Guide: eCommerce in 2022

In today’s digital age, online shopping is becoming an increasingly popular way to buy goods and services. It’s projected that eCommerce has been growing at a rate of over 17% each year through 2022.

In this blog post, we’ll go over some tips that will help you take your business to the next level in 2022. We’ll cover everything from how you can enter eCommerce and some strategies you can implement. So whether you’re just getting started or you’re looking for ways to improve your business, read on for some great tips!

What is eCommerce and how does it work?
eCommerce refers to the buying and selling of goods or services using the internet. It can be used for any kind of commercial transactions that are facilitated through this means, such as a sale on physical products online, or a remote service.

How does it work?
Once a company has a website with the possibility of shopping (eCommerce) this process can be divided into different stages:

• Receive Orders: The first stage is when consumers place an order through the platform and is already established in the system.
• Process Order Information: The second stage is when you can find all the order details and prepare the package to be delivered.
• Shipping: In the last stage, when the package is in the delivery process, all the planning and logistics implementation is here.

 

 

Types of eCommerce
The types of commerce models are the type of channel that exists between the company and consumers, in this case, it is the market to which the company is selling its products or services.

• Business to Consumer (B2C): When a company sells its products and services to consumers. For example, if I buy a hoodie from an online retailer like Amazon.
• Business to Business (B2B): When a company sells a product or service to another business. For example, an email marketing company that provides their services to other businesses.
• Consumer to Consumer (C2C): This happens when a consumer sells a product or service to another consumer. For example, when you sell your clothes on eBay or another platform to other consumers.
• Consumer to Business (C2B): When a consumer offers their products o services to a business. For example, Kim Kardashian makes a deal with a beauty company to post content with the brand in exchange for a money quantity.

Examples of Ecommerce
The variety of eCommerce transactions is as vast and all-encompassing as the range in which they occur. These can involve any type or form you choose, including physical goods being traded for digital ones on sites, some examples are:

• Retail: In this model, a business sells products to the customer without intermediaries. (for example, Walmart is a traditional retailer)
• Wholesale: Wholesalers offer discounts to help smaller retailers stock up on inventory and have accessible prices for consumers who want the products (for example, Shopee offers multiple product options for individual persons or small retailers)
• Dropshipping: This is a model when a company sells a product and is shipped to the consumer by a third party, without having stock.
• Crowdfunding: It is the cooperation, carried out by people who are members of a network, whose purpose is to obtain money or other resources, like raising startup capital.
• Subscription: Is the purchase of a product or service for a period of time and renovation each month automatically. For example, subscription services such as Netflix or subscription goods, like subscription boxes like BoxyCharm, HelloFresh, or memberships services like a healthy app service like Clue or Keto cycle.
• Physical products: All the tangible goods that require stock for a company and a physical shipment to customers.
• Digital products: These are all the digital goods, you can download them and have them on your different devices, this could be ebooks, courses, music, or photos.
• Services: A service is any skill or set of skills provided in exchange for compensation. The time spent providing the service can be purchased, and these payments often come with a fee based on an hourly rate that varies depending upon who provides it (e.g., one hour = $100).

 

 

The Benefits of eCommerce for businesses and consumers
Digital markets are thriving, and the eCommerce space is one of them. This part will cover some benefits that this industry provides to both consumers as well companies for you to understand further! Some great things about operating an online store include:

For Businesses

• Lower costs:  it is possible to start a business without a physical store and even companies reduce their costs.
• Customer data: By having a website, you can easily obtain the customer’s personal information, which helps to maintain contact with them and provide them with follow-up.
• Expand the market: a business can not only reach the people of your city but also other countries! which helps to expand your market and have growth in your business.
• Open 24/7: By having an online business, you can always be open without closing or stopping sales, which helps to have constant sales.
• Easy growth: to reach other countries you don´t need a physical store in that country, by having a global eCommerce you can easily reach it.

For consumers

• Lower prices: The lower costs translate into savings for both shoppers and brands alike. In addition, many promotions can be claimed easier on these sites as well which makes buying more fun than ever before
• Convenient: Consumers can shop whenever they want from wherever they want, even without leaving their homes, waiting in line, or a long drive to get to the store.
• Variety of products: You can find multiple products in a matter of a click, make comparisons and even find products from other countries.
• Informed decisions: on each platform, you can find information on each product, comments, reviews, and videos, where consumers can easily make a comparison between products and services.
• Save time: Consumers can view a variety of products, compare and buy in seconds.

 

 

How to set up an online store
Creating an online store can be a daunting task, but with the right steps, it can be a breeze. Here are four simple steps to help you get started.

• Identify your ideal consumer: have a clear market and a business plan for it.
• Choose your platform: There are many eCommerce platforms to choose from, so find one that fits your needs and abilities. Some popular platforms include Shopify, Magento, and WordPress.
• Set up your account: Once you’ve selected your platform, create an account and fill out all of the necessary information. This will include setting up your payment and shipping information.
• Select your domain name: This has to be the same as your company name, and you have to pay to be the domain owner.
• Choose your products: Select the products you want to sell and add them to your store. Make sure to choose products that are unique and appeal to your target audience
• Design your website: include all the photos, prices, and information about the products or services you provide.
• Set up shipping: Have available the sipping information, the days it takes to be delivered and the cost or if this is free.
• Launch your online store: Finally! Announce this on your social media or other platforms so the sales can start.

eCommerce Tips
You can always improve, some tips to boost your company’s eCommerce are:

