Cybershopping in 2030

What major changes do you foresee in the landscape of cybershopping by the year 2030?

 “Social media is transforming the way in which we interact with retailers. As attention spans shorten and we’re faced with an increasing number of applications and websites vying for our attention, it’s likely that seamless social selling will become the norm by 2030. Social commerce will replace conventional E-commerce social media marketing tactics which require customers to switch platforms for checkout, ensuring on-platform purchases and minimising lost sales opportunities.

“Live shopping via social channels, where customers are presented with items during a live stream, will continue to grow in popularity — accounting for around 20% of global E-commerce sales by 2026 according to McKinsey and therefore representing a far greater opportunity by 2030. We’ll see brands recruit social media influencers to converse with their audience on their behalf, creating a sense of community and building a sense of connection with the brand to enhance trust and loyalty.

“Loyalty will be a key focus for retailers given the sheer level of competition globally — not just from brands via their own channels, but also across direct-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer marketplaces. Subscription models which establish recurring revenue and offer customers incentives that reward loyalty will become increasingly common.

“AR will also have a profound impact on how we shop online, allowing customers to envision how products will appear in a real-life environment, integrating aspects like orientation, direction, 3D modelling, and illustration with appropriate lighting conditions. This will start to replace traditional fitting rooms in brick-and-mortar stores, allowing retailers to use physical store space for more experiential activities. Offering this kind of immersive shopping experience online contributes to a better and more engaging experience for the customer. By enabling a better sense of the product that is akin to seeing it in a physical store, it may also result in fewer returns and the associated cost for the retailer.”

In what ways do you expect cybershopping to become more personalized and tailored to individual preferences in the next decade?

“Consumers are already demanding personalisation, with 76% experiencing frustration if it’s missing according to McKinsey research. By 2030 therefore we can expect the online shopping experience to be highly personalised to the individual, leveraging AI to filter large amounts of data to create customer profiles that are used to tailor E-commerce strategy and customer service.

“We’re already seeing how data is being used to make recommendations based on what shoppers have been browsing online or reminding them of items they have looked at but left in the basket. The further integration of AI and additional data streams will take this to another level, creating frictionless shopping experiences and re-framing the boundaries between physical and digital retail.”

With the rise of eco-conscious consumerism, how might cybershopping in 2030 address sustainability concerns?

“Eco-conscious consumerism will continue to influence purchase behaviours, with demand for ethically sourced products, transparency within the supply chain and eco-friendly packaging representing key elements of brand strategy. The EU legislative framework for digital product passports (DPP), collecting and sharing product data from raw materials sourced to production, shipping and delivery, is already a key initiative for online brands to work towards when it comes to their sustainability efforts, and we will likely see other legislation come into force as governments seek business support to reduce national carbon footprint.

“As many brands strive for more sustainable sourcing, the pre-loved or ‘recommerce’ market will also gain traction to reduce waste and enhance eco-credentials. This offers new possibilities for retailers to collect and resell pre-worn items, and for marketplaces to incorporate sales of second-hand products. Working with a centralised platform with access to multiple sellers will enable brands to tap into this potential — all alongside other E-commerce efforts.”

As cybershopping continues to expand, what opportunities do you see for small businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive in this digital marketplace?

“Cyber shopping and the internationalisation of retail offers enormous opportunities for retail businesses to find new markets and expand sales. However, European or global retail markets — with their variations in language, currency, logistics and consumer expectations — are a complicated space to navigate. Agility, rooted in data, is key. By harnessing data, brands can make informed decisions and act quickly on them, rolling out products according to different marketplace requirements to conquer new territories.

“Unifying backend systems with all customer-facing channels in a single platform, otherwise known as unified commerce, provides a solid foundation from which to leverage this data. By building a holistic view of products, interactions and management systems across all channels, integrated data insights can be used to track performance across geographies and platforms, inform business decisions and create enhanced customer service.”