The Top 40 Ecommerce

Trends for 2020

Ultimate review that every ecommerce should know
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 2 /23

1 The Rise of Virtual Reality

Considering the fact that Amazon alone features
2 Interactive Product Visualization
Nowadays, it’s obvious that high-quality images and
200 VR headsets as well as 450 startups are defined juicy descriptions are must-have in ecommerce busi-
as VR technology companies on AngelList, VR and nesses. However, in 2020 it’s high time to go further
AR are a real ecommerce opportunity. For example, and present products in interactive, 360° viewers,
users can ‘visit’ virtual showrooms and visualize the allowing customers to visualize the product in real-
products in real life. -life. They’ll reward it - 72% of consumers are more
eager to buy from digitally innovative retailers, such
as Amazon Prime.

3 Designing Customers’ Journeys

In short, a customer’s journey is a research process
4 Mobile Shopping & Mobile Payments
It’s estimated that four out of five Americans shop
that he or she goes through to buy a product. It can online and more than 50% of them do it using a mo-
take a few seconds (picking an ice cream in a groce- bile device. In Europe, these numbers are even higher
ry store) or months (buying a car or a house). - 64% of Europeans shop online and 55% do it on
Ecommerce marketing needs to be aware of that mobile devices. Both tech giants and newly emerged
and cover every step of the journey that usually has ecommerce businesses do their best to improve cu-
3 stages: awareness, consideration, and decision. stomer experience and facilitate mobile payments,
including using e-wallets. China is the leader - both
WeChat and Alipay have over 1 billion users each.
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 3 /23

TREND SPOTLIGHT: Mobile Shopping & Mobile Payments

Mobile shopping, also called mcommerce, has been

Mobile Payment Market
constantly on the rise since the advent of smart-
phones. In 2019, mobile shopping was predicted USD ~ 3.300
Billion

to make up almost 45% of all American ecommer-

ce transactions and this trend will likely stay hot in

Market Size (USD Billion)

%
32
2020 for at least two reasons. Firstly, an average CA
GR
-

American uses a smartphone for more than four ho-

urs per day and secondly, ecommerce businesses
do their best to optimize apps and mobile-friendly
websites so that their clients receive the best mobi- 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

le experience possible.

Allied Market Research, it’s estimated that by 2022

Europeans are not left behind this trend. Although
the global mobile-payments market will grow by
the desktop used to be the primary sales channel
33% and reach $3,388 billion. It seems the growth
of online shopping, it’s no longer true. In 2018, 55%
of mobile payments has no limits, especially in Chi-
of online transactions happened on mobile devices.
na, and recently, there has been a wave of launches
Mobile shopping is also aligned with the previously
of new e-wallets that facilitate mcommerce even
mentioned (under number 8) omnichannel trend.
further. The shift towards a cashless society is also
Even in a brick-and-mortar store, people tend to look
visible in Europe - 68% of European customers have
for information about the product online, using their
used a mobile wallet in 2017. Popular e-wallets,
smartphones.
such as Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, Android Pay, and
Alipay shows that technology giants work hard to
It’s pretty obvious that mobile shopping goes side
keep the lion’s share of the ecommerce market.
by side with mobile payments. According to the
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 4 /23

Expert opinion on Practically every online retailer realizes the importance of dedica-
ted mobile strategies. This includes building a mobile site, running
Mobile Shopping mobile optimization campaigns, and creating storefronts on third-
& Mobile Payments -party apps like Instagram and Facebook.

But there’s an essential point that’s often overlooked.

Mobile habits change much faster than desktop habits, and it’s vital
Paweł Ogonowski
for retailers to emulate new features from a user experience standpo-
Growcode
int. This is nowhere more apparent than with mobile payments, where
new features, like e-wallets and one-click purchase, are emerging at
an astonishing rate.