• Businesses should consider using specially designed software to make checkout processes faster, provide high-quality extensions for their sites and ensure customer support is always available when needed.
• Lately, many businesses are leveraging social media to get their word out. Use this as an opportunity for customer communication and feedback on new products or ideas that they might have had in mind but didn’t know how else would reach them without advertising budgets huge enough. Social Media can also be used alongside your eCommerce platform so people will purchase from you easier by just following what’s happening online first-hand instead of waiting around at physical stores. More eyes seeing what happens = higher chances of sales
• To stand out from the competition, you should focus on building a unique and identifiable brand. Your customers will flock to your business if they can understand what it is that makes yours different than any other company in this industry or market space. The key here is making sure every touchpoint has some form of branding awareness so people know exactly whom we’re working with at all times!
• It’s easy to keep your customers up-to-date on the latest sales, store updates, and discounts by creating an email list. You can also use it for future offers that will be sure not to disappoint! By updating them regularly with information about what products or collections are available in stores now – you’ll have a database of loyal shoppers who would love nothing more than to tell their friends all about how great place X is where they go shopping every time
• To be successful in e-commerce, it is important to know your customer. By learning about their needs and wants through communication methods like emailing or Facebook chatting you can gain insight into what they might need from a product before even selling them anything! This will allow for better servicing of customers by providing personalized services not just with one specific person but to everyone who has subscriptions with the business so there isn’t any confusion when buying something online because we’ve already helped keep track during our initial outreach attempts.
• Implement improvements in your eCommerce platform to provide a better consumer experience, some small improvements that can be applied are:
  • Make sure your website is easy to navigate
  • Use high-quality images to showcase your products
  • Write clear and concise product descriptions
  • Offer a variety of payment options, including PayPal and credit cards
  • Ship orders quickly and ensure they arrive in good condition
  • Respond to customer inquiries promptly and courteously
• Visual commerce is a way for brands to help consumers gain more product awareness. Brands should invest more in high-quality images, videos augmented reality virtual reality to connect with the customer base and make connections between them that will form trustworthiness as well relevance within their potential clientele pool of thousands or millions depending on how relatable you want your company’s message/ branding efforts be perceived by those customers who see it.

 

 

eCommerce Trends 2022
What will the e-commerce landscape look like in 2022? Although it is impossible to say for sure, some trends are taking place right now. Let’s explore some of the trends and what businesses can do to prepare.

Change in consumer behavior
The consumer’s taste in products changes constantly, and certain categories are influenced more than others. In this case, the demand for health care and real estate has gone up significantly.

Mobile Commerce
By 2022, it is expected that all commerce sites will be optimized for mobile use. Almost everyone uses smartphones and therefore these devices become an integral part of everyday life which enables them not only to buy products but also to visit eCommerce stores on the go, so is a need to provide a good mobile experience.

Social Commerce
Most people start their shopping experience on social media before they buy anything else. With social commerce, you can now buy products from Instagram, TikTok, or Pinterest, and instantly be redirected to the eCommerce platform. These extensions simplify the sale process and make it easier.

Live Shopping
Live shopping has been on the rise for years and it’s no surprise why. Brands can now connect with potential customers in an authentic, human way that was never before possible through this medium of communication – Live Shopping allows brands to become more likable than ever! Live purchases are also beneficial, you can use the support of influencers, have videos that are not perfect, and be the brand as such. A great example of brands that do live the lives of their clothes is Shein.

Voice Search
With voice search becoming increasingly popular, it is important to keep up with the latest trends. The rise of Alexa and Siri has brought about a new wave for how people interact through their voices; therefore you can implement this to your website and optimize the keywords for voice searchers.

Sustainable eCommerce
Join the green business revolution! Sustainability is in, and people are going for it hard. They want to buy products that benefit both their wallets as well as Mother Earth–you’ll see them coming back when you can offer this kind of service (or product). By integrating eco-friendly practices into all aspects of your company from production methods to the product, customers will be interested in it. By joining this trend, you must be sure that your processes and products are friendly to the environment, once assured, make it noticeable on your e-commerce site and your social media.

Plan and prevent
You can’t afford to take any risks with your inventory management. Have a plan for the best case, as well as one in which you’re prepared for something worse – like an emergency that may arise unexpectedly!

A successful business thrives on strategy-making; it’s what sets them apart from their competitors who don’t have this level of foresight about how much product will sell or where problems might occur due (unforeseeable circumstances). Planning means having multiple plans on standby.

 

According to Shopify in its blog “10 eCommerce Trends That Will Define Online Shopping in 2022”, the trends it mentions are:

1. Meet and exceed customer expectations
2. Tell the story of your client’s brand
3. Authentically engage customers with social commerce
4. Create live shopping experiences
5. Rethink personalization to build truly tailored customer experiences
6. Craft effective content to improve customer retention
7. Experiment with AI for content creation
8. Build customer loyalty with group-buying
9. Share your client’s sustainability efforts
10. Communicate delivery times with customers

The future is now for eCommerce. With so many new technologies, it’s never been easier to stay on top of your game and connect with customers in innovative ways that will make them come back over again!

As we move into 2022, it will be more important than ever to focus on creating a consistent customer experience. This means making it easy for customers to buy from you across all platforms and going beyond the purchase to provide value and engagement. Are you ready to face the challenges of 2022?

If you’re looking for help getting your business online, or want to take your current eCommerce operation to the next level, The Digital Haus can assist you. We are experts in all things digital marketing and eCommerce from setting up shop on a platform, data migration, website maintenance, and hosting, to creating an SEO-friendly website that will help you rank higher in search engine results pages. Contact us today for a free consultation and let us show you how we can help you succeed in the world of eCommerce.