Top e-Commerce trends for 2022

Aided by the pandemic, e-Commerce has continued its victory march in 2021. But what were the most important trends for 2022 in this rapidly evolving sector?

Read on to find out.

Social media is an increasingly important factor in many sectors across the globe, and e-Commerce is no different. In fact, if we take a look at the marketing spending of companies, we may find that social media has become the most important advertising channel.

While spending on TV and radio ads is increasing a bit (1.4% and 2.2% respectively) and search engine advertising (SEA) and video marketing are expanding as well (10% and 14%), it’s social media advertising that is projected to grow the most, namely 15% between 2021 and 2024.

A laptop displaying marketing campaign statistics

This translates to a value of $225 billion and 26.5% of the entire global advertising market, with SEA following at 22.5%. The numbers clearly indicate what we’ve all been suspecting: when it comes to marketing, social media can’t be ignored. No wonder that influencer marketing across the various social media platforms is gaining importance as well.

In line with a growing eco-consciousness of consumers worldwide, shoppers place an increasing amount of value on the sustainable and transparent operation of their chosen brands.

According to a study published by Idealo, 60% of consumers want shops to work more sustainably, two-thirds of them wish to learn about the circumstances of production of the goods they purchase, and 72% would even pay more for a more climate-friendly way of shipping.

A few giant names in the retail industry are already shaping this trend. Amazon, for example, has pledged to reach zero-carbon emissions by 2040 and to power all its operations with renewable energy by 2025.

Screenshot of sustainability.aboutamazon.com displaying Amazon’s climate pledge

H&M, on the other hand, aims to increase recycling and reusing materials across the clothing industry, as well as providing its customers a more transparent and fair access to fashion.

Screenshot of hm.com explaining the company’s sustainability efforts

All this seems to indicate that brands that make an effort to become more sustainable and share their experience with customers can be rewarded for their trouble.

We at globaleyez have also ramped up our efforts to become sustainable. Check out what we’ve done so far!

Mobile shopping has been steadily increasing its share within e-Commerce. In fact, 72.9% of all e-Commerce transactions occurred on a mobile device in 2021.

But with great power comes great responsibility. Consumers expect m-commerce to become as smooth and safe as e-Commerce in general. 34% of respondents of a survey stressed that mobile shopping should become more secure, while 36% stated that technical difficulties have previously deterred them from buying something on their smart devices.

These are very valid observations that brands and mobile shop operators alike should keep in mind, should they wish to increase their business in this ever-growing branch of e-Commerce. After all, this is exactly how mobile-first e-Commerce marketplaces from Asia gained their massive success.

Who prefers typing to speaking? An increasing amount of users ditch their keyboards in favour of voice commands on their smartphones, and that includes shopping as well. While currently only 2% of consumers use voice commands when shopping, this may be entirely due to a lack of voice options provided by webshops.

Including such an option may bring in a whole new crowd of customers to your brand’s webshop. The investment this requires could be a lot less than the actual return such a move may bring for your brand.

A person giving a voice command to a smartphone

In today’s saturated markets, customer experience can often be the deciding factor for where to buy a specific product. And omnichannel sales is great for enhancing customer experience. But what is it and how does it work?

Omnichannel sales means that you offer your products on multiple channels (on- and offline, via single webshops, social media and online marketplaces like Amazon or eBay) to customers who can switch between these channels seamlessly.

Interconnecting your sales channels provides multiple advantages for your brand. First of all, customers will be able to find you more easily, which will increase your visibility and their trust in you.

As a study published by Harvard Business Review shows, 73% of consumers research products on multiple channels before making a purchase decision. Being present and interacting with people on many of these channels makes your brand more prominent and shows potential customers that you’re worthy of their trust.

Omnichannel sales also increases customer loyalty (why look for others when you’re right there) and helps your brand collect more data about the purchase journey of consumers, which in turn allows you to provide an even more personalized customer experience for their next purchase.

And last but not least, a seamless shopping experience smoothly guides customers through all the steps of their purchase, allowing them to buy your products easily and with more confidence.

Learn all about the pros and cons of omnichannel here.

Investing in multiple sales channels and connecting them for a flawless customer experience can help your brand reach new heights this year.

With social media becoming the top ad space for brands, the growth of social commerce is really a no-brainer. After all, the customers are already present on the platform looking at your ad, so why not seal the deal and make a sale?

Facebook and Instagram were the first platforms to recognize the importance of social commerce. Nowadays, many other social media platforms provide shopping options, like Pinterest, where brands can link their shop directly to the content, and Snapchat which allows you to offer an AR filter to help customers virtually try your products on. YouTube and TikTok have also recently jumped on the roaring bandwagon that is social commerce.

With such an abundance of options, you can choose to include the social channel that best fits your brand’s image.

Ordering products online the traditional way doesn’t allow customers to actually try the products. This is especially unfortunate for clothing brands that have to deal with a large amount of returns due to the difference between the online image of a product and the reality of how it actually looks on the customer.

AR applications can change that for good. Many platforms, including social media channels like Snapchat and TikTok, as well as webshop providers like Shopify offer AR filters that allow customers to try on products virtually.

Providing AR filters could really bridge the gap between physical and online retail, helping you to offer a more immersive and seamless shopping experience to your customers. And from there, it’s only one step further to enter and set up shop in the metaverse.

A person virtually trying on clothes. Source: The Future of Augmented Reality: 10 Awesome Use Cases, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxzcD04rwc8

2022 seems to provide an exciting array of e-Commerce opportunities for brands. Unfortunately, these very same opportunities are equally available to fraudsters as well.

Counterfeiters, grey marketers and many other IP-infringing sellers can use them to defraud your customers, ruin your reputation and steal your revenue. And due to the sheer size of e-Commerce, chances are you won't be able to detect these fraudsters before it’s too late.

This is why you need a solid online brand protection program in place. globaleyez’s comprehensive services offer marketplace, social media, domain, image, and app monitoring, as well as test purchases, marketplace sales tracking, partner compliance and enforcement.

With globaleyez at your side, you can rest assured that all kinds of IP-infringements are detected and dealt with swiftly and efficiently.

Contact us and find out how we can protect your brand in 2022 and beyond