Latest eCommerce Technology Trends 2024 Shaping the Future of Online Business

Ever since people have experienced the convenience of shopping from anywhere and anytime, their expectations are constantly rising. This is putting brands under pressure to go above and beyond these expectations by adopting the latest eCommerce technology trends. 

With the retail market struggling due to inflation and unstable global scenarios, now is the time to advance your business growth by focusing on online retail. Despite the global market issues, eCommerce remains immune and continues to thrive.

To get the best out of this potential, this blog post will help you identify the most crucial eCommerce technology trends of 2024. This will help you to build scalable custom eCommerce solutions and be a part of the $4.45 trillion market size in 2024.

Top eCommerce Technology Trends 2024

From integrating cutting-edge technologies to consumers’ changing expectations, eCommerce technology trends for 2024 are poised to affect the future in the coming year and beyond. Let’s look at key eCommerce technology trends for 2024!

Generative AI 

2023 was the year of Generative AI, and the eCommerce industry did not hesitate to take full advantage of it. Generative AI has multiple use cases in this industry. It’s also why this eCommerce technology trend is at the top of the list. 

Gen AI in eCommerce increases profits and sales in a variety of ways, which include-

• Running targeted marketing campaigns based on a user’s preferences, interests, and behavior
• Recommending exactly those  products customers want
• Optimizing product prices to close more sales 
• and improving inventory and supply chain management. 

The use of generative AI in custom eCommerce website development is strongly defining eCommerce experiences today and in the future.

Augmented Reality (AR)- Real-Time Product Visualization

Augmented Reality (AR) has transformed the way customers interact with your website and products. Taking a virtual tour of the product portfolio and engaging with the 3D model is a unique experience for customers. AR allows you to generate interactive and life-size 3D models for a variety of products, making it an important eCommerce technology trend for 2024. 

These realistic models allow customers to see how the products will look and fit in their homes and businesses. A shopping experience like this is undoubtedly engaging and appealing to customers.

Augmented Reality (AR) commerce is emerging as a key trend in custom eCommerce website development services. It has the potential to enhance product sales, improve consumer experience, increase customer return rates, and raise average revenue per customer.

The once-fanciful concept of augmented reality has now become a reality. It allows clients to enjoy the convenience of shopping for a product through a digital medium that is as good as shopping in a physical store.

AI and Personalization

eCommerce customization has long been a significant interest for online retailers. 94% of eCommerce business owners believe that personalization is crucial to their present and future success. Furthermore, 91% of consumers say they are more likely to shop with companies that consider their preferences and use them to tailor offerings.

One of the most significant trends and driving forces in eCommerce personalization has been the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning. These two technologies make a significant contribution to providing a tailored experience for each shopper by combining customer data from different touchpoints to generate targeted product suggestions and propose special offers and discounts that are more likely to resonate with purchasers.

An eCommerce web development company that has experience building solutions with this eCommerce technology trend can help you become the customers’ first choice by offering hyper-personalization.

Social Media Engagement and eCommerce

In the US alone, 96.9 million consumers make direct purchases using social media. Furthermore, that number will only rise as Gen Z and Millennials continue to dominate the market.

Social media is where 83% of Gen Z shoppers begin their purchase journey. As more and more businesses make it simple for consumers to find and buy straight from their preferred social applications, they are raising customer expectations and building a brand on social media channels.

By 2026, social commerce is predicted to generate $2.9 trillion in revenue. That is to say, now is the moment for you to start selling on social media.

There are multiple ways you can do that-

• Run ads and retargeting campaigns on social media based on user interest 
• Partner with influencers to promote your offerings
• Create amazing content such as videos and tutorials
• Give social proof to build trust

Mobile-First Design Will Dominate

Do you remember when mobile-friendly websites were the latest thing, around 2010-15? In the last decade, mobile commerce has only become more widespread and convenient.

Brands are now creating mobile-first experiences rather than just optimizing desktop websites for mobile devices.

