Every year, the eCommerce industry sees new progress and developments that has business owners and their teams working on new strategies and adapting to the current landscape. Not only is technology advancing at a rapid pace, but customers are also evolving and changing what they want to see from businesses. To keep you up to date and ahead of the curve this year, we asked more than 20 business professionals what their 2020 eCommerce essentials are and what they predict will change in the coming year. Let’s go through the major trends that they’ve noted.

 

1) Customers Want a Personalized & Easy Experience

 

Graham Charlton – Editor in Chief, SaleCycle

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Graham Charlton is Editor in Chief at SaleCycle. He's been covering ecommerce and digital marketing for more than a decade, having previously written reports and articles for Econsultancy, ClickZ, Search Engine Watch and more.

On providing a user-friendly customer experience:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

To differentiate from the competition in an increasingly competitive marketplace, retailers need to provide the best possible customer experience, and to learn from customer behaviour to improve this experience.

In practice, this means regular testing and optimisation to ensure that shoppers can find items and checkout without any hassle.

Retailers also need to use the data that customers give them to help them serve customers with more relevant marketing. This may mean emails with relevant content and product recommendations which are more likely to be opened, to a personalised on-site experience.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

The ecommerce market looks set to continue strong growth into 2020 and beyond. I'm sceptical about major changes that change the market; it's more likely that we'll see a continuation of trends from previous years. Online shopping will become more mobile friendly in response to the sheer numbers of smartphone users now shopping online. Smarter, easier payment methods such as digital wallets can streamline checkout for these users.

In addition, we may see some growth in voice ecommerce, thanks to the proliferation of Amazon Echo and other such devices.

 

Melissa RosenMelissa Rosen – Content Creator, Groove

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Melissa is a content creator at Groove, helping small businesses grow by offering practical and actionable ways to improve customer experience. Previously, she was Head of Customer Experience at a dating app.

On taking a holistic approach to improving the customer experience:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

Essential for eCommerce success is a customer experience specialist (even better, a full on CX team) to make sure every part of your business aligns with customer needs. This is all the more important as acquisition costs rise. Messaging must be, first, consistent so customers don’t feel bait-and-switched after marketing promises and, second, steeped in the real feedback you’re already getting from the inbox to build better products as well as offer tailored incentives.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

The future of eCommerce is focused more holistically on customers rather than solely on product. We’ll see eCommerce stores offering a variety of products to fit a customer’s entire lifestyle. With a stronger emphasis on customer experience and marketing, the guiding light will be customer feedback — if they liked this, they’d like that — as opposed to straight product research.

 

Maria Victoria ReyesMaria Victoria Reyes – Freelance Graphic Designer, Joygibek

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Maria Victoria Reyes likes to build and learn more every day regarding WordPress. She loves non-profit and startup projects and is very passionate for life's everyday creative challenge.

On providing customers with everything they want & need:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

  1. Great customer service. Follow-up with the customer if the item sold was to their liking and expectations.
  2. Detailed specifications for each item. Aside from what the eyes can see on the monitor. Hidden details should also be covered. Material, where was it made, the dye used and valuable instructions like how to take care of it.
  3. Availability information. Give an alternative to the product that has gone missing. Ask the (online) customer if she/he needs to be informed when the item is available for purchase again.
  4. Offer discounts and freebies to customers who bought more than 3 items.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

More and more customer related inquiries, concerns, tales of woe from their experience in buying their online purchase.

 

Shane HeadshotShane Barker – Co-Founder, Attrock

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Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant who specializes in influencer marketing, content marketing, and SEO. He is the Co-Founder of Attrock, a digital marketing agency. He has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, influencers with digital products, and a number of A-List celebrities.

On streamlining the customer experience and multi-channel eCommerce:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

There are a lot of essentials for an ecommerce website to be successful, but here I will focus on the essentials needed to tap into the current ecommerce trends. Here are a few things that ecommerce sites should have for 2020:

  • Mobile-responsive design to provide a good shopping experience to mobile shoppers
  • Quick and easy checkout process
  • Convenient delivery and return policies
  • Easy and secure payment process
  • Chatbot to answer customer questions in real-time
  • Simple layout and easy site navigation

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

Social commerce and voice commerce are the future of ecommerce. Social commerce will become more mainstream with more and more retailers opening Instagram and Facebook stores. These will become alternative retail channels for ecommerce companies.

Voice commerce, on the other hand, has yet to reach its peak. However, it will be a growing trend and more ecommerce websites will incorporate voice shopping functionalities.

 

Aaron Orendorff Headshot (sq)Aaron Orendorff – VP of Marketing, Common Thread Collective

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Previously the Editor in Chief of Shopify Plus, today Aaron is busy helping entrepreneurs achieve their dreams and scale eCommerce brands beyond $2M-$30M at Common Thread Collective.

On retaining customers through organic relationships:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

Develop a robust retention (CLTV) ecosystem.

At a bare minimum, this should include (1) a loyalty program to reward customers and incentivize engagement, (2) acquisition strategies led by products with the highest reorder or upsell rates — e.g, product orbits that naturally guide first-time purchaser into related purchases — and (3) a remarketing approach that includes existing customers through both email as well as paid-social sequences.

