Main Ecommerce Trends 2024 to Consider For Your Business [Infographic]

The advancement of technology and fluctuations in customers’ expectations and needs are among the core factors that shape ecommerce. Every year, new trends in ecommerce emerge and set the direction for the industry’s transformation. In this article, we discuss the main ecommerce trends that we will most probably dominate the market in 2024 and beyond and will help businesses remain relevant and competitive.

Ecommerce trends 2024 and market overview

The ecommerce industry sees consistent annual growth. According to Statista, the expected numbers for current ecommerce trends and beyond are:

• The worldwide ecommerce revenue in 2024 might reach US$3,178.00bn
• The average revenue per user (ARPU) in 2024 in ecommerce will be approximately US$1,387.00
• The amount of retail ecommerce sales worldwide might reach $6,330bn in 2024.

As you can see, the numbers are quite impressive. Let’s also toss in several ecommerce predictions by Forbes Advisor:

• In 2024, 20.1% of retail sales will happen online, and by 2027, the number will grow up to 23%
• Ecommerce sales will see an overall increase by 8.8% in 2024
• The ecommerce market is expected to total more than $7.9 trillion by 2027

So, what’s the reason behind such rapid and consistent growth, and what impacts ecom trends?

Ecommerce growth trends

The ecommerce industry and the trends in online shopping are shaped by various factors. Adoption of new technologies, ever-changing customer behavior, the remaining impact of COVID-19, globalization – all that affects the way people shop. And considering the fact that an average user can now instantly access both local and international stores from their mobile device, it becomes increasingly hard for businesses to remain competitive. 

This is where adoption of latest online shopping trends plays its role in granting a competitive advantage to a business. By knowing these trends, an ecommerce company can significantly improve both its customer service and internal operations, thus increasing the number of conversions and gaining users’ loyalty and interest.

Enhanced onsite personalization

The concept of personalization is nothing new – but as technology advances, businesses gain more opportunities to better understand their customers and not only provide them with relevant offers but also predict what might interest them. The main driving force behind that is the use of Artificial Intelligence and its subset Machine Learning. These technologies allow efficient collection of user data and its in-depth analysis, thus providing valuable insights that can be used to shape one’s marketing strategy. This is why personalization is confidently on the list of ecommerce future trends.

According to a report by Sender, 56% of shoppers will likely return to a website if it provides personalized offers and first-time shoppers consider personalization as a great aid in navigating a website. With this in mind, businesses might want to review or redesign their onsite personalization to keep up with this ecommerce trend.

Onsite, aka “on a website”, personalization means that you dynamically adapt your website to your customers and follow an interest-based approach to provide timely and relevant offers to specific users. Though personalization itself is not a new concept, it can be constantly improved through the use of latest technologies as well as through the ongoing customer research. When talking about onsite personalization, the main areas of focus are:

• Customization of dynamic content: the content on a web page changes according to the user’s actions (i.e., browsing history), thus staying relevant and gaining user’s attention.
• Different approach to various user groups: it is important to differentiate between existing, new, and returning customers and provide corresponding offers to them.
• Smart upselling and cross-selling: through the use of Machine Learning, you can provide relevant offers that will be unique for every user.
• Personalized recommendations: based on user’s preferences and behavior, your website can offer unique recommendations specifically tailored to a user.

With the help of segmentation and data analysis, businesses can encourage shoppers to complete their conversions more effectively, since users will receive unique experiences right from the start. But to achieve that, you will first need to redefine your data collection and analysis processes, and you might also want to consider implementing an ML solution for that. Luckily, there are many ready-made ML tools available in the market – though a custom one might offer you more accurate and valuable results. 

The growth of M-commerce

Another big trend among ecommerce industry trends is M-commerce. Mobile commerce, or M-commerce for short, keeps gaining traction, meaning, people continue shopping from their mobile devices. According to Statista, 60% of online sales are attributed to mobile shopping, and mobile sales are expected to take up the 62% of all retail sales by 2027 (Forbes Advisor).

What does it tell us? That people love to shop directly from their smartphones and mobile devices. After all, it enables them to shop at any time and from anywhere, which is highly convenient. But what does it mean for businesses, though? There are several things to keep in mind if you want to be more mobile-friendly and follow the trend:

• Ensure that your store is responsive and performs seamlessly on mobile devices;
• Consider developing a separate mobile application for your store;
• Encourage users to shop from their mobile devices by providing specialized offers and discounts;
• Use advanced technologies like AI, VR, and AR in your mobile app to boost user engagement.

Omnichannel retail 

Omnichannel retail, also called hybrid commerce, is a mix of online and physical commerce, and is among the biggest emerging ecommerce trends. Hybrid commerce implies that customers receive a seamless experience both through online and physical stores and can select the most convenient shopping method by using multiple platforms and channels.

It is important to note that omnichannel commerce, in general, is not a new concept. We’ve seen it before when businesses recognized the need to provide the same user experience through desktop, mobile, and physical stores. Now, customers want even more convenience, and with that said, businesses need to consider the following ecom trends.

