#1 Future Trends in B2B Ecommerce
B2B marketing will adopt many B2C quirks, and there is a good possibility of making the list of eCommerce trends for 2025. By 2025, almost 80% of B2B sales interactions will take place digitally, making the functioning of B2B websites more crucial than ever.
One of the most intriguing changes in business-to-business eCommerce is when brands move from lead generation to demand generation.
Lead generation is the process of turning brand-aware prospects into paying customers using a planned content marketing approach.
Demand generation is a strategy used to raise awareness and interest in your brand by demonstrating its utility without directly pressuring potential customers to make a purchase.
B2B enterprises must make use of their network, which includes social media pages and communities centered around the brand, to create demand for their product and demonstrate its value. They can also think about writing pieces for publications in the mainstream media to raise awareness of them.
According to B2B marketing strategist and CEO of Refine Labs, Chris Walker, you should consider how to draw customers to your brand by emphasizing its expertise and meaning. Obtain demand where your potential customers are displaying a desire to purchase: on review websites like G2, TrustRadius, etc.; through affiliates and aggregators; and in Google searches (paid and organic) (like software advice, affiliate blogs, etc.). By doing this, it will be much simpler to create an enjoyable, effective buying experience for B2B executives and buying groups that have expressed a clear desire to do business with you.
#2. Chatbots
When a customer enters the store, a store employee could inquire about their needs or strike up a conversation. This relationship is difficult to establish online, but not via a chat option.
Chatbots will engage your customers throughout the discovery phase and determine their purchasing intent, which is one of the trends in the eCommerce business that is expanding the fastest. Additionally, they will ease the burden of operation processing because they can easily handle 68.9% of the queries from start to finish while managing multiple clients at once.
Additionally, chatbots are error-free and available around-the-clock, which offers organizations that deal with night shifts in customer support or a spike in tickets in the morning a wonderful chance to cut costs.
#3: eCommerce and augmented reality
AR and the metaverse don’t look like wild sci-fi literary tropes; rather, they seem to be a part of reality in 2022. It becomes quite obvious as businesses begin to embrace blockchain, NFTs, and bitcoin.
One of the most recent trends in eCommerce, in particular, is NFTs. In 2021, NFT art sales totaled $25 billion. Nike has already acquired a firm that makes NFTs; Clinique held an NFT competition; and Taco Bell created an NFT of a taco GIF and donated the proceeds to educational causes. There are several applications for virtually every brand; therefore, before it’s too late, you should absolutely join the metaverse.
#4 Individualization
It’s the era of personalization now that marketers have access to so much data. When a company offers a wonderful personalized experience, almost 80% of customers are more likely to make a purchase, and 47% of customers will switch to Amazon if they do not receive tailored product recommendations.
You must spend money on tech personalization tools in order to provide the most tailored experience. For instance, Helvetiq can now send tailored emails based on the user’s past product searches and automated campaigns for product announcements owing to the integration of Magento and Mailchimp.
Your personalization strategy may extend far beyond emails; for instance, it might now include individualized content and product recommendations, chatbot chats with pertinent special offers, and distinctive wellness advice.
#5: Memberships and loyalty schemes
Although they have been around for a while, subscriptions and loyalty programs are now again popular. Financial literacy now has a second life because of blockchain. In the United States alone, there are more than 3.3 billion members of customer loyalty programs, making them incredibly common.
Businesses began to see NFTs as a means of customer loyalty and community development once the idea of NFTs in eCommerce was established. You might establish an exclusive group of NFT owners and provide them with the advantages listed below:
public gatherings and conversations. NFT holders have access to exclusive events and private chats where they can network with like-minded individuals and learn more about the brand’s deals.
individual sales. Businesses may provide NFT holders with private product sales. During the private sale, customers receive a discounted price and can later resell the item to gain some money.
exclusive releases On special occasions or to thank clients for their loyalty over an extended period of time, brands can transfer their NFTs or tokens to their wallets.
#6: Social Business
Social commerce is becoming a classic, and this year it will continue to dominate eCommerce industry trends.
Selling directly on social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest in 2022 entails much more than just posting images and providing prices. Businesses can encourage user-generated content, promote their products, and cooperate with influencers. Social media platforms are particularly important for finding new products: 60% of Instagram users find new products there, and 130 million people click on shoppable posts each month.
Anyone can participate in this trend.
- Small enterprises can launch very quickly and without the need for a website. A little financial investment can be made to quickly evaluate online selling channels through social media for a local brand or budding entrepreneur.
- With shoppable photos or videos on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, mid-sized firms can view it as an additional sales channel.
- Businesses may take pleasure in audience interaction and awareness-raising.
