Being able to buy products online gives consumers flexibility, choice, and opportunities that can’t be found in offline shopping. The online shopping sphere demonstrates the growth of trends like influencers to the very pragmatic solutions of more creative and diversified payment options. In this article, we look at these trends.
Social Media Shopping & Influencer Recommendations
A consistent and growing online shopping trend you won’t be surprised about is social media shopping through platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok. Shopping through social media platforms is practical and gives consumers access to a market 24/7 and from mostly everywhere.
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Social media shopping plays for an intuitive experience; the algorithm makes recommendations through your social media behaviors, and finding products that fit your buyer persona is much easier than finding those products offline. The trend of social media shopping won’t seem to end any time soon but should evolve and become even more omnipresent.
For example, to quantify its growth, stats, and projections from credible data providers like Insider Intelligence demonstrate that social media shopping earnings can reach around $80 billion by the year 2025 (this only represents the US). Most of these earnings come from Gen Z shoppers.
So, where do people shop? No surprise here:
- Facebook: The majority of consumer purchases online were done through Facebook, according to Statista for 2022.
- Instagram: IG is the runner-up. A good portion of consumer purchases online were done through Instagram.
- Youtube & TikTok: Popularity-wise, Youtube, and Tiktok come after Facebook and Instagram in that order.
The large platforms continue to diversify their marketing strategies, often copying one another. For example, TikTok pushed Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube alike to introduce short videos to their platforms. This type of content can sell and promote like nothing before.
The Power Of The Influencer
What started as a sort of parody job is now a serious money-making profession. Influencer marketing is still a growing trend because it is effective. People trust other people and influencer marketing leverages that fact.
Some marketers believe that influencer-marketed content performs better, which explains the popularity and continued use of social media platforms for purchasing. Influencers are digital assets in that sense. Celebrity endorsements are costly, and more brands, whether they’re purely digital or have retail stores, are turning to influencers to promote and advocate their products.
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Video Marketing & Shopping
Video as a form of media is currently dominating the way we take in information online. In 2022, it was estimated that a person could spend up to 100 minutes looking at videos online; platforms like TikTok reflect that huge number as the user count continues to grow and is now in the billions. Currently, 1 billion people use TikTok.
Video content and marketing are also shaping new ways of purchasing. Video shopping and the influence of video content are introducing new customer “touchpoints” in the sales funnel online. Ads that don’t seem like ads, interactive video products, and smartly placed product plugs in video content all prevail in the online shopping world.
The video format has great and immense power in not just persuading but immersing audiences, so it’s understandable that the trend continues to grow and the use of video marketing becomes more dominant. Video shopping is also fuelled by live streaming. Content creators can unbox and try out products for those watching, further influencing their purchasing behaviors through direct suggestions.
Diversified Payment Options
Aside from being able to pay with cryptocurrencies, the number of online payments continues to grow, and more options are being considered for profit. In recent times, “Buy Now Pay Later” (BNPL). The way it works is that consumers can pay for the bill through multiple installments instead of paying the whole fee at once.
Along with paying with credit cards, Paypal accounts, gift cards and codes, crypto, and interesting new methods like BNPL, the diversification of payment can potentially motivate consumers to buy more, and it already seemingly does so.
Personalization
The want and need for more personalization in online shopping continues to grow and evolve. This includes personalized products, services, content, and tailored packaging. It’s safe to assume that the more a brand can integrate personalization for its consumers, the more potential they have to retain customers and convert them into loyal regulars.
Just like influencer-promoted products, personalization adds a more human and authentic element to the online shopping experience and no wonder it is gaining traction and becoming a more central focus in 2023. An example? The brand Function of Beauty lets its customers create personalized beauty products through an online quiz. Simple but a truly great way to sell their products.
E-commerce
Not a new trend but a continuously growing one. E-commerce is expected to have a revenue of $563 billion by the year 2025. Changing consumer behavior and the dominant use of mobile phones and technology to shop and do almost anything is fuelling this constant growth in the e-commerce business.
Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and millennials all contribute strongly to the digital boom of digital business, retail, and shopping. Online e-commerce platforms like Amazon, eBay, or Alibaba will continue to dominate the e-commerce sphere, and new trends can help e-commerce evolve.
Final Thoughts
Online shopping seemingly will continue to become more sophisticated, more customizable, and more diversified in terms of experience and payment. As long as the internet prevails, the evolution of online shopping will continue to evolve in many ways. Needless to say, our purchasing experience, as well as our financial landscape, continues to integrate the boundless possibilities that the Internet offers.