E-commerce: Top 4 Trends for 2023

The only constant in business is change. And the only way to move forward is to be able to adapt. The year 2022 has not been a smooth one for various market players, and e-commerce companies have not been immune. From the end of the pandemic, all the way to the economic shocks caused by the war in Ukraine, 2022 has been a very challenging year for the commerce sector.

In order to thrive within the world of online business, it’s more important than ever to stay ahead of the curve and embrace key emerging trends.

In this article, our offshore outsourcing company, Bocasay, presents 4 online business trends that will shape online shopping in 2023.

Trend #1: The customer at the heart of your strategy 💡

Your customers are the people paying your bills. Their needs and desires should be at the center of every part of your strategy.  It is absolutely crucial to understand your target audience:

• What do your customers want from their e-commerce experience?
• What are the most popular payment methods?
• Do your customers have environmental, ‘green’ concerns?

Once you understand your customers, customize your site in order to provide the right options at every step. By giving shoppers the freedom of choice, customers can take control and feel more comfortable before proceeding to checkout.

Give your customers the freedom to choose how they pay, how they ship, whether they want to create an account and whether they want to receive emails from you. Giving them control over how they initiate a relationship with your company increases the trust and value they place in you.

Trend #2: Mobile commerce 📱

Mobile commerce has been around for quite some time, but the overall adoption of the latest technologies and trends is still not being fully exploited. One of the biggest opportunities for mobile growth that many marketers are still not using is PWAs (Progressive Web Apps).

A PWA is a website combined with a native application that loads very quickly. It is often downloaded to the user’s smartphone and it can also be viewed offline. Push notifications are also possible. Systems such as Styla and Shogun help implement strategies that ensure your website is not only responsive,  but also mobile-friendly.

You can use various analytics tools in order to examine the devices commonly used to access your website. For example, do you know what the conversion rates are for each device?

Many marketers find that most visits come from mobile devices, but conversions come from computers. This is often because the e-commerce experience isn’t really mobile-friendly. If you are facing this issue, 2023 could be the year to seriously invest and embrace a mobile-first and mobile-friendly strategy.

𝕊𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕗𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟛 𝕠𝕗𝕗 𝕥𝕠 𝕒 𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕦𝕥𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝔹𝕠𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕘𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕕𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝𝕠𝕡𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕪. 𝔹𝕪 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕓𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕖𝕔𝕙𝕟𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔸𝕘𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕒𝕔𝕙, 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕖𝕖𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕀𝕋 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕤! ℝ𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕢𝕦𝕠𝕥𝕖 𝕥𝕠𝕕𝕒𝕪!

Trend #3: Environmental sustainability ♻️

Consumers are starting to pay more attention to sustainability. And that’s thanks to the new generation of consumers. They are taking a no-compromise approach to saving the environment and are willing to turn away from brands that ignore their carbon footprint and negatively impact the planet.

In 2023, online retailers won’t be able to just talk the talk. They will have to demonstrate their actions in order to reduce their climate impact and showcase their commitment towards a greener economy.

Global searches for sustainable goods have increased by more than 70% since 2016 (The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2021), and half of UK and US shoppers require brands to develop products that use less packaging.

Any changes you can make to transform your business’s green credentials are important. For example, within IT, you can try the following:

• Optimize your product images to increase page load speed.
• Work on your site’s ease of navigation so your visitors don’t have to use their devices more than necessary.
• Choose to only work with service providers that use renewable energy.

Trend #4: Social commerce 💸

Brands have been using social media to increase awareness and generate leads. In recent years, e-commerce companies have started to increase their sales by selling their products directly through social networks.

As a result, customers are accessing social media platforms directly on their mobile devices to find and purchase their favorite products in one place.

Overall, the reach of social media has increased year after year. 59% of the world’s population now uses social media platforms, and that number continues to grow. These platforms are expected to generate 2.9 trillion by 2026.

The most popular social media platforms offering social commerce are Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat and now Twitter. If your online business is not already using these platforms for social commerce, now is the perfect time to set up alternative strategies that can increase your sales.

Conclusion

Setting up an e-commerce site is one particular challenge, and growing it successfully is an entirely different challenge alltogether. To stay competitive and make your site stand out from the crowd, you’ll need to adopt some of these trends in your online projects for 2023.

However, customer experience is the one overarching trend that all the others fit into in some way. You need to provide your customers with the best possible experience. That includes having a site that is compatible on all devices, offering different payment methods, and providing complete transparency and flexibility regarding your shipping delivery options.

Any strategy or trend you implement within your company should be aimed at improving the customer experience.