Ecommerce trends for 2021

Posted on March 24, 2021 (Last Updated: April 21, 2021)

The ecommerce business is in constant change so we decided to explore the leading ecommerce trends for 2021.

The pandemic has left its mark on consumer behavior. According to McKinsey, the covid-19 pandemic has quickly forced sales from physical channels to digital/eCommerce channels - quickly as in 10 years of ecommerce growth in 3 months!

With the increase of online shopping, consumer behaviors are shaped by immediacy, convenience and, speed.

Consumer trends

Consumer trends - Personalization - Sustainability

1. Personalization

To better compete with marketplaces and retail giants, brands are also investigating richer, more personalized experiences. Humanizing your brand is now also a top priority for long-lasting customer relationship as acquisition costs rise, along with uncertainty in digital advertising.

It’s worth mentioning that personalization is present in B2C and B2B. Implementing personalization experiences on your platforms and marketing material has a positive impact on revenue. According to a BCG study retailers that provided advanced personalization had a 25% revenue growth.

2. Sustainability

Changes in consumer behavior go further than the increase in online shopping. Orders must have fast, free, and preferentially sustainable shipping.

Consumers and a large part of businesses are becoming more aware of climate changes. Consumers are more conscious and take into account what and where they buy and the impact it has on the environment.

According to Harvard Business Review 65% of consumers want to make purchases from brands that aim for sustainability.

Ecommerce highlights

1. iOS 14 impact on PCC and Paid Media

Apple’s iOS 14 update called ATT (App Tracking Transparency) gives the user a choice to disable tracking between the apps. Users will also have access to information about which apps track which data.

With iOS 14 potentially cutting ad performance across the board, ecommerce businesses, whose growth strategies rely on direct-to-consumers relationships, will most likely need to own the entire customer journey rather than merely rent it. This means tripling down on their email marketing and SMS efforts so that a bigger portion of their online revenue comes from these channels

2. Video content

Start building a brand with video content. This type of content is less competitive in search engines and speaks well to the younger generations, so creating it is a great way to drive more traffic to your site and create more brand awareness. To build a digital presence make sure you have an email list as you will want to be able to connect with subscribers and those who have ordered from you.

Creating videos for your website is a great way to instantly grab and engage a customer and inform them about your product or service. You can explain and showcase your product/service better than an image ever can.

3. Voice search

As homes adopt smart speakers, people are relying more on voice assistance to complete daily tasks. As people order food or search for a products through voice assistance this creates an opportunity for ecommerce businesses regarding keywords and content.

However, just having a keyword on your site does not automatically mean you are guaranteed to be found. Voice search is like all other searches handles by AI - and the main purpose is to present the most relevant content to the users.

Diving into long-tail keywords will give you an opportunity to have the answer to just that specific question the users it asking. You may not catch all searched on the topic but you will get more than if you just rely on your product names and simple keywords.

4. Optimized SEO blog post

Building your digital presence in 2021 includes creating comprehensive and SEO-optimized blog posts which answers the questions that your readers are asking.

It’s important to not simply include the related keywords in the blog post (i.e. keyword stuffing). Rather, an effort must be made to include substantive discussions in the post which address the questions underlying each of the related keywords (as mentioned above). By doing this, the blog post has the greatest chance of ranking well for multiple high-volume keywords and getting as much exposure as possible.

Providing relevant, helpful content both follows SEO algorithm guidelines and increases your customer relations. Placing products online, creating blog posts, and keeping your company's information current will naturally grow your business.

5. Market and sell your products in multiple channels

In 2021 it is not enough to only list your product on your own website. Having a presence where your customers are will increase your chances of creating that valuable connection.

You are probably already connected to Google Merchant Center to advertise your products on Google Shopping - but there are many more channels to explore.

While connecting to a single channel can seem straight forward - you may not be sending the best data to that particular channel. If you want to connect to multiple channels things can quickly become too complicated with different formats and different data requirements per channel. This is where product feed management tools are invaluable.

A product feed management platform like WakeupData can take your product data from a single feed - validate the data is good enough, or even enrich, transform or modify your data, before sending it to your desired channels.

If you have a physical store, or several stores, in addition to your online shop you should also make sure to connect to Google Local Inventory Ads.

Conclusion

Businesses should optimize their digital strategy for conversion. Getting potential customers to click into your site does not always guarantee a conversion. As more brands are competing for the same eyes, understanding your target consumer behavior and trends are crucial and, having an up-to-date and optimized product feed is key.

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