5 eCommerce Trends you need to follow for a profitable 2017

Ecommerce is growing at an exciting rate, and it’s important to stay ahead of the trends. To keep your Ecommerce business profitable and growing through 2017 there’s a few trends you should keep an eye on.

Ecommerce growth is shifting to Asia

Ecommerce is growing everywhere, but in Asia ecommerce is growing at a much higher rate. Not only are some of the most populous market in the world located in Asia, but the markets are growing faster per capita than anywhere else in the world.

The US ecommerce marketing is heading towards a plateau, but he Asian market is projected to continue its rapid growth. Take some time to research how your products could be marketed to an Asian market. It couldn’t hurt to be marketing to the largest and fasted growing group of consumers in the world.

One of the greatest benefits to ecommerce is the fact that you don’t need physical infrastructure to start selling in a new country.

Make sure you market effectively and take advantage of cheap international shipping costs that are steadily on the decline. Use a local marketer to help make sure your site is properly translated and in-touch with the community. Nothing is easier to overlook than grammar or cultural issues that you don’t understand.

Mobile device users are becoming more valuable, not just more common

It’s no surprise that the number of mobile users is continuing to grow. What may surprise you is that while mobile users make up 42% of sessions they only generate 21% of the total revenue based on research from Wolfgang Digital. This gap is starting to close though. Mobile users are starting to become more valuable despite more than half of people saying they prefer a computer experience for shopping.

Another important aspect of the Wolfgang Digital study is that mobile sessions often lead to conversions later on a desktop. Focus on your mobile development in 2017, as your user experience improves your mobile revenue will as well.

It is also important to stop thinking of mobile users and desktop users as separate groups based on how interlaced the two are. The average household has 7.4 internet connected devices and that number is steadily increasing. Focus on driving consumers to conversions by creating a seamless experience going from mobile to desktop.

Competition is growing at an exponential rate

This is another one that might not seem like a surprise, but when you look deeper into the situation you can see the ramifications for your ecommerce business.

New brands and startups are entering the market at the same time brick and mortar firms are trying to expand their sales online. This has created a market where, since the barrier of entry is low, the market is becoming saturated. What’s important to note is that ecommerce competition is growing faster than the total revenue. Make sure to really focus on offering a quality experience and building brand equity to protect the value of your ecommerce site.

A drastic increase of content is right around the corner despite the number of consumers approaching a plateau. Competition for eyes on your site will get more and more intense in the near future. It will be important to focus on creating high quality content and products over a diversity of content and products. It will be much harder to gain traction in 2017 than it has been in previous years. Brand and protect your content as much as possible.

Subscription models are trending upwards

The subscription business model is expanding outside of the SaaS industry. SaaS businesses created the model and successfully demonstrated its benefits to businesses and consumers alike. Now it’s your turn. With flexibility and an increase in recurring revenue it’s a positive for both parties.

Now it’s your turn to apply a subscription model to your current ecommerce setup. Don’t ruin a good thing, but explore offering options that allow consumers a small discount if they commit to a certain time period.

A prime example of a business outside of SaaS to successfully implement a subscription plan is Dollar Shave Club, they used the model to grow from nothing to a business worth more than $600 million in five years. Check the regularity that your customers purchase your items and gauge if a subscription program is viable for you.

Smart prediction and AI are increasingly valuable

One of the most exciting technologies emerging in 2017 is artificial intelligence (AI). While it’s been growing in the past it has exploded in the past 8 months with funding for research and development growing exponentially.

What does this mean for your ecommerce business? It means you’ll soon be presented opportunities to target your advertising much more personally. It gives you the ability to move beyond seeing the trends of “consumers who buy X typically buy Y” and move into finding exactly why each consumer bought what they did so you can appeal to that consumer better in the future.

The value of data is increasing

The value of data is skyrocketing. Personalized marketing is the most effective. There’s no doubt about it. Presenting a customer with a product that data tells you they’ll be interested in leads to conversions far more than presenting a generic item. As more businesses have access to the ability to create personalized experiences for their customers the value of the data behind it has gone up immensely.

Take the time to collect as much data as you can from consumers. Figure out why they bought one item over another and use that data to propel your marketing and sales. It is also worth noting that startups focused in the collection, distribution, and analysis of market data are becoming increasingly more common and valuable.

Take the time to adjust to the new year. Follow trends with an open mind to see how you can keep your ecommerce business on the profitable cutting edge. Stay ahead of the ever increasing competition to keep your revenue growing.