Global E-commerce Trends in 2022

During the Covid 19 pandemic that we have been experiencing since 2020, developments such as working from home and staying at home have necessitated many renewals for businesses. Therefore, all these developments have given considerable momentum to e-commerce globally. Organizations have prepared their 2022 strategic plans by evaluating the analysis of the past year and the results of previous planning, with predictions about their possible reflections on the coming year. Businesses that follow global markets and trends in 2021 and can reflect them in their business processes next year will be one step ahead in terms of renewal to meet consumer expectations.

The strategic renewal moves of businesses change in line with consumers’ attitudes and actions towards brands and organizations. 81% of global consumers agree that an organization or brand’s digital presence is as important as its physical presence in a store environment. Therefore, as consumer preferences, attitudes and behaviors are reshaped with digital developments, the flow of e-commerce, like all forms of commerce, will be shaped depending on how it takes place in digital environments.

2021 was an important business year in terms of replacing the confusion and panic of the first year of the pandemic with the search for solutions and ways to keep up with current developments, and the maturation of long-term results. According to research, 62% of consumers feel emotionally close to the brands they interact with digitally, and 66% prefer brands they feel close to. In other words, while being open to digital developments is very important to stand out from the competition, it is not enough to meet consumers. Consumers do not only make decisions based on price and product/service inquiries; they also want the service they receive in the digital environment to create a sense of closeness in a way that meets their expectations. Important elements that will trigger or reinforce the sense of closeness, such as ease of shopping, personalization and creating a sense of community, are the leading factors that determine success in e-commerce.

According to TÜSİAD’s 2019 data, the global e-commerce volume is expected to reach 5.695 trillion dollars in 2022 and 6.542 trillion dollars in 2023. These figures may increase in the future depending on technological developments. In addition to the advancement of technology, the rise of digital shopping, and the increase in consumption options; developments such as the Metaverse, which has been on the global agenda for a long time, will also be reflected in exciting trends in the marketing efforts of e-commerce platforms. E-commerce tactics,

innovative and engaging formats to increase customer interaction. For example, virtual product trials will enrich and gain dimension, and the importance of trends such as entertainment and gamification in user experience will be reinforced with future developments. In this sense, it can be said that perhaps the preliminary exercises or the first footsteps of the commercial organizations that will take part in the Metaverse journey will be heard in the e-commerce world.

Even though global e-commerce platforms are generating all-time high shopping figures, consumers may occasionally seek local variations in their preferences. In order to meet the expectations of local needs, businesses need to implement localization tactics that are planned according to specific research data. The demographic structure of customers, which electronic devices they use and which channels they interact with more, etc. also create differences in preferences. For this reason, businesses can divide their target audience into subgroups according to their qualifications and organize their personalized marketing activities in a way to develop a sense of closeness in the consumer by continuing their personalized marketing activities based on data with the support of CRM software. In this sense, creating and managing a strong database is critical for every business model, whether B2B or B2C.

According to TÜSİAD 2019 data, the total number of social media users worldwide is 3.5 billion, while the number of online shoppers is 2.8 billion. As a result of global digitalization, it has become almost imperative for businesses to strengthen their online presence. The organic display rates of websites in search engines is one of the top issues that websites are recommended to work strategically in the coming year. The way to achieve this is, of course, not only through the right advertising strategy. Conducting advertisements within a strategic digital marketing approach that positions the SEO technique as the main channel should be preferred for more integrated results. In addition, producing SEO-compliant original content will remain important for B2B and B2C in the coming year, even though it is difficult to implement and slower than advertising. Compared to advertising platforms that require separate payment for each visitor, producing original images, visuals and text will gain even more value in 2022 in SEO-compatible content that is published for free and bears fruit in the long run.

In order to sell online, a good grasp of consumer trends and the cognitive motives that permeate the fingertips of customer target groups will become new specialties in the coming years. Of course, accordingly, digital marketing experts in different business models such as B2B, B2C, B2B2C can respond to consumers who are increasingly dependent on emerging technologies with new artificial intelligence solutions.