In this new year, 2021, it’s estimated the eCommerce sales will continue to grow gradually due to the global impact of COVID-19. This delicate public health situation is encouraging a greater percentage of customers to buy online rather than going to physical shops. In this situation, eCommerce businesses must optimise their sales channels as much as possible and be up-to-date on the trends in the eCommerce world to capture these new customers without losing sight of those key timeless aspects, like having an appropriate pricing strategy that is in line with the prices of your competition. With this in mind, we, at Minderest, would like to explain what factors you ought to keep in mind in 2021 to increase the competitiveness of your eCommerce business.
Optimise sales through mobile devices
Mobile devices, especially smartphones, continue to gain ground on computers. Increasing numbers of users are buying new products and services using their mobile devices and in 2021, this number will continue to grow. Nevertheless, the load speed, interface, and purchasing process will determine the customers’ final purchase decision. This is why the responsive version of your eCommerce website should be friendly and offer a clear call to action that encourages the users to purchase. Dedicate time and resources to test your website manually to detect any navigation errors and ensure that all products are displayed correctly.
If possible, you can assess the possibility of designing and creating your own app to encourage customer acquisition. Both Android and iOS apps allow you to create loyalty programmes and send push notifications with sales or personalised offers for a higher conversion rate.
Adapt your catalogue to voice shopping.
The percentage of homes with smart listening devices has also increased over the past year. Alexa and Google Home are even becoming support tools for elderly people. To prepare your eCommerce business for voice shopping, begin by optimising your SEO to appear in these types of searches. For this, you need to base your content more on the search intentions of the users than on keywords since the general tendency is for customers to ask these smart speakers questions. You can also incorporate a price and effective internet voice search on your website.
Offer new services online.
As an added value, you can supplement your eCommerce business with online services that might interest your customers. Given the importance that remote work and video conferences have gained in our daily lives, you can offer advice or experiences that they can enjoy from home at a competitive price.
The makeup courses offered by MAC on its website are one example of this, including courses with a set date and a limited class size as well as one-to-one classes with different prices and lengths. The final objective, in this new reality, is to digitalise content and experiences that were previously done in-person to continue enjoying them safely.
Additional eCommerce trends to look out for in 2021
The eCommerce world will also be affected by the following trends, which are less popular but also on the rise:
- The increased popularity of cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin
- The growth of online sales of groceries and food products
- The promotion of the subscription model to receive essential products regularly
- The increased power of the green economy
- The massive growth of marketplaces
So, you can assess the implementation of improvements or new items in your eCommerce business while keeping in mind user demands for 2021. But not all trends are new. Dynamic prices will remain equally present during this new year since they’ve already proven to be highly effective at attracting and retaining customers. To achieve a high level of competitiveness, you should implement an automatic dynamic pricing system that adjusts to the needs of your eCommerce customers.
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