As a small ecommerce business, it’s vital to pay attention to how your customers’ shopping behaviour is changing over time and what you can do to persuade them to buy, download, or otherwise convert.

It’s also just as important to keep tabs on key ecommerce trends and see what exciting opportunities it can give your business to keep attracting and retaining customers.

So, as we move into 2020, here are the key ecommerce trends that you need to pay attention to, and maybe focus your efforts on to boost sales in the coming year.

Homepages are giving way to product pages

The homepage is often considered to be the most important page on a website. That’s why site owners often spend more time and effort on perfecting its design and content than for any other page on the site.

The problem is that these days, the homepage is no longer the key part of a website. In fact, it might actually be the least important page on the site.

Think about it: when users search for something on Google, be it a product or information, the results often include internal pages that are relevant to that search, and not homepages.

You know which users end up on your homepage? It’s usually those who look up your brand name on Google or type in your web address in their browser. In other words, they’re the people who are already familiar with your website, business and products.

On the other hand, your other pages are most visited by new visitors or prospects who haven’t heard about or interacted with your business before.

So if you’re planning to redesign or improve your ecommerce website in 2020, make sure to focus more of your time and effort on optimising your product pages instead of your homepage.

Start by looking at each of your product pages and check to ensure they have all the key elements to turn visitors into customers, including:

• Your brand name and logo
• A clear way to navigate to other parts of the site, if visitors wish to
• All the information they need about the product in question
• A clear, easily visible and prominent call to action to guide the user to the next step.

You can find lots more useful tips and advice on how to improve your landing pages and products pages in these posts:

• How to optimise your product pages to sell more
• Six tips to write compelling product descriptions that sell
• Five landing page mistakes that are costing you sales

Video product descriptions to boost sales

Before buying a product, when you’re researching it online, do you only read product descriptions and reviews? Or do you also watch videos to see how the product looks and feels, and thoroughly examine every detail to ensure it’s exactly what you want?

Your customers are no different. In fact, according to a YouGov’s survey, about 50% of consumers want to watch a video when buying personal electronics, household appliances, software and tools. 27% of respondents feel the same when buying personal care products, while 35% want to watch a video when buying clothes and make-up.

So make sure you’re prepared because in 2020 your audience will be watching more video product descriptions than ever. Make a plan now to start creating product videos, tutorials and demos and entice more people to see the product in action and buy with confidence.

Check out this small business owner’s guide to video marketing to learn how to create your first marketing video.

Selling through social media

You’re probably already using social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to engage with your audience and provide answers to their questions.

But social media has become such an important part of our lives, consumers and businesses alike, that it’s no longer being used just for communication and engagement purposes.

Instagram already added a “shop now” button, Twitter launched product pages, Facebook is allowing brands to use a “buy” button. In other words, these platforms are quickly turning into retail platforms, allowing users to buy products directly from the platform, without having to go on the retailer’s website.

What does this mean for your small ecommerce business?

It means that not only should you be active and engaging with your target audience on these platforms (and if you’re not, we’d recommend following these simple steps to get started with social media). You should also take advantage of this key ecommerce trend in 2020 and connect your sales to your social media accounts.

Private messaging and chatbots  

Are you using chatbots and private messaging to talk to your customers? If you’re not, make sure you do so in 2020, otherwise you run the risk of falling behind your competitors.

Private messaging and chatbots already have impressive engagement numbers. That’s because they allow customers to get quick answers to common questions and concerns, no matter the time of day or night.

This makes it a fantastic opportunity for you to provide fast support without needing to make huge financial investment.

Find out more about chatbots and why your small business should start using it in 2020. And if you need help getting started, this post walks you through the steps you need to follow to create a Facebook Messenger chatbot for your small business. Then use it to answer customer questions, offer product recommendations and discounts, and quickly solve customer complaints.

The rise of subscription-based ecommerce businesses

Another ecommerce trend that’s sure to rise in 2020 is the use of subscription-based business models. This refers to businesses where customers pay a recurring fee at regular intervals to get access to a product or service.

Here’s an example from The London Sock Exchange where customers can buy a subscription to receive new pairs of socks in the post once every four, six or 12 months.

So if you’re thinking about starting a new business or expanding your current one in 2020, consider the option of using a subscription-based business model to attract more customers.

This post explains the ins-and-outs of starting, running, and scaling an ecommerce subscription business.

In conclusion

Hopefully you’ve been inspired to try out at least one of these tactics to boost your sales in the year to come. And remember, no matter how you’re planning to grow your ecommerce business in 2020, 123 Reg is here to help with all the tools and advice you need to succeed.