The Evolution of E-commerce: Trends & Statistics in 2022
Let’s discover the evolution of e-commerce technology.
The outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic has damaged market landscapes. It means fewer shoppers come to physical stores after the pandemic. Even businesses that never sell products through technology have faced the dilemma of either selling an online or closing business. This circumstance is leading to the emergence of e-commerce marketplaces.
The advent of advanced e-commerce technologies has transformed the e-commerce industry and built a strong foundation for online retailers. Advanced e-commerce software developments have promoted e-commerce experiences for customers. Without a doubt, e-commerce technology has shifted shopping experience patterns. Besides, it helps increasingly tech-savvy clients follow their purchases. Let’s find out the evolution of e-commerce technology in terms of trends and statistics in 2022.
What is e-commerce technology?
There is a rare aspect within a market landscape that hasn’t been touched by any technologies. Most importantly, big data and machine learning have paved the way for robotics automation and various software applications. Besides, these e-commerce technologies have promoted the instant transfer of data and mobile devices.
The retail industry and e-commerce landscapes have no exception when taking advantage of technology. Implementing advanced technologies are promoting successful businesses in their business operations such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), chatbots, and voice assistants. Various e-commerce technologies help provide outstanding customer experiences via instant communication and 24/7 support. E-commerce technologies can be beneficial for e-commerce businesses without the help of live employees, data management, and security. Many brands are using offshore development teams to build custom apps for their operations and increase sales.
Global E-commerce Statistics & Facts
Global e-commerce statistics market
The global e-commerce market continues to reach a total of $5.55 trillion in 2022. It is estimated to go up over the next few years. Thus, the e-commerce industry has become a profitable business sector for online retailers.
Only 17.8% of sales were from online shopping two years ago. The figure is expected to reach 21% in 2022, a 17.9% increase in the market share. The global e-commerce market continues to reach 24.5% by 2025. This number translates to a 6.7% increase in five years.
E-commerce facts
Global e-commerce growth will continue rising and taking more retail market share. A report by eMarketer states that online retail sales will reach $6.17 trillion (2023) with e-commerce accounting for 22.3% of the whole retail sales. Although the world experienced a tough year in 2020, the national market saw double-digit global e-commerce platform growth. Here are some e-commerce facts that you should know:
- Latin America witnessed $ 85 billion in e-commerce sales (2021), increasing 25% from $ 68 billion (2020).
- The Indian e-commerce industry will grow up to $111.4 billion by 2025 from $46.2 billion (2020).
- The UK, Russia, and the Philippines experienced over 20% eCommerce sales growth (2021).
- China is the leading global e-commerce market, making up 52.1% of retail e-commerce sales around the globe with a total of over $2 trillion (2021). Besides, China has the world’s most digital consumers, about 824.5 million, which accounts for 38.5% of the global total.
The e-commerce industry in the US will continue to reach over $875 billion in 2022, a third of China’s figure. The United Kingdom is the third-largest e-commerce market, with about 4.8% of the retail e-commerce sales market share. Japan (3%) and South Korea (2.5%) follow the United Kingdom.
E-commerce technology trends
1. Mobile commerce technology (M-commerce)
According to ReadyCloud, 44% of retail sales were through smartphones, 11% on a tablet, and 45% on a desktop. A report by eMarketer states that 59% of e-commerce sales were from mobile devices. The whole world is experiencing an increase in mobile e-commerce for many reasons. People bring their smartphones everywhere they go.
Besides, seamless online shopping on global e-commerce platforms makes shopping and buying products easier. The impacts of lockdowns and social distancing have resulted in depending much more on mobile commerce than ever. People are tending to place their products on global e-commerce platforms to sell and gain profit.
Many brands are using offshore development teams to build software applications that support customers to make a purchase online. For instance, a new e-commerce technology like WiMax has dramatically improved mobile usage with various services for products. Mobile money transfers, mobile vouchers, coupons, and loyalty cards are some services related to mobile commerce.
