Johannesburg, 15 Jan 2015
E-commerce has come a long way in the last 15 years. As technology continues at a rapid pace, pioneering e-commerce stores are increasingly developing new techniques and facilities to make online selling and online shopping a lot more efficient and fun.
This is according to Nicholas Groove, business development manager of Web-based solutions company, ImproWeb, sister company of Esquire Technologies, one of the leading distributors in southern Africa of IT, mobility, digital and consumer lifestyle products.
"Last year," said Groove, "we saw a large number of online retailers make a definite move towards guest blogging, Web site optimisation for higher CTR and conversation rates, responsive design and general improvement in site performance. This will continue at a steady rate."
Moreover, there have been a plethora of developments in the field of technology, most notably in mobile, social networking, big data, analytics and personalisation.
Groove said these changes have crystalised the market, giving rise to new trends in the world of e-commerce marketing.
"For one thing, mobile shopping is becoming more and more important - and increasingly popular. End users are becoming less and less dubious, or scared.
"While 2013 saw responsive Web design spread rapidly, in 2014 it seems likely we will witness an improvement in overall mobile shopping experiences. This will further boost mobile shopping as more and more consumers join the fray."
The first step was to create sites that worked decently on mobile. This has been happening and, during the course of this year, we will see online store owners rushing to construct sites that will be able to embrace smartphones and tablets.
Not only will e-commerce Web sites work a lot better on mobiles, but a larger number of mobile store owners will also start advertising their products and services on mobiles.
Mobile advertising is gaining ground - and branded e-commerce store owners are going to be among the first big spenders on mobile ads.
While smaller store owners may not join the market rush as yet, larger stores will make a move to reach as many mobile users as is humanly possible. Smaller store owners, given time, will also join in.
"We will also see a rise in video mobile ads that will foreseeably have the potential to go viral on social networks," Groove predicted.
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