What’s more, browsing habits are shaped by the entire mobile eco-
system: social media platforms, mobile operating systems, common
app designs, and so on.
It’s extremely common, for example, for users to swipe photos, to tap
screen-wide CTAs with their thumbs, and to utilize share buttons.

Retailers need to be aware of these habits and mirror them, wherever

possible and appropriate, on their own sites.
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 5 /23

5 Same-day-delivery
Customers want high-quality and personalized pro-
6 Subscription Economy
The subscription economy is booming despite
ducts and services and they want them now. No requiring a major mindset change. Instead of buying
wonder that same-day delivery is a significant trend, a product or service once, there is a periodic (usually
paved by Amazon - 25% of around 40 million Ameri- monthly) fee for having access to them. Comparing
can Amazon Prime members have used Prime Now buying a blue-ray disc to pay-as-you-go service is
delivery. a simple example, but the subscription-based busi-
ness model is entering more businesses, such as
car-sharing or buying the software.

7 Packaging Made by Robots

There is no doubt that automation will significantly
8 Omnichannel Experience
Omnichannel, an approach that provides customers
change the future of work. Actually, it has already fully integrated customer experience, is now a neces-
started to happen and packaging robots are a good sity rather than novelty. Modern customers who are
example. Their rise is aligned with the need for light- active on the website, in the mobile apps, on social
speed delivery and robots can pack items 24/7. media, instant messengers, and in many more chan-
nels, expect the same from the brands.
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 6 /23

9 Headless Ecommerce
Customers are rarely aware of the technical side
10 Ecommerce Conversion
Optimization
of their favorite ecommerce services, but it doesn’t Despite its exponential growth and the massive mar-
mean it isn’t shaped by the new trends. On the cont- ket, the ecommerce industry remains highly compe-
rary, headless ecommerce is a hot topic as it allows titive. There are between 12M to 24M ecommerce
the presentation layer of a website to be decoupled websites in the world, which means it’s not easy to
from the ecommerce functionality. Thanks to that, stand out of the crowd. Luckily, optimization can
services can provide more personalized customer come to the rescue.
experience and be richer in content.

11 Big Data is Even Bigger in 2020

Ecommerce can’t afford to neglect the power of big
12 Micro-moments Marketing
Modern consumers are flooded with marketing con-
data. It was already clear in 2019 and will remain tent - ads, tweets, pop-ups, push notifications, just
crucial in 2020. According to Accenture, 6 out of 10 to name a few. Micro-moments in marketing refer to
customers would buy more if the recommendations these few seconds when brands have an opportunity
they received were more precise. to catch consumers’ attention.
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 7 /23

13 Unstoppable Customer
Engagement 14 Voice Assistants and Chatbots
Although Voice Assistants like Google’s Assistant,
In 2020, even more brands and businesses will try to Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri are growing in
compete for the customers’ attention (which is con- popularity each year, there is still lots of untapped
stantly decreasing) and loyalty. No wonder they’re potential in using them in ecommerce. It’s also true
going to spend more on ecommerce advertising and in terms of chatbots. Take advantage of that!
to keep their loyal customers engaged by deeply per-
sonalized offers and innovative customer loyalty pro-
grams.

15 Instant Messengers
Especially, but not only Millenials are eager to use
16 Personalization for the Win
80% of customers are more likely to buy from
instant messengers on a daily basis. Not only do a company that offers personalized experiences.
they use messenger apps to communicate with You mustn’t waste this opportunity.
others, but they also expect customer service to be
available on this channel.
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 8 /23

TREND SPOTLIGHT: Ecommerce Conversion Optimization

Unless you operate in a niche, having an ecommer- Conversion Rates by Device

ce business means dealing with a highly compe-
titive market. That’s why ecommerce optimization Desktop Mobile Tablet

