The team of Evercode Lab is well-known for its skills and expertise in everything related to eCommerce development. Not only did we help build FoodFox, the predecessor of Yandex.Eats. We also offer our own flexible solution for those willing to launch a new online trade business, Evermarket. However, let’s assume that you want to create your own unique and proprietary platform. What should it feature? Which eCommerce capabilities are a must in 2021? What can you outsource to Evercode Lab? Here is our attempt to answer these questions.
A Little Bit of History and Statistics
eCommerce, understood as the industry of selling and buying goods and services via the Internet, is not young. In the most conventional sense, it was born in the mid-1990-s, when both Amazon and eBay were launched. Ever since then, it has been growing unstoppably. In 2020 alone, retail eCommerce sales exceeded 4.2 trillion US dollars. In 2020, eCommerce revenues are expected to reach 5.4 trillion USD.
In conjunction with that, one can highlight the following interesting facts:
– Over two billion people all over the world shop online
– In 2021, eCommerce sales are projected to equal roughly 18% of all the retails sales worldwide taken together
– Mobile accounted for almost 70% of online retail traffic worldwide in 2020
In other words, eCommerce has a lot to offer to customer-oriented online businesses. It is no surprise that the number of online presences is constantly growing. No one knows how many of them are there for sure. But there may likely be well over 20 million. What is even more promising, the most promising directions include not only developed countries but also developing nations.
For example, we can cite the following TOP-5 countries in terms of eCommerce sales growth:
– Argentina with over 100%
– Canada with 75%
– Singapore with 73.6%
– Mexico with 65%
– Russia with 54%
However, this growth and accessibility create enormous competition. As a result, your marketplace needs to be outstanding to secure proper conversion rates that are not that high in the industry. According to the recent global estimates, the average conversion rate does not normally exceed 3% at best.
What Capabilities to Add to Your Commerce Project?
So, you want to launch your eCommerce shop and outsource the development process. Which features should you order? Well, there can be no “one-size-fits-all” approach in this case. Online shops operate in different regions, interact with heterogeneous audiences, and sell various goods. But still, some common features may be viewed as universally desirable.
mCommerce instead of eCommerce
First of all, your eCommerce must be 100% fit-tailored to cater to the needs of mobile users. On average, people spend over 5 hours a day with their portable devices. 70% percent of web traffic is generated by the mobile segment, while over 60% of users will never repeatedly use a web presence unless it is mobile-friendly.
Voice search is a good idea
Right now, adding voice search to your eCommerce project may seem to be redundant, but that is not so. Take a look at the following figures from the US (the rest of the world follows suit):
– Over 70 percent of consumers in the US would rather use voice for queries than type
– Almost 78% of the US consumers make some product inquiries via their smart speakers
– In 2021, over 34 million people in the US are expected to buy something via their smart speakers
That is why adding some voice search capability to your eCommerce project may make it more competitive
Several ways to pay
Business practice indicates that offering several ways to pay for goods and services is good for conversion rates. Hence, it is a reasonable idea to provide your customers with as many payment methods as possible, including credit cards, PayPal, Payoneer, and, in some jurisdictions, crypto payments.
Other directions to go
Among other things, experts point out some other promising features you may introduce, depending on your resources: chatbots, AR and VR, omnichannel approaches and personalized experiences for online buyers.
Evercode lab invites you to contact us to discuss your envisioned eCommerce in person. You can be sure that your team is in the right position to make it modern, converting, and convenient to use.
