As each year draws to an end, we look
to the New Year for new chances, new opportunities, fresh starts. We
hope that the New Year will bring us more then the closing year. And
this is no different for business owners and entrepreneurs.
But, to increase your good fortune for
the New Year, it's best to make plans. And to make the best, most
accurate plans, it's good to know what trends are in store for the
upcoming year.
After a little research, I've put
together some trends in e-commerce that you should be aware of for
2016.
Start Off Right – Design Trends
A well designed site is essential to
ensuring your visitors and customers enjoy shopping on
your site.
Sites must:
be modern and have a look and feel
that is attractive – the 'flat design' is very common and even
expected today.
be easy to navigate – studies
show visitors leave after only 12 seconds if they can't find what
they are looking for!
be trusted – if you are selling,
you should have an SSL certificate or use a secure checkout portal
(like PayPal).
have a common pattern – this may
be one reason WordPress sites are so common. While there are many
different themes, their layout follows a typical pattern that users
have become used to. Using common patterns may make 'all websites
look the same.' But, studies show that they also increase customer
comfort and comfortable customers are more likely to buy or follow
through to requesting information or services. (I'm not saying
WordPress is necessary. Any site can be made to follow the flat
design that most WordPress themes use).
Pop-Up Ads – What?
Yes, pop-up ads are coming back. The
once hated (well, still hated) marketing technique is making a
resurgence. But wait, the pop-ups that are getting results are not
the usual, annoying ads that are pushing products. Instead they are
the offers of information, free downloads, discounts, and even free
products when the user agrees to join a membership program or a
rewards program, agrees to receive email offers, or agrees to
like/share the company's social media pages/posts. Having the email
address or membership information of potential buyers is a huge step
towards more sales!
Mobile Will Soon be King
About 4.9 billion people worldwide own
smartphones. And web browsing on mobile devices has already
overtaken browsing on desktop computers. And mobile shopping is not
far behind.
Nearly every kind of business-to-consumer company should
have a mobile friendly (responsive) website!
Shoppers will continue to move toward
the convenience of mobile shopping. Can you afford to miss out on
this trend? If your competition has a mobile friendly site and you
don't – you are missing out on sales! And if you are the only
business in your market with a mobile friendly site, congratulations.
You are winning business away from you competition!
Your Audience is Growing
Forrester Research has predicted that
online consumers will spend $327 billion in 2016! And the trend for
larger order size is also increasing. Trends are showing that
December order size is increasing by about 10% each year ('larger
order size' means dollars spent per order, not necessarily more
products purchased).
Knowing that this trend for online
sales is only going to increase, you really do need to make sure you
are a part of it. A new, modern website is essential in converting
visitors to customers. And a responsive mobile website will add to
the conversion rate.
Finally, just a little about the
numbers – the analytics. It is important to know how your online
presence is working. Analytics can help you understand the trends
for YOUR audience. With analytics you can track time spent on your
site by visitors, how well your social media campaigns are doing,
track the results of other marketing campaigns by tracking hits to
special landing pages, and even figure out what time of the day, week
or year your marketing is giving you the best ROI.
There are several analytic applications
that are free, such as Google Analytics. And most have a pretty good
tutorial and documentation. But, if you don't have the time, your
web developer, host provider or third-party marketing expert can help
you to understand just what all the acronyms and cryptic phrases mean
when it comes to analytics. Believe me, it is worth looking into.
Happy New Year!