• 91% of people use their smartphones to make internet purchases.
• Furthermore, 40.4% of all eCommerce sales are predicted to come from mobile devices in 2024.
• By 2025, mobile commerce is predicted to generate $710 billion in sales, or 10.4% of all retail transactions.

Customers have repeatedly demonstrated their need to shop from their mobile devices. Due to this eCommerce technology trend, many businesses are offering mobile-specific experiences:

– Use facial and fingerprint identification technology to streamline the entire checkout process

– eCommerce mobile app development to adjust to different screen sizes.

– To make checkout faster and include mobile-friendly payment choices (such as Apple Pay and Google Pay).

Use BNPL Techniques to Connect with Price-Sensitive Buyers

Global BNPL transactions are predicted to reach over 450 billion USD between 2021 and 2026.

In the modern era, you need to provide flexible payment choices to consumers when building eCommerce development solutions. Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) is one such technique used by business owners in their custom eCommerce solutions.

As the name implies, it enables customers to buy goods and pay for them gradually through installments. This feature is particularly appealing to people who wish to properly manage their finances and make larger purchases without the need for credit.

After adopting BNPL as a new eCommerce payment method, you will observe how your revenue will rise since you will attract new clients and encourage existing ones to spend more.

Big Data

Big Data and artificial intelligence in eCommerce go hand in hand. In addition to having an online presence to succeed, you also need to grasp and evaluate the massive volumes of data.

Big data can help you make quick decisions and develop strategic plans by gathering and analyzing large datasets from a variety of sources. This can give you important insights into the tastes, behavior, and market trends of your target audience.

Kissmetrics, Woopra, Shopify, Optimizely, and Google Analytics are among the top eCommerce analytics solutions.

Big data has become one of the most important eCommerce trends for attracting and retaining customers. Big Data analytics optimizes supply chain, inventory, and warehouse operations to provide individualized experiences and boost revenue.

Metaverse eCommerce

For many people, the metaverse may still be an otherworldly concept. Nevertheless, businesses like Microsoft and Meta are spending billions of dollars on their potential to become the next big thing in eCommerce. You can buy, sell, trade, and connect through this lifelike virtual channel. This gives marketers endless opportunities to produce immersive events and experiences. 

eCommerce companies can open their stores in the metaverse, interact with customers, and even throw VIP events for devoted patrons.

Even if it might take a long time for the public to have access to a workable metaverse, brands still need to be aware of the requirements to participate and compete in this digital market.

Hybrid Commerce

Phygital eCommerce model is one of the latest eCommerce technology trends that combines your online and offline retail channels. eCommerce development solutions with the phygital model incorporate multiple platforms and channels, promoting omnichannel or hybrid selling.

Under the omnichannel approach, your customers can click and collect their orders. This is also known as buy-online-and-pick-up in-store (BOPIS) and it allows customers to check out the products online and then pick up their orders from the stores.

The click-and-collect trend has progressively expanded due to its convenience. By 2025, its anticipated worth is expected to grow beyond $154 billion. This service is already available in well-known stores such as Walmart, Target, and IKEA.

Invest in custom eCommerce website development services that provide a hybrid eCommerce model to attract modern busy customers.

Conversion Rate Optimization

Converting traffic into paying customers is an important problem for any eCommerce website owner. Conversion rate optimization, or CRO, is the process of encouraging website users to purchase your products and/or subscribe to your newsletter. 

CRO custom eCommerce solutions include capabilities like A/B testing, personalization (e.g., banners, seasonal promotions), and heat mapping for product landing page hits. The overall purpose of a CRO platform is to convert more customers by strategically placing eye-catching design aspects that convert a browser into a buyer.

Business owners should hire an eCommerce solutions company that can optimize each client touch point, especially the landing pages. Websites with more than 30 landing pages generated seven times more leads than those with fewer than 10. Make sure your content is transparent to decrease distractions and enhance conversion rates.

The Rise of Live Shopping

Recent years have seen significant improvement in a wide range of marketing mediums. Based on social commerce, live shopping has proven to be a particularly successful eCommerce technology trend.

