In the e‑commerce world, con­sumer behav­iour is under­go­ing a sig­nif­i­cant trans­for­ma­tion, dri­ven by emerg­ing tech­nolo­gies, chang­ing atti­tudes, and a grow­ing con­scious­ness around sus­tain­abil­i­ty. Today’s shop­pers are not just look­ing for prod­ucts; they demand expe­ri­ences that are per­son­alised, envi­ron­men­tal­ly respon­si­ble, and tech­no­log­i­cal­ly seamless.

Includ­ed in this shift is the rise of eco-friend­ly options, as con­sumers increas­ing­ly pre­fer buy­ing from busi­ness­es that demon­strate care for envi­ron­men­tal issues. Sub­scrip­tion mod­els are also gain­ing trac­tion, offer­ing con­ve­nience and per­son­al­i­sa­tion while fos­ter­ing brand loyalty.

Per­son­al­i­sa­tion has become com­mon­place, with AI tech­nol­o­gy enabling busi­ness­es to tai­lor expe­ri­ences and prod­ucts to indi­vid­ual pref­er­ences to an even high­er degree than before. Fur­ther­more, aug­ment­ed real­i­ty (AR) shop­ping is redefin­ing the way con­sumers inter­act with prod­ucts online, offer­ing a vir­tu­al ‘try before you buy’ expe­ri­ence that bridges the gap between phys­i­cal and dig­i­tal shop­ping environments.

These trends (and oth­ers) high­light a notice­able shift in con­sumer atti­tudes. This arti­cle will explore more trends you can expect to see in 2024 and a dis­cus­sion of how busi­ness­es can get involved:

1. Augmented Reality (AR) shopping experiences

The first trend we’ll dis­cuss is Aug­ment­ed Real­i­ty (AR) shop­ping. This is an inno­v­a­tive tech­nol­o­gy that super­im­pos­es dig­i­tal information—such as images, data, and animations—onto the real world, typ­i­cal­ly viewed through a smart­phone or AR glass­es. This makes it pos­si­ble for con­sumers to inter­act with prod­ucts in a sim­u­lat­ed real-world setting.

AR tech­nol­o­gy is rev­o­lu­tion­is­ing the shop­ping expe­ri­ence by allow­ing con­sumers to visu­alise prod­ucts in their own space before mak­ing a pur­chase. For exam­ple, cus­tomers can see how a piece of fur­ni­ture would fit in their liv­ing room or how a pair of glass­es would look on their face. This imme­di­ate, immer­sive inter­ac­tion reduces uncer­tain­ty and enhances deci­sion-mak­ing, which is par­tic­u­lar­ly valu­able in an online shop­ping envi­ron­ment where the phys­i­cal feel of a prod­uct is absent.

The rise of AR shop­ping aligns with con­sumer pref­er­ences for more inter­ac­tive and per­son­alised shop­ping expe­ri­ences. Today’s shop­pers seek con­fi­dence and sat­is­fac­tion in their pur­chas­es, par­tic­u­lar­ly as online shop­ping lacks the tac­tile engage­ment of tra­di­tion­al retail. AR meets this need by pro­vid­ing a hands-on feel vir­tu­al­ly, appeal­ing to the tech-savvy gen­er­a­tion that val­ues inno­va­tion and effi­cien­cy in their buy­ing jour­ney. AR also reduces the like­li­hood of returns, saves time, and ensures prod­uct satisfaction.

A notable exam­ple of AR in action is IKEA’s AR app, IKEA Kreativ.

This app allows cus­tomers to visu­alise fur­ni­ture and decor items in their own spaces with high accu­ra­cy. Users can clear out their cur­rent fur­nish­ings in a vir­tu­al plan to see how new prod­ucts would look and fit in their rooms. IKEA Kreativ also per­forms as a design aid, help­ing cus­tomers design their inte­ri­ors with IKEA products.

By embrac­ing aug­ment­ed real­i­ty, retail­ers like IKEA are not only enhanc­ing the cus­tomer expe­ri­ence but also set­ting new stan­dards in the dig­i­tal shop­ping realm, paving the way for a more inter­ac­tive and sat­is­fy­ing e‑commerce future.

