13 e-commerce trends to expect in 2024

In this article, we will look at e-commerce trends that can be used to plan your own marketing strategy for promoting goods in 2024. The ideas are taken from HubSpot, an American business consulting portal.

"As an Etsy shop owner, I'm convinced that my products alone are enough to get customers to click the buy button. However, triggers for purchases can be a two-day shipping guarantee, interactive videos about my products on TikTok, or the eco-friendly packaging I offer," Erin Rodrigue, writer at HubSpot.

Why is product not the only component of successful sales?

Offering a great product is important, but it's not enough to sell it. In a competitive environment, it is crucial to create a positive customer shopping experience around your product. Using the latest e-commerce trends plays a big role in this.

In 2024, a number of new trends will emerge that can boost your company's growth and change the way people buy and sell online.

E-commerce trends in 2024

1. Short video

Short-form video has long taken over the world of social media, and platforms like TikTok have become a legitimate tool for promoting any business.

In particular, TikTok is an ideal place to promote stores with visually appealing products, such as household goods, handmade products, clothing, toys, electronics, cosmetics, perfumes, and even automotive products. It is also a good place to promote unique items on Etsy.

If you decide to enter TikTok's territory, here's a tip from the experts: don't be overtly promotional. TikTok users are pretty good at distinguishing between an advertorial and an organic video.

Instead, tailor your content to the platform: use trending music, effects, and video concepts, as in this example:

2. Direct messages 

According to HubSpot, 19% of consumers have contacted customer support via private messages in the last 3 months, which is 45% more than in 2022.

What does this mean for online store owners? First, you'll need a more diverse customer service strategy that spans multiple platforms. Ignoring or delaying responses on channels like Instagram or Twitter can lead to lost sales or lower customer satisfaction.

If you run a large company, consider investing in customer relationship management (CRM) software that can manage omnichannel interactions. In addition, make sure your customer service managers are trained to handle social media messaging professionally.

Torgsoft has its own CRM system integrated into the accounting program. This tool unites all communications with customers into a single plane: it forms customer bases, records contacts along the customer and sales journey, forecasts demand, and improves in-store service. 

3. Social commerce

According to statistics, almost half of social media users would potentially agree to buy something on Instagram or TikTok. Moreover, 42% of them trust social networks with their payment card information.

Social media is not just a powerful marketing tool for promotion, it is a social marketplace where goods are sold directly to consumers. Instagram shopping and Facebook Market allow you to create product showcases like a regular online store. You can add products and run ads to increase brand awareness and recognition among consumers.

Those who use social media as a direct sales channel can access a growing customer base.

4. Responsible shopping

Now, more than ever, consumers want to support companies that align with their core values. For example: 46% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a company that actively donates to charity.

Online stores that use organic and environmentally friendly materials are more likely to gain a stronger audience following than others. Broadcast your brand philosophy and ethical considerations to the masses and build a product promotion strategy around it.

In particular, corporate responsibility is not just lip service, it actually influences consumers' purchasing decisions. According to HubSpot's forecasts, in 2024, more and more e-commerce stores will start prioritizing sustainable sourcing, packaging, and manufacturing.

5. Same or next day delivery

Over the past four years, Amazon has opened almost 45 delivery points, and it is expected that their number will increase to 150 over the next few years. For example, Rozetka is actively expanding its delivery points in Ukraine. 

The need for speedy delivery is not only among large retail giants. Smaller online stores and marketplaces can also catch this wave to keep up with sales.

Practice shows that sellers who process orders on weekends will get more loyal customers, which means more sales.

6. Augmented and virtual reality

When people browse home furnishings or clothing websites, it's hard to imagine how the product they like will look on them or in their space based on photos alone.

Ikea is one of the first companies to introduce augmented reality technologies that help customers select 3D furniture for their homes. However, not only furniture can be visualized. Almost any product can be shown in motion or in 3D. 

Augmented and virtual reality will continue to gain momentum in 2024. More and more companies will introduce AR and VR application options for their users, striving to offer the best service to their customers and aiming to grow their business.

With the development of e-commerce, consumers will buy goods from companies that provide them with the opportunity to visually test products before purchasing them.

7. Live shopping

Have you ever wanted to sell your products online in real time? Livestream shopping is a new e-commerce format that is rapidly gaining popularity around the world. 

Online shopping shows are usually broadcast on online shopping apps, social media, Alibaba's Taobao, Facebook, and Amazon.

