A Promising Stance of AI-Driven Ecommerce and More: Top Ecommerce Trends to Watch Out For In 2022

In the current business environment, the eCommerce industry is thriving. Aiming at becoming a multi-trillion dollar market in the coming years, the eCommerce industry growth momentum is not slowing down anytime soon.

In India, the eCommerce industry growth has been specifically remarkable. Many brands like Meesho, good Glamm group, Nykaa and others have come forward as strong players. With the pandemic taking form and internet connectivity reaching the most remote regions of India, people are now more inclined to order everything online than having to go out and shop.

There are a lot of trends that have shaped the eCommerce industry growth this year. Next year, there will be some key trends to watch out for to make a mark stronger in this industry.

Let’s take a look at some key eCommerce trends for 2022.

AI and ML Applications Will Rise

We are already seeing the rise of Artificial intelligence applications across all industries. Machine learning is almost everywhere and it is no surprise that it is making its way further into the eCommerce sector.

2022 will see advanced applications of AI and ML-enabled algorithms in the eCommerce space. Understanding customer behavioural patterns, adapting to that understanding and forecasting their move across the shopping funnel will upgrade and evolve in the eCommerce sector.

Tier 4 Cities, Towns And Villages Will See a Boost

In 2022, a lot of orders will be received from the customers residing in Tier 4 towns, cities and villages of India.

As internet, logistics infrastructure continue to improve in India, this section will emerge as one of the strongest contributors to the growth of the eCommerce industry.

Spanning across fashion, wellness, beauty, electronics and FMCG goods, online ordering from small and remote locations of India will continue to rise further.

Moreover, trends also show that these tier 4 shoppers are more likely to prefer Cash on Delivery over other payment methods. As a result, CoD will form the majority of Tier 4 orders.

D2C Will Continue to See a High-Velocity Grow

Customers in 2022 will become further inclined to the D2C eCommerce space. As the D2C space is seeing a hyper-growth, it will further rise next year as more brand loyalists will prefer to shop from the brand’s website independently.

These days, the customers are more aware and want to understand what the brand is about and what it stands for. They also want to have a complete brand experience tailor-made just for them.

Moreover, a lot of D2C brands are constantly upgrading their checkout and payment experience and making it more user-centric. This will again enable the customers to be attracted to brands that are offering a seamless shopping experience. As a result, we can further see a high-velocity D2C growth.

Cash on Delivery Orders Will Still Have a Significant Share

Though digital payments have made a significant mark in the eCommerce space, cash on delivery will continue to stay significant.

India though has digitalised immensely, still remains majorly cash-driven. As a result, a lot of orders that the eCommerce brands receive are also cash on delivery orders.

Past trends have always shown that even if cash flow sometimes takes a dip, it always bounces back. Hence, cash on delivery will also continue to be significantly impactful in the eCommerce space.

Social and Content Commerce will Become Further Prominent

Social commerce has begun to leave imprints in the eCommerce space. A lot of D2C eCommerce brands now offer the ease of shopping directly from Instagram or Facebook to their users.

This wave will continue to intensify and will be further backed by content commerce. Brands will not be solely dependent on traffic generated on their websites.

They will combine the power of creativity, content and commerce together to bring a seamless shopping experience for customers who will be consuming their content.

For instance, a user seeing a brand’s reel on Instagram will be able to directly shop through that channel without having to go to the brand’s website. This will give the customers a brand and shopping experience they prefer.

(The author Chirag Taneja is CEO and co-founder of GoKwik Commerce Solutions Pvt Ltd. All views expressed are personal and not necessarily that of FinancialExpress.com.)