E-commerce trends in 2021 – the future of online stores

The year 2020 was harsh for many businesses. Fortunately, for the e-commerce industry, it turned out to be much better, i.a because of the popularization of online shopping during the lockdown. The next 12 months are another opportunity for online store owners to develop faster. Therefore, it is worth knowing what e-commerce trends will be popular in 2021.

E-commerce trends in 2020– what will come next?

The e-commerce market is constantly changing. Modern technologies allow online stores to respond even better to customer demand and make shopping easier, faster and safer. Those who have not been familiar with selling on the Internet so far also decide to run online stores. Everyone who plans to start or increase e-shopping wonders in which direction to go. This is why we have prepared for you a list of trends that the e-commerce world will follow this year.

Increase in importance of B2B platforms

Restrictions on movement and remote work made it a necessity for wholesalers and distributors operating in the B2B model to switch to dedicated sales platforms.

A necessity that fortunately brings many tangible benefits. These include the ease and speed of placing orders, automatic generation of sales documents, or even saving time of salespeople. Employees no longer have to deal with the current handling of telephone and e-mail orders. Instead, they focus, for example, on searching for new customers interested in their services.

Dedicated Magento B2B platform automates many tasks performed so far by a single person. This, in turn, significantly improves the process of ordering and allows to scale up sales without the need to increase the company’s personnel.

Increased importance of Headless eCommerce in an online store

Headless eCommerce has already been a big thing, but we predict that this trend will also play a vital role in 2021. Separating the backend from the frontend and using the API for their communication makes the store structure more open to any changes aimed at increasing sales.

The independence from the rigid division between the backend and frontend makes online stores more effective in introducing omnichannel policies, speeding up the operation of stores and above all – improving them for mobile devices.

If you want to learn more about Headless eCommerce, please read the article: Headless Magento. Is it worth losing your head?

Another year for mobile e-commerce

Speaking of mobile – 2021 is another year in which the importance of online shopping from mobile devices will increase. The current situation shows that more and more orders are coming from smartphones and tablets.

According to the report “E-commerce in Poland 2020” prepared by Gemius, 69% of Internet users shopping in online stores have already done it at least once using a smartphone, and 25% have used a tablet for this purpose.

What does this mean for you? For example, if you haven’t optimized your store for mobile devices yet, it is the last call to do so.

Stores built on the basis of PWA

Building a store based on Progressive Web Apps may help to better adapt to mobile e-commerce. PWA, mentioned above, is a technology that allows you to build online stores in such a way that they are displayed correctly on every device and in every browser. In addition, the operation of such applications is more efficient even with a poor Internet connection, which makes the PWA technology ideal when you want to operate in the mobile segment.

We write about how PWA affects the operation of the store in the article eCommerce optimization – how to improve your online store.

Voice commerce (voice orders)

Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant – voice assistants are becoming increasingly popular. The easiness with which we are able to receive the information we are interested in by saying the right commands makes these technologies implemented in many places. It is estimated that in the U.S. by 2025 as many as 75% of households will use voice assistants.

As we are eager to take over Western trends, we can expect the importance of voice communication technologies to grow in Poland. Thanks to it we will be able to not only add important plans to the calendar, or turn on individual lights at home. We will also be able to do shopping without using a mouse and keyboard.

Voice commerce, even though this technology is not yet at its peak, is already present in Poland. The first tests of voice assistants helping with orders are conducted by, among others, Flixbus and Pyszne.pl.

Subscription sales model even more popular

One of the most interesting e-commerce trends in 2021 is the increased importance of the subscription sales model. Especially since, according to the McKinsey report, the subscription market has grown by more than 100% over the last 5 years.

What is subscription sales? It’s nothing more than allowing customers to purchase product packages that are delivered to them at a specific time interval and for which a specific payment is automatically charged.

Such a solution is currently working well for the sale of cosmetics, baby products, hygiene products, contact lenses, supplements, pet food and shaving accessories. Analysts also consider the future of subscription sales in the fashion, FMCG and automotive industries.

E-commerce trends in 2021–Whither goest thou, e-shop?

Internet sales are getting better every year. Increased security of payments, convenient delivery options, personalization of the shopping path, easy return procedure. These and other solutions make us observe the development of this sales segment every quarter.

The year 2021 will not differ from previous years in this case. Technologies improving the comfort and security of sales will increasingly support customers in the ordering process. This, in turn, makes e-commerce a direction in which more and more companies that have so far only used classic sales channels will go.

 

Do you want to implement any of the above e-commerce trends in 2021? Are you looking for a proven technology partner that will improve your business? Get a free consultation and find out what we can do for you.