Organic audience development.

Content is a tricky beast, but can no longer be ignored; companies that invest in “slow-burn” brand building — a strategy that seeds content across their most profitable channels for economy of creative effort — will emerge winners. This doesn’t mean “start a blog” (although it might include publishing written content). Instead, it means coordinating all content production — including UGC — to be used beyond its point of origin.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

The future of eCommerce — and especially DTC (DNVB) — will be an evolving and deeply intimate emphasis on direct, one-to-one relationships. As competition increases and ad costs rise, success will hinge upon entering the stories (i.e., branding) and places (i.e., channels) a company’s target audience already inhabits.

 

Talia WolfTalia Wolf – Founder, GetUplift

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Talia has been invited to teach conversion optimization on hundreds of stages such as Google, MozCon, Call To Action Conference, SearchLove, and many more and was recently listed as one of the most influential experts in conversion optimization.

On shifting focus to solving your customers’ problems:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

A unique selling proposition that's focused solely on solving their audience's problem.

While most businesses focus on their products, their features, pricing and shipping, the ones that stand out in the crowd, that grabs people’s attention and affect their decision-making process are those that address a specific problem their prospect is facing.

You don’t need a general eCommerce site that captures lots of irrelevant people, you need a website that solves *your prospects* problems. And the more specific you are, the more high-converting you'll be.

People are using the internet to solve their problems.

Whether if it’s to find answers for questions, to get inspiration, a quick recipe or a service provider, every single person that comes to your website, is searching for a solution to their problem and it’s on you to show and prove to them that you can solve it.

Without this, you’re just throwing random words on your site, sounding like everyone else, and you will get drowned in the sea of sameness of other competitors out there.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

My hope is that we see a shift towards customer-centric sites.

Sites that focus on the consumer a lot more and create an experience that focuses on people's value and desired outcomes.

 

Fadi ShumanFadi Shuman – Founder, Ecommerce Awards

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I now help eCommerce businesses scale through my consultancy ECommerce & Co. Also founder of EcommerceAwards.com

On user experience and automated eCommerce:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

An exceptional user experience goes a long way to helping companies rise above others. That means understanding what your customers want and delivering on that promise. Going above and beyond their expectations will ensure they remember you and come back. It’s easier said than done - that’s why eCommerce is more than just creating an online store that sells stuff!

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

2020 will only continue the iterative evolution into ubiquitous commerce. As 5g rolls in we can expect more advanced voice assistants that will actually make it easier to shop through voice. That in turn will lead the charge into a more automated home IoT environment where your basic shopping happens autonomously.

 

Relton HerronRelton Herron – Digital Strategist, Relton Associates

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Relton's been in digital marketing for over 15 years. He’s worked with Sony Music, Tesco, NATO, USMC, The Telegraph Media group and even a 'z' list celebrity. Currently creating and implementing digital strategy for clients with impressive results.

On keeping up with your industry and streamlining the customer experience:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

  1. Know your competitor. What's working for your competitors and could it work for you? These days you're able to gain access to statistics on your competitors’ traffic (Tr) helping you determine your online market share. Better still you can estimate what their revenue streams are by applying industry average Conversion Rates (CR) and making assumptions on their Average Basket Value (ABV). On top of this you can understand what channels are working for them and apply the same strategy to your campaigns enabling you to take market share and drive sales through your competitors learnings. In many instances, such as paid marketing, you can also understand how much budget they have for certain digital marketing channels. This only really touches the surface of what's possible when you're looking into you competitors. Price scrapping the web has been happening for years, are you doing it and keeping on top of your pricing strategy?
  2. Endorsement from influencers. Influence marketing is growing year on year. This is evident by just the number of new influencer platforms popping up but also supported by a wide-ranging set of stats. In a recent report this year (2019) Influencer marketing proved to be the fastest growing online customer acquisition method*.
  3. Super Smooth Checkout process. This will never go away and the easier you can make payment the better your e-commerce store will perform. Cart Abandonment Rate is a Key Performance Indicator for all stores. How else will you find out if your checkout and payment gateway is performing to an above-average standard.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

Greater introduction to AI. Artificial Intelligence has been around for years but is only starting to come direct to the consumer. Brands will start creating different Virtual Assistants to give the AI a human look and feel. On top of this they will serve up a particular Virtual Assistants based on the shopping habits, age and gender of the consumer wherever possible.

 

Panos LadosPanos Ladas – Managing Director, ON Marketing

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Panos is the managing director of ON.marketing, a data-driven growth agency. ON.marketing has clients in 15 countries with a focus on SEO, content marketing, Conversion Rate Optimization, performance advertising with Google & Facebook ads. 

On providing a mobile-friendly, personalized & effective customer experience:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

Extremely good user experience: make it easy to checkout, make it easy to discover products, that is filters, speed, great images, great descriptions.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

The future of ecommerce has to do a lot with the 360 experience: same-day shipping and same-day delivery will be very decisive factors before completing a purchase decision.

