Updating E-Commerce Websites: Your New Year's Revolution!
Different times of the year can induce certain modes of thinking, with the start of a new calendar year traditionally being associated with making sweeping (and often long-overdue) changes to the way we live our lives. This is most clearly manifested in the tradition of making New Year's Resolutions (though let's leave aside the other tradition of breaking said resolutions by February which is almost as popular!).
The choice of January as the month for pledging to break bad habits and replace them with good ones is essentially arbitrary but that in no way changes our feeling that it is the right one. With that in mind, let's get into this week's edition of the Brickweb blog.
In a nutshell, what we're suggesting is that your New Year's Resolution for 2024 should be to update your current e-commerce website, as well as overhauling your internet marketing strategies. The title of this article is not a typo — it is entirely deliberate because choosing to invest time and effort in a new website really could be the start of a revolution for your business.
Let's face it, you're much more likely to avoid falling into the resolution-breaking trap than if you half-heartedly pledge to cut down on chocolate, stop swearing, drink less alcohol or something equally tiresome! When you see those revolutionary results, which can start to happen much more quickly than you might imagine, you'll never look back.
Let's take a look at three emerging trends that are set to shape the world of e-commerce in 2024.
TikTok and the Rise of Short-Form Video
Short, snappy and super-engaging, the short-form video dominates the e-commerce and social media arenas. which are becoming ever more closely entwined. Leading the way is TikTok; recent data from Statista revealed that the platform had around 656 million users worldwide, a figure that it projected would continue to grow by approximately 15% year on year. There are an estimated 23 million monthly users in the UK alone.
Using TikTok as a means of promotion is growing correspondingly quickly as is using the platform's shopping feature to sell directly to TikTok users. E-commerce websites made by Brickweb can be seamlessly integrated with TikTok Shopping — check out our YouTube video for more details.
New Realities
As technology continues to develop at a pace that is already rapid and is steadily accelerating, the use of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) will become increasingly common. Soon enough, these options will be commonplace and soon after that will be not just desired but will be expected by online consumers.
With AR and VR, you can allow potential to experience your products in such a realistic and immediate way that the only way they could be any closer to it is if they actually made the purchase. Whatever it may be; virtually trying on clothes, seeing how items of furniture would look in a room and quite literally anything in between, using these technologies is going to be a key driver of e-commerce in 2024 and beyond.
Mobile Matters
It seems like old (very old!) news for us to say that you should be focusing the majority of your efforts on mobile users as opposed to those who access e-commerce via desktops and laptops. You're right: it IS old news but that doesn't mean that it isn't as relevant today as when it first began to be apparent.
The number of people using mobile devices to buy products and services online is still growing, with data from Hubspot clearly indicating that a whopping 75% of consumers (that's an overwhelming majority of three out of every four) prefer to do so. Thanks again to the widespread adoption of new technologies, including things like facial/fingerprint recognition and one-click payment options, will help to ensure that more and more customers make the switch from desktops, laptops and tablets.
As one of the UK's most experienced e-commerce development agencies, Brickweb and its team of experts is ideally placed to guide you into and through the ever-evolving world of e-commerce. From working with you to create a cutting-edge website to helping you devise and implement internet marketing strategies that set you miles apart from your closest competitors, Brickweb is truly the partner you need.
Ready to make your New Year's Resolution? Start NOW by browsing our website for a taste of what we can offer and then seal the deal by requesting a free audit and SEO report of your current website.
Viva la revolution!