Two years later, TikTok began testing a live shopping feature in the United States. YouTube and Shopify were not far behind, expanding their partnerships in the online shopping space. 

Investments in livestream shopping indicate a brighter and more interactive future for e-commerce that goes beyond just viewing static images and reading product descriptions. However, this trend is still developing in Ukraine. 

8. Automation and chatbots

With 1.3 billion Facebook Messenger users, it makes sense to take advantage of chatbots for marketing, customer service, and sales. Chatbots can also be trained in communication using the GPT chat integration. 

For example, the fast food chain Domino's uses its Messenger bot Dom to order dishes from the full menu. If speed and simplicity are priorities for consumers, Domino's will be ahead of all competitors.

Besides, ordering through a chatbot is an opportunity to satisfy your audience in a new way, proving yourself as an innovative company. 

The time is not far off when chatbots will become the main method of communication in e-commerce. However, the feasibility of their use depends on the business area, especially those related to complex products or services. 

Therefore, you shouldn't rely on automated order management alone. The best option is to combine digital technologies and communications with the help of a customer support team. 

9. Mobile versions of websites are a priority

When shopping online, approximately 75% of consumers prefer mobile devices, 15% do so from computers and 6% from tablets.

As the number of mobile purchases continues to grow, it is important to optimize your website for mobile devices.

In addition, fingerprint and face recognition technology, as well as one-click payments, will simplify mobile payments and further encourage consumers to switch from desktop to mobile. Smartphone payments will soon become the primary payment method for e-commerce transactions.

For example, the international fast-food chain Starbucks increased the number of payments through its mobile app from 2015 to 2021 to 26% of the total. 

If mobile orders lead to more customers in the store, it's a worthwhile investment.

10. Search for images

Imagine you're in a store and you see a beautiful sofa, but you don't want to pay full price for it. So you take a picture of it and use image search via Google Photos, TinEye, or Photo Sherlock to find similar products at a better price.

As e-commerce moves to mobile devices, companies will begin to offer visual product search capabilities using personal photos or those found online. 

This will enable users to find similar products at a lower price online and may ultimately encourage consumers to shop online, even if they started with a physical store.

This ability to search for similar content is successfully implemented on Pinterest, which has its own image search function.

11. Voice search

With the growing popularity of Google Home and other voice-controlled devices, voice search may become one of the most popular. About 40% of American Internet users are already actively using voice assistants.

To keep up with the trends, you should start optimizing your business for voice search now. Although this search method is not very popular in Ukraine, you shouldn't ignore it, especially if your audience is between 12 and 50 years old.

For example, the American megastore Walmart has made it possible for consumers to order any goods by voice on Google Express, and in the future it is going to allow consumers to place orders for in-store pickup via Google Home. Other brands such as: Target, Costco, Kohl's, Staples, Walgreens — are in the process of creating similar opportunities for consumers.

Since voice searches are more likely to be local, it's important to take this into account when building your business listing on Google Business to reach local users (with exact opening hours, current address, photos, reviews, etc.).

12. Product videos

When choosing products online, consumers will always have doubts about their functionality, whether the product design matches the photo and the physical store. To compete in e-commerce with offline outlets, you need to remove all possible customer objections, and one of the easiest ways to do this is to make a video product review.

High-quality videos or gifs that reproduce the look and function of a product as accurately as possible are one of the best ways to sell a product. It is proven that visual persuasion works better than text. In this direction, it makes sense to develop such a promotion channel as Youtube.

Redsbaby, an Australian stroller company, is doing a great job with this. In their videos, actors show how to use strollers and baby products throughout the day, so consumers are more confident in what they are buying.

13. ROPO: research online, buy offline

Tracking how your digital efforts translate into offline sales can be tricky.

Consumers often look for the right product online and study it thoroughly: characteristics, price, reviews from other consumers, etc. And then they go and buy the product in a physical store.

The ROPO (research online, purchase offline) effect is a tool that helps retailers measure exactly how their digital advertising has contributed to offline sales.

ROPO combines information from social media, mobile tracking/geolocation, mobile payments, in-store inventory, analytics tools, CRM systems, and more to find out what motivated consumers to make purchases in a store.

This knowledge will help entrepreneurs create campaigns with higher conversion rates, targeted to the needs of a specific audience.

Articol bazat pe materiale de la HubSpot