The Latest E-Commerce Marketing Trends

A 2019 customer review survey revealed that 82% of all online consumers have read a fake review within the last one year. It is important to understand that fake reviews can hamper the reputation of online sellers. On the other hand, about 91% of online consumers reported that positive customer reviews influenced their decision to make a purchase or avail a service online. This shows that customer reviews are critical for online retailers and sellers to grow their business.

Potential customers need to hear about the experiences of other customers with a product or service they wish to buy for themselves. This way, they can make an informed purchase decision. Therefore, it is important that online sellers ensure the authenticity of their product reviews online, whether positive or negative.

In online retail, appropriate buyer-seller communication is very important. After a buyer places an order, the seller needs to keep the buyer updated of the latest activities: from order confirmation, to shipping, and to any schedule changes. Marketplaces such as Amazon are a great example of providing an effective space for appropriate buyer-seller communication. It uses automated communication to keep customers updated about the status of their orders.

A strong and thorough buyer-seller communication plan can ensure that order cancellations due to poor service are avoided, returns are reduced, more purchases are encouraged, and customer loyalty is built.

Meanwhile, there is such a thing as over-communication. A poor communication plan can lead to consumers receiving a ton of unsolicited messages. An excessive number of messages usually serve no meaningful purpose.

E-commerce marketing services are growing rapidly. In 2020 alone, online sellers in the US have aggregated around US$ 374 billion in online sales. And this figure is most likely to grow further.

Due to the presence of multiple e-commerce marketing channels, sellers can now market and sell their products from a variety of locations. This enables them to reach out to a wider pool of consumers and accelerate their business growth.

Furthermore, there are many emerging technologies that can create innovative ways to market e-commerce products. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can analyze consumer data and generate informed business recommendations. For example, AI can study the data for a specific consumer segment and generate valuable insights.

Sellers can target the specific consumer demographic with online ad services featuring personalized offers and campaigns that the group would be more likely to respond to. For example, online fashion brands have been using AI-based marketing platforms to gain tremendous returns on advertising expenditure and expand their customer connections manifold.

Sponsored ads can increase your products’ visibility across platforms and channels. They are also highly customizable in terms of expenditure. There are several expenditure models of sponsored ads including CPM (cost per thousand ad views), CPP (cost per purchase), and CPC (cost per click). Some advertising channels also provide custom packages that come with comprehensive bundles or additional payment customizations (prepaid/ postpaid).

Research conducted in 2019 highlighted that 60% of marketers feel video ads drive more engagement than image-only ads. It is therefore highly advisable that e-commerce marketers use videos into their ad campaigns. Some of the largest online marketplaces report that integrating a video ad to a product description increases the chances of the product being purchased by nearly 35%.

One of the most exciting e-commerce marketing trends is the availability of flexible service options to sellers from online marketplaces. Flexible service options can help counter market volatility and unpredictable market conditions. For example, many e-commerce marketplaces enable sellers to use the marketplace -enabled logistic services for order fulfillment.

However, some sellers may still want to bypass logistic fees and mandates, provide direct support to their consumers, and gain more control over their business. To enable this, programs such as Amazon Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) offers sellers the flexibility to manage their own deliveries while enjoying the many other benefits of the marketplace.

Ultimately, for e-commerce sellers, the journey to customer loyalty begins with brand awareness. The key to effective brand awareness, where the brand stays in the user’s mind, is to provide an exceptional and immersive user experience. If brands can provide such an experience, where consumers can browse, shop and transact effortlessly, then they can quickly win customers and grow their business.

Creating a simple yet attractive user interface and product page is the first step in this direction. These can help to offer immersive shopping experiences to the customers. Marketplaces like Amazon have evolved to provide intuitive user interfaces that are instantly recognizable and easily navigable. It draws millions of customers every day thanks to typical features like: