It is expected that in 2021 drop shipping would be one of the most profitable e-commerce industry trends. This is especially true for companies that are looking to get into the e-commerce sector but do not have the money to do so. In this case, the companies providing drop shipping services would act as the middlemen between manufacturers & suppliers, and the customers. The service provider would process the transaction but it would get shipped directly to the buyers without you having to handle the product physically. The thing with this business model is that it can be started easily and is also a lot less risky.
Apart from that, it has a number of advantages as well. You would only have to buy the product once the buyer places an order for the same on your site. You do not have to spend any money on storing inventory. This would mean that your overhead costs would be a lot lower as well. As per drprix.com business report, it was found that among 450 online stores 16.4 percent were using drop shipping. It was seen that on average business owners that were using this model had experienced a growth of 32.7 percent in their revenue.
Multi-channel selling
These days, people are using several channels in order to buy their favorite products online. The 2018 Omnichannel Buying Report says that 87 percent of buyers in the USA (United States of America) shop offline. 78 percent of the people quizzed in the survey said that they bought normally from Amazon. 45 percent said that they bought from branded online stores. 65 percent said that they bought from physical stores as well. 11 percent of these people bought on Facebook and 34 percent went on eBay.The same survey also pointed out that people spend 69 percent of their extra income to shop from physical stores. 56 percent of the Gen Z buyers get their products and services from the brick and mortar stores. These numbers are proof of the fact that it would profit the e-commerce companies if they could cater to the needs of these shoppers, who never restrict themselves to one channel as such. This is the reason why in 2019 there could be a rise in multi-channel selling and it could become one of the major e-commerce industry trends.
Smarter processing of payments
This is going to be one of the major e-commerce industry trends of 2019 as well. The final step in the journey of a customer is the processing of payments. In fact, this particular stage is so vital that it can easily make or break the whole deal. You need to understand that at this stage the customer has gone through a number of stages such as consideration and awareness, and has finally decided that she or he would buy the product from your online store. However, if the experience at this particular stage is not a smooth and effortless one there is every chance that you would lose a buyer.The Baymard Institute says that around 70 percent of shoppers let go of their carts. This would suggest that they had researched and considered all the products in great detail and had added them to their cart as well. However, most of them simply did not go and buy them in the end. The same report has also found in 28 percent of these cases the abandonment happened because the checkout process was convoluted and long drawn.
Omni-channel personalization
You may think that just by being there on the various channels for selling your product you have won the battle. But it is not so. It is just half the battle won. You have to provide your consumers with a cohesive experience of your brand and you can do this only by personalizing your interactions with them on each of these channels. This means that you have to recognize them as the same person no matter what channel you are looking at. Otherwise, you may offer them experiences that are not relevant to them at all.These would either be extremely annoying or intrusive. It is common knowledge that if you wish to succeed in business these days you have to offer your clients a certain level of personalization. In fact, in a recent study done by Epsilon, it was found that 80 percent of the respondents liked doing business with brands that offered them a personalized experience. 90 percent of these people found personalization to be rather appealing. A study done by Everage has found that 98 percent of marketers have had better relationships with their customers because of personalization. 88 percent of these respondents also believe that their customers – existing and prospective – are looking for a personalized experience from them.
Customized packaging
Customers always consider packaging to be an important part of the product itself. In a study done by Dotcom Distribution, it was found that 68 percent of the buyers feel that a brand is regarded as upscale because of its packaging. Apart from this 61 percent of shoppers also felt that personalized packaging made them feel more excited about the product that they were buying. On the basis of the results of studies such as these, it can be said that consumers these days are more interested in well-packaged products.This is something that e-commerce companies looking to sell their products and make it big in 2021 should keep in mind. Customized packaging can make their store, and brand by extension, a lot more recognizable. You can easily use third-party solutions such as Packhelp to help you with matters such as these. The packaging that they offer is durable and they can also customize it with respect to the size and scale of your business. If you want you can customize your products on their app and check out the prices as such.
