prediction by Demi, Project Manager
With the current state of the world - and particularly here in Australia with the last few months of raging bushfires - climate change and the links with the way we do business has become a topical issue. People (your customers included) are beginning to realise that sustainability is not just a seasonal trend - it’s the only way to do good business.
We’re seeing businesses everywhere remodelling to include resource and water management, reduced plastic use and pollution, and enforcing transparency in their supply chains and communication.
Doing so not only has long term fiscal savings (especially in the case of resource management) but it also builds trust and endears the community to your brand. Additionally, it’s been shown to improve morale of your employees - knowing their work helps their community and environment. It’s a win-win, and it’s why we think this trend will be here to stay in 2020 and beyond.
prediction by India, Content Producer
We can already see that Amazon has plans to launch ‘Prime Air’ - a new drone shipping service that looks to make our parcel delivery aerial, automated and delivered within 30 minutes of ordering. While this service has been rumored for months, we predict 2020 is the year we start seeing this tested further and rolled out. Online shopping and instant (well, 30 minute) gratification meet at last.
prediction by Lana, Account Manager
In e-commerce, businesses are often struggling to fill the gap between their online and brick-and-mortar stores. While many prefer shopping online, some experiences just cannot be replicated in an online store. In the case of many products - not being able to try things on, or see something in context is a key conversion issue for many shoppers.
This can lead to customer dissatisfaction or falsely inflated revenue (from a large amount of returns). We predict that Augmented and Virtual Reality just might be the answer - allowing people to immediately try before they buy and improving customer satisfaction and engagement.
prediction by Guillermo, SEO Specialist
This is an SEO specific one and could have huge implications for your content marketing plan..
So firstly, what’s EAT? The acronym stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. EAT will make it harder for websites to rank with content that is not part of their industry or area of expertise. For example, fashion websites with content around health topics may not perform as well despite the overall authority of the site.
In an age of misinformation, this is a trend we are looking forward to seeing more of - not just in ecommerce but in general. It will also help with content overload - no longer is it good to overproduce trending or irrelevant content just for the sake of it. Stick to what you know.
So how will EAT figure out if you are an expert? Things like the number of brand searches (showing brand awareness), brand mentions on industry relevant and authority sites, the absence of website technical & security issues, and customers feed-back/reviews will all be considered as factors in determining the overall company reputation.
prediction by Margreet, Head of Marketing
Personalisation has been a growing trend in marketing for years now, and this year we predict that specifically, the customer service section of your site will benefit.
A combination of existing customer data and utilisation of AI powered customer service apps will ensure that you’re asking online shoppers the right questions at the right time, all based on the customers (past and present) online behaviour. This should mimic the in person shopping assistant and speed up the shopping process.
prediction by Chris, Senior Developer
Many e-commerce stores are an extension of an existing brick and mortar store - but sometimes the differences between those two shopping experiences can make it feel like an entirely different retailer. We predict that businesses will be working harder to close the gap - firstly by ensuring consistent branding, same quality of service and more general overlap between their on and offline stores. We have already seen this start with click and collect, and we expect it to continue with benefits such as free in-store returns and seamless loyalty programs.
prediction by Marie, Development Project Manager
With the growth of smart speakers, v-commerce offers a new sales channel for brands and merchants.
Probably focussed more on FMCG brands to begin with, can you imagine doing your weekly grocery shopping simply by reading out your shopping list to your AI assistant? Hey Google, I’m out of milk.
prediction by Harry, Developer
Many e-commerce stores are an extension of an existing brick and mortar store - With omnichannel experiences becoming more common to business strategy, offering mobile sites that feel like native 1st party apps will become more prevalent. PWA’s offer improvements in speed, UX and functionality, as well as the ability to store data offline and launch directly from the home screen.
As such, PWAs are increasingly seen as the probable winner in the battle between apps vs websites - and could even be a smart way to reduce development costs and maintenance going forward.
Coupled with the ability to use a ‘headless PWA’ (where the wherein the frontend is not intact with the backend) enables merchants to innovate on their frontend aesthetic faster - while retaining the benefits of the CMS model.
What do you think will be the next big thing in e-commerce? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
