2023 Market Predictions
March 21, 2023
At least 28% of the world population shops online, and that figure is anticipated to grow in coming years. Overall, e-commerce sales could reach 20.8% of all retail sales worldwide in 2023. Total sales are projected to surpass $7 trillion by 2025.
As customers turn to online retailers for their shopping needs, businesses are continually looking for innovative ways of reaching new customers. Although exciting trends like using social media and AI voice assistants are making breakthroughs, selling on marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart remains essential as they are responsible for over 40% of total retail e-commerce sales.
As an e-commerce seller, how can you make the most of this booming industry? Making sure your company stays on top of online shopping trends and partnering with e-commerce experts, like ZQUARED, to optimize your brand presence will ensure your business has the best chance to stand out.
Social Shopping
Social shopping, also known as social commerce, involves making your products available on social media platforms. Doing so can significantly expand your branding, market, and audience, especially among Millennials and Gen Zers. The average person in the U.S. spends 2.5 hours daily on social media; 81% of shoppers research products on Instagram and Facebook. By 2025, there are projected to be $1.2 trillion in social shopping generated sales, a 100% growth since 2020.
Simply put: if you aren’t selling on socials, it’s time to start.
Selling through platforms like TikTok or Instagram offers your customers an interactive experience and a direct portal to purchasing the displayed merchandise, which can reduce friction and increase click to sales ratios for your business. Social shopping also allows sellers to quickly collect feedback on products. Social media offers a simple way for your consumers to connect with you. You can also easily search for conversations involving your product to capitalize on momentum and target outreach.
Many booming e-commerce businesses partner with influencers to feature their products, helping products go viral and usher in waves of new sales.
Brand Loyalty
Brand loyalty, typically key to successful businesses, dropped during the pandemic years. McKinsey & Company reported that 75% of consumers tried new shopping behaviors during the pandemic, and 39% of buyers tried new brands that better represented their values. This shift is likely due to an increase in online options, which means holding onto loyal customers is more important than ever.
Presenting a clear set of values is key to customer retention. Ensure your audience identifies with your brand emotionally. Understand your customers – who are they? What are their goals? How do they shop? The answers will help shape your company’s brand to best reflect your customers.
Prioritize customer service. Research shows that just over half of customers say they aren’t willing to do business with a merchant after just one bad experience. Stay communicative, offer personalized content and product recommendations, provide exclusive perks and discounts through an ongoing newsletter. These actions develop trust and will make your customers more likely to make repeat purchases.
Voice Commerce
The rise of AI voice assistants like Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa has sparked a new wave of shopping through voice commands. This approach enables AI technology to execute transactions from any voice-enabled device.
Commands like, “Alexa, what is the best surround sound speaker?” will guide new shopping experiences. AI voice commands are essentially a new kind of search engine, which means search engine optimization (SEO) will also need to encompass how people speak to each other in real life.
Analysts expect voice commerce to increase by 320% over 2023, growing from $4.6 billion to $19.4 billion in sales facilitated by voice assistants. Amazon, as is often the case, is spearheading the trend and recently released Alexa Voice Shopping which allows shoppers to browse for items, add to carts, and track orders.
Amazon Advertising
Amazon hosts 300 million accounts globally and is responsible for over 40% of retail e-commerce sales. With new avenues to solicit online customers – like social commerce – optimizing Amazon listings and ensuring that your company’s advertisements are on par is more important than ever.
Amazon advertisements have the capabilities to appear on social media channels and other websites, helping increase external traffic to your Amazon listing. These ads follow a pay-per-click scheme, which can be cost effective for many businesses as the costs depend on click-conversions.
The ZQUARED Advantage
Navigating the jungle of e-commerce is daunting even for the most experienced companies. Staying on top of new trends, like social and voice shopping experiences, will help you understand your audience, build brand loyalty, and maximize your marketing strategy.
Although driving external traffic through new trends is important, research indicates that 66% of customers start their search on Amazon; the majority of these customers don’t look past the first page of search results, making Amazon listing optimization paramount.
By working with an e-commerce expert like ZQUARED, you can focus on product quality and marketing campaigns while knowing the Amazon and Walmart side of your business is in the hands of industry experts. ZQUARED provides SEO and A+ content optimization, custom advertisements strategies, e-commerce logistical management, and MAP enforcement support to protect your brand.
To see how ZQUARED can help your brand going into the 2023 season email us at partners@zquared.com