2012 was a record year for ecommerce sales, and 2013 promises to tell the same story. Ecommerce website developers continue to follow the current website trends of focusing on user experience and making the process “intuitive”. As with many website trends, these features are cutting edge and out of the price range of most ecommerce sites, but what is cutting edge today will be commonplace and affordable tomorrow, so being familiar with the cutting edge ecommerce website trends is valuable for large and small players in the online sales arena.
Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs are prevalent in virtually every retail sales environment. Ecommerce is no exception, and even non-traditional service industries are planning to launch loyalty programs—and collect data into customer profiles—to offer customized service.
Personalization
Personalization is the process of customizing content display to cater to the preferences of the viewer. The concept is nothing new, but its use is becoming widespread popularity due to readily available technology. Whether personalization is simple (limited to a couple of collected insights) or complex (multiple factors processed by detailed algorithms), consumers are beginning to expect sites that cater to their preferences.
Data Sharing Will Pay Off for Consumers
Consumers will begin to see the data they share online—age, geography, marital status, etc. put to use in offering them a more relevant shopping experiences. No more wading through endless offers to find deals that are relevant. For many retailers, these features will be offered in real time in the form of instant discounts or limited time specials.
Responsive Design
Responsive design will be a must have for ecommerce sites, ensuring your site is designed for optimal viewing no matter what mobile or tablet device, operating system, or browser is being used. In addition, geo-specific offers and content for different mobile shoppers will be at a premium.
Big Data
Technologies that enable the analysis of huge databases for trends relevant to consumer behavior in general towards a brand or product type is known, in the context of marketing, as “Big Data”. The ability to analyze and directly translate this knowledge into improved online shopper experiences will improve the performance of ecommerce sites. This technology will not only benefit product sellers in 2013, but will also be a platform to aid in a more efficient and successful online purchase experience for consumers.
Social Media
2013 will see more sellers using social data to personalize consumer shopping experiences on the website, as well as applying testing and personalization to social media vehicles like Facebook, Google + and others. Facebook has been especially efficient with improvements to the Nearby search function and allowing customization of pages to be displayed to consumers in different countries. Many predict that the customized display of Facebook pages may actually be expanded to the state, county and even neighborhood levels over time. The ability to segment offers to different customer profiles will be key to Facebook maintaining its position as the dominant social media player.
Bottom Line: Every business that has a product that can be sold online, or have funds collected online for sales or donations, should consider their best options for making at least a basic service available for their customers. The biggest mistake is investing in extremely inexpensive solutions that do not offer the ability to grow. If handled correctly, online sales can grow quickly and having an inadequate ecommerce platform can seriously damage the growth of online sales.
Eric Van Cleave is a Partner in Zenergy Works, A Santa Rosa, California based Website Design and Development, Ecommerce Development and SEO Firm.