2017 will continue to be an innovator’s market, and if you’re not evolving to meet the needs of your customers or following along with the current trends, then there is a good chance that you’ll be left behind. A prediction by Internet Retailer claims that online spending in the U.S. will generate $355 billion in 2016, a number that's expected to exceed $400 billion per year by 2018. In today’s competitive market , it all depends on how a consumer experience your brand and those brands that can perceive, anticipate or can meet consumer expectations, actively engage shoppers online and via mobile , will stand out to be the big winners in 2017.
Let’s discuss the top 5 trends that will be the game changer in 2017:
1 – Mobile engagement will continue to grow in 2017
This is the age of smartphones and tablets. More and more people are diverting from desktop to mobile phone shopping, Infact we could see many retailers shifting their operations to mobile platform and completely closing their desktop alternative. But the current trend highlights that a retailer should focus more on mobile responsive website than going for a mobile app. According to think tank Gartner, mobile engagement and the mobile behavior of shoppers will skyrocket ecommerce-driven mobile revenue by at least 50% by the year 2017. So if a brand is not able to engage consumers via smartphone or tablet, then they are probably not reaching out to 50% of their audience.
2 – Retailers to upgrade to more payment options
Making the payment option as easy as possible for your customers results in more conversions and sales. By offering a variety of different payment options, you make the customer’s life easier. Debit & credit cards, internet banking have long been the dominant payment players in the market, but there are still many people who feel insecure using cards for security reasons. There are alternative payment choices available from recognizable brands; among them V.me by Visa, MasterPass by MasterCard, Google Wallet, and of course eBay’s PayPal. In addition to digital wallets & Bitcoin payment option there are reloadable prepaid cards with a controlled payment option.
3 – More Pop Ups to be seen
Consumers hated the pop up when it was initially all over the internet. But pop ups are doing a comeback and will stay in the coming year as well. You must have noticed more and more pop ups on ecommerce websites in last few months. The pop ups are an invitation to sign up for the newsletter or receive email on offers and sales. Pop ups are little annoying as it disturbs the consumer while selecting a particular product, therefore even if companies want to use this marketing method, they should introduce it only when customer is scrolling down the page.
4 – Faster Shipping methodologies
Customers expect their product to be delivered to them as soon as possible, say within a day’s time. They are impatient and having to wait for a product to deliver within 5-7 days feels like eternity. The delivery expectations of customers are causing huge logistical challenges to online retailers. Retailers tried the drone experience but regulation approvals for drone delivery cannot be ruled out. Amazon’s vision of a crowd sourced delivery system, where regular people will deliver the products at fraction of time, will revolutionize the delivery of products. Faster shipping will be a key in 2017 to keep your customers coming back to your store for purchases.
5 – Contextual Shopping will be in demand
Contextual shopping is becoming the new ‘personalized’ shopping. A user centric, optimized experience is becoming not just a priority, but a competitive advantage. With a context-based website experience, you don’t have to be logged into a site in order to be given relevant information that can help you through the online decision journey. Contextual shopping has gone to another level with the new customer-centric technology where brands can map the customer journey on their past orders and anticipate their needs and equip shoppers with the information they are really looking for while shopping.
Today’s consumer will not settle for anything less. Customer is the king and retailers should try to win the customers by giving the best consumer friendly options So adopt these trends in your eCommerce store so as to retain your customers for a longer time else it takes no time for consumers to switch to other brand if their time and money are not valued.
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