2. One-click payments

Next is the one-click pay­ment – a stream­lined online pay­ment method that allows cus­tomers to make pur­chas­es with a sin­gle click, bypass­ing the need to re-enter pay­ment details for every trans­ac­tion. This fea­ture requires retail­ers to store the user’s billing, ship­ping, and pay­ment infor­ma­tion to enable the instant transaction.

The pri­ma­ry ben­e­fit of one-click pay­ments is convenience:

• Cus­tomers can com­plete pur­chas­es effort­less­ly with­out the repet­i­tive task of enter­ing their pay­ment infor­ma­tion each time.
• This ease not only saves time but also reduces the fric­tion often asso­ci­at­ed with online shop­ping, lead­ing to a smoother and more sat­is­fy­ing buy­ing experience.

Addi­tion­al­ly, it min­imis­es cart aban­don­ment, as cus­tomers are more like­ly to com­plete pur­chas­es with­out the deter­rent of a lengthy check­out process.

Today’s con­sumers, accus­tomed to instant access and rapid ser­vice in dig­i­tal inter­ac­tions, expect sim­i­lar effi­cien­cy in their e‑commerce trans­ac­tions. This pref­er­ence for quick and has­sle-free process­es has pushed retail­ers to adopt tech­nolo­gies that can deliv­er such experiences.

Ama­zon pio­neered the one-click pay­ment tech­nol­o­gy, which became a sig­nif­i­cant fac­tor in its suc­cess by set­ting the stan­dard for check­out con­ve­nience in e‑commerce. This fea­ture has not only enhanced user sat­is­fac­tion by mak­ing shop­ping quick­er and eas­i­er but also rein­forced cus­tomer loy­al­ty and increased over­all sales.

3. Personalised shopping journeys

Per­son­alised shop­ping expe­ri­ences refer to the cus­tomi­sa­tion of the shop­ping process to the indi­vid­ual pref­er­ences and behav­iours of each cus­tomer. They’ve been around for years, but the emer­gence of more refined AI tech­nol­o­gy promis­es to boost per­son­al­i­sa­tion to the next level.

With AI and data analy­sis, busi­ness­es can cre­ate a unique and tar­get­ed shop­ping jour­ney for each user. It might include per­son­alised prod­uct rec­om­men­da­tions, cus­tomised mar­ket­ing mes­sages, and tai­lored brows­ing expe­ri­ences that adapt based on the user’s past inter­ac­tions and choices.

Faced with end­less choic­es, con­sumers often expe­ri­ence deci­sion fatigue. How­ev­er, per­son­alised experiences:

• Help nar­row down options and present choic­es that are more like­ly to appeal to the indi­vid­ual, mak­ing shop­ping faster, eas­i­er, and more enjoyable.
• Increase the effi­cien­cy of the shop­ping process and can lead to increased fre­quen­cy and vol­ume of purchases.
• Enhances cus­tomer loy­al­ty as shop­pers feel under­stood and val­ued by brands that “remem­ber” their pref­er­ences and antic­i­pate their needs.

The demand for per­son­alised shop­ping is fuelled by con­sumer pref­er­ences for expe­ri­ences that are specif­i­cal­ly tai­lored to them. Con­sumers expect not just prod­ucts but also shop­ping expe­ri­ences that cater to their unique needs and lifestyles.

Advances in AI and machine learn­ing have made it pos­si­ble to meet these expec­ta­tions by analysing vast amounts of data to dis­cern pat­terns, pref­er­ences, and behav­iours, enabling real-time per­son­al­i­sa­tion at scale. These tools analyse cus­tomer data from var­i­ous touch­points to cre­ate detailed cus­tomer pro­files, which are then used to tai­lor the shop­ping expe­ri­ence. By invest­ing in these tech­nolo­gies, busi­ness­es not only enhance the cus­tomer expe­ri­ence but also improve con­ver­sion rates and fos­ter brand loyalty.

