Top 5 trends for eCommerce in 2017

Top 5 trends for eCommerce in 2017

The top 5 trends for eCommerce in 2017 may be known to you, but not to the mass majority.  Did you know that shopping malls are closing at an alarming rate due to the fact that there simply aren't enough stores renting out retail space for them to keep their doors open?  There are a few select malls that are still going strong, but there are many more which are on the verge of being closed while others are already being demolished.

In fact, the mall near where I grew up is actually in the process of being demolished due to not having enough stores renting out space.  When I was little, the area was nice and anyone could go there to buy whatever they wanted.  As I grew up, the mall only got worse and gangs started walking the corridors, then fights started breaking out.  It was doomed as of 10 years ago and only recently started to get demolished.  It was considered abandoned, so I can only imagine what was going on within it's walls after that

The downside of a mall is that it doesn't cater to someone being compulsive.  Sure someone could be there for something like a dress and leave with a pair of shoes, but eCommerce websites are capitalizing on compulsive buys.  Not only that, there are a few big ways that eCommerce is taking over and I'll go over them in this discussion  

Top 5 trends for eCommerce in 2017

1. Chat bots
Big corporations like Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft released updates with their won chat bots and now other companies are starting to follow suite.  These chat bots are actually starting to take jobs from people because they're getting so advanced that they can literally answer any question that comes in.  We will see more and more companies leaning towards these chat bots because it cuts costs drastically since you only need 1 bot to be your entire support team.  Chat bots won't just answer questions either, they will be able to follow up on your orders, answer your complaints and everything will happen in real time making it super convenient for users.


2. Brick and Mortar stores at risk
The amount of mom and pop type stores are closing at an astonishing rate.  There were roughly 8,000 physical stores closed in 2017 while just 2,000 closed in 2016.  Now that's just a 2 year spread, but if it keeps going this route we will see more and more companies going solely online.

The more that stores like Walmart and Amazon tweak their systems to perfection, the more people will be willing to start shopping online.  As soon as everyone has the Amazon or Walmart apps and realizes they can do all their Christmas shopping from their couch, like what I do, they will not have a need to go out and purchase something from the store.  Sure you have to pay for shipping and handling, but the big corporations have that covered too!  I have Amazon Prime and I pay $15 a month for it.  I normally only use it in October, November and December but I forgot to cancel it and I realize that I tend to use it more than just those 3 months lol.  But if you factor in how much it costs to drive around and shop, you will notice that the $15 a month for a prime membership more than pays for itself.


3. Social media is starting to be seen as a force of it's own
Facebook has been working on it's shops over the years and is trying to make it's platform as easy to load products to as say something like WooCommerce and Shopify.  Not only that, Facebook is one of the best ways to drive traffic to an eCommerce store since you can easily load pictures of your products within your ads and that always converts better.  Some people like using Facebook live to demonstrate how a product works, but I think it just looks cheesy lol.


4. Everyone wants convenience
When you shop online, you do it because it's convenient.  You can literally shop from your bed without getting dressed and having to go to the store, like I mentioned earlier

Of course websites will have to work on their own structures to optimize for mobile traffic.  If they don't, they will notice a drop in sales because their websites aren't user friendly and possibly crash when someone is browsing.  


5. Fast and Efficient Delivery
In the beginning, eCommerce might not have had the best shipping rates and that's probably why they didn't take over sooner.  Now they have same-day or overnight shipping which is extremely fast and very efficient because if you forget about someones birthday, you can order something and have it at your house the next day (I've done this) lol

This is the main reason I use the Amazon app paired up with Amazon Prime.  I can take my phone out, find something I like, order it, and have it to my house quickly because I have 2 day free shipping   Last Christmas I got an item that was wrong and I had to send it back.  I knew that I wasn't going to be refunded in time, but I wasn't worried about that.  I was more worried about getting my item in time for Christmas because it was December 19th.  Luckily I got it on December 23rd, which was past the 2 day shipping, but that's understandable since Amazon shipping around a billion products during the Christmas season and were swamped with orders.  




In Conclusion:
If you're not trying to crack into eCommerce and you have a brick and mortar store, you're falling far behind and you need to change your ways.  Get out there and have someone set up a website for you.  You could set it up yourself, but you're better off hiring someone that can do it for you in a week or so and configure it with all the 5 key points I talked about above



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Thanks!

Razzy