What will e-commerce look like in 2018?

Retailers will try to add a social element to their online stores and work on perfecting their mobile experience in the coming year.

Ecommerce is big business with Ofcom predicting online sales to reach £63 billion a year by 2020. Today, 67% of Millennials and 56% of Gen Xers prefer to shop online rather than in-store.      

Here, Derek O’Carroll, CEO of Brightpearl, shares his predictions for key e-commerce trends in 2018. 

1. Omnichannel understanding     

We recently researched 350 retailers and the findings revealed that while the majority have an omnichannel strategy in place, less than 10 percent believe they are executing it well.  This is a BIG issue; it’s no longer enough for retailers to have a presence across multiple channels. They must be integrated efficiently, because customers’ expectation are to be able to buy seamlessly and interact across multiple channels, using different devices.  

In 2018, expect more retailers to get a firmer grip on omnichannel, and use that understanding to integrate their different online platforms so they’re delivering a more consistent customer experience. 

2. Mobile takeover 

Mobile commerce has been an invaluable requirement within the ecommerce marketplace for at least the last three years but its importance is accelerating massively. For example, in 2016 alone sales through mobile grew 90% with more than half of online purchases being made from smartphones.  71% of all UK adults now own a smartphone, with this figure rising to 90% among 16 to 34-year-olds. Everyone is connected and people are always online. The future of retail will most likely be completely brought to us by mobile.    

As a result, 2018 will see mobile browsing driving ecommerce -- and businesses must make sure their websites are mobile-friendly across devices. Buying habits will also have a greater bearing on mobile; for example, studies suggest millennials are three times as likely as Baby Boomers to have made an online purchase from bed. Retailers must look to capitalise on these habits with well-timed offers and content that’s perfected for mobile. 

By Derek O’Carroll.

Full story at Itpro Portal.