content gaps that they couldn’t cover in any other way.

Influencer marketing as a market is expected to grow into the tens of billions in the coming years, so it’s a trend you should hop on, if you haven’t done so already. The best way to go about it is to find influencers that have an audience who’d love your products, and then cultivate a relationship with them.

5. Personalized Experiences Are Cornerstone

People like it when their individuality is acknowledged. It’s just as true in ecommerce, as it is in any other medium. In fact, studies show that 72% of people only respond to messaging that is tailored to them.

So if you want to skyrocket your sales in 2021, you need to adapt your own store, and your marketing practices, to a personalization-first mentality. Your emails, messages, offers, and even website pages and suggestions should be as tailor-made as possible. Take care of that, and you’ll convert more.

And remember…

The COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over yet. Along with an influx in capital, and a lot of traffic, this struggle comes with its own challenges for online stores. Delayed shipping, for one, and that’s enough of a problem to cost you a lot of sales.

Moreover, considering that most developed countries expect to achieve the needed number of vaccinations for herd immunity by late September… it’s probably going to be a while until things revert back to normal.

But it’s not something to be scared of. If treated right, it can actually help your online business grow. Just remember to focus on your strong points, adapt the trends for ecommerce as a whole, and research the trends in your market.

Speaking of that, we’d love to hear more about you.

Leave a comment stating what market you’re in, and what trends you expect to have an impact in that market in the coming year!