e-Commerce has taken the world by storm in recent years, with an ever-increasing amount of American businesses adopting e-commerce platforms to pitch and sell their products.
While physical stores are still common, online retail stores are proliferating the retail landscape and American consumers are turning to online shopping. In fact, current retail trends show that 51% of Americans prefer online shopping, with e-commerce growing 23% year-on-year. In this article, we will explore some popular e-commerce trends in the United States and how American businesses can make the most of them.
Entrepreneurial E-commerce Boom
In our increasingly digitised world, it is becoming easier for entrepreneurs to open their own business online. Social media has become a major way of doing so by providing free and effective platforms for advertising and marketing.
This means that the U.S. will begin to see a proliferation in online businesses opening, which means more competition for established businesses in the same industries. Existing businesses must take note and follow suit – use social media platforms to market your products and differentiate your company from the ever-increasing competition.
Individualised Marketing
Another major trend in the U.S. is personalised advertising and marketing campaigns. We are seeing companies go beyond the traditional “recommended products” model and using previously collated data on individual consumers to target them directly.
For example, this technology will allow businesses to analyse an individuals’ browsing history and target them based on products they have viewed or previously purchased. In doing so, advertisements with those same products or similar ones can be targeted directly at the customer.
Existing businesses should keep this in mind when crafting advertising and marketing campaigns to keep up with the competition. Customers prefer to see adverts that are relevant to their preferences, and businesses should be making the most of the new technology.
Video Content
Another major trend we are seeing in the U.S. is the use of video content to advertise and market products. Since the rise in popularity of Facebook and Instagram “Live” video feeds, and the “Stories” feature in Facebook Messenger and Instagram, e-retailers have found that consumers respond well to being able to see products through this medium. Existing businesses can start making use of these technologies to capitalise on the trend where relevant.
Mobile Friendly e-Commerce
American e-retailers have made an effort to create websites that are both desktop and mobile-friendly. Americans spend a lot of time “just browsing” on their smartphones, so it has become imperative that e-commerce businesses make their websites easy to access on mobile devices.
Existing business owners need to consider this, especially if they are new to the e-commerce scene. It may be advisable to hire a professional to get your website up and running and to ensure it is as mobile-friendly as possible.
