5 Trends That Show Where eCommerce Is Heading in 2021

Contributing significantly to eCommerce and its spiking sales levels, consumer habits, behaviors, and shopping trends in the USA are changing. And this change is not about to stop anytime soon, with post-Covid trends in eCommerce continuing to place further benefits on this sector. 

According to a recent online shopping statistics survey published on DealDrop, “In 2020, 227.5 million Americans aged over 14 shopped online with this figure expected to increase to 230.5 million by the end of 2021. This means that of the American population aged 14 or over (268 million people), 86% will shop online in 2021” Further key findings published on this site state, “Over 19% of the US population prefers online shopping over shopping in-store. However, almost double that number (37%) still prefer to shop in-store.” 

And with benefits enjoyed so far this year, as well as a year ago, it’s important to see how positive outcomes can be enjoyed by delving into post-Covid eCommerce trends in efforts to understand them and subsequently implement them. 

1. Evolving purchasing power

One of the first significant post-Covid trends is expenditure reduction - meaning that eCommerce businesses will most certainly have to rethink their customer proposition, accurately aligning their messages with customer preferences.

2. Category-based Demand

Another post-Covid trend to take into account is category-based demand, with consumer preferences and personal tastes changing towards category-based products and services. Category-based demands pertaining to health and wellness products, hygiene products, and food products with long shelf-life will be in demand.

This means, for eCommerce businesses, an alignment of current products and services to popular category items which are in demand. Furthermore, category-based demand also includes bulk orders, thanks to higher demands for stockpiling and fewer shopping trips. This means that ensuring products are available online in bulk and often is vital. 

3. Personalization

While companies like Kelsium predict that subscription-based solutions will help with the growth of online sales, personalization is another trend to keep an eye on.

This requires eCommerce businesses to integrate new technologies and conversational AI that allow for personalization at scale, and the integration of technology-bolstered loyalty programs and personalized business messaging. 

4. New demographics

Further on the trends list, but not lower on the importance level, catering to new demographics, with a substantial increase in adoption rates by demographics who previously preferred offline shopping, will be vital for those in eCommerce. Catering to the Gen X group and people over the age of 40 will be key here, and to do this, recommendations include workarounds around easy-to-use navigation bars, search options, and online shopping assistant technology.  

5. Mobile Shopping

Getting a mobile application for your eCommerce services and products is one way to keep on top of the next post-Covid eCommerce trend - the further rise of mobile shopping. Market share in mobile shopping is set to expand rapidly, with mobile shopping habits expected to differ slightly from the norm. This means eCommerce businesses must ensure that their mobile user experience is not only reliable and clean but also fast. Furthermore, smartphone applications for eCommerce businesses are set to keep mobile sales up with a direct line of communication with customers promoting direct orders. 

While there are more trends set to contribute significantly to eCommerce and its spiking sales levels, keeping abreast of all post-Covid trends and the actionable measures to take and technological tools to incorporate into your eCommerce business will allow you to continue to enjoy benefits that come with an ever-changing online shopping world.