The adop­tion of AI in cre­at­ing per­son­alised shop­ping expe­ri­ences marks a sig­nif­i­cant evo­lu­tion in how e‑commerce oper­ates, plac­ing greater empha­sis on con­sumer-cen­tric strate­gies that align with indi­vid­ual preferences.

4. Social commerce

By 2026, social com­merce is expect­ed to be worth $2.9 tril­lion. There’s no doubt that this is scal­ing rapid­ly – espe­cial­ly with mil­len­ni­als, Gen‑Z, and hol­i­day shop­pers.

The pop­u­lar­i­ty of social com­merce is dri­ven by our mod­ern con­sumer’s desire for seam­less shop­ping expe­ri­ences – and their love for their social media apps. Insta­gram and Tik­Tok, favourites for many young peo­ple, offer shop­ping expe­ri­ences that don’t require users to

leave the app. Con­sumers can buy prod­ucts they dis­cov­er through ads, influ­encer endorse­ments, or con­tent shared by oth­ers with­in the platform.

Con­sumers can act quick­ly when they see a prod­uct they like with­out the fric­tion of switch­ing between apps or nav­i­gat­ing to a web brows­er. This enhances the user expe­ri­ence, mak­ing shop­ping more intu­itive and less time-con­sum­ing. Addi­tion­al­ly, social com­merce often includes social proof in the form of likes, com­ments, and shares, which can help users make informed deci­sions there and then.

Fea­tures include embed­ded links, shop­pable posts, and inte­grat­ed storefronts.

Busi­ness­es can adapt to this trend by opti­mis­ing their social media pres­ence for sales, as well as engage­ment. Part­ner­ing with influ­encers and cre­at­ing more ‘shop­pable’ con­tent aligns bet­ter with how these con­sumers wish to engage with your brand. By invest­ing in influ­encers, you’ll tap into an audi­ence that makes pur­chas­ing deci­sions based on their social feeds.

Rather than search­ing for your prod­uct or brand via a search engine, these users val­ue com­mu­ni­ty approval and peer recommendations.

5. AI shopping assistants

We’ve all heard of chat­bot assistants.

Well, AI shop­ping assis­tants are like chat­bots, but they’re much more sophisticated.

AI shop­ping assis­tants are bots that have been trained to pos­sess exten­sive knowl­edge of a com­pa­ny’s prod­uct cat­a­logue. They are made capa­ble of pro­vid­ing expert and per­son­alised advice to customers.

These dig­i­tal assis­tants inter­act with con­sumers via text or voice com­mu­ni­ca­tion, often embed­ded on e‑commerce web­sites or through mes­sag­ing apps. By util­is­ing nat­ur­al lan­guage pro­cess­ing and machine learn­ing, AI shop­ping assis­tants can under­stand cus­tomer queries, recall detailed prod­uct infor­ma­tion, and offer tai­lored rec­om­men­da­tions based on indi­vid­ual pref­er­ences and usage patterns.

E‑commerce plat­forms can lever­age these to:

• Advise poten­tial cus­tomers on which prod­uct to buy.
• Explain and resolve any issues cus­tomers may have with their purchase.
• Quiz poten­tial cus­tomers on their lifestyle to rec­om­mend a sub­scrip­tion plan or prod­uct that suits the cus­tomer’s needs.

AI shop­ping assis­tants offer sev­er­al key ben­e­fits to con­sumers. They pro­vide imme­di­ate, 24/7 cus­tomer ser­vice, answer­ing ques­tions and resolv­ing issues with­out the wait times asso­ci­at­ed with human operators.

AI shop­ping assis­tants are trans­form­ing the online shop­ping expe­ri­ence by mak­ing it more inter­ac­tive and respon­sive. Cus­tomers can receive per­son­alised advice as if they were speak­ing with a knowl­edge­able sales­per­son in a phys­i­cal shop. This lev­el of inter­ac­tion helps build trust and loy­al­ty, as cus­tomers feel their spe­cif­ic needs are under­stood and catered to.