Mobile experience is critical. The whole ordering process on the mobile has to be perfect, how to impress in a very positive way every visitor and potential customer. There is room for improvement in almost every website out there and this is going to be a winning factor from now on. We have reached a point that every ecommerce website looks the same. Websites that will offer better design and experience will win.

Product pages have to be magical. They have to not only demonstrate the product but actually charm visitors into adding the product to their basket. It is going to be so much more than just one image and a price. It needs animation, video product descriptions, detailed text descriptions and every other feature needed to persuade the visitor.

Personalization is always part of ecommerce just as it is in real-life. Related product, recent products, products relevant to previous purchases should be on-top of the whole experience and guide the visitor to their purchase.

 

Jason A KeelerJason A. Keeler – Owner & President, Search Solutions

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Jason is the owner/president of Search Solutions, an online sales and lead generation company located near Kansas City, Missouri.

On catering to your customers’ personalized wants and needs:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

LTV is king. If you aren't segmenting and personalizing your list to "sell better" to your customers for the next 3 years (the average lifecycle of a good customer), you are losing. Email automation can and will make or break many online sellers in 2020 and beyond.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

You will see less dropshipping, and more companies creating their own "wholesale environment" that improves back-end and customer service of their sales efforts. You can also expect that customers will demand more in terms of free shipping, exchanges and returns. Shoppers don't care if you are big or small, they want a superior experience from everyone they buy from online.

 

Anil AgarwalAnil Agarwal – Blogger, Bloggers Passion

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Anil Agarwal is a full-time blogger and SEO expert at Bloggers Passion.

On knowing your industry and customer personalization:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

Competitor analysis and understanding your target audience are the key to eCommerce success. Also, make sure to speed up your page loading times as it can make or break your online success.

Invest in the right hosting, always keep an eye on your competitors content marketing strategies and NEVER ignore SEO if you want to beat your competitors in 2020.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

The eCommerce industry is only going to explode in the future. It’s most likely going to eat up the retain markets offline. If you want to succeed, focus on providing 100% satisfaction to your customers.

Customer personalisation is the key. Start building and growing your email lists and make sure to send them discounts, promos to keep your customers coming back again.

 

Casey ArmstrongCasey Armstrong – CMO, ShipBob

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Casey Armstrong is the CMO of ShipBob, which brings Amazon-level logistics to direct-to-consumer brands through their worldwide fulfillment network.

On improving the customer journey, from shopping to unboxing:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

Ecommerce companies need to have a plan in place or one that they are executing to building a brand and not being solely reliant on performance marketing platforms. A lot of this can start with nailing down the entire customer journey: from how people find you and the website experience to how they receive your items and the unboxing experience. You need to create brand advocates that not only come back and buy more from you, but people who feel a stronger connection to what you are building and tell others.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

From Shopify to BigCommerce and Instagram to Google, the major players in the ecommerce space continue to allow you to easily buy anything you want, at any time, and from anywhere, so the natural next step is receiving these products anywhere and quickly. I am naturally biased to this shift, but have chosen this part of the industry for that exact reason. People don't want their orders slower and this goes for people around the world. Not just people in major American urban hubs, but those who live in more rural parts or across the world demand to be able to purchase and receive what they want both timely and confidently.

 

Muhammad HassanMuhammad Hassan – CEO & Founder, EXEIdeas International

linkedin exeideas

Muhammad Hassan is the CEO, Founder of EXEIdeas International.

On adapting to customers' wants and needs:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

Personalization and Customer Engagement are the base to building your empire of eCommerce and stand above your all competitors. In future, robots will invade eCommerce stores so you should be prepared with AI, Assistants, and Chatbots etc. Also, having Interactive Product Visualization will increase more Custom Retail Experiences that will definitely affect on your business in positive way.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

Ecommerce has just started convincing all retailers to set up their shop online and grab their customers from there, rather than relying on offline customers. This will shift the use of the Internet for business in new direction. Due to shortage of time in everyone’s lives, more people are preferring to fulfill their daily schedule from home. The future is bright, and we can except a boost in online business rather than offline business.

 

2) Branding & Purpose Will Take the Forefront

 

Eric BandholzEric Bandholz – Founder, Beardbrand

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Eric Bandholz the founder of Beardbrand, a men's grooming company that has bootstrapped to seven figures.

On the power of reliable products behind good branding:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

Beautiful photography and engaging copy.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

Amazon is going to continue to in its attempts of commoditization all brands. That strategy will have blowback as Amazon.com gets filled with poorly made goods, counterfeit products, and grey market goods. As customers learn that Amazon is no longer a reliable marketplace, they will look for alternatives. Brands that do ecommerce well directly will see success, but there may be opportunities for other shopping platforms like Jet, Target, Walmart, and Google Shopping.

 

William HarrisWilliam Harris – Founder & CEO, Elumynt

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William is an eCommerce expert who recently helped scale an apparel brand from $20k to $4m in 13 months, helped drive over 60:1 ROAS on a major golf brand, and is always looking for the smartest ways to help companies build sustainable growth.

