Three Trends That Will Drive the E-commerce Sector In 2019 With the e-commerce market going through several upheavals in recent years, it is not surprising that the trends are shifting rapidly
By Nidhi Singh
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There is no doubt that the e-commerce sector is creating a huge momentum in the global market. However, the competitive world of online shopping is getting tougher with more and more companies looking for a viable model to survive in the market. According to Mary Meeker's widely-followed 2018 internet trends report, e-commerce is showing no signs of slowing down. Online sales are up and growing faster than in the previous year. More people are using their phones to shop online. Amazon is taking a wider slice of the e-commerce pie (and product search), and social platforms are driving more product discoveries and purchases.
With the e-commerce market going through several upheavals in recent years, it is not surprising that the trends are shifting rapidly.
We asked Anurag Avula, chief executive officer &co-founder, Shopmatic, few trends that will dominate the e-commerce space in 2019.
Here's what he had to say. Edited excerpts:
The Explosion
2018 saw the rise of unique and small-scale businesses into the mainstream e-commerce landscape. This will continue in the new year as well, thanks to the increase in mobile Internet subscribers and reducing costs of high-speed mobile data packs. These developments have and will continue to reduce the entry barriers for the creative talent into the big and growing world of e-commerce.
Unique Talent
An increase in the number of hobbypreneurs, mompreneurs, artisans and others, who otherwise were limited to offline channels or couldn't think of a way to monetize their hobbies, is expected. The strengthening ecosystem of e-commerce has enabled and inspired smaller businesses to dream big, whether it is the organic tea sellers, natural body-care product manufacturers or the hand-made soap makers.
Digital Push
The year is also going to see an increasing proliferation of technological advancements, such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and more. Machine learning and other facets of AI would also be commissioned to make e-commerce simple and intuitive.
This story is part our special series on the new trends of 2019. To know what the coming year has in store for the fintech sector, click here.