BOPIS

BOPIS stands for buy online, pick up in-store and implies that a customer orders a product online and picks it in a physical store at their own convenience. This model is also called a click-and-collect method and is gaining immense popularity due to its convenience.

The BOPIS approach allows customers to combine the ease and security of online shopping and payment with the freedom to choose the most suitable time and date for the product pickup. However, this business model also brings in several new challenges for store owners. In particular, it calls for potential reorganization of inventory and supply chain management so that there is no product shortage. 

Main benefits that BOPIS brings to shoppers are:

• Zero shipping costs 
• Speed of service
• Easy product browsing
• Secure and easy payments in multiple formats
• 24/7 access to the store

As for retailers, BOPIS adds a competitive edge and helps attract customers to physical stores. However, before implementing this model, a business owner needs to carefully review and reorganize the processes in order to support the increase in product demand.

ROPO

ROPO stands for “research online, purchase offline” approach to shopping. Same as with BOPIS, this method implies that a user browses an online store and researchers available products but buys them in a physical store. This grants a perfect opportunity for business owners to implement AR and VR, so users can remotely “try on” the products and make a buying decision in advance.

Curbside pickup

One more interesting ecommerce trend that gains popularity is a curbside pickup. It works in the following way:

• A customer browses an online store and selects a product as well as a suitable pick-up store, where the product is available
• A customer buys a product online 
• The system notifies the store about the purchase, so employees can prepare the order
• A customer receives a notification when the order is ready
• A customer arrives at the store and an employee or a store representative delivers the order to them.

In simple terms, curbside pickup is something like a drive-through – but the difference is that with curbside pickup, you place the order in advance. This shopping method is also becoming popular due to its convenience, so store owners might consider it alongside other options.

Zero-party data

Modern customers are highly aware of data privacy and transparency, and the majority of them wants to control how exactly businesses gather and use their data. Add to that the fact that both Apple and Google stopped their support for third-party cookies in 2023, and you’ll understand why zero-party data is on the rise and is among the anticipated digital commerce trends.

Zero-party data is the data collected directly from users, with no third parties involved. An example of such data would be a user filling in a form directly on your website. Obviously, you still need to explain why you collect the data and how it will be used, and you need to provide an option to opt out from data collection. 

Some of the options for zero-party data collection include:

• Quizzes and polls
• Pop-ups
• Customer surveys
• Giveaways
• Onboarding questionnaires
• Contests

One of the most effective ways to engage users is to provide them with something valuable in exchange for their data. It can be a discount, a coupon, or a special offer – whatever your imagination is capable of.

Subscription models

Customer retention is extremely important. According to Semrush, the cost of retaining a customer is lower than a cost of acquiring a new one, while retaining customers tend to spend more and are more loyal. Hence, business owners should consider various ways to retain their customers and a subscription model is a perfect solution and one of the trends in ecommerce industry.

Here is how it works. You offer your customers a monthly (quarterly or even annual) subscription, and they receive goods from your stores. This approach contains an element of surprise (customers do not know what comes in their subscription box beforehand) and encourages shoppers to a long-term commitment to your store. Of course, they should have an option to easily cancel their subscription anytime – but in reality, most users love this approach to online shopping.

Numbers from various reports also support the growing popularity of subscription models. According to the BusinessWire report, the subscription market is expected to reach $2+ trillion by 2028, and 70% of business leaders see the subscription model as a vital part of ecommerce. This being said, if the nature of your business allows that, you might want to consider implementing a subscription model for improved customer retention and reduced churn rates.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence has become a go-to technology for many industries, and ecommerce is no exception. While it has been around for a while already, experts predict that the number of its use cases within the ecommerce domain will increase and more companies will adopt it, thus putting AI among the most promising ecommerce trends. Below, we list the most prominent AI use cases and benefits that can be seen as B2C ecommerce trends for the future.

More efficient management of internal processes

Businesses need to adapt to changing demands of customers. For that, they need to build accurate forecasts and predict the potential demand and supply, as well as better manage their inventory and processes. Automation paired with AI creates a powerful tech combo that ecommerce businesses can use to leverage their operations while cutting costs. Here is how AI can help:

• Better inventory and warehouse management;
• Reduced operating costs due to more effective allocation of resources;
• Reduction or elimination of surplus stock;
• Data-driven business strategies, including smarter logistics and production.

And these are just a few of the examples. By using AI, ecommerce businesses can transform the way they operate, becoming more efficient, user-centric, and sustainable.

In-depth customer analysis and improved customer experience

If you are not using ML yet for customer segmentation and analysis, now it’s the best time to start. As mentioned earlier, shoppers love personalization – but you can’t provide it unless you know your customers from A to Z. Such in-depth knowledge can be gained through collection and analysis of the most various user data, and this is where ML helps.

Modern marketing tools, powered with the Machine Learning technology, offer impeccable capabilities for user analysis and creation of smart and relevant campaigns. This, in turn, leads to improved customer experience and an increase in revenue.

