Social Media as a Sales Channel
As we touched on in last week’s dive into digital marketing, social media platforms have global audiences into the billions. With the rise of social media came the rise of social media influencers, who are paid to promote certain brands, products, and services to their followers. Most platforms have evolved to facilitate social commerce so their users can make purchases from third-party suppliers without leaving the app. With platforms like Facebook and Instagram having live streaming features, live shopping is one mobile commerce trend we’re expecting to see an increase in throughout the coming year.
Visual Commerce
Although static visuals, such as product photos, still have their place, visual commerce is the next generation. Instead of simply using product photos, visual commerce takes it one step further by incorporating other types of visual content, such as interactive content, user-generated content, and augmented reality. You can leverage visual commerce by creating 360-degree images or videos of your products, repurposing user-generated content on your site to boost conversion rates, or creating shoppable ads on platforms such as Pinterest to drive traffic to your website and increase sales.
Sustainability
According to globalwebindex.com, 73% of consumers research household cleaning and personal care products for being environmentally friendly. The growing focus on sustainability is due in part to Millenials, a robust buyer group that is keen on demanding environmentally-friendly products. The demand has been causing retailers and eCommerce companies to adopt environmentally sound practices. Online retailers can embrace this by sourcing products from fair-trade organizations, using recyclable or compostable shipping materials, as well as other sustainable environmental practices.
As trends continue to rise and fall, consumers know that they get to choose where their money goes and are willing to spend extra time to find retailers whose practices they agree with and who offer a unique shopping experience. Stay tuned for next week’s blog when we take a look at the trends driving small businesses in 2022.