Live shopping is a dynamic and interactive Internet shopping experience in which customers make real-time purchases while viewing a live broadcast. A host or influencer demonstrates the products, answers questions, and interacts with viewers in real-time. Viewers can interact by asking questions, expressing preferences, and purchasing right from the live feed.

The popularity of live shopping stems from its convenience, entertainment value, and engagement, giving viewers a unique and immersive experience that is similar to visiting a store. Combining entertainment with online purchasing, live streaming has enormous potential to disrupt the status quo and become the most profitable eCommerce technology trend of 2024.

Localization 

For international eCommerce success, catering to customers in their native language has emerged as the most crucial eCommerce technology trend.

According to a PayPal poll, 57% of customers like to shop internationally. Furthermore, the Flow.io study emphasizes the need for language translation, as 21% of respondents expressed concern about the lack of it on the eCommerce site. More than two-thirds of English-speaking buyers stated they would not purchase if the website was not in English.

The impact of native language adoption goes beyond simple translation tools like Google Translate. It tremendously impacts the user experience, from first impression to checkout.

According to the same Flow.io survey, global shoppers value localized information in key sections, such as product descriptions (67%), product reviews (63%), and the checkout process (63%). When you want to target an international audience, hire an eCommerce solutions company with experience in building custom eCommerce solutions with multilingual capabilities.

Composable Commerce

Rather than relying on a single, monolithic eCommerce platform, composable commerce focuses on developing and integrating best-in-class custom eCommerce solutions from several vendors. It allows businesses to build a customized commerce solutions stack by selecting and mixing various components such as payment gateways, content management systems, inventory control software, and shopping carts.

Businesses that employ a composable strategy gain from flexibility and agility since individual components may be easily upgraded or replaced without disrupting the entire commerce environment.

If you have a large-scale business and do not want minor disruptions to disturb it, you can streamline your process by integrating your eCommerce solution with third-party services. These include eCommerce personalization engines, analytics platforms, and marketing automation software. All of these tools contribute to making composable eCommerce one of the biggest eCommerce technology trends in 2024.

Visual Search

Although Google’s reverse image search capability has been available to tech-savvy consumers for years, the technology has progressed to offer an altogether new eCommerce purchase experience.

With this eCommerce technology trend 2024, customers just need to upload a photo of a product they want to buy. Google’s Multitask Unified Model algorithm (MUM) will display a list of similar things for sale. Google Lens and MUM will work together to enable seamless visual product searches.

A few top eCommerce platforms are also offering visual search options that you can integrate into your mobile app and website. Shopify offers tools like Visual Search, but Magento offers Product Search with Image Extension.

If you want to rank better in visual search results and make direct transactions there, you should optimize your product descriptions and photographs to meet MUM standards. It would be a great choice to partner with an eCommerce web development company that has both SEO capabilities and a knack for keeping up with eCommerce technology trends.

Omnichannel eCommerce On the Rise

The omnichannel retail strategy is not a new eCommerce technology trend. It is the practice of providing a seamless shopping experience for the buyer across all available channels, including eCommerce and physical storefronts. However, it has experienced substantial growth in the past couple of years. With multichannel campaigns providing a 287% purchase rate, omnichannel marketing initiatives are paying off.

According to Think With Google’s eCommerce statistics, despite the number of individuals purchasing online has increased dramatically over the last two years, 66% of customers still want to shop in-store. Furthermore, a consumer 15 years ago would normally walk through two touchpoints to purchase a product, whereas today’s buyer goes through six on average. It means that your efforts cannot be one-sided and must use a variety of media, ranging from social media and email marketing to handing out fliers.

Wrapping Up

eCommerce technology trends go beyond repeating what you have been doing for the past 10 years. For brands and organizations to succeed in the digital age, they must keep up with the latest eCommerce technology trends since they are reflective of what customers really want. 

Not sure where to begin? Technocrats, an innovative eCommerce web development company, has built countless scalable eCommerce development solutions over 12 years and the reason it works all the time is that our team keeps up with these trends.

Get in touch with us right now so we can help you realize your business’s potential.