2. Electronic funds transfer technology: a secured e-commerce technology
Electronic funds transfer technology and encryption have enhanced security problems. This e-commerce technology trend helps reduce the reliance on physical banks. Customers use direct debit or deposit for payments or withdrawals, e-bill payments, etc., which secure financial transactions. Moreover, hiring outsourcing software development services for custom software development projects of electronic fund transfer is a trend for brands.
3. Supply chain management technology
The importance of supply chain management technology has been evident in the e-commerce industry. It has also given birth to many online portals for B2B, B2C, C2C, and C2B. Many business owners are using outsourcing software services to build custom apps for online portals. The e-commerce technology covers both phases including pre-production and post-production to handle the flow and the efficiency.
The e-commerce technology trend passes through a historical development from manufacturing to globalization. We live in an era where supply chain management is available as a service. Many companies are using outsourcing software development services for supply chain management software to boost their operations.
4. Payment gateway technology
Online transaction processing facilitates and manages financial transaction-oriented applications. Now, it is the latest and most secure online transaction processing technology to offer various money transfers to promote e-commerce market growth.
Digital wallets are one of the highly recommended e-commerce technologies for payment gateway technology. Since wireless networks can connect through wifi and Bluetooth networks. Furthermore, mobile networks are another option in payment gateway technology. Thus, digital wallets make payment quicker, simpler, and more secure for many financial transactions. With the evolution of e-commerce technology, many business operators are looking for outsourcing software services to build software applications for payment gateway technology.
5. Electronic data interchange
The e-commerce technology helps the eCommerce market to communicate information that a business carried out on paper. E-commerce merchants enjoy automatically taking orders, creating invoices, and tracking shipping processes via custom apps. Now e-commerce technology allows shoppers and merchants to place orders, get invoices, and receive goods in a hassle-free manner. Many firms are seeking outsourcing software development services to build custom apps for boosting their operations.
Inventory management technology
For the e-commerce industry, following inventory, orders, sales, and shipping processes is an essential phase of business operations. Inventory management software helps online business owners eliminate overstocks. This custom app for inventory management software helps to track reorder points, assets, service management, product identification, and inventory optimization.
ERP inventory management technology is for companies. More advanced inventory management software uses cloud storage and computing services. It helps reduce cost, manage warehouses, and ensure data updates and security.
6. Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is everywhere, and e-commerce technology is no more an exception. The E-commerce industry is striving for personalized experiences for merchants and shoppers. Moreover, real-time and automated chatbots are a critical phase of the e-commerce industry. The automated message is relying on artificial intelligence technology to respond quickly.
7. Integrated e-commerce software
Another e-commerce technology trend is integrated e-commerce software solutions. It allows seamless use of all data in-store from your ERP. Basically, the integrated e-commerce software connects the ERP system to the e-commerce store without third-party intervention.
This e-commerce technology helps save time, and manage manual workload, and back-office work automatically. Thus, it will deliver better output through global e-commerce platforms.
8. Augmented reality in e-commerce: The biggest global eCommerce technology trend
Product visualization has changed significantly over the past few years. The product visualization evolves from small, hard-to-view images to various images from many perspectives. Technologies in 3D, augmented reality, and virtual reality help visualize products on global e-commerce platforms.
With augmented reality in e-commerce, the e-commerce technology superimposes digital looks on a consumer’s view through their mobile devices. It helps visualize how they see products before they buy. Moreover, virtual reality also allows clients to virtually experience and see products before making a purchase. The e-commerce technology trends are impacting the way clients make decisions about products and services.
Adapt to e-commerce technologies
With technological advances, there are exciting things for the e-commerce industry. Global e-commerce software development is the future of the e-commerce market. It is essential to market products, which are about to take a major leap forward.
Make sure your global e-commerce platform is ready for the coming years by adapting e-commerce technology trends into the business plans. It will open up more opportunities for business owners who are ready to change and adapt to e-commerce technologies or artificial intelligence.
Special thanks to Tremis Skeete, Executive Editor at Product Coalition for the valuable input which contributed to the editing of this article.
