When the world was facing an all-time low due to the Coronavirus pandemic affecting countries, destroying economies and collapsing the health care systems, an industry was booming like no other! The ecommerce industry saw an amazing growth during the Coronavirus pandemic around the globe, the development was exponential, witnessed in a small quarter of the year alone. This kind of development rate brings opportunities but it also provides new challenges. Everyone wants to launch their own online store and get a piece of the pie but it's easier said than done. You’ll need the services of the Shopify developersin order to set you up for a well-integrated, updated and advanced website.

As ecommerce witnessed a growth of 10 years in one single year, the trends that were far fetched were suddenly knocking right at the door and companies were struggling to keep up. Brands need to diversify, adapt and expand if they want to survive and also ride high. An ecommerce agencyhas developers that can set up the site for your business which is at par with the ongoing demands, trends and systems. Shopify developers will provide you with services like programming, maintenance, coding, SEO, navigation, layout, payment getaways and web designing and developing. Ecommerce trends are ever evolving so the winner who gets the chicken dinner will be someone who stays on top of the trends and has a robust website.

So, if you have landed on this page by sifting through the jungle of information, it means you’re already convinced to make your online store more efficacious and robust. In this article we will discuss some web development trends that will be really handy in 2021 and also be good for the start of 2022.

1.      Voice Search Optimization

More than 50% of the traffic coming on ecommerce stores is using their mobile phone devices. Our phones have taken over so many things and now with amazing microphones you don’t even have to type what you are looking for; all you have to do is to use your voice to issue the commandments. Also, ever since the initiation of smart speakers like Alexa, Siri and Google assistant, we are starting to enjoy this alleviating feeling where typing is swapped with speaking. Voice search is the future of ecommerce businesses as people are already transitioning into it. If your online store hasn’t optimized the voice search, ask your ecommerce agency to set it up for you without further ado. Your potential customers will be able to find your store more effectively, it will also improve your ranking and be beneficial in ways that are unimaginable.

2.      Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is the only way to go forward from here on, it’s a revolutionary technology that has been making rounds from the past couple of years but from 2020 it’s an absolute must-have feature. This web development service must be fully integrated in your system in order to help its business in multiple ways. AI not only provides valuable insights in customer behaviour but also provides a personalized and bespoke experience to the clients. AI is like the machines are learning how to solve problems, provide answers and resolve issues of the users all by themselves. AI makes sure you see more of what you are looking for based on your previous searches and activity on the internet. Make sure to hire Shopify developers to install this system as it will need expertise.

3.      Provide Options of Payments

Like I said before, people shopping from their mobile devices have way surpassed the people shopping from desktops or laptops. As a result of this, people running online stores have to firstly make sure their website is mobile friendly and after that they need to diversify their payment options. Relying only on credit or debit cards will restrict your potential customers from buying from you. Seeing this trend, many payment apps, digital wallets and other payment getaways have been sprouting profusely. A good ecommerce agency like Shopify, Magento, Big commerce and PrestaShop provide extensions or plugins or you can also call them third-party apps that allow different payment getaways on your online store. Other payment methods like PayPal are also reliable but think ahead of time and while you’re at it integrate social payment methods like Whatsapp and Facebook payments methods as well.

4.      Chatbots

This trend is gaining momentum in ecommerce businesses and has now become an essential web development feature. Chatbots are automated interactions that customers can do with this feature. Chatbots are a great tool for the business and the customers simultaneously. For an online store, the chat feature allows interaction with customers, provides them with quick answers, helps resolving any issues they are facing and also provides them with after sales guidance. But sometimes the chats get too overwhelming, so the Chatbot feature comes in to save the day. It's basically like a filter, the customers will first interact with the feature and any automated questions will be answered thus saving time and energy of the customer care representative. On the other hand, customers won’t have to wait in line for their turn to chat, they will get quick answers with convenience.

5.      Customization While Shopping

With online stores popping up like mushrooms in forests, what should be done in order to stand tall from the competitors. Well, the answer is by giving your customers and clients a personalized, tailored and customizable experience. Features like AI and AR allows you to see your customers trends, search activity and insight about their preferences. By using this information, you can filter the stuff that matches that information so that the customers get exactly what they want. A personalized shopping experience will make them come back over and over again.

Takeaway Points

Online businesses will make a whopping $5 trillion in 2021 according to the predictions of the experts. People are making a huge shift in their shopping habits and for online business owners, now is the time to make essential changes in order to get the bigger slice of the pie. Hire a good ecommerce agency that provides you with rich features and guides you about the trends that will transform their revenues.

