Although e-commerce has been one of the most exciting retail markets to watch over the past few years, it’s only going to become even more thrilling in the coming years! New trends are already emerging and are ready for you to take advantage of in 2022!
In this blog, we highlight our top 10 trends to look out for in 2022 to help FMCG brands optimise their e-commerce listings and amplify their sales.
1. Social commerce will become the norm
We’ve already seen the uplift of social networks adding e-commerce features such as Shoppable Youtubes Lives, Instagram growing its in-app store features and even Snapchat creating an augmented reality commerce feature. Even marketplaces are starting to adopt social media features such as Amazon Posts and Amazon Live – blurring the lines between e-commerce and social media.
This is going to continue to expand in 2022 with these Amazon features leaving their Beta mode in the US and spreading their wings to other marketplaces around the world and social media platforms pushing for more e-commerce features.
2. Increase in FMCG online
Grocery e-commerce surged during the pandemic due to this being the main place many people could access their groceries! This helped to introduce a lot of first time FMCG online shoppers who have continued to use e-commerce marketplaces to order their daily groceries. In 2020, we saw a nearly 64% jump in grocery retail e-commerce sales, this plateaued slightly in 2021 but still increased as people headed back to the shops.
Amazon has been working on its grocery section for the last few years with investments such as Whole Foods, Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh. Insider Intelligence estimates that Amazon’s US grocery e-commerce sales will grow 12.9% this year to $29.12 billion, amounting to 23.8% of all digital grocery sales.
3. A push for video
Video receives 21.2% more interactions and we’ve seen incredible uplift after focusing advertising efforts on video, with a 428% increase in click-through rate (CTR) and a 62% decrease in cost-per-click (CPC). We believe that Amazon will push its Sponsored Brand Video offerings, already with a video builder being produced in the US.
Video will be a huge thing for e-commerce in general, with 71% of consumers preferring video to other marketing content. Videos help consumers understand the product and brands to stand out on the digital shelf.
4. Sustainability isn’t just a buzzword
It’s become clearer and clearer that brands need to step up and help the world! Customers are taking more time in choosing what they buy, and from where, to fit with their morals. Monthly search queries for “Sustainability” have skyrocketed globally from 164.5K in 2016 to 724K in 2021, making this a difficult search term for e-commerce sites to rank for.
Amazon has also seen the need to help customers find these products easily. They have added awards, certificates and easy-to-view icons to listings to help customers identify products that go above and beyond for the climate. We also believe that Amazon will try to increase their reuse/vintage/second-hand offering this year, to help them compete with Facebook Marketplace and eBay.
5. Advertising over organic
Consumers are becoming less interested in brands, with 60% of consumers saying they purchased products from brands they had not previously tried during the pandemic. This shows the power of advertising, with new brands and products being able to stand out against well-known names on the digital shelf without the need for organic strength. Advertising against well-known brand names is a great way for new brands to be found in 2022.
6. Visual commerce – AI, VR and new tech
New tech always brings around new trends, with 2022 being no different. As we mentioned earlier, lots of platforms are starting to improve upon their commerce services with Snapchat creating an augmented reality service that will allow shoppers to try on outfits online before purchasing them.
Consumers crave new experiences as well as the need to understand the products as much as possible before purchasing, increasing trust and confidence. We think that 2022 will bring more 360º imagery, informative videos, hero images, virtual and augment reality.
7. Shopper personalisation
80% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a company that offers personalised content and promotions! By understanding the shopper and their wants and needs, you can minimise the friction between desire and purchase as well as increase loyalty.
This trend started in 2020 and through to 2021 and we predict that this will continue to grow in 2022 with e-commerce platforms improving their personalisation and consumers expecting to find it when they are shopping online.
8. Voice search and Alexa
It is predicted that 55% of American households will own a smart speaker in 2022 and according to a study by Narvar, roughly half of all consumers online research products by voice. With more households buying smart speakers this year and newer, more exciting models to be released, this number will only increase!
9. Cryptocurrency investments
Although cryptocurrencies have been around for a while now, they still aren’t the easiest to use on many e-commerce platforms. We believe this is going to change this year, with Amazon looking to create their own cryptocurrency and allow for crypto payments on its platform. If Amazon makes this move, other marketplaces will have to follow to keep up with the competition.
10. Conversational commerce
The world of the Chatbot! By using artificial intelligence, brands are able to offer a 24-hour help desk that can personalise a customer’s experience and offer answers to their questions, no matter how mundane. These online shopping assistants can offer customers product suggestions based on their requests and past orders and take them straight to the checkout without leaving the chat. Offering a brick and mortar experience, online.
These chatbots can be the experts that customers crave when shopping in stores without leaving home. We see this being a huge trend in 2022 and are excited to see how chatbots will improve customer experience.
We can already see the light at the end of the tunnel in 2022, with lots of new and exciting opportunities. What do you think is going to be a massive e-commerce or Amazon trend this year? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
