The e-commerce sector has been expanding rapidly for the last few years, and it doesn’t seem to stop. “Thanks” to the coronavirus pandemic back in 2020, now we have the world shifting more toward a digital-first culture:
According to the reports, global online retail sales will reach somewhere from $5.6 to $6.3 trillion in 2023. More than that, experts predict that e-commerce will take 20.8% of sales worldwide.
No surprise all businesses come online. They struggle for customers’ interest, the competition grows, and now it’s more challenging than ever to maintain visibility and boost sales. Knowing and understanding the latest trends in e-commerce will help you see how to position your brand for survival and success in the coming years.
This article reveals the top five global e-commerce trends for you to get insight into how to organize Joomla e-commerce websites and marketing strategies in 2023.
Here they go:
1) Advanced Personalization
Gone are the days when customers looked for nothing but prices to make a buying decision. Now they look for a more “human” touch and shopping experiences based on their needs.
In other words, a one-to-one relationship between a customer and a brand, special treatment, and an individual approach to every client is critical for your e-commerce success in 2023. Numbers speak volumes:
- 77% of executives admit the positive impact of increased personalization on sales
- 58% of companies using personalization report an increased customer retention
- 94% of businesses admit individual treatment increases sales by up to 20%. Personalization turns visitors into loyal customers.
To make this trend work for your Joomla e-commerce website, you can (first and foremost) design it as an independent, original platform, not a uniform store page looking like standardized marketplaces. Maintain your store with a CRM database to use customer data for creating personalized suggestions and recommendations.
Try interactive product pages with customization options for certain products (if possible): It makes customers get involved in ordering. AR features (more on that below) can also help create an enhanced customer experience.
2) The Focus on Sustainability
A brand’s mission and values also matter to customers today. They examine e-commerce websites and social media before purchasing to see if a brand commits to sustainable and ethical practices. And they’ll prefer to buy from those respecting their sentiment.
Environmental issues, the support of vulnerable communities, eco-friendliness: Does your business address any of them?
Conduct a sustainability audit if your business has offline segments, and check if the products you sell use sustainable supply chains. Communicate your sustainability to the audience: Design product pages accordingly and share corresponding messages on social media.
Sincerity and honesty are key here. Don’t communicate values your business doesn’t support. Otherwise, you’ll ruin your business reputation, and such pathetic attempts to follow the sustainability trend when you actually aren’t sustainable will do nothing but harm.
3) Mobile Shopping
This trend wasn’t hard to predict:
Mobile usage is on the rise, and people spend more and more time with their smartphones: social media, podcasts, news, communication, work, shopping, and payments — everything goes through mobiles. In fact:
Mobile commerce made 41.8% of e-commerce sales in 2022, and it’s expected to gain even more ground in 2023. For businesses, it’s a huge opportunity to reach such a broad audience of mobile customers.
For that, ensure your Joomla e-commerce website is mobile-friendly: a responsive design with touch navigation, engaging content, fast load, and secure payment options are an absolute must.
4) Video Shopping
This trend has been growing in response to the numerous research and reports on the role of video content for positive customer experience. They say consumers want to see more product videos from brands, such videos influence their buying decisions, and using video as a marketing tool is critical for success.
As a result, more and more e-commerce businesses incorporate video content into their strategies. They place videos on product pages and struggle to provide an immersive shopping experience, creating a new trend that we know as video shopping today.
How does video shopping benefit customers?
They watch product reviews from the comfort of their homes, can view all the features in detail, ask questions, and thus make informed decisions to purchase. A bonus is if those video reviews come from other customers: User-generated content boosts engagement and trust. (As we know, people perceive online reviews from other users as personal recommendations.)
What you can take from video shopping platforms:
Insights into customer behavior and preferences to tailor your products to meet customer needs.
Think of adding a chatbot or a live chat feature to your Joomla platform: They’ll serve as customer support answering user questions about your video content, thus encouraging viewers to buy.
5) AR, VR, and Metaverse
All three have a huge potential to provide your customers with an immersive and engaging shopping experience:
AR (augmented reality) technology involves users in a vivid and interactive journey, where they can try on clothes before purchasing or view products in 3D to decide if they want to buy them.
VR (virtual reality) technology on your e-commerce website creates a digital environment for users to feel like they are in a real-life store, interacting with items and purchasing. Interior designers and furniture sellers are active users of VR in their businesses now: This tech helps them demonstrate how a sofa or a wardrobe, for example, would look in a customer’s home if they bought it.
AR and VR in e-commerce serve for better user experience and personalization: They allow customers to “physically” see a product and feel more confident when deciding to buy.
Speaking of the metaverse:
It’s another opportunity for online businesses to provide an immersing shopping experience: Customers can explore products, attend events, communicate with sales associates, and engage in the shopping process without ever leaving their homes! If you have the technical capacities and all the necessary resources to implement the above techs in your e-commerce website, do that. This trend won’t come to naught in upcoming years.
Takeaways
Now you have it, five Joomla e-commerce trends to consider this year from creating a stellar customer experience and sales boost.
All they focus on is the principle of a digital-first culture: Help consumers find and see a product they need and purchase it without having to leave their homes. Mobile and video shopping, AR and VR technologies in online stores, customer data for advanced personalization — these are hints to start with when planning your Joomla e-commerce website development.