E-commerce in Israel and around the world has surged by thousands of percent in recent years. The ability of users to shop online via their mobile devices has greatly contributed to this growth, and what boosted it even further were the new capabilities acquired by store owners and marketers across the web. Store owners and SEO specialists managing brand presence on social media and at Fialkov Digital stay frequently updated on new e-commerce trends. These trends help marketers and website owners generate more traffic to their site and, as a result, significantly increase sales volume. Here are the 5 hottest trends for building e-commerce stores in 2024:
1. Personalizing the shopping experience
B2B and B2C consumers are looking for a personalized shopping experience, and there is a higher chance of turning them into regular customers through personalization of the buying process. Personalization of the buying journey means tailoring the purchase experience on your website to the target audience. This personalization can manifest as specific product recommendations, offering a variety of payment methods, targeted email campaigns, purchasing directly from the company’s social media page (not yet available in Israel at this time), and more. Brands and businesses that expand their personalization options in the purchasing process earn on average 4 times more compared to other stores.
How to implement personalization of the shopping experience in practice?
- Offer exclusive products and deals to a specific segment of your target audience, which will improve conversion rates.
- Add modern payment methods like Apple Pay, Bit, Bitcoin, PayBox, and more.
- Place extra emphasis on close customer support and improving the shopping experience for returning customers.
2. Optimizing the store for voice search
Many users utilize emerging web technologies like voice search to carry out daily tasks and search for products and services online. Customers can open the browser (with Google Chrome being the most common) and use voice search to perform a thorough search that includes all the filtering attributes they want for a product (sizes, colors, and more). As more people switch to using voice search in their browsers, traffic will also grow for stores that have optimized their product pages to accommodate voice search.
How to optimize a store for voice search?
- Optimize for voice search using standard search engine optimization (SEO).
- Perform product page optimization on the product description so it answers as many of the following questions as possible: “who”, “what”, “when”, “why”, “how much”, “where”, and “how”.
3. Optimizing marketing channels for a central goal - conversions
Due to growing competition in the e-commerce market, many store owners and marketers invest efforts in multiple advertising channels – search engine optimization (SEO), social networks, PPC, email marketing, and more. One of the main mistakes many stores make is that the advertising message does not encourage users (potential consumers) to perform a relevant conversion action for the store (even if it’s not a purchase). Today, companies need to establish a brand presence across all media channels (as much as the budget allows) while aiming to optimize their advertising across the chosen channels for one central goal – conversions and revenue growth.
How to optimize marketing channels for more conversions?
- Speak to the needs of the users in your advertisements.
- Add a call to action in the ads.
- Showcase customer testimonials and reviews on your advertising channels.
4. Cultivating monthly subscriptions in the store
Many e-commerce brands are introducing monthly subscription models to their stores to increase customer brand loyalty. B2C stores market monthly subscriptions to customers to offer special discounts to subscribers and connect them with the brand and its products. In addition to the subscription itself, many stores also advertise affiliate marketing options, allowing users to earn commissions on orders made by visitors who registered through their affiliate link, which encourages customers to share their purchases and make money from purchases made by people they introduced to the store. To convince customers to pay for a monthly subscription, you should present this option as a benefit and a money-saving tool for multiple purchases, and it is recommended to do this via a “loyalty program,” which associates customers who purchased a subscription with an exclusive group that saves money on long-term purchases.
How to increase the number of monthly subscribers in an e-commerce store?
- Reward “club members” with discounts and promotions.
- Market the benefits you provide to club members.
- Stay in close contact with users and build a community around the store.
5. Improving the store shopping experience using AR and VR
Another way to build e-commerce stores and display products that will make a major leap in 2024 is through the use of advanced technologies like AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality). These technologies take on an entirely different meaning when combined with e-commerce stores. Using VR and AR in 3D gives visitors the experience of trying out products directly on the store site before making a purchase. Several key advantages of using these technologies:
- Customers can experience the product without seeing it physically.
- Helps customers make a more informed purchasing decision after trying the products, which reduces the store’s return rate.
- Allows consumers to try products on their own time, regardless of a specific store’s opening hours.
How to integrate AR and VR into your store?
- Consider developing the option for product trials / fittings using these technologies in your store, which will allow visitors to try your products in real time. You can connect apps like Snapchat, which include AR capabilities, to the store.
- Showcase case studies where your customers use these technologies before purchasing products in your store.
Conclusion
The e-commerce sector has undoubtedly become one of the most advanced areas in digital and continues to upgrade and improve year after year. Alongside new features like AR/VR technologies and high-quality websites with a “loyalty program” option, we see that great emphasis must be placed on improving the user experience and the shopping process for visitors. All the upgrades (technological and non-technological) serve one main goal – to help your visitors buy faster and more conveniently.
About the author
Dvir Naaman, 27, graduate of the Digital Marketing course at HackerU College. Experienced in WordPress website development, paid advertising on Google, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. Specializes at Fialkov Digital in search engine optimization (SEO). Has rich experience in e-commerce and dropshipping, and is the owner of Merchant Center – a website aggregating information on e-commerce systems and advanced marketing platforms to increase business conversions, with an emphasis on online store sales.
