Is E-Commerce the Future? Experts say YES
When COVID-19 hit back in 2020, there was an enormous uncertainty about what the future might hold. There still is, however, we definitely know more about it now that everything started, and the global pandemic was declared back in March 2020.
The impact that this pandemic had reinforced what we already know, the importance for businesses to start thinking outside the box and reinvent themselves in order to succeed.
What do the experts say?
E-commerce was already growing fast before the pandemic started and after March 2020, it opened many doors while many others started to close, as of today, we have official statistics that indicate that more than 6 out of ten have access to the internet worldwide, this is equivalent to 4.95 billions of people that use the internet on a daily basis.
In Europe and North America, around 90% of the population are online and in the United States, more than 80% go online every day.
Consumer behavior has changed drastically over the last 2 years. Nowadays, digital commerce is more frequent, and it has pushed consumers to feel more comfortable when purchasing things online, in 2020 alone, the pandemic boosted the US ecommerce sales to $762 Billion and by 2021 it increased to $870 Billion.
Source: Digital Commerce 360 2022
With global e-commerce sales non-stop growing, keeping up with the trends has become essential for most companies.
What should we expect in the near future?
With most businesses moving online, it is important to understand the current trends to start thinking about what the future might hold for eCommerce.
Consumer loyalty to specific brands has fallen, in 2021 more than 80% of consumers have reported buying a different brand than their usual.
People have moved and will continue to use contactless payment; mobile payments have increased by more than 22% and it is expected to increase substantially within the next few years.
Digital Marketing is more important than ever, social media platforms are more popular than ever for younger generations to learn about new products, and they rely on them to do their own research before purchasing something online.
Retail commerce is expected to grow by double digits by 2023 everything seems to be back to normal and most physical businesses have reopened their doors to their customers.
What should marketers know?
Set marketing goals, and how you will measure them, and think about what you will do next after you accomplish them, great marketers never stop once they reach their goals.
Study the competition, with customers being less loyal to brands more than ever, it is important to always see what your competition is doing and how you can do it better.
Target your audience, the internet is made for everyone, and it is impossible to create something to be everyone’s cup of tea, that is why it is essential to select your audience from the start and stick with it, surprisingly, many companies fail to accomplish that.
Creating unique content, and thinking outside the box is better than just doing what everyone else is already doing, there is nothing more satisfactory than creating something fresh and new that grabs everyone’s attention.
Measure and analyze what you are doing, otherwise, you are never going to know if your content is successful or requires some improvements.
Lastly, we live in a non-stop world where every day there is always something new when it comes to digital marketing. Being open to learning new skills, it is important to keep up in order to succeed.