E-commerce has grown rapidly in recent years, and it’s clear it’s here to stay. Technological advancement has led to digitizing many aspects of our daily lives. As e-commerce continues to grow, new trends are emerging.
In this article, we go over the trends that have been popular in the first half of 2022.
8 Key E-Commerce Trends Emerging In 2022
1. Wearables
This technology has become a major trend on the internet. The technology allows individuals to have customized popular devices which always have access to the internet and information of any gadget.
There’s been a proliferation of contactless payment bands and smartwatches recently. These gadgets allow people to access information on their phones via the use of personalized applications on these gadgets.
The e-commerce field hasn’t been left behind as people are developing applications to make purchasing goods online easier. If you’re not convinced that wearables are a popular trend, look around.
Most of the ‘plastic’ watches people wear are smartwatches. One of the most popular smartwatch brands is pebbles.
2. Mobile Commerce
Everyone in the e-commerce space knows going mobile is essential. The growth of mobile commerce proves that all the efforts were not in vain. Google changed its algorithm for phone searches to favor mobile-friendly web pages.
Additionally, companies such as Flipkart announced that by 2016, they’d be mobile only. In Nigeria, platforms such as Konga.com are interested in taking this approach, and they experimented with the strategy of driving traffic to their mobile application for several days.
For most businesses, it’s no longer optional to focus on mobile commerce—it’s mandatory.
3. Logistics
There’s been one major challenge in the e-commerce sphere in Nigeria ever since its inception; logistics. Factors such as poor infrastructure and poor logistic networks make it difficult to conceptualize the delivery of goods.
Nevertheless, rather than focusing on these challenges, e-commerce start-ups are partnering with companies such as ACE and K-express, which offer modern e-commerce-oriented logistics networks.
With time, more companies will come up; however, currently, these companies give a glimmer of hope to the industry’s future.
4. Social Commerce
Social media platforms are popular globally. However, to increase user engagement, all popular social channels have integrated shopping and payments into their sites.
Even though this mostly happens in the USA, once they’re stable, they’ll be integrated into other countries. Therefore, you should start preparing to shop on Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
5. Bulk Purchasing
All e-commerce platforms have a massive potential for B2B (Business to Business) sales. An e-commerce platform with networks that provide lower prices, the infrastructure to transport many goods, and the credibility to attract many customers, the best strategy would be to offer its services to organizations such as supermarkets and hotels.
Many big players have adopted this strategy. For instance, Gloo.ng launched their B2B service; Kudos.
6. Online Marketplaces
Since the launch of companies such as Alibaba, eBay, and Amazon, many new marketplaces are emerging every other week. Even though there’s a common perception that setting up an e-commerce store is easy, not all individuals selling services or goods may have it easy.
As such online marketplaces will keep on being a viable option. In Nigeria, online marketplaces are emerging all over the place; however, they’re all focussed on selling everything. It makes more strategic sense to focus on specific products.
7. Offers
Offers are the most popular e-commerce marketing strategy in Nigeria. Most platforms offer summer deals and Buy Now Mondays to attract more customers. For platforms such as Konga and DealDey, weekends are the days when they get the most customers.
Most platforms offer competitive prices as there’s a customer acquisition war among the online marketplaces. The biggest beneficiaries of this war are the customers!
8. Responsive Design
Responsive design has become a necessity globally. Responsive design refers to having a web page displayed on a laptop or desktop and automatically re-arranged and resized to fit into a tablet or smartphone. The design makes browsing more effective and easy.