Competition in ecommerce is reaching new heights. Covid-19 made even more businesses move their operations online, and some markets have become oversaturated. Many believe that the pandemic will not last forever and that things will be back to normal eventually.

For now, though, brands who want to survive and continue making money on the internet need to up their game. And keeping up with the most recent trends is one of the best ways to remain relevant. Here are some trend examples that have been influencing the ecommerce industry.

Trend #1 – Custom-Made Merchandise

Printify is an excellent platform to provide you with a custom t-shirt, face masks, mugs, hoodies, stickers, posters, calendars, and other prints on demand products. But how does an ecommerce business benefit from such merchandise if they are not selling it?

Well, it is not always about pure profits. Brand awareness is an important element of a thriving ecommerce venture. Recognition from people can go a long way, especially when they start talking about you without investments in special marketing campaigns.

Custom-made merchandise is a means to raise brand awareness. You can give products with your logo for free when there is an event. You can include merchandise as a gift to the most loyal customers the next time they buy from your store. You can organize a volunteer event where your employees are wearing company t-shirts so that others can recognize them during the event or when the pictures are posted on social media. 

Trend #2 – Voice Commerce

Voice commerce was only a matter of time. Ever since Siri and Alexa’s appearance, people were wondering when they can do even more using voice commands. And the time for shopping with a voice is finally here.

The thing that stands out the most is the convenience of ordering services or buying products using your voice. By optimizing your store with this feature, you will also accommodate people with disabilities who can only use their voice.

Trend #3 – Influencer Marketing

A variety of marketing methods means that your business is healthy. You have multiple channels that bring customers. Social media, SEO, email marketing, PPC campaigns, and a blog will give you an edge over brands that do not incorporate these methods.

However, the most recent trends show that influencer marketing continues to grow in popularity. It seems that people are more likely to trust an authority they follow on social media or other platforms rather than a big corporation.

Therefore, brands are looking to partner together with industry influencers. Even a micro-influencer has a lot to offer, and many followers are not always the best indication. Less can be a good thing, especially if those followers are loyal and engage with the content.

Spend more resources on influencer marketing. Establish connections and increase your marketing even more. And do not stop with social media. There are many valuable influencers on sites like Twitch TV and YouTube.

Trend #4 – Artificial Intelligence

It looks like it is only a matter of time before chatbot’s replace real people in the customer support department. Artificial intelligence and machine learning gather the information used to develop a customer support bot that can immediately respond to customer queries.

Ecommerce businesses can benefit by investing in this technology. For starters, you do not have to pay money for customer support reps. And a chatbot will react to customers as soon as it receives the question thanks to the algorithm and the data has been collected over the years.

While chatbots cannot replace real humans just yet, the technology is in advanced stages, and it should not take too long before we see chatbots used in every online store. 

Trend #5 – Multiple Payment Methods

If you can, offer as many payment options as possible. And if you choose not to include something like cryptocurrency, state that you do not find crypto reliable.

It is important to give customers alternatives as far as payments go. Not everyone has a credit card, and they would appreciate services like Skrill, PayPal, or Payoneer.

Lack of different payment methods is one of the leading causes of abandoned shopping carts. If you notice that this is a problem in your store as well, get in touch with the website developers and ask them to implement more payment gateways.

Trend #6 – Green Policies

Brands that are pro-environment will stand to gain more than those that fail to recognize the state our planet is in right now. Customers are conscious of environmental issues, and they are less likely to support a business that is not contributing to solutions. Even a simple gesture like donations to charity or recyclable packaging can be the difference-maker between earning a loyal customer or receiving negative feedback on social media and other channels. And every bit of negativity hurts the brand’s reputation.