2020's e-commerce trends, broken down by our partners (Part 1)

In 2020, more than ever, brands need to inspire consumers and offer them a personalized shopping experience. To achieve this, brands should start promoting their products on visual social platforms offering e-shoppers a platform for discovery, exchange and "shopping". According to Mathilde Jaïs, Head of Growth (France & Southern Europe) for the visual discovery engine Pinterest, "the success of a campaign will be less and less measured by clicks and impressions but by a brand ability to inspire consumers and create personalized experiences with meaningful, emotional connections". Brands that succeed in combining experience and personalization will, therefore " make their customers' lives more fulfilling and positive and ultimately, will increase their brand's love ". To date, 4 out of 5 visual searchers have made purchasing decisions or engaged with brands through these social platforms.

Once again this year, marketplaces will play an essential role in the (e)business of brands and retailers. Johan Benoualid, Vice President Sales and Alliances at Akeneo (PIM and Product Data Intelligence solution), points out B2B marketplaces such as Amazon Business and ManoMano Pro "will keep on growing to better support vertical or regional distribution. Building a strong partnership and being selective about marketplaces is key when expanding to new regions or controling your verticals.” At the same time, brands will also take back control of their business to build a close relationship with their customers. They will adopt a direct-to-consumer (D2C) strategy with a more selective approach to the marketplaces where they wish to sell their products. " Regarding vertical trends, the recent decision taken by Nike to leave Amazon showed that a multichannel approach will be key for certain brands. Meaning, that those brands & manufacturers should become more and more involved when it comes to business ethics and sharing their values." Finally, according to Johan Benoualid, "flexibility and innovation will be essential conditions for managing your market presence."

"A new era of shopping is already underway and the 2020s will be the big chapter," says Ilya Shirokov, co-founder of the mobile marketplace JOOM. As the internet becomes more social, mobile and personalized than ever before, (e)commerce services will be at the forefront of all these changes. “Integrated communication through all mobile channels including social networks, mobile marketplaces, KOL marketing in combination with a focus on personalization of shopping experience will be the major driving forces in e-commerce [in 2020].”

Market players will continue their efforts in terms of natural referencing to have a prominent place in search engine results. Kameron Jenkins, Director of Brand, Content & Communications for the SEO platform Botify, expects more SEO managers—and the brands they work for—to look for new and innovative ways to stand out. "As an activity that’s often viewed as highly manual and time-intensive, SEO will need to adapt to become repeatable, predictable, and streamlined." For brands with the goal is to increase traffic to their e-commerce site and therefore increase their sales this year, Kameron Jenkins recommends this organic search channel as an excellent way to achieve this. "Make sure you’re investing not only in SEO talent, but the resources those SEOs need to make the best decisions with as much time-saving efficiency as possible."

According to Aaron Rossi, Partnerships Director Europe for the international payment solution Payoneer, "In 2020 we will see Fintech solutions for the Ecommerce marketplace space diversifying through collaboration and partnerships." "Services covering international payments, working capital, trust and VAT will combine and connect to offer brand new value to the market." The opportunity for salespeople and marketplaces to have new, innovative products at their disposal to rationalize their activity, to develop and to shine on a global scale.

The year 2020 is set to be filled with new challenges that brands and retailers will have to rise to to offer consumers a higher quality shopping experience: fulfilling needs for multiple channels, convenience and experience. See you next week, for more e-commerce trends to follow in 2020! Image: rawpixel.com