At the beginning of each year we take a look at the up-coming e-commerce best practices and trends. 2022 is bound to bring a breakthrough for the entire industry, especially as regards mobile shopping. Shopping experience expectations keep changing and as a result e-sellers must be prepared to broaden the range of the services they offer and channels they use, if they intend to meet customer requirements. What to look out for in 2022? In this article, we will unveil all the up-coming key mobile trends. Let's get down to business then!
You might be reading this on your phone, which is packed full of various applications. As an app user yourself, you must be aware that global mobile trends in interface design change constantly. This includes online mobile shopping. Applications evolve with customers’ expectations as to their functionality while their design is being improved by the use of modern technologies continuously. 2022 will treat online sellers to a few novelties. Shall we take a closer look then?
Mobile shopping grows in popularity
If you are planning to run a successful e-commerce business in 2022, you should seriously consider matching mobile users' expectations and make their mobile shopping experience as convenient as possible. By choosing to ignore the mobile trends, you discourage potential customers from purchasing in your store. It's a known fact that in 2022 customers will interact with online stores more and more via smart phones rather than their PCs. Here are a few statistics to verify the claim:
- DataReportal reports that in 2021 over 67% of global population owned a mobile phone, which translates to 5.22 billion individual users worldwide. Moreover, around 80% out of the 5.22 billion individual users had access to the internet.
- By the end of 2021, as many as 73% of all e-consumers purchased items online using a mobile device. In the months to come, this number will only grow. In addition, 40% of consumers look for and buy products exclusively by means of a smart phone.
- According to Dynamic Yield, 76% of customers declare to shop using mobile devices as it 'saves time'.
In the light of these stats it should be clear now that mobile shopping is the top commerce trend of 2022. This tendency is also visible on the Polish market. A report by Santander Consumer Bank reveals that as many as 80% of Poles shop online, while 41% admit to shopping online by means of a smart phone. Consequently, e-stores and sales platforms are recommended to offer applications which enable easy purchases, a friendly interface, simple payment methods as well as offer perks and discounts to smart phone users.
source: https://www.santanderconsumer.pl/gfx/santander/userfiles/_public/raport_ppw_polacy_na_e-zakupach_2021.pdf
Omnichannel Strategy
Online buyers appreciate the possibility to shop through multiple channels, which offer items they require. If your business is to meet your customers' expectations in 2022, you should consider implementing an omnichannel strategy.
Omnichannel strategy consists in activities that utilize the highest possible number of available sales and distribution channels. Omnichannel sales is customer oriented and integrates communication strategies with off- and online sales. In other words, a planned omnichannel approach provides customers with a comparable shopping experience, regardless of the sales channel they adopted. Naturally, omnichannel approach is by no means a new notion. The COVID-19 pandemics has significantly increased the spread of multichannel approach in commerce, and in 2022 we can no longer consider online sales, and mobile sales in particular, effective unless it is accompanied by an omnichannel strategy.
Multiplatform technologies: Flutter
2022 is also the year to use multiplatform technologies to create m-commerce solutions. Currently, most technology experts recommend using the Flutter framework to build applications and sales platforms. Why use Flutter? Flutter is, above all, a multiplatform technology which enables businesses to create applications that are both Android and iOS friendly. This way you side step the need to create two separate applications.
Flutter is based on the Dart programming language which is renowned for its efficacy and general productivity. What is more, Flutter saves you time on implementing subsequent changes and modifications. The framework takes advantage of hot reload which renders each new alteration in real time. Consequently, programmers can, flexibly and depending on your business requirements, modify and improve any available functions as well as verify their effectiveness bypassing the waiting time which follows a traditional reload. An example of such an app is the sales app which we designed for Bonito, one of Poland's largest booksellers.
Social commerce
Social commerce allows customers to purchase items that they have found on social media directly on Facebook or Instagram, without the need to open a new website in their browser or to run an independent search online. Nearly 20% of Poles indicated that they came across the information about an online offer on a brand's social media channels.
source: https://www.santanderconsumer.pl/gfx/santander/userfiles/_public/raport_ppw_polacy_na_e-zakupach_2021.pdf
The figures don’t include answers ‘I don’t know’ and ‘It’s hard to say’.