5.00%
is a key - it allows to stand out from the competi-
4.00%
tors, build trust, offer better customer experience
3.00%
and finally, to have higher conversions. The average 2.00%

ecommerce conversion rate is about 2.77% but it 1.00%

can vary a lot depending on the country and even 0.00%

devices people use to do the shopping. That’s why Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2018 Q1 2019 Q2 2019

instead of comparing your business to average

numbers, you should rather track your conversion One of the easiest ways to improve the conversion
rates in Google Analytics and experiment to incre- rate by optimizing the website is improving product
ase them. pages by adding top-notch images and video (!)
presenting different aspects of the product, adding
clear and rich product descriptions, and using social
Conversion Rates proof, such as ratings, views, and reviews. Nowa-
days, every ecommerce website must be optimi-
Global US GB
5.00% zed for mobile as mobile shopping is constantly on
4.00% the rise. Knowing the fact that 40% of mobile users
3.00% will leave the site if it takes more than 3 seconds
2.00% to load, optimizing its speed is absolutely crucial.
1.00%
It’s also worth mentioning that when optimizing
0.00%
Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2018 Q1 2019 Q2 2019 a website for search engines, the mobile search
mustn’t be neglected.
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 9 /23

Expert opinion on Ecommerce businesses are becoming more omnichannel than ever
before.This means that in order to stand out, brands need to be pro-
Ecommerce active if they hope to reach and convert their target audience.
Conversion
Optimization Optimizing your product listing’s titles, images, descriptions is a key
element on this road to success – not just for your online store but all
your sales and marketing ecommerce channels.

To truly gain the edge over competitors, each ecommerce businesses

Ben Culpin
needs to optimize how they export data to each channel: feeds need
WakeupData to be updated frequently, tailored to audience and seasonality, correc-
tly formatted and well-structured to meet strict channel requirements.

Whether it’s for a Dynamic Ad on Facebook, product ads for Amazon

or Shopping Ads on Google, boosting revenue and lowering costs ne-
eds high-quality product data which has been truly optimized.
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 10 /23

17 Ecommerce in China
In 2019, ecommerce sales in China grew much fa-
18 User-Generated Content is Still a King
User-generated content has been and will always be
ster than total retail and this trend won’t stop soon. valuable. Especially in ecommerce, where reviews
On the contrary, it’s estimated that ecommerce will and other user-generated social proof is priceless.
represent almost 64% of all Chinese retail sales by
2023.

19 Dynamical Apps
Dynamical apps go side by side with another hot
20 Apparel & Shoes
According to Statista, by 2023 the global online fa-
trend, personalization. They also answer the shion market is predicted to grow to $872 billion.
challenge of buying clothes without trying them on. Apparel still dominates this market but footwear and
By scanning a client’s face and/or figure, they can accessories also have a significant share. It’s safe to
create a fitting room literally anywhere. say that it’s possible due to fast and easy shipping
and returns.
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 11 /23

21 Subscription Services
Amazon and Netflix have paved the way for the gro-
22 AI and Machine Learning
When asked about using AI and Machine Learning
wing number of subscription services. Maybe you in ecommerce, the first thing people have in mind is
should follow then and include a pay-as-you-go or smart product recommendations. However, this is
other subscription plan? just the beginning of what AI can bring in 2020.

23 ROPO (Research Online,

Purchase Offline) 24 New Payment Options that Facilitate
Online Shopping
Both ROPO (Research Online, Purchase Offline) and Ecommerce businesses are well-aware that custo-
reversed ROPO (Research Offline, Purchase Online) mers seek services that are hassle-free and that ap-
are nothing new in the ecommerce world (88% of cu- plies not only to ordering and delivery but also pay-
stomers research online before making a purchase) ments. If you want to win the attention of your leads,
but their importance is going to grow in 2020. invest in secure One-Click Payments and let them
shop and pay as fast as possible.
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 12 /23

