The technology revolution never stops, spreading new eCommerce trends, ideas and methods that make us rethink business models, customer relationships, experience and communication.
2022 brings big online challenges. The 2021 trends are still very present in eCommerce today and are consolidating, but 2022 is arriving with force.
eCommerce trends for 2022
SOCIAL COMMERCE
Social commerce is the use of social networks as sales channels, a growing and increasingly sophisticated trend. The main social networks already have dedicated eCommerce spaces, such as Facebook Shops, Instagram Shopping, WhatsApp Business and, for a few months now, TikTok too, with a Shopify integration inside the app.
Within social commerce, influencer marketing also stands out, having grown 44.7% globally over the last year. This model provides visibility and brand awareness and opens up new market segments.
Another trending tactic within social commerce is Live Streaming eCommerce, a strategy of direct interaction with users through brand livestreams that showcase products and answer consumer questions; users can add the product to their cart and buy it without leaving the stream. At Trilogi we work with Flux Panda, a Live Streaming eCommerce service that’s already trending in Asia.
Social commerce is transforming the shopping experience, enabling more branding, connection, engagement and trust with customers. Don’t miss this opportunity to communicate your brand’s value proposition.
ECOMMERCE IN THE METAVERSE
The Metaverse concept is gaining more traction every day. This idea of a virtual world we connect to using a range of devices (such as 3D glasses) is winning followers, and many brands are keen to find their place in it. In its vision, Facebook hopes the Metaverse can offer as many opportunities as the physical world, including the chance to build our own businesses there.
How will the Metaverse affect eCommerce? Imagine having a virtual replica of your physical store, where customers can walk in, try on clothes with a single click or watch a live fashion show, among many other experiences still hard to imagine.
The Metaverse in eCommerce isn’t an immediate reality, but we need to keep an eye on the internet’s next revolution. For now, you can get inspired by H&M’s store in the Metaverse:
MARKETING AUTOMATION
Companies and small businesses know that not all users behave the same way or share the same interests, so their shopping experience has to adapt to their needs. Marketing automation uses workflows to hyper-personalize the website and user interactions.
Building marketing automation strategies requires specialized platforms that import user, browsing and sales data and enable advanced audience segmentation. At Trilogi we work with Connectif, our Marketing Automation partner, with which we’ve achieved significant improvements in conversion rates.
Beyond personalizing the shopping experience, marketing automation also lets you interact with users via email, SMS, web push notifications, social campaigns and much more, enabling an omnichannel strategy.
COOKIELESS AND FIRST-PARTY DATA
More policies are being introduced every day to improve user security and privacy, and third-party cookies will soon be a thing of the past. Google points out that once third-party cookies are gone, it will stop tracking users’ online behavior at the level of detail it has until now.
So what’s the future of digital marketing in a cookieless world? Many brands are already building a first-party data base: data shared with the brand with customers’ full consent. Another concept gaining ground is zero-party data: data users share proactively and intentionally, such as purchase intentions or preferences.
In response, Google itself proposes the FLoC API, which enables federated learning and uses machine learning to group users based on the websites they’ve visited rather than individually: individual users will be indistinguishable within a cohort.
The expiry date for third-party cookies is set for mid-2023. Will we be ready?
DIVERSIFIED PAYMENT METHODS
eCommerce payment methods can be key to consumer trust and satisfaction. It’s the last step of the whole sales process, and a lack of payment options can be a major drop-off point. Today, most eCommerce stores accept bank cards, bank transfers, PayPal, cash on delivery and some also Bizum. But which methods are trending?
- Installment financing: platforms like Aplazame let you split or defer payments at no cost to the brand.
- Mobile payment: payment is made from the phone itself through platforms like Twyp, Apple Pay, Google Pay or banks’ own apps.
- Virtual currencies: platforms like BitPay let you integrate payment gateways with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
We recommend offering your customers as many payment options as possible so their experience is the best it can be.
CONVERSATIONAL MARKETING AND PERSONALIZATION
Today the eCommerce experience is all about personalization. Users want to feel like they’re in a physical store and choose a product while appreciating each of its features. Product personalization is a growing trend for 2022. Seeing the product is no longer enough: shoppers want to choose the brand, model, texture, color and size.
The advantage of this strategy is that it creates personalized, meaningful experiences for customers. Some product and service brands even offer digital store tours and create interactive 3D products for better purchase decisions. This is the case with Carmina Shoemaker, which, together with our experts at Trilogi and our partners at Threedium, created a 3D shoe customizer that lets you choose every last detail of your shoe.
Conversational marketing is also a good personalization method: around 80% of companies include a chatbot and live chat on their websites and social media to make buying easier with personalized offers. At Trilogi we use Oct8ne, software that aims to change the concept of conversational eCommerce.
RECOMMERCE
Growing environmental awareness is having a major impact on global consumer trends, and this also affects eCommerce. Recommerce means selling used products to reduce waste and environmental impact.
This business model covers a wide variety of projects:
- Selling second-hand products: for example Micolet, a marketplace for buying and selling second-hand clothing. Retail giants like Zalando also have a second-hand section.
- Refurbishing: selling used products that have been checked and restored. A current trend in the tech sector.
- Rental: lending for use instead of selling, shifting the mindset from product to service. For example, the clothing rental initiative Rentvolutions by SKFK
The new paradigm brings new business models, and recommerce is rising fast.
