Ecommerce technology is constantly evolving and growing. New trends are constantly emerging, meaning it can be hard to keep up with the latest developments. Even so, it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest trends in ecommerce so you can be prepared for the future and increase your revenue, without falling behind.
Having a website and a fast internet connection to serve your customers is no longer enough - technology is changing the way businesses run their operations today. Whilst there is often hesitancy to make the shift to implementing technology to improve operations, it offers many long term benefits by boosting overall production efficiency when picking, packing and shipping new orders.
To prepare you for emerging ecommerce trends in 2022 and beyond, we’ll be covering:
- What is ecommerce technology?
- How can tools and technology help ecommerce in 2022 and beyond?
- Ecommerce trends in 2022
- How to choose the best e-commerce technology for your business
What is e-commerce technology?
Ecommerce means the trading of products or services conducted via computer networks such as the Internet. Ecommerce technology refers to the technologies that enable this electronic trading, such as email, mobile devices, social media, and telephones. Utilising these technologies together is known as an omnichannel approach. As there are so many touchpoints in modern day ecommerce, it’s vital to be able to keep on top of all the channels that you use to sell on by being aware of all orders coming in.
Today, most online or multichannel retailers focus on giving customers a user-friendly and seamless experience using ecommerce technology. It is therefore crucial to adopt new technologies that make it possible to keep up with your competitors, as well as ever-increasing consumer demand. A user-friendly experience for customers leads to increased sales, improved loyalty, and a greater return on investment.
Not only will using the latest technology will help you stay competitive, it will also ensure you are set up to achieve better inventory management, fewer errors, simpler returns processes and in-depth reporting and analytics.
Examples of ecommerce technology
Some examples of ecommerce technology are online shopping carts, payment processors, order management systems, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. These technologies make it possible for businesses to sell products and services online.
- Online shopping carts allow customers to select and purchase items from a website.
- Payment processors facilitate transactions and ensure that payments are made securely.
- Order management systems help businesses keep manage their orders and keep track of stock levels, ensuring that they have enough products to meet customer demand.
- CRM systems help businesses manage their relationships with customers and provide them with the information they need to make better decisions about marketing, sales, and customer service.
How can tools and technology help ecommerce in 2022 and beyond?
Whether you’re a start-up, or an established retailer, it’s important to regularly review the tools and technology you are using to ensure your e-commerce business can thrive. From staying ahead of competitors, to having better control and visibility of your stock levels, there’s a lot that technology can support with.
It’s important to consider the lifecycle of ecommerce and how it comes together to create an all-round optimised experience.
The typical ecommerce lifecycle is as follows:
- Branding & awareness
- Interest & consideration
- Evaluation
- Purchase
- Loyalty
At each of these stages, ecommerce sellers have the opportunity to integrate modern technology solutions to improve their processes and outcomes. Below find the summarised process of what technology is recommended for each stage in the ecommerce lifecycle.
So, what are the latest technologies, tools and trends being used in e-commerce that you should implement - and what are the benefits that come with them?
Ecommerce trends in 2022
Ecommerce Trend 1: Automate your fulfilment process
Order Management Software (OMS) and Warehouse Management Software (WMS) have many benefits for online retailers and e-commerce businesses. The useful features of this type of technology allows users to automate time consuming, but essential tasks saving time by increasing productivity of workers whilst seamlessly managing inventory across all channels.
The way I view leveraging emerging tech is by asking myself: is this going to help our business save time/money, or do the opposite and help us make more money? If it ticks one or more of these boxes, I’ll consider leveraging it. Because, honestly, why wouldn’t you?
Installing a WMS (warehouse management system) has helped my fulfilment business to increase the pick packing team’s productivity and decrease mispicks. It both saves me money - from not having to potentially send out a replacement product - and makes more money - as each pick packer can process more orders per day.
Elliott Davidson, eCommerce Consultant at Parcel Master
Ecommerce trend 2: Optimise your courier delivery management
Despite the ever-increasing demand for excellence in delivery, the industry as a whole is failing to meet customer expectations. Data from Ofcom has revealed that the number of complaints relating to postal services are going up year on year.
Additional industry challenges such as the HGV driver shortages and increased fuel prices are likely to be adding to the pressures for postal and courier services. As a result, e-commerce businesses are being forced to re-think their fulfilment and shipping strategies.
