Do you know the global consumer spending on online shopping? According to a statistical report from Statista, the total consumer spending on retail e-commerce was over $5.1 trillion in 2021. What’s more surprising is that the already epic sales revenue is expected to reach over $8 trillion by 2026!

The mind-blowing statistics prove that retail e-commerce has skyrocketed in the past few years with an even larger scope for expansion and improvement in the methods of selling. With ongoing developments in the e-commerce sector, brands are making sure to stay informed about the latest trends with the start of 2023 for a fresh boost to growth.

Importance of E-Commerce in 2023
In its simplest definition, e-commerce refers to the shift of your brick-and-mortar shop to a digital space that is powered by the internet. The word “e-commerce” itself expands to “electronic commerce”. Hence, the use of digital facilities and the internet to sell products and services online.

By the end of 2022, we realized that global consumers only increased their online purchases from over $5.1 trillion to roughly $5.7 trillion worldwide, according to a report on Insider Intelligence. As people grow accustomed to searching the internet for products/services, the incentive for companies to set up digital shops grows by the day.

In the same study/report on Insider Intelligence, it’s predicted that within the overall worldwide retail sales, over 20% is expected to be through retail e-commerce! Thus, the significance of e-commerce has only shifted to a higher and more dominant scale with the change of the calendar.

Must-Try E-Commerce Trends of 2023
There’s an endless stream of ideas when it comes to online selling and purchases. So, how do you figure out the most successful and influencing trends from their counterparts? You don’t! We have created a small list of the rising trends that were noticed at the end of 2022 and are expected to grow in 2023.

● Demand for Pre-Used Items
If you’ve been looking forward to becoming a sustainable provider, now’s the time! Consumers around the world are getting environmentally charged and making environment-friendly purchases. According to Statista, the second-hand apparel market in the US was valued at around $96 billion in 2021. What’s more, the trend is a growing one which shows the market reaching a value of over $218 billion by 2026.

Shoppers are going for pre-used items mainly because of sustainability factors. Consumers acknowledge the fact that excessive demands for certain products like apparel and footwear are damaging to the environment.

● Payment Options Are Increasing
Believe it or not, customers still get excited when a seller offers an increased range of payment methods. For online shoppers, it’s a matter of convenience and variety while security reasons stand above all of those factors.

Within the same market, there can be segments of customers that prefer to pay through credit cards, PayPal, and cryptocurrency. Some online sellers are offering the “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) payment method. If your digital store is missing out on payment method diversity, you’re missing potential growth!

● Social Commerce Is Up and Coming!
Did you hear about social commerce? It entails the idea of online sellers cross-promoting their e-commerce presence on social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. For example, the feature called “Shoppable Instagram” has enabled social media users to interact with new and favorite brands without getting off Instagram itself!

Most people use social media platforms, thanks to their billions of monthly users, for product recommendations. According to Shopify, over 70% of internet users go to social media to research brands and learn what others have to say about the same products or services that they wish to acquire.

● Customized Packaging Is on the Rise
Online customers love to receive handwritten notes and praises from their providers, especially on special occasions like the Christmas holidays or Thanksgiving. With the onset of environmentally friendly packaging trends in 2020, brands realized that packaging plays a significant part in sales.

In fact, a huge proportion of customers of retail e-commerce are impacted by the type and quality of packaging. Now, e-commerce brands are switching to personalized packaging with eco-friendly material, sustainable production, and customized notes or a simple “Thank You!”.

● Augmented Reality Is Achievable
Home decor, apparel, and fashion brands are focusing on the application of augmented reality, or “AR” for short. It refers to the addition of artificial intelligence-generated imagery over the real image and video captures. We all know how Snapchat delivered a mind-blowing feature where users could select a special brand filter to see how different products would look on them.

These primarily included footwear like sports and casual shoes. However, the trend has been so progressive that now you can check out shades, necklaces, watches, and clothes! In e-commerce, customers are looking for their favorite sellers to provide such features with ease to improve customer experience.

● Multi-Channel Is the Way To Go
To boost conversions, sales, and online visibility, e-commerce brands are adopting multi-channel strategies. In simple words, multi-channel e-commerce entails selling across various platforms to increase exposure and gain a more visible position on the internet.

Instead of restricting your sales to a single selling platform, you can adopt the multi-channel e-commerce strategy to boost growth. Although it would require diligent planning, resourceful consumption of time, and adequate management, multi-channel e-commerce does boost growth! Regardless, we advise that you research the most popular marketplaces in our industry and then set up shops.

The Bottom Line
Whatever trends emerge from the e-commerce industry, rest assured that not every one of them is useful to your business model and long-run objectives. As part of a stringent online selling strategy, it’s important to pursue trends most befitting to your growth.

Make sure you pay attention to the basic factors of e-commerce operations such as personalization, social connection, and customer service efficiency of your online selling platform. Work out a powerful strategy that adopts the ongoing trends to see a growth pattern in the 2023 sales forecast!