The ever changing digital world can present many challenges for merchants. Several ongoing trends are going to play key roles in business success this year. Among these trends, to highlight a few, are augmented reality, social proof, mobile first design, financing and payment options, and video.
Augmented reality is expected to hit the billion mark by 2020. Here at Cadence Labs, we are working with a client that is implementing an augmented reality experience that will allow users to visualize a specialty chair in their space. This is becoming a common ecommerce application of real-time product visualization. One of the benefits of utilizing this innovative technology is increased user engagement. RetailPerceptions surveyed over 1,000 shoppers and found that 40% of shoppers would be willing to pay more for a product they could experience through AR, and that 61% would prefer a merchant that offered AR over one that didn’t. While presenting the opportunity to create a unique experience and increased sales, AR is a tool that will definitely set merchants apart from the competition.
This year, 77% of consumers will read reviews before purchasing as they depend on social proof to make their decision. Social evidence is the reason behind global behavior as 92% of consumers in the 18-34 years old range solicit input from friends, family, and fellow consumers prior to making a purchase. A prominent risk of shopping online in recent years is deceptive or false reviews that have been infiltrated in all areas of ecommerce. The tracking website Fakespot analyzes reviews from sites such as Amazon and Walmart. Despite pushback from these online retailers, they determined that over a third of reviews on these sites are fake. As a merchant, it is crucial to build consumer trust through genuine social proof.
One of the biggest trends for 2020 is mobile first design. This isn’t surprising since 50% of all web traffic and 69% of all Shopify purchases in 2019 occurred on mobile devices.The risk of losing customers is extremely high if your site is not optimized for mobile purchasing. These are a few tips for a user-friendly mobile site to increase sales:
- Display a simple and uncluttered experience
- Condense navigation through hamburger menus
- Offer simple signup and checkout processes. We recommend larger ecommerce operations use Bolt. Contact us to learn more about our partnership with Bolt.
- The ‘Add To Cart’ button should always be easily accessible
- Reduce user impatience by using a loading screen or progress bar
- Allow users to wishlist items and/or add favorites
- Be conscious of the size of a thumb in regards to the spacing and size of links/calls to action
We’ve seen an increase in our clients implementing financing and multiple payment options. Affirm is a popular financing option, along with other companies like Afterpay and Klarna. A survey showed that 40% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase if they were offered financing options. Aside from financing options, millenials are preferring easy and fast checkout processes through the options of payment processors such as Google Pay, PayPal and Apple Pay. Complex and long forms and requiring users to manually enter credit card information lead to abandoned carts. It is prudent that the final stages of the sale maintain a minimal and quick user experience.
Now that it is the year 2020, gone are the days of expensive video productions. Any business, large or small, can use mobile devices, affordable editing software, or online tools to create videos. Wyzowl, a leading video explainer company, estimates that 80% of all consumers watch videos on social media. Explainer videos and product showcases are proven to increase sales. Google research also shows that 48% of mobile users are more likely to buy from a company that provides instructional video content. If budget is a concern, there are great companies out there like Doodly who provide software for easily creating explainer videos with no deep technical knowledge needed. Promo is also a good resource for creating videos and they are an official partner of Shopify, Facebook, and Instagram.
Our digital lives have reached a point where it is nearly impossible for merchants to ignore technology innovations to stay current and relevant to new and existing customers. Cadence Labs lives and breathes ecommerce on a daily basis. These trends are not temporary fads, but are instead critical pieces of the blueprint that is going to shape ecommerce for years to come.