Con­sumers are increas­ing­ly look­ing for shop­ping expe­ri­ences that are not only fast and easy but also accu­rate­ly tai­lored to their per­son­al needs and pref­er­ences. The grow­ing com­plex­i­ty of prod­uct options and the desire for informed pur­chas­ing deci­sions dri­ve the need for such sophis­ti­cat­ed AI solu­tions in e‑commerce.

Busi­ness­es that are inte­grat­ing AI shop­ping assis­tants into their e‑commerce plat­forms can:

• Han­dle a larg­er vol­ume of cus­tomer inter­ac­tions with­out addi­tion­al staffing costs.
• Improv­ing oper­a­tional efficiency.
• Col­lect valu­able data on cus­tomer pref­er­ences and behaviours.
• Analysed that data to improve prod­uct offer­ings, cus­tomise mar­ket­ing cam­paigns, and pre­dict sales trends.
• Han­dle increas­ing­ly com­plex interactions.

AI shop­ping assis­tants epit­o­mise the inte­gra­tion of advanced tech­nol­o­gy into e‑commerce. They ele­vate per­son­al­i­sa­tion to such a high degree that, if wide­ly adopt­ed, are set to rede­fine the norms of cus­tomer ser­vice and shop­ping in the dig­i­tal marketplace.

6. Eco-friendly shopping options

The grow­ing aware­ness of envi­ron­men­tal issues and desire for a sus­tain­able future are dri­ving a demand from con­sumers for eco-friend­ly options. Many cus­tomers now pre­fer prod­ucts that meet their needs with min­i­mal envi­ron­men­tal impact. This pref­er­ence has spurred inno­va­tion in prod­uct devel­op­ment, pack­ag­ing, and logis­tics, as busi­ness­es strive to meet these evolv­ing expectations.

Eco-friend­ly shop­ping options encom­pass a range of prac­tices aimed at reduc­ing the envi­ron­men­tal impact of con­sumerism. These can include:

• The use of sus­tain­able mate­ri­als in prod­ucts and packaging.
• Green­er deliv­ery meth­ods such as car­bon-neu­tral shipping.
• Prod­ucts that sup­port sus­tain­able living.

Retail­ers adopt­ing these prac­tices often empha­sise the recy­cla­bil­i­ty, biodegrad­abil­i­ty, or ener­gy effi­cien­cy of their prod­ucts and services.

The adop­tion of eco-friend­ly shop­ping options offers cus­tomers the oppor­tu­ni­ty to make pur­chas­ing deci­sions that align with their per­son­al val­ues. Cus­tomers are increas­ing­ly scru­ti­n­is­ing prod­uct ori­gins, the envi­ron­men­tal ethos of com­pa­nies, and the life­cy­cle impacts of their purchases.

This shift is lead­ing to a demand for greater trans­paren­cy in prod­uct labelling and a pref­er­ence for brands that advo­cate for sus­tain­abil­i­ty through their busi­ness prac­tices. In response, many busi­ness­es are:

• Invest­ing in sus­tain­able technologies.
• Sourc­ing mate­ri­als responsibly.
• Imple­ment­ing eco-friend­ly man­u­fac­tur­ing processes.
• Lever­ag­ing eco-labels and cer­ti­fi­ca­tions to com­mu­ni­cate their commitment.
• Incor­po­rat­ing sus­tain­abil­i­ty into the core of their brand identity.

For exam­ple, Patag­o­nia (a sus­tain­able cloth­ing brand) make a big effort to tell sto­ries on their web­site of activism all over the world, reg­u­lar­ly writ­ing in-depth tales for their com­mu­ni­ty of adven­ture-lov­ing cus­tomers. Patag­o­nia also sup­ports grass­roots ini­tia­tives that are work­ing to solve the cli­mate cri­sis through Patag­o­nia Action Works. This brand has even ded­i­cat­ed itself to help­ing cus­tomers repair their Patag­o­nia clothes to fur­ther pro­tect our plan­et from unnec­es­sary items going into land­fill: Worn­Wear.

Efforts like these are inspir­ing and they won’t go unno­ticed. A recent sur­vey found that 66% of peo­ple con­sid­er sus­tain­abil­i­ty when shop­ping.

