Top 10 E-Commerce App Development Trends to Watch Out for in 2024

Artificial Intelligence for Personalized Experience

Every industry sector has started leveraging the advantage of AI, and the eCommerce sector is no exception! Retail or eCommerce business owners can get AI to meet ever-changing consumer behaviors thourgh real-time actionable insights. They can make accurate decisions to ensure growth of their business through this valuable information.

Moreover, AI can assist eCommerce businesses to offer personalized experiences to their customers. Personalization enables them to tailor user experiences based on their expectations and behavioral patterns. An official survey has revealed that 80 percent of consumers are more likely to return for buying if they get a personalized shopping experience.

Rise of Hybrid Commerce for Omnichannel Selling

Phygital- physical and digital- has become a new norm in the eCommerce sector. It offers the best of both worlds- online channels and physical retail experiences. This is a hybrid model that integrates multiple channels and platforms to offer a seamless and omnichannel experiences to consumers. Think of click-and-collect or buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) approach. It enables customers to check out products online and collect them at the nearby store or pickup location themseleves.

This trend offers the convenience of online shopping and quick in-store visits without worrying about shipping changes. Leading retailers including Target and Walmart have already implemented this model.

Next-gen Customer Relationship Management

Customer relationship management plays a vital role in taking your business to a new level. It can help eCommerce business owners manage customer interaction and grow sales. It also enables eCommerce businesses to understand their customers’ needs and behavior more effectively. It can strengthen relationships and companies can eventually get a loyal customer base. It is expected that the CRM market size will reach around USD 128 billion by 2028.

Many companies run loyalty and rewards programs based on CRM tools. best ecommerce development company can integrate reward programs in a robust eCommerce app. These programs can drive more sales.

AR and VR Technologies for Immersive Experiences

Augmented Reality (AR) can integrate computer-generated visuals or sounds into the real, physical world. Virtual Reality (VR), on the other hand, can give a simulated experience to users by generating a seemingly real environment generated by computer. VR needs a special headset to get virtual experience. These days, many eCommerce brands adopt AR and VR technologies to make the customer’s shopping experience rich and immersive.

IKEA has successfully used AR in the IKEA Place mobile app. The IKEA Place app uses Apple’s ARKit platform for enabling customers to view digitally-reproduced 3D images of various products.

Growth of Social Commerce

Social media has become highly effective sales channel for modern retail businesses. It can help eCommerce businesses make the most of mobile shopping. As per a survey, social media commerce sales are expected to increase three times to reach USD 1.2 trillion by 2025 As more people join social media platforms, we can certainly consider this amount achievable. Selling from social meda is cost-effective and assists eCommerce business owners to reach a huge audience quickly.

Influencer marketing and live shopping are some of the highly effective ways to boost sales using social media network. Live shopping can give interactive experience to the audience in real time. They can see the product’s real-life size and shape that builds their trust.

Advent of Headless Commerce

It is a next-generation eCommerce trend that decouples front and back ends of a website or a mobile app. Headless commerce uses APIs to deliver content to any front-end framework with ease. It can assist eCommerce to get rid of limitations of desktops, laptops, and mobile devices. Consumers can browse and purchase through smart devices like fitness devices and even smart speakers.

Headless commerce can unify all types of shopping experiences and increase flexibility. It can open the doors of new sales possibilities through the IoT (Internet of Things) concept. This trend will gain popularity in coming years.

Priority to Customer Support

Customer support is essential for any business to drive growth and sustainability. As many as 81 percent of customers believe that a positive support experience results in repeat purchases. These days, evolving technology assists eCommerce companies to offer real-time customer services with the help of customer service chatbots. Businesses can track and manage the customer journey from acquisition to retention through 24x7 chatbots.

As the demand for immediate response and that too on a 24x7 basis increases, customer support chatbots will gain popularity.

Streamlined Voice and Visual Searches

Advancing AI technology supports voice and visual searches. The AI-powered site search functionality use machine learning and NLP for determining the intent behind the user’s query. It is necessary to give the most relevant results. Visual search assist online shoppers to conduct searches with the help of images. E-Commerce business owners can jump on the voice and visual search-based search bandwagon with HD quality photos. It can amplify the store’s discoverability on platforms like Google and Pinterest.

We can expect that both these types of searches will get streamlined in coming time with technological advancements in AI and ML.

Flexible Options for Payment

It is inevitable to give all major and popular payment options in an eCommerce app. It can drive growth for business and attract many people across the world. Mobile app development services can integrate payment gateways into feature-rich eCommerce apps. Digital wallets or mobile wallets are also in vogue these days because of the safety and convenience they offer.

However, it is necessary to keep in mind that different regions have accepted various paytment methods. Their popularity and scope also get changed as per regions. It is, therefore, necessary for eCommerce apps to give all the popular payment options with the necessary flexibility and security assurance.

Mainstreamed Subscription Models

Recently, consumers have increasingly embraced the convenience of online shopping with the subscription model. As this model emerges as a dominant trend in the eCommerce industry, business owners can leverage the advantage of a growing subscription market. Products available through subscriptions range from streaming services to monthly clothing deliveries and daily meal kits that have attracted many customers worldwide.

The subscription model is widely recognized for its significant role in the future of eCommerce growth with 70% of business leaders acknowledging its importance. However, managing churn rates remains a key challenge. To mitigate subscription churn, businesses can offer special perks like free delivery, lower prices, and access to exclusive products.

You can hire mobile app developers from a renowned development company to leverage these trends in a dedicated eCommerce app.