How excited were you to get your 2022 wrapped on various platforms? We were thrilled, to say the least.
You may or may not have visited Udaipur, Roorkee, and Rohtak, but did you know these tier 3 markets grew 64.7%? Even if customers were happy to return to physical stores and go on endless shopping sprees, India’s eCommerce industry recorded a 36.8% year-on-year growth in 2022.
In some categories like beauty, personal care, and eyewear, customers preferred online stores over brick-and-mortar stores.
Imagine what would have happened if you didn’t pay attention to 2022 trends to understand eCommerce and online shoppers. Oh, hold up. You did make a note of them, right?
Well, let’s put the year behind us and focus on what’s coming next, 2023! Read on as we discuss 2023 eCommerce trends that you should note in your diary.
How big is the domestic eCommerce market?
India’s eCommerce market is ever-growing, with an increasing appetite for technology.
People are leaving behind their apprehension about eCommerce platforms and are becoming more accepting of the various options that an eCommerce business has to offer.
The overall eCommerce market of India is expected to reach US$ 350 billion by 2030. Oh and Walmart invited Indian sellers to join its US marketplace in January 2022.
It was amazing when it expressed an aim of exporting US$ 10 billion from India each year by 2027.
No kidding, with various initiatives like Make in India, Digital India, Skill India, and Innovation Fund, among others, India’s eCommerce businesses will only experience a boom. Aren’t you excited to see where this takes our domestic market?
So, let’s look at some trends you should be aware of this year to make the best of it!
10 ecommerce trends to look out for in 2023
While conducting our research on this topic, we came across really helpful trends we weren’t fully aware of.
Without further ado, let’s take you down memory lane when we made a note of all these 2023 eCommerce trends.
Or shall we say time capsule to the future to analyze how these will play out (we would have certainly done this for you if we had you know who’s gadgets)?
1. Omnichannel approach
Consumers like to browse multiple channels before they make a purchase. In a consumer’s journey of purchasing an item, they never rely on the only online retail experience.
If your business has a brick-and-mortar store, make sure that you consider beyond the offline store and work on all channels like websites and social media platforms.
Customers look for a seamless transition between channels when they are viewing a particular brand, and each channel presents a picture of what your brand offers to them. Hence, you should pay a little bit extra attention to the uniformity and precision of your channels.
Make sure you integrate your inventory between the eCommerce platform and brick-and-mortar store, provide accurate delivery info, and develop your social media platforms. Trust us, you will not regret working on this eCommerce trend in 2023.
2. Social commerce
Social commerce or eCommerce on social media platforms is a domestic as well as a global eCommerce trend.
Due to expected inflationary pressures in 2023, there is apprehension about mobile sales on an eCommerce platform, further driven by the slow feature phone-to-smartphone migration.
However, the usage of social media platforms is only increasing. A potential customer likely discovers you through your social media channel like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. So, add social eCommerce to your 2023 bucket list, and focus on social media marketing.
Many brands are enabling purchase options on their social media platforms, without leaving their site, which might contribute to your eCommerce sales.
After all, the social eCommerce industry in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 62.4% during 2022-2028.
By making use of product catalogs, tagging items in social media content, and creating a virtual storefront, you’ll be giving a unique experience to the customers while doing yourself a favor.
3. Customer service as a priority
Customer service should be any eCommerce business’s priority because customer purchase highly depends on how a brand treats its consumers.
Guess what? Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2022 mentioned that 94% of Indian consumers report making purchase decisions based on the quality of customer service they receive. Furthermore, 86% of Indians are willing to spend more on a company that provides excellent customer service.
Now, it will be unrealistic to rely on your human employers to work 24/7 to aid your customers, right? And that’s where technologies like chatbots come in.
You can work even well by prioritizing customer service by investing in chatbots and other easing mechanisms to provide customer service.
Detailed Q/As, help desk, live chat, and chatbots, among other customer solutions, will bring you one step closer to maintaining customer loyalty and trust in your brand.
4. Subscription sales model
A business model focuses on two aspects of gaining customers:
(i) customer retention i.e., retaining the existing customers, and
(ii) Conversion rates i.e., targeting new customers.
One of the key benefits of the subscription sales model is how it leverages customer relationships to create a steady stream of income for eCommerce businesses.
At the same time, consumers find it convenient to make use of subscriptions if they order the same items frequently. Isn’t it a win-win?
Customer retention increases through the subscription model in eCommerce stores as it eliminates manual ordering and gets the job done easily for your customers.
While this model isn’t new to Indian customers, it is surely gaining higher popularity amongst users.
5. Shipping Innovations
eCommerce stores have to leverage the thought behind why customers prefer online shopping. Take a moment and think about what are the reasons you prefer online shopping.
