The future of e-commerce in 2020 and beyond

E-commerce has come a long way since its inception several decades ago, here is a closer look at what the future of e-commerce is in 2020 and beyond.

The first e-commerce transaction took place 25 years ago and now its future looks set to thrive and grow, with the best days yet to come.

Last year, total retail sales in the UK amounted to £476.65 billion and in 2020 this figure is expected to grow by 10.9% to £106.46 billion. The main reason is the shift in customer behaviour and the strategic decisions taken by online retailers.

Omnichannel strategy

Omnichannel strategy is a relatively new concept in the world of e-commerce. The most commonly used method is known as the silo approach. Retailers use different channels to market, price, and deliver products.

To help the e-commerce future growth, retailers are opting to use the omnichannel strategy — an integrated platform to address customer issues from their perspective, instead of the various channel perspective.

As a result, going omnichannel will become a great solution for businesses — no hassle of logistics. Rather, one interface to deal with them all. The purpose of being an omni brand is to blur the line between physical and digital shopping.

M-commerce

M-commerce has accelerated the development of mobile shopping. The main concept is very simple. Any online transaction happening on the internet is considered to be m-commerce.

If your e-commerce website loads on a mobile device, it doesn’t mean your business is m-commerce ready. The projected number of smartphone users in 2020 is over 2.5 billion, so now is not a good time to ignore this area of growth.

AR and AI experiences

With the rise in e-commerce technology trends, artificial intelligence and augmented reality have cemented their places.

AI and AR hold the capability to fill the void between physical and digital shopping experience. More and more businesses are opting for these futuristic technologies like chatbots and AI live support.

Physical and digital

It was feared that with the increasing popularity of e-commerce that brick and mortar stores would soon die out. But this is not true.

It is estimated that brick and mortar stores will be responsible for more than 80% of the total retail sales. Online retail e-commerce platforms like Amazon are moving offline. The goal is to create a seamless experience for their customers.

Amazon Go is a prime example of how physical and digital shopping can join seamlessly. Amazon Go is a next-generation convenience store where customers can grab any product and go. Amazon will use its artificial intelligence using the codes on the products and the people’s Amazon wallet to bill them.

Social commerce

Social media plays a vital role in the e-commerce industry. Social media hugely influence customer behaviour. As informing is a great tool to divert sales in e-commerce, social commerce has become a global phenomenon.

Take Instagram shopping as an example. Instagram allows brands to tag products within an organic post. It’s a very effective way to utilise a shoppable platform without any ads.

As time progresses, new features are being added to Instagram for better user experience. Instagram is responsible all the latest social e-commerce trends.

Summary

There is no doubt that e-commerce is here to stay, and the future is online. With the changes in e-commerce trends predicted to come, 2020 is going to be an exciting year.

The mobile commerce forecast has indicated that the rise of mobile commerce is not a very distant future. Statistics show a consistent online commerce growth.

Social media e-commerce trends thrived in 2019 and will become more prominent in 2020. Every indicator points towards a great future of e-commerce ahead.