Smart assistants

Another one of online retail trends is related to AI and implies the use of smart assistants on a website. It can be a good old chatbot or a more complex personal assistant, but the concept remains the same. A virtual assistant is basically a robot that can perform certain tasks and aids users throughout their shopping journey. Here are a few examples of what a smart ecommerce bot can do:

• Answer the questions: the level of their complexity can be determined by you in advance;
• Provide information on your store, products, terms of service, etc.;
• Perform routine tasks like sending emails, calling customers, or sending them notifications;
• Process customer queries and complaints, thus speeding up the process and facilitating the work of your employees;
• Provide customer support 24/7.
• Provide recommendations based on the user’s shopping history.

By implementing a smart virtual assistant on your website, you can significantly boost user engagement, number of conversions, and revenue, as well as optimize certain processes. If you don’t know where to start, you can research available ready-made solutions or request an AI development company for a customized solution.

Augmented reality and virtual reality technologies

Online shopping has many benefits, but one of its major drawbacks is the inability of customers to try on a certain product. AR and VR technologies seem to solve this issue, so they are on the list of big ecommerce trends.

With the help of AR and VR, ecommerce store owners enable their customers to try products remotely. One of the great examples is the Warby Parker app that allows virtual try-on of the glasses – and that’s just one example. Ikea, Target, Sephora, and other big brands all follow the lead in terms of enabling a full-fledged shopping experience without the need to visit physical stores.

While the use of AR and VR technologies is not a must, it certainly helps in improving the customer experience and adding a competitive advantage to a business. Most customers have a very positive attitude towards using AR in ecommerce, and those businesses that already have it in use see a high conversion rate. With this said, you might want to explore the ways how AR and VR can help you elevate your business and provide real value to shoppers.

Social commerce

Social media has become something bigger than socializing quite a long time ago and today, it is one of the most promising spaces for online commerce. Platforms like Instagram and Pinterest now offer both business owners and shoppers an easy and effective way to purchase products online, so naturally, social commerce is among the top ecommerce trends 2024 and further.

Remember that mobile commerce is also on the rise? This might be a big factor that influences the growing popularity of social commerce. Since customers use their mobile devices to browse social media, an option to shop on these platforms is part of an intuitive and frictionless user journey. And according to the report by Accenture, the social media commerce sales are expected to reach $1.2 trillion by 2025, which is quite impressive. Hence, if you do not have official business accounts on the most popular platforms yet, now it’s the best time to start them.

Social commerce vs social selling

When talking about social commerce and ecommerce trends, it is also important to mention social selling, as these two terms often get confused.

Social selling refers to the process of establishing relationships with your target audience via social media. This includes answering their DMs or leaving comments, and the main focus is on building trust, authority, and loyalty. Social commerce, on the other hand, focuses mainly on selling the product or service.

Sustainable commerce

Modern customers are cautious about the environment, and they expect businesses to follow the lead. One of the biggest issues is the amount of CO2 emissions from freight shipping, with their amount expected to reach 25 million metric tons by 2030, which is, frankly, terrifying. 

Numerous surveys show that customers want businesses to be more environmentally cautious and to value sustainability. For example, customers want businesses to use less packaging and try to use less plastic and choose sustainable packaging instead. And since sustainability indeed is an acute issue, here are a few ideas of what your business can do:

• Switch to carbon-neutral (or another sustainable) packaging
• Reduce the number of used plastic 
• Implement recycling
• Implement zero-waste approach to warehouse management

Headless ecommerce

Last but not least on the list of the most expected ecommerce growth trends is headless ecommerce, which means that the frontend and the backend parts of the ecommerce store are decoupled and communicate via an API. This approach grants store owners several significant advantages:

• Immense creative control since you can configure various frontend experiences for various platforms;
• Improved performance due to faster store loading;
• Selection of the most suitable and preferred tools and services.

By choosing the headless approach, you can significantly improve the omnichannel experience, speed up the development process, and integrate needed services in a seamless manner. And to support this statement with numbers, here are some from reports by Gartner and Salesforce:

• 80% of brands that do not have headless architecture yet plan to adopt it in the nearest future;
• The use of headless architecture can bring a 20% increase in revenue.

As you can see, the numbers are quite convincing. However, before switching to headless architecture and before following the latest ecommerce trends, it is important to review your current infrastructure, identify the main bottlenecks and pain points, and determine whether going headless will really bring the expected results and benefits. For that, we recommend consulting with a knowledgeable ecommerce development company like SoftTeco and request a consultation with an ecommerce tech expert.

Summing up: online shopping trends and their future

The world of ecommerce is changing rapidly, and customers are the ones dictating these changes. To remain flexible and competitive, it is imperative for ecommerce businesses to invest in reliable and scalable tech solutions and to adopt tech innovations and latest ecommerce trends – but only after carefully analyzing whether these innovations will bring tangible benefits. We hope that our article helped you decide what your next step will be in terms of making your ecommerce store engaging, converting, and as user-centric as possible.