Mobile Commerce Trends for 2021

Have you noticed one thing? Off late, smartphone rules the time we spend on digital media. And when it comes to shopping, most of us are comfortable to use smartphones. In fact, 79% of smartphone users have made a purchase online using mobile devices in the past 6 months (source: Simicart).

Any guess where we are landing at? Yes, consumer behaviour has rapidly changed over the years and mobile commerce is about to thrive more.

Quick fact – By the end of 2021, mobile commerce is predicted to control about 73% of the global eCommerce market share – up from 59% in 2017 (source – Statista).

As you can understand, it’s high time to keep a check on the mobile commerce trends for 2021 to stay ahead of the curve. We are here with the handpicked trends you must know by now.

Voice Shopping

Voice assistants like Alexa and Siri are no more luxurious products and many households have got one. Further, voice search has also increased rapidly over the last few years. For a long time now, voice search has been used for finding a location on Google or looking for music.

In 2021, voice search will penetrate more in the eCommerce market. It is estimated that voice shopping will reach $40 billion by 2022 which a 1900% increase from $2 billion in 2018. As you can understand, 2021 is going to be a turning point for this.

Another fascinating survey reveals that 51% of people use voice for researching products. On the other hand, 22% of people use it for making a purchase.

This encourages eCommerce app owners to optimize their application for voice search. Since voice search can independently work without requiring voice assistants. That’s why, consumers can access voice search directly from mobile devices without using a smart speaker. This will create a profound impact on mobile commerce trends in 2021.

One-Click Ordering

Do you know what the customers really appreciate? A quick checkout. No one likes to complete a lengthy form to purchase an item. In fact, the Baymard Institute found that a long or complicated checkout process is the reason for about 26% shopping cart abandonment.

Traditionally, placing an order required various information from the customers. Some of these may include:

• Customer name
• Debit or credit card number
• Card expiry date
• Card verification
• Billing address
• Shipping address
• Email address

Entering all these info manually is a tedious process. Mobile sites are also inconvenient as the users don’t prefer to save the information on a website. It results in 97% of shopping cart abandonment in mobile sites. However, mobile apps have brought several changes over the years to reduce the sales funnel.

An eCommerce app allows the customers to create a profile and all the information are saved instantly. These are more reliable and people can buy it without spending a long time filling a form.
2021 will take yet another step towards one-click ordering. More and more mobile apps will work towards improving user experience by reducing the checkout funnel.

AR & VR

Augmented reality and virtual reality – these industry buzzwords must have reached you already. While these concepts are not new, novel explorations and innovations are opening new horizons with these technologies.

Ecommerce apps have started to use AR for improving the customers’ shopping experience. For instance, Lenskart allows the potential consumers to try different frames online and check their looks. AR and VR have made virtual shopping dynamic and user-friendly. Since the users cannot understand the physical appearance of the products, these advanced technologies greatly help to replace the in-store experience.

Thanks to these technologies, potential buyers can select which furniture is ideal for their living or workspace, which lipstick shade to purchase and so on. These significantly reduce returning cost and evoke a positive user experience.

By 2025, the AR and VR industry is predicted to reach $35 billion. 2021 – the beginning of the decade is going to be a turning year for the use of AR and VR in mobile commerce.

Social Commerce

Social media presence is essential these days for brand exposure. That’s no news. What’s newly emerging is leveraging social media for directly bringing sales.

Converting social media traffic into sales is a challenging task – the specialists of digital marketing services can tell how much effort is needed for it.

But social commerce is a different story altogether. With Instagram shoppable posts and shoppable Facebook pages directly draw customers to buy products that they see.

Wondering how? Let us explain. Businesses can easily tag a product as they would tag a person. As the users click on the product, they need not open a new browser, navigate to the product website or search for the product. They can purchase the item directly from the tagged post.

By eliminating the hassles of checkout, this process boosts sales even for new start-ups. Studies reveal that brand using Instagram shopping has witnessed a 20% increase in sales and 1416% traffic boost (source – BigCommerce). The trend will be further explored in 2021. Consumers can directly buy from social media posts without navigating to the site. This will encourage many brands to create such posts and enhance sales.

Chatbot Integration

Chatbots have already been popular for days. Some of its benefits include the following:

• Easy communication
• 24/7 service
• Offering an instant response
• Answering to simple question
• Positive customer experience
• Resolving complaints quickly

Due to its increasing popularity, more and more eCommerce apps and sites are looking to integrate the system into their application.

Omnichannel Shopping Experience

Modern shoppers are always on a lookout for a cohesive shopping experience across different channels. The headless commerce architecture is ideal for brands that can deliver content and products on any device or screen with the help of APIs.

Let’s clarify this a bit more. Omnichannel shopping is the practice of selling products through different channels. The physical store, eCommerce website, and mobile app – all of these are different touchpoints that the users can interact with.

The store owners can obtain information buyers’ information from different sources. Even the users’ physical in-store purchasing behaviour can impact the mobile shopping experience. This will create a personalized user experience.

Again, you can send a coupon to your users online that they can use in store. All of these interrelated shopping/marketing measures drive more conversions.

Enhanced Security

As technology is advancing, so is cybercrime. Many consumers are hesitant to provide personal details to apps that don’t have enough reputation or popularity.

Small start-ups may face a tough time as opposed to well-established brands. If you have just started your mobile commerce journey, it’s important to build your reputation with digital marketing services. The next step is to ensure that your eCommerce app has no security loophole.

Make sure that the app can safely store customers’ and payment data and protect these from any security breach. Keep a dedicated section for privacy policy and be upfront about the data you store.
Apps can also feature a two-factor authentication to add another layer of protection. Remember, a secure shopping experience is the most positive user experience.

Analytics

After the pandemic, every shop owner will focus on adopting a results-driven strategy. Gone are the days when they would invest without keeping an eye on the ROI. Now, every step that the store owners take will be highly measured and strategic to maximize the efficiency.

This mobile commerce trend is here to stay and we heartily appreciate it. Keep an eye on the CTR of every campaign and other conversion metrics. Here are a few proven strategies:

• Determine which channels and campaigns drive the most traffic to your store.
• Generate and study detailed analytic reports
• Segment your target audience by age, gender, geographical location, buying habits, etc.

Closing Thoughts
As you can understand from the above discussion, owning a mobile app for your eCommerce business is the first step to take. Contact a top app development agency India or abroad to get a significant digital touchpoint for your brand. Then keep up with the time by implementing the mobile commerce trends mentioned above.
How did you like the gameplan? Share your thoughts.