On building a cohesive brand with a strong purpose:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

A reason. That's the most essential thing in my opinion. I've seen a huge drop in the effectiveness of more "transactional" ecommerce stores leaning in favor of companies with a reason, a clearly articulated differentiator, a customer service team that actually understands their customers’ needs and pain points, etc. - all because the whole company centers around that "reason".

The algorithms on Google and Facebook ads have gotten much better at identifying who is "in-market" for your products, and making sure those people, people that maybe just visited your website, are seeing the BEST ads for the BEST competing products, at the BEST time for theme to convert - so your "why" needs to be clearly communicated in your ads, on your landing page, in your emails, on your packaging, in your customer service department, and all across your entire company - or you will be beaten by someone else that DOES ensure this.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

The future of ecommerce is about blending. Traditionally, DNVB's have tried to segment their traffic and sales too much, because tools like Google Analytics made it easy for us to "comprehend" certain trends and assign actual dollar amounts to certain channels.

But as the ecommerce industry grows more people are beginning to play chess instead of checkers. You have to begin seeing how things blend and affect each other - they aren't siloed. Facebook ads directed to your store also increases your Amazon sales, Google ads directed to your website also increases your Facebook Retargeting ROAS, and all of this is blending into running a BRAND, not a "quick win business built by Facebook ads".

 

Raelyn TanRaelyn Tan – Profitable Visibility Strategist, RaelynTan.com

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Raelyn Tan is a profitable visibility strategist helping online entrepreneurs get more traffic, subscribers, and exposure for their online businesses. I help you to reach the customers you have been called to serve.

On unique value propositions and Pinterest ads:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

A unique value proposition. In 2020, the products that you sell should not be re-churned products that can be found anywhere else. You need to add enough value such that people instantly gravitate to your products - and only yours. If your product or brand can be easily copied, you are not good enough at what you do.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

I expect a heavier reliance on Pinterest ads to drive traffic to eCommerce stores in 2020 and beyond, given that Pinterest has just IPO-ed in 2019 and will continue to push eyeballs towards their advertising platform, giving eCommerce sites an amazing opportunity to get high quality clicks for a lower cost.

 

Joseph HansenJoseph Hansen – CEO, Buy Box Experts

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Joseph Hansen is CEO of Buy Box Experts the largest and fastest growing Amazon performance marketing agency.

On branding with an integrated media strategy:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

Amazon product reviews and links. Ecommerce sites that don't leverage the unparalleled trust and social proof that comes from positive Amazon reviews are trying to swim upstream. With 50% of ecommerce dollars flowing through Amazon every Q4, customers are more likely to engage and purchase from a brand when they see the strong Amazon product reviews for that brand's products.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

An integrated media strategy requires that brands understand the true customer journey which has many touchpoints across search, social, site, and marketplaces. Developing paid and organic strategies that create a unified brand feeling allows brands to stay top of mind through various media and at different points in a conversion funnel. Leveraging integrated attribution across those various platforms creates a holistic customer journey profile, which gives brands the understanding they need about how customers are seeing them across all platforms, and how brands need to spend more resources on engagement, targeting, or branding at different stages of the customer journey.

 

Marko SaricMarko Saric – Digital Marketing Consultant, MarkoSaric.com

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I'm a digital marketing consultant who help startups reach more people and get more leads using content, search and social media marketing.

On strong branding and emphasis on the environment:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

It's nothing new but you need to work on your brand name and awareness. Customers are so used to simply search on Amazon and buy a product that ranks towards the top of the list without even knowing much about the brand they're buying. You either play that Amazon game or you rise above the competition by having a brand that stands for something and connection with the audience on a bigger way. A brand that people will seek out rather than search for a generic solution when they're making a purchase.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

Next decade is a defining decade in many ways considering the climate change and more and more people are becoming environmentally conscious consumers. Most brands still don't really care about the eco side of things, but I do expect those who do to become more prominent as more consumers start looking for the environmental story behind the products and brands they are buying. So, I would recommend to reconsider the way you do things from sourcing raw materials to the way you communicate to your target audience. Place more emphasis on the environmental side of things.

 

3) New Technology Will Continue to Enhance eCommerce

 

Janice Wald-2Janice Wald – Speaker, Coach, Writer & Author, Mostly Blogging

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Janice Wald is an author, speaker, freelance writer, blogger, blogging coach. Wald recently published All the Instagram Tips and Tricks You Need to Know (available on Amazon). 

On the importance of chatbots, social media, blogs and mailing lists:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

  1. More and more ecommerce sites are using chatbots. Larry Kim's Mobile Monkey had developed Facebook Messenger bots. Rather than seeming spammy, chatbots are becoming the norm.
  2. Social media sites give priority visibility to companies that pay for promotion. They are businesses, after all, and need to show a profit. Facebook ads and Instagram sponsored content will be bigger than ever in 2020. The day of free rides is over.
  3. It might go without saying but ecommerce sites need mailing lists. This way, you can let your email subscribers know about new products and limited-time offers.
  4. More and more ecommerce sites have blogs. Blogs extend the brand of the company. The blog content establishes the company as an authority in the niche and keeps the products ever-present in the minds of the readers.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

As explained in Answer 1, we can expect chatbots, blogs, and mailing lists to be necessities in 2020. Video marketing will be even more widespread in 2020 as well.

