Where is eCommerce heading in the last half of 2014?
The answer depends on the market as B2C and B2B are at very different stages in terms of industry development, with different areas of growth.
B2C eCommerce
The online shops associated with B2C eCommerce are well established in terms of structure and content and there is a relatively standard ‘winning formula’ employed by most shops. This is why so many successful shops look the same – they are all using the most effective design and layout.
Many large successful shops are already using different tablet and mobile layouts to ensure high sales on mobile devices. In 2014 ExtraDigital expect more and more online shops to invest in a responsive layout to better cater for the growing mobile market.
Recent changes in search algorithms have upset the rankings of many online shops and there is a renewed focus in effective online marketing. But opportunities again exist for small niche shops to make significant sales as some of the dominance of the largest stores is eroded. ExtraDigital have responded to this by fine tuning their search optimisation methods.
From a technology perspective, online shops with product schema naturally within the shop will be at a huge marketing advantage as changes in ranking algorithms get implemented. ExtraDigital planned for this last year and introduced product schema into its shopping cart on ExtraCMS.
B2B eCommerce
But ExtraDigital see the largest changes happening within the B2B sector as B2B eCommerce takes off in a very large way. New online marketplaces are opening up, led by developments in China and the South Asia markets, with America and Europe playing catch-up.
These product marketplaces are effectively increasing the numbers of channels available for sale and success requires an understanding of how to gain best exposure in these marketplaces.
eCommerce is a global business and multi-lingual or multi-location shops are increasing dramatically in 2014. Some will be very successful, but others will not recoup their investment. ExtraDigital think the successful companies will be those who realise that going global is not ‘just getting a translation done’, but is producing a shop or products localised (by language, culture) to the target audience. We have seen a large increase in the amount of multilingual work we carry out, with existing clients reaching new markets and new clients using our expertise in a wide range of languages.
Looking to the future of eCommerce requires keeping an eye on the way the search market works, but increasing looking at the search market in China and South East Asia as this is where many of the B2B innovations have started.
For help and support in all aspects of eCommerce including design, development and marketing contact ExtraDigital.
