February 25, 2015 at 17:557 Intriguing E-Commerce Predictions for 2015
The growth of pre-sales, taxis instead of couriers and delivery by drones? Let's look at the most original and inspiring trends of the next 12 months.
In our previous article, we focused on 10 important trends in e-commerce that will shape the future of the industry in 2015. This was a review of the forecasts of the most popular specialists in this field, based on more than 150 reports and analytics.
However, the juice itself is always between the lines. As you can see, trends that others did not notice in time can become your competitive advantage. Thus, today we present to you fresh, unique interesting ideas, noted by the authors of the forecasts last week. You may have already seen some of them on a small scale. Others are gaining strength in distant lands, for example, in Asia. It is still unclear which one will become a popular standard. But if that happens, you will not be taken by surprise.
Shmuli Goldberg of Feedvisor, an e-commerce software company, says: the idea that customers are always looking for the cheapest product is a myth. This is true only for 14 percent of all buyers. Others usually choose an option that combines trust in the brand, convenient navigation, an easy buying process, plus good delivery conditions and an attractive price. Goldberg says this trend will be even more popular after 2015.
This observation is supported by other studies, such as the Gemius report for the Polish e-commerce market. In it, 81% of respondents say that a “positive shopping experience” is a greater incentive than an “attractive price” (73% of respondents) when it comes to returning to an online store. Low shipping costs (important for 61% of customers) took third place.
In the latest headlines, we see the ideas of giants such as Amazon, experimenting with instant delivery of goods using unmanned aerial vehicles - drones. Before becoming an everyday reality, the logistics revolution may come from yet another direction - applications such as Uber to hire private taxi drivers.
Crowdfunding success stories (possible with platforms such as Kickstarter) are increasingly convincing manufacturers and traders to start their business by raising funds from customers, and only then start developing and delivering products. BackerKit.com and other crowdfunding management programs can help a lot.
Other thriving e-commerce models are sales subscription, sales club sales (supported by platforms like Cratejoy) and personalization of the product according to customer profiles (e.g. cosmetics from Birchbox or clothing from Trunkclub.com).
This marks a different approach to marketing, which requires much more planning, investment in quality content, product descriptions and outstanding advertising projects. Effective search engine charity advertising is still a new industry in e-marketing.
Due to the fact that customers usually give out money for a specific case related to purchases, the winner is the retailer who first encourages buyers to open their wallets. Tom Caporaso from the Clarus Marketing Group claims that this year the e-commerce industry will keep a close eye on the calendar and competition will be even tougher. Already on Cyber Monday, US online sales reached a record $ 2.3 billion, nearly 1/3 higher compared to 2013.
Thus, stores will continue to search for special occasions and dates for special offers. Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, September 1, Free Shipping Day - Seasonal promotions will start earlier and last longer.
Experts say that we should expect continued aggressive development of the giants of Asian e-commerce, which will grow to enormous proportions, whether China or India. Southeast Asian online stores — Thailand, the Philippines, or Indonesia — are expanding very rapidly. The Malaysian Lazada.com.my in the English version attracts customers around the world. Europe also sees many examples of rapid cross-border growth, such as Zalando, Redcoon or Mall.cz.
This creates a serious problem for online stores with a strict emphasis on local markets - marketing, price pressure, logistics. But it also creates opportunities to reach a wider global audience whose wallets are even thicker.
When we recently wrote about the best trends, we talked about the growing number of customers who want immediate delivery. No less interesting is the opposite trend:
The pioneer in this is Zulily, a fast-growing platform that minimizes inventory and works in a flash sales model. They announce attractive, time-limited promotions for branded goods, collect orders from customers and suppliers - thus facing minimal risks. After which only repackaging and shipping of goods remains. As a result
In our previous article, we focused on 10 important trends in e-commerce that will shape the future of the industry in 2015. This was a review of the forecasts of the most popular specialists in this field, based on more than 150 reports and analytics.
However, the juice itself is always between the lines. As you can see, trends that others did not notice in time can become your competitive advantage. Thus, today we present to you fresh, unique interesting ideas, noted by the authors of the forecasts last week. You may have already seen some of them on a small scale. Others are gaining strength in distant lands, for example, in Asia. It is still unclear which one will become a popular standard. But if that happens, you will not be taken by surprise.
