We’d like to share a guest blog post from our partner CCV Shop about the e-commerce trends and developments. CCV Shop is an all-in-one webshop solution from the Netherlands. CCV Shop is your platform to host your web shop or online business.

7 E-commerce trends and developments

E-commerce has an important role in our economy. The number of online shops is increasing every year, and online visibility is now crucial for almost every organization. Nearly everyone has ordered products online. Although e-commerce is an important industry, there are still several developments going on in this industry. In this blog, we take a closer look at these new trends and tell you how you can capitalize on them in your web shop or online business.

1. Green shipping method

With the growth of e-commerce, the number of shipments has also increased. The number of letterbox packages in the Netherlands increased by 37,7% (around 57 million packages) in 2021. This has a major impact on our waste. Currently, around 20% of our waste consists of the shipping packaging. Half of the consumers are aware of this situation and think it is important for companies to take action on sustainability. The European Union has set the goal that by 2025 at least 50% of packaging should be sustainable. Legislation and regulations are also making it increasingly important for organizations to apply greener shipping strategies in their operations. What are the options for this?

2. More sustainable packaging

One option to make your shipments a lot more environmentally friendly is to replace the current packaging of your products with more sustainable materials. For example, choose paper packaging and cardboard boxes instead of plastic. Cardboard is an environmentally friendly option as 84% of cardboard is recycled. Also, the majority of cardboard (85%), consists of scrap cardboard. Folding carton, which is ideal for letterbox packages and shipping boxes, is considered the most sustainable packaging material by Smithers Pira.

3. Deliver with a sustainable means of transportation

Do you not have the possibility to replace your packaging with a more sustainable material or do you only sell services? Then it is still possible to ship “greener”. For example, you can choose transport services that run on sustainable fuels and use pick-up points and time slots for consumers, so that delivery is often done in one go.

Do you handle your own deliveries? Then choose electric (partial) mobility or deliver by bike. There could also be a possibility to work with (local) pick-up points. This way you have to deliver less and customers can often pick up their parcels within walking distance.

4. Flexible payment

Currently, there are numerous options for paying for your purchased products. For example, the amount can be directly debited from your account or you can have the amount transferred afterward (in installments). Even though it may seem that payments can’t get any easier, there are still trends you can apply to your web shop or online business.

In recent years, mobile payment applications such as Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Google Pay have made their appearance. With these tools, you not only pay easily in a store, but you can also use your smartphone to pay for online purchases within seconds. In 2019, 3% of all payments still went contactless via smartphone or smartwatch. By 2021, partly due to the entry of Apple Pay, this percentage has increased by up to 15% by mid-2021! With that, contactless payment via smartphone or smartwatch is now more popular than traditional PIN payments. With mobile applications increasingly becoming an option with banks, the number of mobile payments, both physical and online, is expected to increase.

5. Social commerce

The name combines two terms we cannot ignore now, social media and e-commerce. Through social commerce, it is possible to sell your products and services on social media platforms. In some cases, you even have the possibility to link the account on your social media channel with your web shop or online business. In 2021, the global turnover through social commerce was $89.4 billion. This is expected to exceed $600 billion by 2027. So the growth of social commerce is far from over for now. But why is that?

First of all, this way of shopping online makes shopping more personalized compared to other sales channels. Based on user behavior, ads are displayed. This makes the customer more likely to make a purchase. In addition, the customer’s journey to your web shop and product(s) becomes shorter. Instead of the customer looking for you, you reach your customer earlier on a platform where they are often present. Also, the customer can already complete their order through the social media platform.

6. Loyal commerce

Loyalty is an important theme within e-commerce. Besides the fact that loyal customers buy more products from your web shop or online business, it also strengthens the relationship with the customer. Often loyal customers are the best sellers of your product. They are so enthusiastic about your products that they tell others about them. The customers of your shop become your ambassadors!

1. Loyalty programs

A loyalty program is built to reward returning customers through appreciation. The more often a customer makes a purchase, the higher the appreciation of an extra discount or a gift. This appreciation should encourage the customer to come back (more often).

2. Email marketing

Based on customer data that you possess because people have already made a purchase in your store, there are many opportunities to increase customer loyalty here. Based on different (personal) emails, such as birthdays, holidays, etc. it is possible to create extra in-touch moments with your customer. In these emails, you can also show popular products or discounts. By upselling and cross-selling in these emails, you can generate additional revenue.

7. Subscription models

Whether you offer products or services, sell to companies or to consumers, through the subscription model you can easily retain your customers and do relatively little to improve loyalty.

Multiscope found that 15% of Dutch people will have a subscription to a physical product coming out of the store by 2021. Think of a subscription to HelloFresh or Bloomon.  The subscription model is also expected to make its appearance in other product groups in the future. Especially since 63% of all existing subscription models are closed in 2020 or 2021.

There are several trends going on within e-commerce that can make you grow! Enthusiastic about these developments? See if a web shop suits you and start with a free 21-day trial from CCV Shop. CCV Shop is your platform to host your web shop or online business. With standard templates, a Koongo integration, and an easy-to-use content management system, CCV Shop can be your solution to your online success. Find more information regarding our free trial at www.ccvshop.nl.

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