E-commerce trends in 2018

2017 reflected globalization in the digital world. According to GlobalWebIndex data, Amazon successfully entered two leading commercial regions in Latin America and expanded into Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa (MEA).

Even in China, Alibaba's main market, Amazon has won big: 1 in every 5 Internet users uses an Amazon product.

This year, companies have mainly attracted users through existing platforms, using influencer marketing to expand their markets and increase users' likelihood of buying online. A look at GlobalWebIndex's 2018 e-commerce trends report shows how these trends will develop in the coming year.

Bruce Qian, Alibaba's Senior Business Development Manager, analyzes new trends in e-commerce. Photo: Gunnar Lindberg Arneby / yebo.io.

The mobile payments race

A cashless society appears to be the goal of many e-commerce corporations. With smartphone penetration, payment providers Alipay and Apple Pay are targeting emerging markets with relatively underdeveloped financial infrastructure to expand mobile payments.

Apple Pay aims for international expansion despite knowing the process is complex, time-consuming, and investment-intensive. By contrast, Alipay's parent company, Ant Financial, invests in or acquires local companies to tap into their market share. Ant has already entered India, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia, mostly markets where Apple Pay remains limited.

At this pace, we will see fierce mobile payment competition between Apple Pay and Alipay in 2018. Fast-growing markets will favor Alipay, while more established markets will support a trusted brand like Apple Pay.

The boom in social commerce

Shopping through social media can be said to be changing how we shop online in 2018.

While Western markets' e-commerce ecosystems still originate from traditional online retail platforms, Chinese social networks have innovated vigorously in this area, allowing users to pay bills or buy goods, in stores or online, through social media.

A cashless society is the goal of many e-commerce groups. Photo: Digiday.

Recently, Pinterest invested substantial resources in visual product search technology. Instagram has also tried to develop visual product shopping through its Tap to View tags. Both are excellent examples of social media platforms using their existing strengths to add real value to the shopping experience.

The central issue here is convenience. Social commerce can enable a seamless online shopping experience. Users simply browse on their smartphones, sign in to their accounts, and find the products they want to buy.

Shifting influencer marketing

Influencer marketing, using celebrities or KOLs to market products, has been a popular advertising industry strategy for many years. However, it is no longer as appealing as before. It is not a sustainable strategy and, without change, will sooner or later cease to be effective.

One example of change is L'Oréal, which shifted substantial investment from traditional media to influencer marketing. Building its ‘Beauty Squad’ had a positive effect on sales.

Yet the key to their success was working with less famous people who seemed more trustworthy, rather than using major celebrities as brand representatives.

In general, succeeding in today’s globalized e-commerce market first requires understanding what your customers need and determining how to attract them while maintaining product authenticity.