 

Ash OmeAsh Ome – Founder, Motif

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Ash Ome is an eCommerce consultant, & founder of Motif - helping lifestyle, fashion & luxury brands with the right strategies and solutions to grow them faster.

On mobile optimization and emerging technology:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

I would see retention, conversion and influencers marketing as ambassador marketing.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

The future of Ecommerce always in mobile, if any eCommerce brand will leverage 3D images rendering and AR/VR experience will be ahead of the game.

 

Josh NayJosh Nay – Web Developer & Designer, JoshRobertNay.com

linkedin joshrobertnay

Josh Robert Nay has been in the website design, SEO, and Ecommerce business since 2003. He's also a mobile app developer & has worked with a wide range of companies to help them evolve and grow their businesses as trends and the web evolves.

On enhancing the shopping experience with mobile opportunities:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

Ecommerce websites need to be fast, fluid, and offer mobile-centric opportunities for their customers, focusing on the customers' core purchasing and content consumption experiences.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

Ecommerce will continue to grow exponentially as the web continues to go mobile. I see a future where Ecommerce doesn't completely replace the brick and mortar experience but rather enhances it with mobile apps, coupons, pick-up and delivery options, and more. We're already seeing this trend take hold today.

 

Maria KosukhinaMaria Kosukhina – Content Marketer, Wave.video

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Maria is a content marketer at Wave.video. She is passionate about video marketing, open water swimming and carrot cakes.

On balancing automated convenience with personalized experiences:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

As both an online marketer and online purchaser, I would name these 3 key things to answer the question:

  1. Fast and easy-to-use UX/UI: The major portion of online purchases is made spontaneously, so make the process easy for your impulse buyers.
  2. Transparent pricing policy and secure payments: It’s not news, but still valid. Nobody likes those hidden asterisks on the pricing page. Make it clear and safe for your prudent customers.
  3. Appealing product demo: The way you present the goods is vital. While others are still using image cards, embrace the power of video format to showcase your products. Make it captivating for all!

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

I believe that eCommerce merchants will continue leveraging various AI-based tools to resolve operational tasks such as order processing, stock management, and shipping.

On the other hand, today’s customers require more personalized, more emotional treatment along with exceptional customer care. It is something that robots can’t (yet) provide.

Hence, a balance of fine-tuned automation and genuine human presence is a surefire strategy in 2020.

 

Lon Safko headshotLon Safko – President & CEO, Innovative Thinking, L.L.C.

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Bestselling author of "The Social Media Bible", "Fusion Marketing", and "artificial Intelligence ChatBot", a multiple eCommerce owner for over 20 years. Invented the "First Computer To Save A Human Life". 18 inventions and 30,000 Professional Papers in the Smithsonian Institution. 3 US Patents on Three-Dimensional-Internet-Advertising.

On chat-bots and mobile optimization:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

Of course, intuitive and modern design and all the elements everyone has been discussing for the past 20 years; however, a year ago I installed a ChatBot WP Plug-In that increased my revenue by 30%! I was so impressed I wrote a book about what it did, and it became a bestseller: Artificial Intelligence ChatBot. There are about 25 unbelievable reasons you need to have a ChatBot.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

Of course, it's moving nearly completely to mobile (you knew that), but we are going to see more of the different types of pay methods, PayPal, Google Wallet, Apple Pay. Also, because of Amazon, everyone is expecting 1- or 2-day delivery for free. This is a big problem for the smaller eCommerce stores as we have to rely on USPS, which is expensive and not always reliable.

 

4) Keep Advancing the Essentials: Acquisition, Marketing, & Sales

 

Duane BrownDuane Brown – Founder & Head of Strategy, TakeSomeRisk.com

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Duane has been called an international man of mystery & digital nomad by friends. He's lived in 6 cities across 3 continents & visited 40 countries around the world. He uses his curiosity and love for people watching to run better marketing campaigns.

On expanding marketing reach and improving the basics:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

The best brands are those that don't rely on one marketing channel to grow their business. Just only having Facebook or Google as your source of revenue is not a great way to win in 2020. Lots of people are looking for experiences that go beyond online.

Also, I would say that more brands need to focus on their packaging and customer service. Both areas can be hit or miss with a lot of brands I shop with online.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Sure, we will see people talk about AR, VR, crypto and other shiny objects. We still don't have a great mobile experience if you want to buy online. 2020 is about getting better at the areas of shopping online that still lag behind.

 

Nick JordanNick Jordan – Executive Editor, ContentDistribution.com

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Nick Jordan is the executive editor @ ContentDistribution.com, helping brands create massive organic audiences.

