7 eCommerce Trends That’ll Keep Your Business Afloat

There was a time when consumers just bought whatever they needed from whoever could offer it. However, as methods of shopping have evolved, consumer preferences have, as well.

Therefore, the ultimate question to ask when updating (or even initially creating an eCommerce website) is: What are consumers actually looking for in a shopping experience today?

You can begin by doing some thorough research on eCommerce trends to try to solve this mystery. Aside from the obvious ones, like easy site navigation and fast shipping, there are many more factors to consider in order to provide your clients with a top-notch online store.

The following seven eCommerce trends we’ve gathered below will set you off on the right foot to impress your customers:

01. Optimize your website for mobile

By 2021, it’s possible that mobile shopping could make up almost three quarters (72.9 percent) of e-commerce sales.

Consumers are gravitating towards mobile platforms more and more — so drastically that Google has caught on and implemented SEO measures to prioritize mobile sites via the mobile-first revolution.

This decision makes it practically compulsory to ensure every website you create looks just as good and functions just as intuitively on mobile as it does on the desktop version.

Fortunately, every Wix website, including Wix Stores, is already fully optimized for mobile devices — just switch from the regular ‘Editor’ to the ‘Mobile Editor’ to see for yourself. From here, you can play around with additional features, like a quick action bar (to make it easy for customers to contact clients) or a Back to Top Button (to allow for ease of navigation).

02. Offer high-quality product videos and images

Virtual shopping can still offer many of the same benefits as being in a store itself. Aside from the touch and feel of products (or the nagging salesperson asking ‘can I help you with that?’), a thorough eCommerce website can give consumers an idea of what each product actually looks like via high-quality videos and photos.

Videos are a popular current eCommerce trend because they showcase the functionality and design of each product as if someone is actually viewing it in real life. For example, the fashion retailer ASOS uses live models to demonstrate what their clothing and accessories look like in motion, on a real person.

It’s also possible to go with clear and sharp photos that display different angles and details of each product.

You can use a combination of both videos and images on your clients’ websites, too. Doing so will not only emphasize each product but also provide complete transparency over the products available for sale — urging more consumers to make purchases in the end.

03. Streamline the checkout process

Due to the influence of the king of eCommerce, Amazon, and other prevalent brands that have taken the initiative, hassle-free checkout has become a priority for eCommerce sites that want to convert (browser) window shoppers into buyers — and buyers that keep coming back for more.

To offer the same convenience that online shoppers are accustomed to in the eCommerce website that you create, Wix Stores includes an integrated shopping cart which allows customers to check out with just one click. In checkout, they are provided with multiple payment options, like credit card and PayPal — and depending on where your client’s business is located, our software will let you know which ones work best for their location.

Other advanced features you can implement with Wix Code to make the checkout process nearly effortless are allowing shoppers to add items in bulk to the cart and add items to the cart from a product gallery.

04. Turn the spotlight on the users

Social media is clearly the prevailing form of marketing today. And research has shown that using real people, like user-generated content campaigns, are the best ways to market a product these days.

You can encourage your clients to create campaigns that heavily engage their customers on social media. One great example is Spotify’s #2017Wrapped campaign, which led to a massive amount of consumers sharing their top music of the year all over social media, thereby spreading the brand’s name like wildfire.

So, if you have a prominent focus on Instagram (like sharing photos of users that wear their products, for example) you can integrate their Instagram feed into their website.

Another option is to engage influencers by showcasing them using your client’s product on the actual website. To do so, you can allow these social media pros to upload images of themselves to a gallery on your client’s website.

No matter how you obtain user-generated content, it’s always a smart marketing choice.

05. Choose simplicity

Simple web design is the way to go these days if you want to keep website visitors around and engaged on your client’s website — and avoid frustration and confusion. This means everything from ease of navigation to white space, a clean product gallery, and limited use of loud features.

Therefore, you should only implement creative web design trends when they are exceptionally functional in your website design. For example, a video box should be used to showcase products. Parallax effects should only be implemented if your goal is to tell a story. And a lightbox should provide an option to subscribe to an email newsletter, or something else related to the client’s store.

There are many other ways to include sophisticated web design, just make sure the choices are for purpose over style.

06. Multiply the channels of communication

In today’s shopping world, a lack of good customer service is a recipe for a failing business. Consumers are looking for personal interactions during their shopping experiences — and yes, this extends to the online realm.

When creating your clients’ websites, it’s possible to integrate communicative features that evoke reliability, trust, and strong B2C relationships via the following methods:

Email marketing: This form of marketing has proven to work like a charm at increasing customer loyalty — plus, the results can be easily measured. Even better, it’s possible to automate and customize each electronic message. With Wix Stores, you can set up automated emails during every major event of a sale (order placement, shipment, and pickup). If you have customer information ahead of time, you can also implement personalized emails for specific groups, like birthdays, frequent shoppers, and other specific circumstances.

Live chat: The easily installable Wix Chat provides customers with readily available support from your client’s website. You can do everything from customizing the look and feel of the physical chatbox, to setting the hours of availability. And you don’t need to be sitting at your desk 24/7 to answer customers. Between a lead capture option and the ability to access Wix Chat anywhere with an Internet connection via the Wix Mobile App, this live chat solution is ready to step in even when you need to take a break.

FAQ page: To save your clients’ time in customer support and provide their customers with the ultimate convenience, create a page that includes answers to the most commonly asked questions. Wix FAQ is one solution that is completely customizable, allowing you to adjust it to the look, feel, and needs of each of your websites’ designs.

Forum: One excellent way to help your clients establish a community is through an online discussion board. Visitors will find this engaging, and clients will find it impressive. With Wix Forum, visitors can interact with each other immediately after signing up in the Member’s Area. Here you can provide your clients and their customers with social opportunities (i.e., liking, sharing, and commenting on discussion posts), customized categories, and several other intuitive features.

07. Personalize each customer’s experience

If you want to take complete ownership of the functionalities of your clients’ website design, as well as offer the most personalized customer experience, you can get started developing and implementing some very impressive features via Wix Code.

Think: creation without limits. This means customizing the behavior of any Wix component, including customer experiences via your client’s online store. There are many directions you can go with this, such as adding a ‘Related Items’ section under each product to encourage clients to shop more. You can also provide engaging features, like quizzes that lead to product recommendations and customer review forms.

These ideas and more are available when you combine Wix Stores with Wix Code.

Originally published at www.wix.com.