E-commerce has become an essential consideration for all brands due to the health crisis and the restrictions associated with it.
In this article, we decipher the five up-and-coming e-commerce trends in 2022.
Green Economy
Green Business, Ethical Commerce, Eco-friendly Trade… There are many names for this, but they all apply to a commercial activity that takes care to respect the environment and the sustainability of their product. Sometimes, these businesses also take into account the principles of “fair trade” such as workers’ conditions and pay.
We’re seeing more and more brands develop ethical or eco-friendly practices.
2022 will most certainly see companies design and deploy new eco-friendly marketing techniques.
Social Shopping
A close cousin of viral marketing, social shopping consists of using social networks not only as a simple means of communication, but also for sales development purposes.
The definition is not, however, set in stone, because this method can be deployed as much on social networks, as on merchant sites, or even at points of sale. In the latter case, social shopping takes into account sales made directly on social networks, but also those generated through sharing on different sites, in particular on recommendation or customer review sites.
A more comprehensive definition would be using social media to make sales directly.
Social shopping is integrated into brands’ marketing strategy.
82% of internet shoppers give importance to opinions shared on social media before buying a product.
Social shopping has benefits for both consumers and the business.
The benefits of social shopping:
- Fast and efficient online shopping experience
- Increase in mobile sales
- Brand awareness
- Recommendation and sharing at the heart of the purchasing process
- Inspire consumers with ultra-personalised content
For more information, see this article.
Live Shopping
Live shopping is the direct descendant of buyer meetings, made famous by a brand of plastic tableware. It’s all about using video platforms to organise product sales carried out live by a presenter.
Customers can step in and ask questions, then place orders directly during the sale.
Live Shopping is the best way to sell for businesses.
To get the most out of it, here are some tips:
- Storytelling : During the live broadcast, the presenter tells the story behind the product with, for example, a use case or a tutorial. There are generally a handful of professionals with a recognisable style who are best for scripting your storytelling. They’re often screenwriters who work or have worked for television or cinema.
- Innovate : In the face of very tough competition, you have to be creative in providing the essential of what the client needs to know, other customers’ experiences, etc. The goal is to give viewers a unique viewing experience that encourages them to buy.
- Influencers : Influencers can encourage their communities to buy your product, thereby boosting your online sales. Influencers are true social media communication professionals, and they’re very close to their audience of loyal followers. They’ve been able to gain the confidence of their audience and influence their behaviour. Better still, during your live sale, they can encourage their follows to purchase!.
We talk about it in more detail here.
Augmented Reality
This is technology that uses a smartphone, tablet, or 3D glasses to incorporate virtual information about what’s around you in reality. It enriches (or augments) what we see physically by virtually embedding additional information that is superimposed on the real image.
All types of virtual objects can pop up: sound (commentary or guided tour), text, or animated images.
Augmented reality can be exploited as true advertising space by adding information, or an advertising message. It works quite simply in the same way as video advertising, it’s just that the content is superimposed onto what the user is looking at.
Cryptocurrencies
There’s been a real boom in cryptocurrencies since they started arriving on the scene in 2008, with varying levels of success, depending on the innovation they brings about.
A cryptocurrency is an alternative currency, which has no official price in any country. Cryptocurrencies are based on a distributed ledger system called blockchain. This register or database exists in as many copies as there are participants on the network worldwide. The quantity of currency that will be put into circulation is determined in advance, and the new currency is introduced gradually. In general, the currency is created from scratch by the founder of the blockchain in question, the idea being to pay participants of the chain who verify the transactions registered.
All cryptocurrencies share the same advantages and disadvantages, but some stand out because of the extra services they provide. They offer the advantages of a completely decentralised system, with all the benefits that go with it. Money creation is limited, which, in theory, makes the nature of the cryptocurrency market naturally bullish. Assets can be transported anywhere in the world. Among the drawbacks, not least is the enormous and sudden surges (and collapses) in price, during which people tend to lose considerable amounts.
More and more large companies are accepting payments in cryptocurrency, such as one famous brand of high-end electric cars. Despite the very significant unpredictability of the currencies’ downward or upward movements, they’re slowly becoming financial instruments integrated into the economy, which even large institutions are now learning to take advantage of.
Want to grow your online sales?
Neads is the partner for you!
By Nathan Elmaleh