On shifts in customer acquisition strategies and marketing:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

Every e-commerce store should have a core customer acquisition strategy that fuels their growth while they experiment and iterate on other marketing acquisition channels with the goal of eventually going omni-channel.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

  • Afterpay, and the whole "buy now, pay later" will grow rapidly.
  • Dropshipping will grow, but brands shipping from US distributors will grow faster.
  • Amazon's c­­­­­ommingling/counterfeit policies will backfire in a very public way.
  • Brands will begin to shift relationship marketing spending from external influencers to internal superfans with micro & influencer level audiences.

 

Tim DaviesTim Davies – Online Retail Strategist, ZELLIS

linkedin timdavieszellis

Online Retail Strategist at ZELLIS, Melbourne, Australia. President of PeSA Australia. International Speaker on eCommerce and Marketplace strategy. We deliver winning eCommerce websites and marketplace integrations to support Unified and Multichannel Commerce. 

On perfecting classic essentials and evolving with psychology & technology:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

The top 3 things every eCommerce Site should have to be successful in 2020 are:

  1. Comprehensive information and images about what you're offering for sale. Since customers cannot see you or engage in a conversation to find out more about anything you're selling, you need to provide everything you have about the product right there on the site. If anything is uncertain to the customer, it's usually easier for them to return to Google and find somebody else who has more information. Make sure your images are big enough to allow zooming, and crisp and clear enough to see the details and features of the product. Unless you're selling a one-sided flat item, you'll need multiple photos to depict each side clearly. Close-ups of special features, controls or connections is worthwhile.
    Whilst you do need to have plenty of information about products you're selling, make sure it is useful, concise and accurate. Avoid spelling and grammar mistakes as they will deter some buyers and may give the impression that you're not professional, and therefore less trustworthy. Bulleted lists and tables are much easier taken in, especially in today's fast-paced world where most of us tend to skim read. Include diagrams and charts if it helps to convey useful facts and details about the products. All this is achieved by creating, optimising and managing your product data really well. It's not something that can be left to automation or chance. Your customers will be looking at the content you provide and will be using their senses and rational comprehension to decide whether they want to buy or not. Similarly, you need to apply a well-considered and human approach to curating and maintaining your product data.
  2. Intuitive navigation and cross promotion pathways throughout your entire website. Since you won't be able to react and respond to customers whilst they are traversing your eCommerce store, you need to contemplate and carefully implement the pathways they will take. Think of it as setting a rabbit trap. It has to be interesting, engaging, easy and rewarding. Nobody goes straight to checkout when they land on a website, and they will only get to checkout when they have full confidence in what they've seen on your site. The more effortless the journey, the happier your online customers will be. It requires a great deal of thought and planning to structure your products into appropriate categories and then present those categories in your site navigation menu/s. Where you can, reduce the effort needed from the customer. Every extra click is repelling customers away from checkout. Setup navigation menus to open out with mouse-overs, so no clicking is needed to see the range you offer. But also keep your categories concise and easy to comprehend. Effective categorisation is a very real challenge but investing the time and effort to get it right will pay dividends through greater conversion.
    Consider having your main navigation menu accessible at all times no matter where the customer is on your website. Use a sticky header will allow you to gently reinforce your branding and broad categories whilst making search and cart instantly accessible. Take the time to create meaningful product relationships for cross-promotion and upselling. Don't just display other products in the same category. If you're selling lawnmowers, display other model lawnmowers in your cross-promotion section of the product page, both higher and lower spec than the one being viewed. This gives customers a sense of comparative value, and also allows them to consider something better than what they might have without such well executed cross-promotion. Consider also what complimentary products might be of interest. When considering a Blu-Ray player, the customer might also need a HDMI cable or a Blu-Ray storage unit for example. This allows meaningful upselling which of course increases basket value and helps you to sell more.
  3. Meaningful engagement. Consider your customers' frame of mind before during and after a transaction. It's not over once they've completed checkout. That's the moment buyer's remorse starts. When will I get my order? Will it really look as good as it did in the photos? What if it breaks or fails? Anticipating the typical thoughts of your customers at all stages of the shopping journey (both on your website and not) will allow you to better curate the experience with appropriate content, headings, links, signals, reminders and reassurances. Engaging a customer means you're touching them psychologically and emotionally in a positive way. We don't spend money online unless we feel comfortable. So, take the time to really think through the full journey your customers will take to their purchase decision, and provide appropriate guidance all the way. Consider all the various pathways customers might take to arrive at checkout, not just physically on the website, but what is going on in their own head and heart.
    Engagement doesn't stop at checkout either. Make sure you have a series of well worded and branded email communications that get triggered after checkout, during the fulfilment process and even a few days after expected delivery. Consider what the customer might be worried about and manage expectations by telling them precisely what happens next, and what to do if they need help. These email communications should also be a visual extension of your website and thereby convey a sense of familiarity and reliability. This all boosts the customer's confidence and sentiment about dealing with you and will serve as a good foundation for you to encourage repeat shopping.

Yes, the above essentials are not cutting-edge tricks or technology. The essentials are eternal, and no amount of wizardry or cleverness can compensate for solid content and a clean and intuitive customer journey. Keep it simple and stick to the basics.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

We all know eCommerce is evolving rapidly, driven by social and technological advancements. That means the future of eCommerce is being shaped by both physical and psychological factors.

