From downloading apps to shopping on Amazon, there can be a lot done in just one minute on the internet?
In this digitally-driven world, it’s more than important to capture customer’s attention if you want your business to be successful. Without further ado, let’s learn about the seven online marketing trends in 2021 that you should be aware of to win more customers.
1. Mobile Shopping
Covid brought a surge to eCommerce since people turned to online buying to deal with lockdowns and to avoid the risk of infection that physical retail stores inherently pose.
Even before the pandemic struck, there was a steep rise in mobile shopping. People want to use their phones for just about everything, including shopping online. So make sure that your eCommerce site is mobile optimized. You will have to make the best use of limited screen space to provide the optimal shopping experience complete with the full gamut of functions, features and options.
It is expected that almost three-quarters of online sales will happen via phones towards the year-end. So you must optimize mobile browsing on your eCommerce site to avoid losing traffic.
2. Target Younger Audience
Younger customers are proving to be the most lucrative demographic for eCommerce businesses as they are spending more and more money on online shopping.
After the covid outbreak, customers aged 18 to 34 increased their online spending by more than half on average.
But do keep in mind that older customers are not too far behind. After the covid outbreak, customers aged 55 and above increased their online spending by about 40 percent.
When targeting younger customers, you will want to make sure that you target social media channels since, across the globe, young persons prefer buying more via social media.
3. Growing Importance of Customer Research
Paying attention to what customers want is more important than ever. Customer preferences are continuously evolving, so you need to conduct market research to keep updated on customer needs, wants and preferences. Market research can help you to identify money-making opportunities quickly.
To win more customers and to get ahead of the competition, laser focus on customer wants is imperative. The only constant now is change.
4. Social Commerce for Better Engagement
Social media addiction is growing. You may have heard it many times before, but targeting social media is paramount for your sales plan since people spend an incredible amount of time on social media channels.
Users are now spending 1300 hours annually on social media. Although people spent the most time on Facebook as you would expect, other channels are rising fast. TikTok and Instagram, in particular, are seeing a meteoric rise in user base and engagement.
Believe it or not, Gen Z was found to spend a shocking 9 hours in front of their mobile screens. Think about the next time you revise your online marketing plan.
Excessive social media use may be bad news for public health. But it is a massive opportunity for savvy online entrepreneurs who are smart enough to exploit this key marketing trend.
Shopify is enabling better integration with Google, Facebook, TikTok and other social media channels. You can use Facebook Shops to target all demographics especially younger users, for more social media sales.
5. The Rising Tide of AI and AR
AI or artificial intelligence is creating massive disruptions and upheavals everywhere relentlessly. Juniper Research has projected that online sellers will invest over $7 billion on AI in 2022. So you should check your online strategy to ensure that you are making adequate use of AI. Sellers who get left behind on the AI front will likely lose market share and see dwindling sales.
AI is a game-changer and central to eCommerce since it allows a more personalized shopping experience for users. Users can find more relevant buying choices in accordance with their preferences with AI. This is a key reason why early AI adopters like Amazon are growing in popularity.
Besides AI, Augmented Reality or AR is also making great strides. AR is imperative for getting ahead of brick and mortar stores. Physical stores have a major advantage over online stores due to all consumers’ rich real-life customer experience. In a physical store, you can inspect goods, see how they work, talk to the sales rep and so on.
AR can now close the gap between online stores and physical stores. With AR at the helm, online stores can now provide a near lifelike shopping experience. For example, AR can help customers check out realistic 3D models of goods that they are considering.
6. Payment Options
Providing a wide range of safe and convenient payment options is vital for a growing eCommerce website that can retain customers. Samsung, Google Pay, PayPal and Apple Pay are no doubt the most popular payment options.
However, the Bitcoin trend is gathering steam and eCommerce stores will have to consider adding bitcoins to their payment options sooner rather than later.
And it’s not just consumers who will gain from bitcoin payments. Online retailers can enjoy zero transaction costs and can boost their sales.
7. AI-Powered Dynamic Pricing
Pricing your products right sounds simple in theory. But in practice, it can be a nightmare, especially when you have thousands of products to follow. So how do you automate this key process? Through AI, of course.
AI-driven dynamic pricing is vital for retaining customers by offering them the most competitive prices that update dynamically. Hence, your customers won’t need to go anywhere else to find cheaper items.
Dynamic pricing software can help you to determine the most competitive prices for your merchandise.
Bottom Line
You can make good use of the seven online marketing trends in 2021 to supercharge your eCommerce business, win more customers and expand market share.
