A Year-In-Review Of The Best Ecommerce Marketing Trends For 2021

In Singapore, online shopping continues to show an upward trend. It has become the norm even before people were banned from going to shopping centres because of the pandemic. Nowadays, more and more people prefer to buy on the internet rather than in brick-and-mortar shops. According to Business Times, a third of Singaporeans purchased a product for the first time during the lockdown last year.

This does not mean, though, that physical stores are going away. It only means that the future is bright for the eCommerce industry in Singapore and other parts of the world.

This also means that the Lion City will continue to become a global hub for innovation, especially when it comes to eCommerce and online shopping in 2022 and beyond. While this is true, it’s important to keep in mind that the eCommerce industry is ever-changing. More than ever, businesses must make sure that they continuously improve their products and services, as well as their processes, to meet – even exceed – customer needs and demands.

Biggest eCommerce marketing trends in 2021

In Singapore alone, there are 3.9 million online shoppers, and the numbers are not showing any sign of declining as the year comes to a close.

To ensure that your business can take advantage of this growing trend, you need to invest more in digital marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) strategies. By optimizing your eCommerce website, you can increase your customer base and benefit from the rising number of online shoppers.

Remember, it isn’t just about knowing the latest general marketing trends for 2022 – it’s important to go a little deeper into what’s all the current buzz behind e-commerce marketing in 2021, which are sure to still be useful in 2022 and beyond.

·      Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI has been a big hit in the past few years. However, experts are predicting AI to become a game-changer for online businesses in 2022.

For one, machine learning can help enterprises manage their business to prevent problems like retracted purchases and payments with stolen credit cards even before they happen. Aside from that, AI allows businesses to create personalized search results based on customers’ purchase history. This helps customers find what they are looking for or may be interested in with so much ease.

·      Voice search

Voice assistants, like Siri and Alexa, have proven to be quite useful to a lot of people. A forecast has even been made that at least 75% of households all over the world will own a smart speaker by 2025 because of how useful voice assistants are. This also means that voice searches will experience a surge for several reasons in the next few years. These include online shopping and food ordering.

This trend also creates a unique opportunity for eCommerce businesses to optimize their content for voice search. Aside from that, you should also use conversational keywords, provide context with Schema markup, create persona-based content, and develop pages that answer frequently asked questions.

·      User experience (UX)

Also known as user interface design or usability, UX is the process of creating an engaging and significant web experience for users. This will remain to be a crucial part of eCommerce marketing in the years to come because it is what most users demand from the brands they patronize.

To enhance user experience, you must use responsive web design, avoid overwhelming users with data entry, use the right calls to action, track what’s useful and what’s not, and improve your sales funnel based on the customers’ skill level.

·      Social media shopping

Facebook and Instagram have integrated online shopping into their platforms, allowing users to directly shop for the goods they see on social media. This is why businesses should start leveraging their social media profiles and use them as secondary eCommerce platforms alongside their websites.

Things are looking more promising for social media shopping in 2022 as it continues to become more popular these days. And with so many people being active on social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok have become the perfect platforms to reach out to a wider customer base and sell products without requiring users to stop what their doing on social media.

·      Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality or AR is the best way to grab people’s attention nowadays. AR gives life to imagination. It helps online shoppers envision the products they are interested in so that they can weigh their options and make sound buying decisions.

Because AR has become quite effective in enticing people into making a purchase, experts predict that it will reach over $80 billion by 2026. This means that it only makes a lot of business sense to venture into the world of augmented reality and take advantage of its benefits.

·      Chatbots

Chatbots interacting with online buyers are like sales associates entertaining customer queries at the store. They help shoppers find and buy the products they want in just a few clicks. It is estimated that a majority of businesses will be using chatbots in 2022 and beyond, changing the way people shop online.

Chatbots are great marketing tools because they personalize user experience. As a result, it improves customer satisfaction, making them more willing to do repeat business in the future.

·      Payment methods

Different customers have different preferences, which include the ways they pay for online purchases. This means that users can immediately exit out of the checkout page if their preferred payment method isn’t available on your website.

One way to increase conversion rates is to offer a wide range of payment methods. Aside from that, customer information should be saved on your site to make the checkout process faster the next time they purchase on your site.

·      Live streaming eCommerce

Social media has paved the way for a new way of promoting and selling products to customers – live streaming eCommerce. Since the pandemic, live streaming eCommerce – a business model in which retailers or influencers sell products via online video streaming – has grown in popularity because it allows people to shop without having to leave their homes.

Because this type of eCommerce is done through live streaming, it allows sellers to answer customer queries in real-time. As a result, buyers are able to decide whether to buy or not right away.

·      Personalized shopping experience

Through the data you have collected from customers’ past visits and purchases, you’ll be able to create customized messages that will entice them to do repeat business in the near future. This is another advantage of AI technology. It allows you to generate personalized product recommendations and customer service to improve user experience on your site.

Final words

While a lot of businesses are struggling to survive the pandemic, it’s important to get ready for the new year to come to stay afloat.

Capitalize on the trends mentioned above and make the necessary adjustments to your digital marketing and SEO strategies to make 2022 a better year for your business and your customers.