Partnering with a logistics partner that uses modern technology which has the ability to integrate with a myriad of couriers will allow you to implement a multi-carrier shipping strategy.
Whilst you may be tempted to lock in otherwise variable rates and forge a loyal partnership with just one courier, it is more beneficial for ecommerce businesses in 2022 and beyond to work with more than one courier. Doing so will offer infinitely better options and wide-ranging services, providing more options to ensure final-mile delivery.
Using pre-built courier and multi-carrier API integration capabilities will allow e-commerce businesses to simplify and speed up delivery and shipping processes.
I can’t tell you what a difference Mintsoft has made to our operations. The software has helped us to figure out how to make our fulfilment processes more efficient.
Having the ability to integrate with multiple couriers has saved us £1000s. Before, we were relying on a manual processes and were limited to using just one courier, but since implementing Mintsoft, we have onboarded an additional courier which has made distributing our orders and products a lot cheaper and more efficient.
The Mintsoft platform automatically selects the best courier for the job and we no longer have to log onto multiple courier systems, or manually type out tracking numbers.
Michael Louw, Key Account Manager at Dean's of Huntly
Ecommerce trend 3: Establish a multi-channel e-commerce approach
One of the main benefits of selling online is that you have the ability to sell through unlimited marketplaces. The audience is there, but they won’t all shop on the likes of Amazon or eBay.
Successful businesses in 2022 and beyond should look to establish a multi-channel ecommerce approach that utilises the marketplaces that make the most sense to their customers. Research where your competitors are selling and really get to know your target audience - are you selling where they’re searching?
Top tip: Having an order management system (Ecommerce trend 1) makes it easier to sell across an array of marketplaces, meaning it’s more likely you’ll reach a wider audience - and also sell where your competitors are.
Ecommerce trend 4: Ensure you are ranking ahead of competitors
It’s likely that your last search for a product involved the internet at some point. Whether you’re looking for retailers, deals or reviews, search engines play a huge factor in the modern purchasing process. That’s why ecommerce businesses need to be leveraging SEO (search engine optimisation) to appear near the top of search results when their audiences are looking for their products.
After all, when was the last time you went to page two on Google?
As of 26th January 2022, Google processes over 3.5 billion searches every day; even businesses in the most obscure of niches will find people wanting to buy from them there. But how can you outrank everyone else and drive revenue your way?
Jack Bird, at Add People recommends three free tools that can help you out:
This can help you identify the keywords/terms that your audiences are searching for, along with their volume and how hard it may be to rank for these. On top of that, it also offers a ‘Questions’ section which shows you the questions related to your keyword that people are asking. With this, you can pick relevant, commercially-focused keywords/questions that you can write content about and target.
Remember, “shoes” might have more searches than “red adidas size 9”, but the latter has much more purchasing intent. Don’t be distracted by the search volume!
This is another free tool which can help you understand how your site is currently performing. What page is getting the most clicks? What searches are people making to get there? Which pages have technical issues that need to be addressed? All of this will be available to you once you create an account and add your verified domain to it. If it sounds complicated, don’t worry - there are digital marketing agencies that’ll take you through this and more, along with plenty of guides on YouTube.
‘To The Web’ Meta Title/Description Checker
When you’re on a search engine results page (aka, a SERP), meta titles and descriptions are what tell the user what’s on the page. These have a pixel limitation, so you can’t overstuff these and a little optimisation may be required. However, by checking the meta titles and descriptions of your most important pages with this tool, you can identify if any tweaks need making. It could be that your description is pulling in random text from the page, or doesn’t properly sell the reader on clicking; either way, people need to be clicking these so they see and buy your products. So, be sure to rewrite these where needed to draw people in by including USP’s, your stock levels, any sales, if you provide free delivery, etc.
How to choose the best ecommerce technology for your business
The best e-commerce technology is a software solution that makes it easier to track orders coming in, streamline inventory synchronisation, support warehouse operatives and make your business operations overall more efficient.
Factors may include cloud-based technology, investing in B2B ecommerce software solutions and building connections with individuals in the industry is also a bonus.
Learn how to choose ecommerce order management software by reading our helpful guide, or to find out how Mintsoft can help your business, get in touch today or watch our 4 minute demo.