TREND SPOTLIGHT: AI and Machine Learning

Similarly to the previously mentioned big data, Percentage of Retailers Planning to Invest in AI
AI and Machine Learning remain the hottest trends and IoT Technologies by 2021 (Global)

in ecommerce. No wonder - they’re giving marketers

Big data solutions
the powerful weapon - never before have both auto- for IoT data 77%

mated and personalized shopping experience been

Asset tracking
sensors 75%

Cognitive

as possible as now, thanks to machine learning. computing/machine

learning
72%

Although it’s far from being a novelty, machine lear- Sensors for tracking
customer traffic
71%

ning has been growing in popularity in ecommerce Beacons, location-

based marketing
70%

relatively recently. Now, it’s mostly used in search Inventory and supply
chaing automation
70%

and product recommendations. Before modern al-

gorithms emerged, product recommendations were
done mostly manually which was not only inefficient bed your attention on Instagram in an online store.
but also prone to error. Now, recommendations can In addition, you’ll get a personalized discount.
be done automatically and they match customer’s
preferences about brands or color, gender, budget, Another machine learning application in ecommer-
and many other factors. In product search, machine ce is dynamic pricing. What was commonly used by
learning can allow displaying much more relevant airlines that increase their prices when demand is
results, also based on a consumer’s profile. higher and decrease when it’s lower, is now achieva-
ble for ecommerce business. What is more, now it’s
An AI-related technology that will likely be a game- possible to analyze many more factors, such as se-
-changer in ecommerce is image recognition, deve- ason, time of day, current competitors’ pricing and
loped enough to allow you to find a coat that grab- many more.
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 13 /23

Expert opinion on The potential power of AI and machine learning grows every single
day. In ecommerce, the focus will shift away from smart recommen-
AI and Machine dations, as AI increases its reach across all stages of a customer
Learning journey.

This includes:
• Intelligent analysis of your customers to streamline your targeting.
• Machine learning within PPC campaigns to drive visitors to
Danielle Strouther
your store.
Adzooma.com
• Chatbot assistance to answer any queries and put aside
any reservations about buying.
• Automatic emails after a successful purchase, with in-depth
tracking abilities and updates to keep your customers in the loop.
• Dynamically-generated retargeting campaigns to bring lost
customers back into your sales funnel.

Most of this technology already exists – it’s just getting smarter.

2020 will be the year of discovering the right tools for each part of the
chain, while companies race to decide what other manual tasks can
be automated. My top tip? Get ahead of the game by seeing what AI
solutions already exist to help with your most time-consuming tasks.
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 14 /23

25 Black Friday, Cyber Monday

or Rather Cyber November? 26 Visual Search
Visual search is taking the ecommerce world by
Although Black Friday and Cyber Monday are still hot storm. Every month, people do more than 600 million
days in the ecommerce industry, in 2020 you should visual searches on Pinterest and we can’t wait for
also be ready for Cyber November. Your clients can’t further development of image processing technolo-
wait for good deals on those days! gies.

27 Smart Automation
It’s impossible to imagine a modern ecommerce bu-
28 Live Video Streaming
Live video has already been a big thing that has dri-
siness on a massive scale without smart automa- ves 300% more engagement than regular video. This
tion. They allow lead nurturing on every stage and trend won’t likely fade in 2020.
personalized offers customers seek more and more
often.
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 15 /23

29 Ecommerce Specialists
are in Demand 30 Master Targeting
Personalized and targeted offers have been in de-
With the growing number of new online shops, here mand for a long time, but in 2020, thanks to the AI
comes the growing number of jobs and businesses and big data, you can bring them to the next level.
competing for the best specialists. Take it into acco-
unt when planning to grow your team!

