A looming recession. Mass layoffs. The rise of generative artificial intelligence. There’s no doubt that 2023 presented the e-commerce industry with a myriad of obstacles. For many retailers, this provided an opportunity to experiment with new technologies and ways of selling. This year, we’ll see the outcomes of those experiments come to fruition as merchants get strategic about AI, sales channels and the in-store experience.
These are three e-commerce trends to anticipate and embrace in 2024 to keep pace with top-performing retailers.
Conversational Commerce
Conversational commerce lets shoppers interact with a brand through a messaging app on its website or via social channels like Instagram. Although the concept isn’t new, consumer interaction over the years hasn’t been as successful as the industry expected. However, generative AI helped the entire world — including e-commerce brands — improve the chat experience in 2023. Now, retailers are combining the power of visual AI models and large language models into their chatbots to enable personalization and recommendations. With more accurate and on-brand conversations powered by AI, shoppers can have a better online shopping experience.
To be successful, merchants must tightly integrate conversational commerce with vector search technology to produce specific results that drive conversions. If executed well, conversational commerce will empower customers to engage with brands on a more personal level.
Selling on Third-Party Apps
A staggering 68 percent of Gen Z consumers said they’re likely to make a purchase on TikTok, supporting the expectation that social commerce will reach $2.9 trillion by 2026. TikTok, Instagram and Shop will play a pivotal role in driving this growth by harnessing social selling and incentivization to cater to modern consumer preferences. The rapid sales growth on these platforms in 2023 offers a glimpse into potential success in 2024 and beyond.
As these platforms continue to refine their e-commerce features, optimize user experiences, and attract an even wider user base, their trajectory is all but guaranteed for 2024. The industry should prepare for a retail landscape where browsing and shopping seamlessly merge with engaging social media experiences, delivering immense opportunities for e-commerce retailers.
Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS)
Integrating physical stores and inventory into e-commerce sites lets customers easily browse and check product availability on websites or apps and enjoy their new purchases on the same day. By implementing BOPIS, retailers can generate more foot traffic into their physical stores, where more than 75 percent of transactions still take place. This approach not only reduces shipping costs for online orders, it also provides a valuable opportunity for retailers to improve the customer experience and foster brand loyalty.
Enterprise retailers like Best Buy and Target already offer BOPIS, which has introduced the concept to shoppers. The popularity of the offering at these stores has paved the way for a wider range of retailers to add it to their sites.
While these three e-commerce trends require foundational technology to bring them to life, each of them should be customized to meet the unique needs of a brand. For example, conversational commerce is likely to have different prompts for a fast-fashion brand than a luxury brand where customers expect a high-touch experience. To find what shoppers respond best to, retailers should continue to experiment. They may just pull a Drunk Elephant and become a TikTok darling with Gen Z shoppers — a surprising audience for an anti-aging skincare brand.
While 2023 felt like a rollercoaster in the e-commerce industry, it resulted in new ideas and tech innovation that will bring retailers closer to shoppers in 2024 and beyond.
Zohar Gilad is the co-founder and CEO of Fast Simon, a site search and merchandising platform for e-commerce.
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