Ecommerce Trends You Should Know in 2021

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The COVID-19 pandemic posed a significant challenge for businesses and economies globally, prompting business closures and labor cuts in 2020. The pandemic wasn't all doom and gloom however, as some sectors and industry recorded significant growth in their operations. Statistics showed that the ecommerce industry is booming daily and expected to reach $6.54 trillion by 2022. However, the industry is continuously evolving and requires you to stay updated with the latest trends to gain more traction, drive traffic and convert into buying consumers. Take a look at the top five ecommerce trends you should expect in 2021.

1. Brands will partner with influencers
This has been a key trend in recent years as ecommerce platforms are falling on influencers to reach their vast followers. The influencer marketing industry is becoming a significant boom for ecommerce brands, and it's projected to hit $9.7 billion in 2020. Do you know why? Experts have indicated that brands have a content creation problem since they cannot create enough marketing content to match their marketing strategies. In 2021, they’ll be looking to partner with influencers to support their content creation process, likely in the form of a content agency. Additionally, we'll see ecommerce brands include paid media spending to enhance their audience reach.  

2. Video ads on social media.   
Last year, there was a significant increase in social media usage, and those numbers aren’t going to slow down in 2021. According to statistics, social media recorded more than 3.6 billion users in 2020, a figure expected to hit 4.41 billion by 2025. With the current trend, several brands have begun to utilize the story features on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat to promote their products and services.  The next stage will be the advancement of social media trading. Last year, we witnessed Facebook launch Instagram shops while Shopify partnered with TikTok. This year, we'll see how brands can manage these changes. However, for a D2D brand, you can record videos of your highest performing items and post them on social media platforms where you can discover your most targeted audience. 

3. New payment options
Many customers use the availability of payment options to choose between brands they deal with. Failure to offer a customer's preferred payment option means they'll have to look to another ecommerce store. Apart from the acceptance of smartcards by ecommerce shops as payment methods, there are several existing payment platforms like PayPal, Apple, or Samsung Pay, and Inoviopay. However, with the low exchange cost and inability to reverse transactions associated with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, many online shops will now be looking to accept it as payment options in 2021. 

​​4. Voice commerce will grow
Individuals are progressively depending on voice assistance gadgets like the Amazon Echo with Alexa and Google Assistant to do just about everything, from serving as alarms and reminders to making purchases on the internet. A survey has proposed that an estimated 75% of U.S. families will own a smart speaker by 2025. Meanwhile, voice trade deals are projected to reach $40 billion by 2022. Another motivation behind the rising voice commerce trading is the accuracy and ease of innovation. Both Amazon and Google are pushing local languages in their virtual assistance programs to enhance shopping experiences. 
In conclusion, there’ll be several businesses hoping to rule the ecommerce market, which is why you should adopt these new trends as early as possible if you want your business company to thrive in 2021. Marketplaces, voice commerce, and artificial intelligence will be standard, while an increasing number of online businesses will begin accepting crypto payments to allure more clients to their brand.

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