Key ecommerce trends in 2015

It’s still two months, but 2015 is near. And this may be a year of other trends than we saw in 2014. Three CEOs of leading ecommerce companies in Europe told us their predictions of what might happen in online shopping next year. They believe the next trends will have the strongest impact on the online retail industry.

Karl Prytz is the CEO of Animail, the leading online pet store in the Nordic region. Prytz is an entrepreneur with experience from several fast-growing Nordic ecommerce companies. He was formerly head of global marketing of Klarna. According to him these are the key ecommerce trends in 2015:

1. Omni-channel
An increasing number of e-retailers are beginning to see the benefits of physical stores. With an increased presence of companies operating in both channels, the shopping experience will be better aligned to the customers’ specific needs. Physical and digital channels will be woven together so that the customer does not have to distinguish between channels.

2. Personal content
It is becoming increasingly important for online retailers to customize their sites for the individual visitor, instead of offering a single solution for all customers. There are many tools that use the customers’ historical shopping patterns in order to better adapt the product range presented. We will see more solutions where the customers are involved in adapting the site according to their own needs.

3. Recreate the experience of a physical store
In order to facilitate the customer’s decision, it will become important to guide the consumer through a visit to an online shop in the same way as is done in a physical store. The knowledge and services that are currently available in physical stores need to be re-created by e-commerce companies. This means a greater focus on knowledge about the products on offer. We will see more interactive solutions where consumers can ask questions directly to store staff – even online.

Torkel Hallander is CEO and co-owner of European online retailer BytHjul.com, the largest tire and rim online shop in the Nordic region. Hallander has 20 years of experience from senior positions in Swedish and international companies. According to him these are the key ecommerce trends in 2015:

1. Personalization
Web sites, web shops, e-mailings and other forms of digital marketing are becoming more targeted. The presentation and the offering will become more designed for individual customer preferences, behaviors and purchasing power – all in order to maximize sales, profit margins and customer satisfaction.

2. Omni-channel
The ecommerce boom is limited by the fact that consumers are interested in physical contact with the products on offer. Ecommerce winners will be those retailers who deliver a compelling shopping experience in all channels – and particularly for products with ‘physical connection’.

3. A saturated price race
For commodities with easy distribution, which can be easily compared with each other and without the need for physical connection, the transparency will create a “winner takes it all’ situation. If you are not Amazon you should start thinking about what you can do with points 1 or 2 above.

Jörgen Bödmar is founder, owner and CEO of Scandinavian Design Center, a company that operates several online design stores across Europe. Bödmar is President of EMOTA, the European trade association for e-retailers and a sought after speaker in both entrepreneurial and ecommerce issues. According to him these are the key ecommerce trends in 2015:

1. M-commerce
2015 will be the year when most online retailers also offer the customers a mobile site. The reason is that more and more consumers “go mobile” – shopping here and now. It is instant shopping in the moment. And it is not social media that drives m-commerce but rather the m-retailers’ own marketing.

2. Big data
In 2015 online retailers will intensify their efforts to analyze the customers and their behavior in order to understand their intentions. The objective is to provide relevant offers at the right moment to simply become better e-traders.

3. The consumer goes global
Next year, local consumers all over the world will discover global, or foreign, web sites in a major way, and spend a larger portion of their online budgets on non-local e-retailers. This will pose serious challenges to local merchants but will also create new opportunities for them to sell abroad.