Moreover, a survey on the Power of Social & Live Commerce, conducted in April and May 2021 by Fundacja Kobiety e-biznesu [Women of E-business Foundation], states that as many as 27% of Poles have purchased items using the social media at least once during that period. The authors pinpoint the trend is on the uptake as nearly 44% of the respondents declared to continue shopping through the social media.
source: https://www.kobietyebiznesu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Raport-social-live-commerce-Fundacja-Kobiety-e-biznesu.pdf
Social commerce complements omnichannel strategies perfectly and is an essential m-commerce trend. Hopefully, the statistical data made it crystal clear that 2022 is the year to plan and implement the initiatives dedicated to grow your social media presence.
Apps under SaaS model spike in popularity
Within the last few years IT professionals emphasized the need to design more and more complex m-commerce solutions of the software as a service model (SaaS). Sellers appreciate the solution and introduce it more readily, which makes SaaS apps yet another key trend in 2022. For a monthly fee, SaaS platforms provide e-sellers with numerous tools, which are essential to running an online business, such as:
- store management,
- order management,
- accounting,
- automating menial repetitive tasks,
- payment management,
- stock management,
- loyalty programs management,
- customer communication management.
Designing dedicated m-commerce software, equipped with all the functionalities, presents quite a cost for any brand. Additionally, it takes time to design and develop a suitable app. SaaS software, however, comes almost instantaneously and sellers can begin trade within a few days without having to wait long months for a tool that had to be created from scratch. Moreover, SaaS suppliers continuously introduce improvements to follow the latest trends on the market. Each new up-date further develops your store at no extra cost on your side.
Appchance is aware of the multiple advantages that SaaS apps and platforms can generate for commerce. We have developed LoyaltyPaaS – a mobile platform fitted with the module based on a loyalty programme. LpaaS also provides a few functionalities which enable in-app ordering, and which can help you build loyalty to your brand while making it easier for your customers to place orders in your store.
AI drives m-commerce
M-commerce aims to individualize the relationship between customers and sellers as well as to match products to customers' individual preferences. Is there anything that could carry out the task more effectively than artificial intelligence? Thanks to AI algorithms, businesses can go further than just channel personalized offers. Enabling your users to take an in-app picture and reverse search for products online, or to consult an online virtual assistant to get more information about an item - are but two of the many ways AI could increase your mobile sales in 2022.
Another important AI solution to watch out for is augmented reality (AR). This technology consists in overlying 3D digital images over the actual camera feed to create customized and engaging experiences. More and more apps are taking advantage of the technology to let customers visualize the actual size of a product. Smart phones have become an online room planner or a virtual fitting room where customers can try on clothes or glasses.
One of the trail blazers here is Amazon that supplies customers with an opportunity to search products on their mobile devices and then check what it could look live in reality.
wideo: https://youtu.be/uhdOzpblrm0
Mobility-assisted e-commerce
Independent of the industry or products and services offered, each business means to attract potential customers in the hope of turning them into regular customers. As a result, online sellers should prioritize solutions dedicated to m-commerce and employ marketing strategies oriented at mobile buyers. Such strategies entail various challenges for the entire sector. Mobile apps mustn't duplicate a website. On the contrary, applications should spark e-buyer's interests and constitute a value-added service.
The Appchance team shares that opinion, and readily supports its clients in implementing the latest solutions for m-commerce. We keep tabs on the most recent trends to deliver practical tools that help to develop your businesses online. Contact us to see what we can bring to the table and help increase your mobile sales.
1 https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2021-global-overview-report
2 https://www.statista.com/chart/13139/estimated-worldwide-mobile-e-commerce-sales/
3 https://techjury.net/blog/mobile-vs-desktop-usage/
4 https://www.dynamicyield.com/files/research/state-of-personalization-in-mobile-commerce.pdf
5 https://www.santanderconsumer.pl/gfx/santander/userfiles/_public/raport_ppw_polacy_na_e-zakupach_2021.pdf
6 https://www.santanderconsumer.pl/gfx/santander/userfiles/_public/raport_ppw_polacy_na_e-zakupach_2021.pdf
7 https://www.kobietyebiznesu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Raport-social-live-commerce-Fundacja-Kobiety-e-biznesu.pdf