Is it because it saves your time, petrol, and money while giving you product recommendations, easy navigation, and most importantly quick and efficient delivery?
One would tick all the options here, but our primary reason, above and beyond, is the presence of efficient shipping.
Customers hesitate a lot of times to order a particular product if they can’t be sure whether it will be delivered properly or not.
Similarly, they’ll be discouraged to buy items, leading to higher cart abandonment issues, if the shipping doesn’t happen fast enough.
So this year, work on your shipments (oh howdy there, how about you check us out ;)) and same-day delivery options to boost sales and increase conversion rates of your eCommerce business.
6. Augmented reality
Augmented reality provides consumers with an interactive experience of the real-world environment while they are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information (yes, we did refer to Wikipedia for this definition).
AR can be seen as the combination of real and virtual worlds. The revenue from AR & VR market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 28% till 2028.
One such development is how customers can try different beauty products virtually before buying them from the comfort of their houses.
Through superior technology of AR and VR, you can convince your customers how awesome your brand is and boost your business multifold!
7. Increased Mobile shopping
Think about it. How prominent is the purchase of mobile users to have a separate subheading for mobile shopping when discussing eCommerce sales? Mobile traffic is ever-present, and it’s only increasing day by day.
In 2021, 655 billion hours were spent on mobiles in India and the country ranked fifth in the global list with regards to the time spent on mobiles after Brazil, Indonesia, South Korea, and Mexico.
Mobile eCommerce usually provides customers with online shopping experiences, stability in business growth, omnichannel shopping experience, and diverse payment methods. By 2030, India’s mobile device penetration rate will reach 87.68% for smartphones.
One of the primary factors in the growth of eCommerce stores is the increased usage of mobile devices.
Customers generally prefer online shopping through mobile devices, especially if your target audience includes millennials and Gen Z.
So don’t wait on this eCommerce trend and make your online retail simpler and accessible to a larger audience.
8. Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is one of the global eCommerce trends and you wouldn’t want to not capitalize on them while you can. It includes various facets of product recommendation, voice search, personalization, chatbot, image search, fraud detection, price optimization, and customer segmentation.
India’s AI market is set to reach $ 7.8 billion by 2025, witnessing a growth of 20% over the next five years. It is one of the top ten countries in terms of technological advancements and funding in AI.
By investing in Artificial intelligence, you’ll be able to create a superior and individualized online shopping experience for your customers.
You will also have access to better reports and market research to assist your product market strategies.
9. Diverse payment options
Imagine this scenario. You have ordered a deodorant from an online store. To make the purchase quickly, you forgot to prepay for the order.
When the order arrives, you realize you don’t have cash and you decide to pay through UPI. BUT, there is no provision for UPI payments! Won’t you be annoyed?
eCommerce stores that don’t offer various payment options are likely to lose more sales in 2023.
With the rise in mobile shopping and social eCommerce trends, customers like to have various payment methods at their disposal.
You should pay slightly more attention to this eCommerce trend as RBI is also set to launch its digital currency.
With so many people dependent on various digital payment methods, it won’t be in your best interest to not have diverse payment options on your eCommerce store.
Think about it. You can increase your eCommerce sales by just giving your customers a variety of payment options. It will also resolve, to some extent, the issue of cart abandonment. How cool is that!
10. Sustainability
eCommerce businesses cannot flourish without committing to a sustainable approach to running an online store and other logistics.
Adopting strategies that function on environmentally-friendly practices, green packaging, and eco-friendly shipping, will sustain consumers’ belief in your brand.
In 2023, reducing your business’s carbon footprint will send out a positive message to the consumers and aid in your growth. Don’t forget India’s position as a pollution emitter in COP 27.
Sustainability is also shining through the idea of re-commerce. The secondhand market has always existed in India, and it is set to grow with the exchange of many luxury products as well.
Even if your brand can’t factor in reuse and recycling, you need to use green products and the packaging of your products.
You wouldn’t want negative points for missing out on this detail now, would you?
Conclusion
Mic drop is synonymous with a bold and impressive performance. While BTS rocks with this song, your eCommerce platform will get mic drop as and when you use these eCommerce trends in 2023 to impress customers.
You need to develop the areas where customers rely on an ideal shopping experience and thrive in a cut-throat competitive market.
Even if you don’t plan on expanding overseas, you need to be on the lookout for these domestic eCommerce trends this year to retain customers, increase your lifetime value, and acquire new customers.
Offer quality customer service, invest in AI and AR equipment and models, work on making your eCommerce store green, and show your consumers why they are making the best decision of their lives by purchasing from you.
Did you note down all these eCommerce trends? Great. You’ll thank us later 😉
