The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the day-to-day operations of businesses across sectors, not just in India but throughout the world. Many of them were forced to temporarily halt their operations, while a few even had to shut permanently.
However, the pandemic proved to be an inflection point for the Indian e-commerce industry.
COVID-19 and Indian e-Commerce Sector
The pandemic and lockdowns disrupted how people shop and how e-commerce is perceived in the country. According to the 2021 Global Payments Report by Worldpay FIS, the e-commerce industry in India is expected to grow 84% to $111 billion by 2024, fuelled by the demand created by the pandemic.
What can online retailers do to benefit from the growing demand? Updating their operations according to future trends can be an effective way to attract more customers and boost sales. While it can be challenging to predict the future, here are 3 trends that will probably play an integral role in shaping the future of e-commerce in India-
1. The Rise of Content-Driven Marketing
Online marketplaces are only expected to become more cluttered and competitive in the future. A powerful content-driven marketing strategy could help brands stand apart from the crowd. In simple words, content-driven marketing is all about creating and publishing relevant, valuable, and consistent content for attracting and retaining the targeted audience.
As the marketing strategy enables businesses to have meaningful interactions with a clearly defined audience, it can help improve demand generation and convert top-funnel leads into brand advocates.
2. Sell on Social Media
Social commerce or social shopping is the process of selling products directly on popular social networking platforms. According to a recent report, social commerce is expected to surpass $16-20 billion in India by 2025. The rising number of social media users in the country is one of the biggest drivers of this trend.
Platforms like Facebook and Instagram have already launched services that allow brands to sell their products and services directly through their platforms, eliminating the need for the customers to visit brand websites to make the purchase.
3. Offer Voice Shopping
Voice ordering or voice shopping is also expected to make a big splash in the Indian e-commerce industry. Apart from being a more convenient alternative to text-based product search and shopping, voice-based technologies enable faster checkout, reduce screen time, and make it easier for the customers to provide feedback to the businesses they deal with.
Walmart-backed Flipkart has already launched a voice assistant for grocery shopping in Hindi and English. Amazon India is also expected to launch voice shopping in Hindi soon to reach a wider audience.
Future of e-Commerce in India
While e-commerce is expected to grow by leaps and bounds in India, the sector is also likely to witness hyper-competition like no other. Adopting the latest trends and implementing cutting-edge technologies is the only way for online retailers and brands to future-proof their operations.
A reputed digital marketing company can help brands discover such disruptive trends that have the potential to significantly alter the e-commerce landscape. The first-mover advantage of adopting the e-commerce trends of the future can help brands attract more customers, fulfil the changing consumer expectations, and generate more revenue.