Firstly, the technological: The way we interface with the online world continues to change. Computers are still at the core of business for most of us, but they're becoming more powerful, faster, more mobile, versatile and have a wider range of input and output devices and capabilities. Voice control and touchscreens are changing the way we interact with computers even in the workplace. Search engines including Google, marketplaces and social platforms are using AI to become smarter and personalise results based on individual user traits and behaviours. I'd expect to see these trends continue and ramp up substantially in 2020.

Mobile phones are nowadays used more for messaging and sharing than as a phone. It's impossible to anticipate what our mobile communication devices will look like in 10 years, but for the time being, they are still our portal to social media, email, messaging, and capturing the world as we see it in still and moving image. Already I can take full 4K resolution video with a handheld gimbal, fully assemble and edit a video, render it in 4K and publish it to any social platform or transfer it to the cloud right from my mobile phone. Expect to see more of these complete processes being done on smaller devices as they become more powerful. This means online shoppers are becoming used to seeing very high resolution and high-quality content everywhere and I expect this trend to continue. For eCommerce merchants, this means it is worth contemplating investing in high resolution images, 3D interactive models and especially embedded videos on their websites. Also, AI search solutions are becoming more accessible and I believe will start to make a real difference to the average eCommerce site customer experience in 2020 and beyond.

Then the psychological: In our fast-paced, noisy and increasingly digital modern world, we're all time-poor and it's making us impatient and somewhat lazy. As online retailers we need to make things easy, relaxing, interesting, informative, visual, stimulating, rewarding and give customers a sense of delight and happiness as they traverse our ecommerce websites and deal with us. This is easier said than done, yes. It requires deliberate consideration of the entire customer journey from the way they enter our space, move through it and where they go and what they do after leaving it. Then creating an appropriate voice and mood for our brand which will promote trust, interaction and sharing.

I expect to see more amazing online experiences being delivered in 2020 by seasoned retailers applying their deep understanding of customer psychology to the online space, taking advantage of features and content that promote their brand as a desirable place to be, whether to shop alone on the bus trip home from work, or sharing socially and shopping with friends interactively. I expect to see more of a cross-over between ecommerce and social sharing and messaging in 2020.

It's no longer valid to 'just have a website'. Customers engage with brands, and therefore successful retailers and merchants need to build a strong brand foundation regardless of which tools and solutions they employ to deliver it.

 

Peter MalickPeter Malick – CEO, Inbound AV & ConnectedTo

linkedin petermalick

From a side hustle building custom PCs in the 90's, to his first attempts at digital music production in 2000, to his full immersion in the Inbound Marketing world, Peter has always embraced technology with a passion. Peter is currently CEO of Inbound AV (marketing) and ConnectedTo (E-commerce SaaS startup).

On connecting all of your eCommerce tools and technology:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

Connectivity. Be sure to build on a platform that is easily connected to a technology stack that will facilitate your marketing, sales and growth.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

The major changes are simply more connectivity. Succeeding in e-commerce is increasingly complex. Tools that connect the retailer's software stack with the goal of increased ROI and simplicity will emerge.

 

Rob WatsonRob Watson – CEO, Webidextrous.com

linkedin crobertwatson

Rob Watson has 23 years of web design and ecommerce experience.

On diversifying your team and sales channels:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

  1. A healthy budget
  2. A good designer
  3. A person who can set up analytics and understand what they're seeing happen with your site visitors

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

Amazon is increasingly making it difficult for standalone shops to get and keep an audience and to compete on price. You need to diversify where you sell by having both a standalone ecommerce store and a presence on Amazon.

 

Eric CarlsonEric Carlson – Co-Founder, Sweat Pants Agency

linkedin ecarls1

Co-Founder, Sweat Pants Agency / Marketer Behind Hunt A Killer / Co-Founder of 10xFactory / 2x Comma Club Award Winner

On major shifts in advertising costs, metrics & channels:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

Our agency spends millions every month helping grow ecommerce brands. We are behind one of the fastest growing subscription boxes ever called Hunt A Killer, and work with several celebrities and well-known brands.

  1. Focus on New Metrics: The biggest shift we have seen in in ecommerce is the focus on new metrics. In the past, a lot of ecommerce brands would focus on initial return on ad spend, but as the cost of Facebook rises and we see more and more brands closing up shop -- we see a rise in the brands that focus on other metrics, i.e. LTV (lifetime value), retention / churn, number of orders per customers, etc. With a focus on LTV, retention, etc., we see brands focusing on email marketing, product launches, Facebook groups, and customer experience. These all add up to a better lifetime value and a more sustainable business.
  2. Rising Costs of Advertising & How to Combat It: We also have seen the difficulty of advertising rising. We have brands come to our agency all the time that have continually seen their advertising costs rise -- and the way we consistently get them better results is by listening to the market. We implement a process, where we survey customer / non-customer, we interview customers, we mine reviews, we mine Facebook groups for data -- and then we develop hypothesis that we integrate into our ads and website. Additionally, some of the brands we have worked with have adopted this process for product development. By surveying and interviewing customers, it is amazing how many patterns reveal themselves. This has helped several of the subscription brands we work with improve their customer retention and have more successful product launches.
  3. Multiplying Influencer Impact: In the past, we worked with several brands that would have successful ROI, simply by paying influencers for shout outs. Unfortunately, this is no longer guaranteed path to ROI. Inside of our agency, we have shifted to working with influencers where we can multiply their impact. The way we do this is we request page advertiser access to an influencer's page and then we run it to our best cold traffic audiences as well as their page fans. By doing this, we have been able to get a more consistent ROI on influencers. Additionally, some of our larger influencers have generated a lower cost per purchase by as much as 40%.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