31 Smart Ad Retargeting
If you don’t use retargeted ads, it’s high time to start
32 Voice Commerce
It’s predicted to be 8 billion devices with voice as-
in 2020. Both Facebook Ads and Google Ads are rea- sistants in them (including smartphones) by 2023,
dy to increase your sales results. yet it seems that both big and small ecommerce
players still don’t understand their potential - only
11% of smart speakers owners in the US use them to
buy products.
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 16 /23

TREND SPOTLIGHT: Voice commerce

The potential of the voice commerce market is Voice activities expanding beyond music & weather
already big and rapidly growing. To give you some
numbers to support this, according to the Juniper 13%
27%
Research report, it’s predicted there will be 8 billion
manage
34% finances

53% checking

70%
asking for traffic
asking fun directions
32%
devices with voice assistants in them (including questions 16% 17%
reporting using a calendar/ hotel/flight food
research
voice assistant schedule delivery

for music
smartphones) by 2023. In 2018 there were 2.5 bil- 46%
47%
online 30% 30%
20%
playing
alarms/ search

lion such devices. At the same time, it seems that

sports games
reminders shopping &
scores ordering
36%
64%
items

46%
the ecommerce players still don’t take full advanta-
making
35%
weather checking basic 31%
calls
24%
forecast the news research smart home send and
receive

ge of it - 30% of American smart speakers owners

commands
msgs

use them to order products and only 17% to order PRIMARY ACTIVITIES BITE-SIZED INFORMATION EMERGING USE CASES

food and services.

Another reason why this trend will grow is that it has
However, these numbers are likely to grow. Making
already been under the interest of technology giants
an order using voice assistants is intuitive, hands-
that have won the lion’s share of the ecommerce
-free, it doesn’t require a mouse or a keyboard and
market. Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google’s
is perfect for multitaskers. Voice technology still ne-
Assistant are growing in popularity around the world
eds more development and support for more langu-
and although now they’re used more to check the
ages and accents but once it’s improved, ecommer-
weather forecast, set an alarm or stream music, it’s
ces will strive for implementing voice search and
only a matter of time when they’ll be widely used in
voice assistants to the customer journey they offer.
ecommerce.
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 17 /23

Expert opinion on As the numbers show, it might take a while before voice search ma-
kes a lasting impact on ecommerce. It has, however, a real chance
Voice Commerce to become mainstream – mostly because it makes completing a
purchase faster.

At the moment, it’s Amazon’s Alexa that takes the lead – customers
Emil Waszkowski are already using Alexa-enabled devices to search for, order, and buy
products from Amazon using voice. Basically, Alexa suggests items
Future Mind
based on your past purchases, or chooses an ‘Amazon Choice’ pro-
duct if there were no previous items in your history like the one you’re
currently looking for. Once you’re happy with the choice, Alexa will pla-
ce the order for you. It’s simple as that.

Yet, it’s a matter of time before voice commerce is used to compare,

buy, return, or exchange products, as well as track orders. Some of
these options are already available, but still not used that widely.
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 18 /23

33 Priceless Customer Loyalty

It costs 5 times more to attract a new client than to
34 Beacons
The reports on beacons’ death are greatly exaggera-
retain the existing one. This classic statistic remains ted. These handy and low-energy devices are still po-
true in 2020, but there are more ways to win custo- pular in proximity marketing and they have an oppor-
mers’ loyalty. With deeply personalized offers, you tunity to expand.
can make sure customers are rewarded for choosing
your products and services.

35 Delivery Drones
Drones seem to be the future of rapid delivery. Ama-
36 Product Tagging
Instagram and Facebook have already allowed ad-
zon is already working on delivery drones that can fly ding product tags to their posts. It’s a perfect way
up to 24 kilometers and deliver a small of using visual content in ecommerce. Don’t neglect
(under 2.2. kg) package in 30 minutes. this trend in 2020!
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 19 /23

37 Smart Search Store

Did you know that 80% of customers research onli-
38 Cybersecurity
Although online shopping is extremely convenient,
ne before making a purchase? Let them do it within it can also rise security issues. That’s why you don’t
your service, using smart search tools. only have to be trustworthy and get every little pro-
cess bulletproof, but also make sure your clients
know it.

