E-commerce 2016: nine trends

E-COMMERCE Innovations in e-commerce are developing at a rapid pace. Retailers and consumers are constantly being presented with new opportunities for online sales and shopping. Trusted Shops presents nine trends for 2016.Trend 1: Even more focus on mobileMobile access and transactions will continue to grow in 2016. As a result, even more store operators will have to switch to mobile formats. In the publishing sector, the new AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) format is currently being discussed as the system of the future. The extent to which this will also be relevant for online stores will probably become clear in the coming months.Trend 2: Augmented realityThe advantage of bricks-and-mortar retail over e-commerce is the direct look and feel, i.e. the ability to try on and try things on. Fashion stores in particular could score more points here with augmented reality offers and compensate for the apparent disadvantage. Virtual items of clothing can be worn or make-up tried on.Trend 3: PersonalizationThe focus on the user themselves, which is also being pushed by Google, will consequently lead to more personalized approaches. Those who are addressed better and more precisely as users generally use online stores more intensively. For the store operator, this means more satisfied customers who buy more often and more. Deutsche Telekom has already demonstrated this with the Heins family and various identification figures. Another topic in this context is gender-specific focus, which is bundled under Shecommerce.Trend 4: Channel dilutionThe customer journey will become even more differentiated and the link between online and offline will become even stronger. Further solutions must be found to allocate visitor and sales shares to the individual channels in a meaningful way.Trend 5: Amazon SEOAlthough many retailers are critical of selling on Amazon, many (still) rely on its reach. As with Google, it is important to appear as high up as possible in Amazon searches with your own products. As a new SEO sub-topic Amazon SEO was created. The SEO toolbox provider SISTRIX has developed a free keyword tool that can be used to check e-commerce search terms.Trend 6: Google Buy ButtonAs a possible reaction to Amazon's market power, Google wants to enable direct e-commerce transactions in the shopping results. This would mean further dependency for retailers, which could not outweigh the benefits of a faster purchasing process. On the other hand, an online store must offer an optimal shopping experience whose regular customers do not take the "detour" via Shopping. However, it is not yet clear when the Buy button will be introduced. However, Google is already testing more Product Listing Ads in the visible area of the search results.Trend 7: Video marketingAs the second largest search engine, YouTube offers huge potential to reach interested users - whether with organic reach or with paid video ads. The True View format, for example, also allows smaller advertisers to place video ads with a low budget. Videos embedded on the website also have a positive effect. This generally increases the length of stay and user engagement.Trend 8: Social mediaNow that Facebook has become standard for online retailers, it's time to focus more on Instagram and Pinterest in 2016. Here, it is even more important than on Facebook to appear non-promotional and arouse users' curiosity with interesting content and popular influencers. It also remains exciting to what extent the messenger app WhatsApp can be developed as a communication channel. Some news sites already offer news updates via WhatsApp.Trend 9: Wearables marketingNow that mobile (point 1) is a must for the vast majority of retailers, another marketing platform follows with wearables such as the Apple Watch. The first apps are already available for the technology on your wrist. As a number of other technologies are sure to follow, it is important to keep a close eye on the new e-commerce opportunities that arise.