There is no question about the ever-changing virtual world of the internet. Everything that happens behind the scenes is in constant rotation. Algorithms, marketing strategies, trends, and social media platforms, are getting more advanced every year. It can make it difficult for some companies to keep up.

E-commerce marketing is one of those areas where businesses can’t afford to fall behind. The second that they trip up, someone else is passing them by. When things get quiet, chances are companies are revamping and planning new methods to remain at the top. The ones that are still fighting to get there are figuring out how to do it.

The trends in e-commerce marketing change frequently, so it’s essential to know what’s happening right now in order to have the best chance at success.

Voice Searching

Voice searching through Siri and other applications have been around for a while. However, for the most part, people were just asking silly questions, getting directions, and playing with it. Now with Alexa and other home voice-activated devices, the idea of voice ordering is becoming a lot more popular.

Before you were asking where the nearest gas station was while driving down the road, now you’re telling an electronic device to re-order your dog’s food. It is expected that by the year 2020 at least 50% of all e-commerce will be done through voice search. After that, it’s just going to keep going up.

Businesses around the globe have taken a note of this fact and are working on optimizing websites for voice searches. So, if you too are an online e-commerce business, make sure you don’t miss the bus.

Personalization

You want your customers to feel like individuals rather than just another customer. Think about how Pandora and Netflix offer suggested “what you should watch” or “what you might like to listen to” features. Whatever you can do to personalize and humanize your brand is going to gain some major bonus points. If you can make their e-commerce experience more personable in any way at all, now is the time to do that.

Email

Email is as old as the internet, and it’s still not going anywhere. There are more purchases made from people clicking through a marketing email versus any of the advertisements online. That includes those blasted across social media sites. Some companies have even started making it possible to make purchases directly through their inbox. With advancements like that, email is only going to get more powerful.

Overlapping Departments

If you have noticed that other companies are overlapping their content marketing, PR, and social media and thought that they were being lazy, you’re off. It’s a way to focus on the complete customer experience rather than just one area. It’s an excellent way to gain the trust of your customers and make their lives a whole lot easier. Whatever you can do to align all of your departments and have them working together is going to be beneficial.

Continuous Engagement

E-commerce advertising isn’t getting any cheaper. As the price increases, it becomes more critical for brands to become an independent media platform. Beyond the point of purchase, you have to continue to engage with customers if you want them to keep coming back. So, you can’t get rid of that media engagement; you just have to come up with a way to do it without spending a lot of money. An effective platform is how to make that happen.

Being Credible

With the biggest resource of information at their fingertips, consumers are doing their research. In fact, around 85% of potential buyers are poking around at the details before clicking that purchase button.

For e-commerce marketing that works, you want to be certain that you’re providing them with the details that they are looking for. More than that, you want to make sure that they are credible. Do your own research first and then combine what you find with your PR strategy. That’s how you gain attention, engage your customer, educate them, and get them to choose you. Someone has to give them what they want. Be the one to do it.

Brushing Up Skills

With the departments working more in conjunction with one another than ever before, everyone needs to know how to communicate. Nothing is ever going to move forward if everyone can’t understand what’s going on. To maximize the value of the e-commerce world, all areas from HR to PR and more should have the same set of skills.

Shopping Instantly

People don’t want to have to travel all over the internet to research and purchase something that they are looking at right now. If you have a kitchen table that you are displaying on a website, don’t just have a link for them to visit your site. Offer them the option of buying it right then and there. Anything you can do to make their shopping experience easier is going to convert to more in sales.

Fast Shipping

One of the most significant drawbacks for consumers shopping online is having to wait for their product to arrive. That’s even more troublesome when they are going to have to watch their mailbox for several days.

With sites like Amazon and Wal-Mart offering same-day and next-day delivery of more of their products, people are going to go to them to get what they want to be shipped to them fast. Even if you have to charge extra for the service, make sure that it’s available. As people get used to having this option, if they want what you have and they want it now, they’re going to be willing to pay the extra charge.

Optimize Mobile

There’s no question that businesses are focusing more on optimizing their mobile sites, but until recently, the desktop was still the frontrunner when it came to actually make purchases. That’s not just for big retail items either. Think about those mobile order-and-pay spots that you see at your favorite restaurants.

People park, place their order from their phones, pay for it with their credit card or PayPal on their phones, and within a few minutes, someone is bringing their order out to their car. There’s no waiting in long lines or dealing with people.

Today, somewhere around 60% of smartphone users have made at least one buy from their mobile device. As with most advancements in technology, you can only expect that number to continue to rise over the coming year.

When thinking about the trends in e-commerce, the best place to look is around you. Make sure you understand the basics of e-commerce, see what people are doing and how they are doing it. Even if it doesn’t seem like a big deal right now, it could be the next best thing. That doesn’t mean you have to implement it right away. Keep it in the back of your mind for future reference though.