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Whether you have a full WooCommerce retail store, or use a simple plugin to sell SaaS packages on your WordPress site, take note of these ecommerce trends we’re seeing for the coming year. Implementing some of these on your website can improve your customers’ experience and ultimately boost sales.
Subscription-Based Models Vs. One-Off Purchases
From beauty products to ready-to-cook meals, the subscription box business model is a hot trend that ecommerce brands have been quick to embrace due to the guaranteed revenue it generates. In fact, between 2014-2018, the market grew 890%.
While this model will not work for every brand, if you sell tangible goods online, it’s worth researching to see if your customers are open to the idea. Subscriptions can be added to your individual product pages to allow shoppers to compare pricing and see how a subscription is often a better deal.
Social Selling
The social media giants now offer integrations with major ecommerce platforms to reduce the friction between scrolling and shopping. Instead of just seeing “sponsored” posts where the user is redirected to the brand’s website, you may have noticed different buttons, like “Shop Now” and “Buy.” When clicked, a product page will open right on top of the social site.
Then, a streamlined checkout process that allows shoppers to use PayPal, Apple Pay or another online payment method eliminates data entry, speeds up the checkout process, and increases conversions and sales.
When the shopper is done, they close the page and go right back to where they left off on the social site.
Chatbots
Today’s consumers want instant access to customer service and quick answers to help them make purchasing decisions. There are a variety of chatbot apps that integrate with WordPress and WooCommerce sites. You can program the chatbots to automate many of your predictable inquiries, such as looking up order and tracking information. For questions that require escalation to a human representative, the bot can automatically transfer the chat to a person with no interruption to the customer.
Apple Pay
Shoppers can use Apple Pay for online purchases with one click. It’s an incredibly convenient way to pay, and shoppers’ data and credit card information is completely secure. Businesses benefit because Apple Pay payments are instantly converted into Apple Pay Cash that’s immediately available to use without additional processing, like with credit card payments.
But the reason we’re seeing an increase in online merchants accepting Apple Pay is because of the new Apple Card. It’s going to be huge, and consumers are going to choose merchants that accept Apple Pay over those that don’t. The card is automatically linked to the user’s Apple Pay account, and it comes with many additional benefits, including instant daily cash back, no fees, and in-app, real-time spending management tools.
Speedy (And Cheap) Delivery
In a world of Amazon, Walmart and Target offering free 1-2 day shipping – or same-day in some locations – consumers are simply not willing to pay high shipping rates and wait several days.
Negotiate better rates for expedited service with your carriers, and work some of the shipping costs into prices where you can. And don’t forget, it’s common for ecommerce sites to only offer free shipping on minimum orders. Consumers are used to this model, and if they already need a few things, they are usually willing to up their spend a bit to get the free shipping. This offsets your shipping costs and boosts sales!
Streamlined Checkout Process
If you’re seeing high cart abandonment rates, audit your checkout process and keep user experience in mind at every click. While the number one reason shoppers don’t complete their transaction is because they were just browsing to begin with, the next three reasons are easy to overcome with some improvements to your checkout process:
- Extra costs are too high (shipping, tax, fees) – Overcome this by being transparent and upfront with all costs at the beginning of the checkout process.
- Required to create an account – Overcome this by allowing guest checkout; only ask customers to create an account once they’ve completed the transaction.
- Long/complicated checkout process – Overcome this by minimizing form fields and allowing one-click checkouts by accepting online payments such as Apple Pay or PayPal.
PixelPeople specializes in ecommerce web development, and we know exactly how to optimize your site to offer the best user experience while staying competitive in your market. Contact us or ask a question online, and let’s get started!