The biggest changes we'll see in 2020 include:

  1. The Rise of Advertising Costs and the Shift of Focus: several ecommerce brands have been successful simply by running Facebook ads and getting an ROI on their first-time purchase. However, with rising advertising costs, we see more and more brands focusing on things that extend the lifetime value of their customer. This includes product launches, product improvement, email marketing, and more.
  2. eCommerce Brands That Focus on Customer Conversations Winning: one of the beauties of ecommerce is your ability to speak directly to your customer through multiple channels; whether it is through Facebook comments, over email, or over the phone -- this is one of the biggest advantages of ecommerce over big retail brands. That said, too many ecommerce companies neglect more important conversations with their customers, such as hopping on the phone and learning about why a customer buys. We routinely make phone calls to customers, simply to learn more. This is a process we have adopted in several ecommerce brands and we have been able to take this customer feedback and turn it into better marketing, better products, and better lifetime value.
  3. The Entry of More "Heavy Goods" Brands: people love ecommerce because of the convenience and for several retail suppliers in industries like aerospace, construction, and more, convenience can hardly exist. In these industries, custom quotes are popular, online transactions are rare, and customer service is hardly existent -- but in 2020, I believe we will see more of these "heavy goods" brands building out ecommerce sites to help improve their customer experience.

 

Trenton ErkerTrenton Erker – SEO Director, Clarity Online

instagram clarityonlinemarketing

Trenton is a partner and SEO Director at Clarity Online SEO in Seattle, WA.

On keeping up with Amazon’s eCommerce advancements:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

  • Product Schema
  • Good site structure
  • Good calls to action (CTA)
  • Great sales copy
  • As few steps to purchase as possible
  • Affiliates
  • Complete online presence is best, but definitely heavy investment in Instagram and Pinterest
  • Everything is moving to Amazon. To win, you need engagement on social media. Social media ads that compel people to checkout your product.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

Expect that eventually Amazon will enter your space, no matter how niche. Faster shipping, faster buying options, and very easy purchasing options will be mandatory among shoppers. These will also apply to the second-hand market.

For 2020:

  • More fulfillment options through carriers because Amazon is buying fleets and investing more in 1 day and same day delivery
  • Drone delivery
  • Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)
  • Upcycling, repurposed, and second-hand goods are growing faster and faster and will be bigger both on and offline that 2019
  • More direct to consumer businesses than ever before

 

Kara HooperKara Hooper – Owner, KLH Technology Solutions

facebook KLHTechnology

I'm a web designer, digital marketer, and owner of KLH Technology Solutions.

On simplifying and unifying eCommerce processes & channels:

What are the top essential things that every eCommerce site should have to be successful and rise above the competition in 2020?

Simple check out, fast loading website, mobile friendly, easy navigation, straight forward shipping and credit card payment options are essential to any eCommerce site.

What is the future of eCommerce and what major changes can we expect in 2020?

The future of eCommerce will be more integration with other platforms such as Google, Amazon, and social media platforms. Instant response times such as chat on websites and voice search optimization will be more important. Using video as part of your eCommerce platform is also essential.

 

Wrapping Up

Many of our experts hit the same sentiments with their essentials and predictions. Let’s quickly recap what they discussed:

  • It’s getting more and more important to focus on customer’s personal experiences, taking care of more than just their satisfaction with a product. Optimizing the customer’s experience with the ultimate user-friendly website, while staying attentive to their needs across multiple channels, will be an eCommerce priority in the coming year.
  • Strong, cohesive branding should be at the forefront of your business strategy. Customers want a holistic brand experience that carries over through every step of the buyer’s journey. They want to know your purpose in the world, trust that there’s a reliable product behind your brand, and see the human element throughout the business.
  • Obviously, emerging technology continues to make waves in eCommerce. Mobile optimization remains mandatory for lasting businesses like it has been for years now, but new tech like AI and chat-bots are transforming the shopping experience even further. The issue now becomes: how do we balance new technology and business automation with human personalization within the buyer’s journey?
  • With all of these new advancements and technologies, one tip seems to ring true: don’t forget about the essentials. That doesn’t mean you need to stick to the status quo forever – instead, pay attention to what still works and work to advance it further. In 2020, experts emphasize the importance of remembering the basics and amplifying their effectiveness with the aid of new technology.

What was your favorite expert tip from our round-up? Or, do you have any other tips or trends that we may have missed?