WITH the shift to EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) and the integration of Apple Pay coupled with the soar in smartphone usage globally, it is predicted that in-store mobile online purchases — especially in the apparel and accessories market — will more than double in volume.

Gone are the days of running to the store to make a purchase, turning pages in printed catalogues or dialling a number and staying on hold while you are waiting to be connected to the right department. We are living in the now generation. Mobile websites have a click-to-call number that rings to the relevant personnel, and purchasing from a mobile phone is secure and seamless and most of all, fast!

We are living in the age of tablets, phablets and smartphones and with this comes the age of eCommerce and shopping cart software. Today is the day and the age of mCommerce. (Mobile eCommerce)

The eCommerce and mCommerce trends to consider going into 2015 and beyond are:

1. Price is everything

It is really easy to cross-compare items and pricing across the internet, and shipping and delivery is easy so it comes down to the best pricing. With mammoths like Amazon and Alibaba to contend with, online store owners are going to have to think outside the box for ways to encourage buyers to pull out their cards.

2. Go large

Now it is a lot easier for consumers to purchase goods from anywhere in the world. Of course, this means that no online store owner that can handle delivery across the seas is confined to their country. So the winners in this space will be those that can “go global”.

3. Make it personal

More and more eCommerce vendors will need to tap into big data (or other available resources) to deliver a highly personalised shopping experience to their potential customers.

4. The big guys are going personal too!

Even the larger corporations realise that the personalised touch is winning over customers and they have entered this space that was normally left to the smaller players, due to the level of significance of this approach.

5. Mobile, mobile, mobile

Any eCommerce stores that are not operating efficiently in mobile devices will see a serious drop in sales in 2015 and beyond.

6. Third-party validation

Massive social networking sites will grow more and more popular, and eCommerce sites that have a presence on these sites will emerge the winners.

7. Video is king

As mentioned in a previous article of mine in this column, video marketing and in-store promotions are going to explode in the market. This is a space to watch and to particpate in or be left behind.

8. Coders, designers and copywriters

People have realised now that to get a customer to go through to the sales process on their online store, they need to engage them on the eCommerce pages. So more professionally written adcopy text will need to be on eCommerce sales pages to encourage the buyer to proceed.

9. Your story sells

Use of digital (video) storytelling around your company and product or text stories that generate a “relationship” between you and your buyers are becoming popular ways of engaging the sales process.

10. Target your market and niche

Placing laser-targeted text or videos on product pages that speak to a clearly defined segment of your market will prove to be highly succesful. The more targeted, the more sales in your niche.

Personalisation and service is the key here: For example, if a customer feels catered to during the browsing or searching process on mobile, they will be more likely to complete the transaction with the hope that once they have purchased that product, vacation, car, item of clothing etc, that the same treatment or feeling will remain. Your website is your front door to your business, it pays to get this step right!

Melanie Phillibert is a web developer and Internet marketing consultant. A multiple-award-winning online marketer, she has studied Internet marketing and web design/development, SEO, PPC, Spoa, media management and e-comerce development for the last 10 years. She can be contacted via e-mail at melanie@internetmarketingsynergies.com.