No. 1. Is the price nothing?
Shmuli Goldberg of Feedvisor, an e-commerce software company, says: the idea that customers are always looking for the cheapest product is a myth. This is true only for 14 percent of all buyers. Others usually choose an option that combines trust in the brand, convenient navigation, an easy buying process, plus good delivery conditions and an attractive price. Goldberg says this trend will be even more popular after 2015.
This observation is supported by other studies, such as the Gemius report for the Polish e-commerce market. In it, 81% of respondents say that a “positive shopping experience” is a greater incentive than an “attractive price” (73% of respondents) when it comes to returning to an online store. Low shipping costs (important for 61% of customers) took third place.
No. 2. Drones and Uber
In the latest headlines, we see the ideas of giants such as Amazon, experimenting with instant delivery of goods using unmanned aerial vehicles - drones. Before becoming an everyday reality, the logistics revolution may come from yet another direction - applications such as Uber to hire private taxi drivers.
“Let's imagine that Uber begins to deliver goods from stores. This seems like a pretty likely decision for Asia because of the underdeveloped structure of courier companies, ”says Yamini Dhal, dealstreetasia.com blogger. The project has already been tested in Bangkok and the Philippines by Amazon and Kiehl, a cosmetics manufacturer.
No. 3. Products on Demand
Crowdfunding success stories (possible with platforms such as Kickstarter) are increasingly convincing manufacturers and traders to start their business by raising funds from customers, and only then start developing and delivering products. BackerKit.com and other crowdfunding management programs can help a lot.
Other thriving e-commerce models are sales subscription, sales club sales (supported by platforms like Cratejoy) and personalization of the product according to customer profiles (e.g. cosmetics from Birchbox or clothing from Trunkclub.com).
Number 4. E-Commerce and Flexible Trading
“Customers will look for ethical brands. In 2015, we will see an increase in the number of buyers at small companies that do good deeds and a good story, ”says Richard Lazazer of Shopify (e-commerce platform).
This marks a different approach to marketing, which requires much more planning, investment in quality content, product descriptions and outstanding advertising projects. Effective search engine charity advertising is still a new industry in e-marketing.
No. 5. Special offers for special occasions
Due to the fact that customers usually give out money for a specific case related to purchases, the winner is the retailer who first encourages buyers to open their wallets. Tom Caporaso from the Clarus Marketing Group claims that this year the e-commerce industry will keep a close eye on the calendar and competition will be even tougher. Already on Cyber Monday, US online sales reached a record $ 2.3 billion, nearly 1/3 higher compared to 2013.
Thus, stores will continue to search for special occasions and dates for special offers. Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, September 1, Free Shipping Day - Seasonal promotions will start earlier and last longer.
No. 6. Customers Worldwide
“Local customers around the world will require opening global or foreign sites in the first place and will spend most of their online budget on overseas stores,” says Jorgen Bodmar of the Scandinavian Design Center.
Experts say that we should expect continued aggressive development of the giants of Asian e-commerce, which will grow to enormous proportions, whether China or India. Southeast Asian online stores — Thailand, the Philippines, or Indonesia — are expanding very rapidly. The Malaysian Lazada.com.my in the English version attracts customers around the world. Europe also sees many examples of rapid cross-border growth, such as Zalando, Redcoon or Mall.cz.
This creates a serious problem for online stores with a strict emphasis on local markets - marketing, price pressure, logistics. But it also creates opportunities to reach a wider global audience whose wallets are even thicker.
Number 7. Lower price while waiting for goods
When we recently wrote about the best trends, we talked about the growing number of customers who want immediate delivery. No less interesting is the opposite trend:
“In 2015, it is expected that more online stores will begin to take inventories, offering discounts to consumers in exchange for waiting for products,” said Nate Gilmore of Shipwire, a logistics software company.
The pioneer in this is Zulily, a fast-growing platform that minimizes inventory and works in a flash sales model. They announce attractive, time-limited promotions for branded goods, collect orders from customers and suppliers - thus facing minimal risks. After which only repackaging and shipping of goods remains. As a result
“The customer wins at a discount in exchange for a longer delivery,” says Gilmore.