There are lots of Automated Services available that you could find through the Internet, but with regards to running your personal e-business, locating a top solution being an absolute Shopware Agency. Despite the smallest temptation to stay for any just average solution can finish up squandering your very much in money and time lower the street. It is simple to avoid this by simply making the effort from the beginning to recognize an excellent solution now.

What Is Ecommerce?

To put it in a simple and comprehensive way, it’s the buying and selling of goods and services over the internet. Customers/clients approach websites or online stores, purchase the goods or services and pay using electronic payments methods. Once the payment is received the merchant ships the goods to the client to the given address or in case of services, provides it. Now it may all seem very simple, easy and uncomplicated right, well it's anything but that. There is a deep and convoluted process at the back end which is done by shopify developersand other ecommerce experts.

How Does an Ecommerce Store Work?

An ecommerce store works more or less on the same principles of a brick-and-mortar store. Just like the physical stores, potential customers come into your store, create an impression by looking at the display, prices and friendliness, make a purchase and leave the store. The only main difference is that they do all that from the comfort of their homes. But the similarities are merely on the surface here, a lot is happening behind the scenes. A customer visits an online store, browses the online store and various products it has to offer, chooses one, selects the color and size and adds it to the cart.

The order manager confirms that the product is in stock, the customer moves to the next step that is check out. After that the customer enters his/her payment details, shipping and billing information. The payment processor, in most cases the bank confirms that the customer has sufficient balance completes the transaction. The customers get a notification from the online store that the payment went through, all this can happen under 30 seconds. The warehouse is notified about the new order, it's processed and then shipped. The customer is notified via email that the product is dispatched and provided with a tracking number. The order is delivered to the given address and the transaction is completed.

This is how the process of a transaction looks like on an ecommerce site. It’s the most rapidly growing industry which is expected to surpass the sales of $7 trillion by the end of year 2022. It's absolutely important to understand that the ecommerce trends are ever-changing and if you want to make big with your online store then you have to keep up with the new trends, technology advancements, marketing tools and other strategies. Hire a good ecommerce agencyand well versed shopify developers to ensure your business is on the right track.

Different Types of Ecommerce Business Models

There are different kinds of ecommerce business models you can choose from depending on the investment, preferences and business nature. For every ecommerce business model there are different techniques, strategies and principles. The most popular ones are the B2B, B2C, C2B and C2C. Let’s briefly discuss each one below.

1.    Business to Business B2B

The business-to-business model is basically the ecommerce term of wholesale selling. In this model big businesses sell their products to other small businesses at really low prices so that they can earn profit over them like Alibaba. Another case can be an ecommerce store giving services to other ecommerce stores like Shopify, it provides other ecommerce businesses a platform on which they can make their online store and earn.

2.    Business to Customer B2C

This model of business is the most common one, when you want to launch an online store you most probably want to sell goods to direct customers right? Well, this business model will allow you to do just that. Big online stores like Amazon, Apple and Walmart work on this model.

3.    Customer to Business C2B

Now this model is gaining popularity at a rapid pace, in this model customers provide their services or goods to big businesses. This could be social media services, photography or other products.

4.    Customer to Customer C2C

Customer-to-customer business model is relatively new but trust me this could change the course of online businesses over a couple of years. In this model, customers provide goods and services to other customers without having any specific website or store of their own. Online stores like eBay, Etsy and Craigslist offer platforms to just that. It could be something brand new but you got the wrong size or it could be something expensive but you now want to get something new.

Pros of Ecommerce Business

This goes without saying that an ecommerce store or business is a very profitable venture but there are other benefits as well if you’re new to the world of ecommerce or shifting from physical store to online store. Firstly, it has far less fixed costs than a physical store, no rent, utility or salesman costs. It is operable 24/7 without anyone coming and any hour of the day and shop from your store. An online store can house much more products than any physical store can ever do. As there is no need of displaying products, you just need good quality pictures from every angle and you can put the product in any warehouse which has far less rent and other costs. You get a lot of customer insight like email id, phone number, address and other information that can help you target an audience. You just need shopify developers and an ecommerce agency to set you up and you are good to run a business.

Cons of Ecommerce Business

Just like any business, ecommerce business does come with its own set of challenges like a limited customer approach, there are many people who are still orthodox in their shopping habits and don’t trust products without feeling them. On top of that, fraud, scam, credit card non payment problems are rampant in ecommerce. As there is no physical intervention people just simply abandon their carts and leave. Shipping and delivery times are mostly dependent on courier service providers which make many people frustrated and in turn blames the online store.

Conclusion

Ecommerce is a cut-throat business but without a speck of doubt it’s the future of all business and anyone who wants to earn big needs to get on with setting up their business online. Big giants like Amazon, Taobao, Tmall, AliExpress, eBay and Walmart are all online stores.