7. Subscription models

Sub­scrip­tion ser­vices have tak­en hold of the e‑commerce world, with offer­ings from HelloFresh, Scribd, Ring, flex, Graze, Skin Author­i­ty, Birch­box, Bloom & Wild, and count­less more.

The sub­scrip­tion mod­el is an excel­lent strat­e­gy where cus­tomers pay a recur­ring price at reg­u­lar inter­vals to receive prod­ucts or ser­vices. The most com­mon sub­scrip­tions are in the enter­tain­ment sec­tor (with Net­flix, Prime, Spo­ti­fy, Audi­ble etc), but they also serve the world of fash­ion, per­son­al care, and gro­ceries. Sub­scrip­tions pro­vide con­sumers with a con­ve­nient, con­tin­u­ous deliv­ery of goods or ser­vices and often per­son­alised expe­ri­ences tai­lored to their preferences.

While cus­tomers appre­ci­ate the ease of receiv­ing prod­ucts or ser­vices auto­mat­i­cal­ly with­out need­ing to reorder, busi­ness­es ben­e­fit from long-term cus­tomer rela­tion­ships and pre­dictable rev­enue streams.

Sub­scrip­tions show a real change in atti­tudes to shop­ping, as they’ve fos­tered a more pas­sive pur­chas­ing process. Cus­tomers don’t need to make repeat­ed pur­chas­ing deci­sions when it comes to their neces­si­ties and busi­ness­es get locked-in loyalty.

Obvi­ous­ly, sub­scrip­tions don’t suit every kind of busi­ness. How­ev­er, the Ring door­bell sur­pris­ing­ly has man­aged to offer a suc­cess­ful month­ly sub­scrip­tion on a prod­uct that used to be a once-in-a-life­time purchase!

Busi­ness­es will need to:

• Invest in sophis­ti­cat­ed CRM sys­tems to man­age sub­scrip­tions effectively.
• Use data ana­lyt­ics to under­stand and pre­dict con­sumer behaviour.
• Per­son­alise offer­ings to increase cus­tomer satisfaction.
• Explore hybrid mod­els (that com­bine ele­ments of tra­di­tion­al shop­ping with sub­scrip­tions, such as offer­ing mem­bers-only dis­counts or exclu­sive prod­ucts) to enhance the attrac­tive­ness of their subscriptions.

A great exam­ple of a suc­cess­ful sub­scrip­tion in the UK is Who Gives a Crap – the toi­let paper com­pa­ny. WGAC solves sev­er­al cus­tomer pain points: 1) cus­tomers don’t need to make the embar­rass­ing trip to the super­mar­ket to buy just loo roll (we’ve all been there). 2) the toi­let paper is eco-friend­ly (with recy­cled and bam­boo options). And 3) WGAC donates 50% of their prof­its to fund clean water and san­i­ta­tion non-prof­its around the world!

Amaz­ing­ly, some brands just get it spot on.

Advice for e‑commerce businesses

These excit­ing trends and inspir­ing exam­ples of new e‑commerce strate­gies are like­ly to grab the atten­tion of many busi­ness own­ers and marketers.

How­ev­er, not all these trends will apply to your business.

As you con­tem­plate inte­grat­ing these for­ward-think­ing trends into a new approach, it’s essen­tial to first assess which inno­va­tions align best with both your oper­a­tional goals and cus­tomer needs. The key is not to adopt every trend but to select those that will gen­uine­ly enhance your cus­tomers’ expe­ri­ences and fos­ter sus­tained engagement.

Think about the cur­rent strate­gies that are effec­tive­ly retain­ing cus­tomers and how these can be adapt­ed with new tech­nolo­gies like aug­ment­ed real­i­ty or AI shop­ping assistants.

Ulti­mate­ly, the suc­cess­ful imple­men­ta­tion of these trends requires a bal­ance of inspi­ra­tion and real­is­tic plan­ning. By thought­ful­ly con­sid­er­ing your busi­ness’s unique cir­cum­stances, you can effec­tive­ly lever­age new e‑commerce trends to enhance your com­pet­i­tive edge and build deep­er, more reward­ing rela­tion­ships with customers.