Author: Benjamin Hunting
Ecommerce has assumed an even larger role over the past year as the effects of the global pandemic have pushed almost every customer-facing business into the online world. Internet retailers have set sales records throughout 2020 as billions of buyers stay safe at home and do their shopping via their laptops and mobile devices instead of visiting storefronts and malls.
With this in mind, it’s not surprising that 2021 promises to be a pivotal year for ecommerce. Although traditional retail experiences are predicted to return by the third quarter after vaccination campaigns have helped bring the COVID-19 virus under control, there’s strong evidence that ecommerce won’t see its role diminished over the next 12 months.
Here are three important trends in ecommerce that will help define 2021.
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Social commerce moves beyond the experimental stage
Instagram Checkout made waves in late 2020 with its emphasis on ecommerce in one of the most popular social media networks in the world. The ‘Shop’ tab, or a similar shopping option, is poised to make its way across many more apps throughout 2021 as social commerce becomes a new battlefield for online sellers seeking to reach a fresh customer base. As a whole, the global impact of social commerce is predicted to grow at a rate of 30% per year between now and 2027, blossoming into a $600 billion market over the course of the next five years.
“In 2021, forward-thinking retailers will embrace popular messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, which have been chronically underused as ecommerce channels,” said OMG Transact’s eCommerce Director Lucy Hawkes in a recent Econsultancy article.
Raise your voice
A mere three years ago, the amount of ecommerce occurring over smart speakers such as those offered by Google and Amazon totaled $2 billion (in the US and UK). Over the next 12 months, that figure is projected to reach a whopping $40 billion.
What’s driving this trend for 2021? Smart speaker technology has been adopted at an extremely rapid rate, with 90 million Americans—or roughly 34% of consumers—now making use of these devices on a regular basis.
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