39 Dynamic Shopping Experience

Customers love dynamic content as it provides de-
40 Importance of B2B Ecommerce
The global B2B ecommerce revenue is predicted
eply personalized shopping experience. Enable it on to reach over $6.6 trillion by 2020 and surpass B2C
your website and see how sales are growing in 2020. ecommerce which is supposed to stand at $3.2 tril-
lion the same year. Don’t stay behind this trend!
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 20 /23

TREND SPOTLIGHT: Importance of B2B ecommerce

Asia is the dominating region,

B2B has always been an important part of the
but North America’s share is growing (Industry insights)
ecommerce markets. Not only consumers need go-
ods and services - businesses buy them too but the-
ir needs and shopping experience are different. Ho- Asia
78.5%

wever, we observe a massive growth in this sector. 7,661

Europe
3.6%

According to some reports, by 2020 the global B2B in year 2017 Rest of the World
5%

ecommerce is predicted to hit $12 trillion global- North America

12.9%

ly and to compare - it stood at $5.5 trillion in 2012.

There are many reasons for it. The most obvious
one is that people who are used to online shopping Although in B2C eommerce, personalization is
choose ecommerce both at home and in the wor- a big thing and more and more customers expect
kplace. The massive popularity of e-marketplaces tailored offers, it wasn’t always like that. Only re-
like Alibaba or AmazonSupply pays an important latively recently, ecommerce websites introduced
role too. A growing Chinese B2B market also contri- dynamic content and personalized product recom-
butes to the global numbers. In fact, Asia dominates mendations. In B2B, on the other hand, because of
the B2B ecommerce almost entirely, with 78% of the the much bigger scale, this expectation has always
market share of the global gross merchandise volu- been high. What used to be done manually can be
me. not only automated but also significantly improved
European share on the B2B ecommerce market thanks to machine learning and big data. No wonder
may seem to be small but it doesn’t mean this trend B2B ecommerce has become even a bigger giant
doesn’t affect Europe. In fact, over three-quarters of than B2C.
local manufactures sell online and they plan to in-
crease the volume.
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 21 /23

Expert opinion on B2B ecommerce is much more complex than B2C because there
are far more potential customers who are involved in the buying
Importance of B2B process.
eCommerce
That means your website strategy must have content
that addresses each buyer’s concerns:
• C-Suite’s have questions about the bottom line
Jonas Sickler • IT department wants to know about technical integration
Terakeet workload
• HR has efficiency-related questions
 Ecommerce Trends for 2020 22 /23

SUMMARY

In 1995 Amazon sold its first item, a book. Since It’s clear that ecommerce businesses that embra-
then there has been a massive growth in numbers ce these trends can expect higher revenue. On the
and types of goods sold online and ecommerce has other hand, those that neglect emerging technolo-
been shaped by various trends. When gathering all gies and clients’ changing expectations, are likely
top trends that will affect ecommerce in 2020, we’ve to stay behind the competitors. Even in the profita-
clearly noticed they affect almost every aspect of ble ecommerce business where all marketing and
shopping online: customer experience, B2B ecom- sales processes are in place, there is room for im-
merce and even state-of-the-art technology, like Ar- provement as customers’ needs and expectations
tificial Intelligence, behind all of that. Not all of them are changing and growing. So, if you want to take
are novelties - in fact, the majority has been visible your ecommerce business to the next level in 2020,
in 2019 and earlier but they’re constantly growing analyze these trends and start introducing at least
popularity and importance. These trends are not some of them.
buzzwords - on the contrary, they have already pro-
ven the potential to revolutionize retail.
 About the author:
Pawel Ogonowski - The Ecommerce Optimization Guy
With 10+ years of ecommerce experience, I’ve been helping companies (e.g Limango,
Virgin Mobile, Eniro, 4F, Showroom, Budapester) leverage data from their online chan-
nels to improve user experience that results in higher conversion rates, average order
value and customer lifetime value.
Co-founder and Partner @Growcode

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