E-commerce is Evolving, and How to Change with it.

For existing brands, keeping up with the times is important; nye vital for business advancement. It will keep you up with the times and it will help you identify new opportunities.

this weeks blog post will identify three trends to watch as well as mention the roadblocks you might face and how to tackle them.

Trend 1: The grand scheme of e-commerce is getting broader.

Looking at some important data shown here, we can conclude that e-commerce accounts for 20.4% of retail sales. This is a demanding increase comparing it to what it used to hail at 5 years ago with only 10%. Needless to say, the market is getting broader and broader and pretty soon the overture of brands will create fierce and potentially unbeatable competition.

We could say one big beneficial trait to this exponential growth is waved thanks to Covid-19. With the factor of most people being stuck at home with a pretty penny to spend, most individuals will find the will to not spend that extra coin, excruciating. But since most couldn’t leave their homes, the e-commerce market exploded with popularity. Creating new habits in consumer behavior.

The consumer wasn’t the only thing affected by the pandemic push on e-commerce. Brands and start-ups were being created left and right to hopefully supply the demand for goods. But with an increase in demand comes an increase in cost. Facebook, for example, costs close to 50% more than what it did last year to run advertisements.

Apple, (The tech giant that claims to have over a billion active phones.) Changed a lot of its consumer privacy policy and regulations when it comes to cross-app data sharing. Preventing this stops a lot of consumer-related/targeted advertisements and a lack thereof of sales. This mainly took a cut at brands spending advertising costs on notable platforms like Facebook and Instagram and focused more on newer networks Tiktok and influencer marketing goliath Youtube.

How to Adapt the Market based off You and Your Customers Needs.

With the rise of ad marketing potential in newer platforms like Tiktok and the desire for influencer based marketing, the desire to continue to work with previous networks like Facebook or Instagram has fallen exponentially so much so that even Snapchat has seen a recent rise in ad revenue shares.

But why in particular is influencer-based marketing rising exponentially? To put it simply, it's customer retention. Finding a relatable character to your brand that allows the creation of a bond between your brand and your potential customers adds an increase in both revenues and return for existing customers, case in point; customer retention.

Trend 2: Expand with the times, Expand where the times go.

A common factor that could be preventing exponential growth is a term called “total addressable market” (TAM). Think of it as a video game. The player cannot expand past the world they are limited to. The same thing applies here. If your market is limited to only the United States, you're missing out on possible growth due to the fact you are not marketing to the rest of the world.

Now it may not seem worthwhile, but believe it or not, 80% of consumers will buy products outside of their own country of origin. Most often times it's also never noticed either until the tracking number for the product is provided to them. Which happens more than most would probably admit. As the market continues to change and demand gets higher and higher, it's only a matter of time till that statistic increases further.

Roadblock: The barrier preventing global expansion for your business.

The is no secret here, that there are a lot of factors preventing most businesses from going overseas to new consumers internationally. Most of the time it is funding related.

The first hurdle would be a different market. For example, just because a sweater sells great in a colder climate location like Russia does not mean it's going to fare well in the United States. There are many different factors behind global expansion and different market influences. This is why knowing your market is essential in a successful business strategy.

So when will you expand? How will you execute it? What do you need to execute it properly? These are questions you need to ask yourself if expansion is ideal for your business, especially across international waters. There is also product development and proper market penetration.

Trend 3: New Ways to Finance your Business are Taking Shape.

Thanks to the radical changes in the global market these days, there are new (and let's face it, smarter) ways you can finance your business. Revenue-based financing (RBF) or even inventory financing have been created and molded thanks to the shift in e-commerce-based marketing this way it keeps costs low and revenue stream high.

Why would you prefer to go these routes instead of the traditional route like a Bank loan? Time.

• Bank loans are way too time-consuming to even apply for and there is no guarantee you’ll even receive them.

• Loans typically are paid in installments which is always a pressure on good business revenue streams.

• Most loans don’t offer the use of assets as collateral.

• Loan value usually depreciates over time when companies dont opt for venture capitalists or angel investments.

These are some major aspects to consider before choosing a financing solution for your e-commerce business.

When it comes to RBF platforms, they will give you fixed percentages based entirely on your business’ revenue until the loan received is paid off. Which is highly ideal, and way more intuitive, especially in this industry. There unfortunately is a downside to this, your business MUST have a recurring revenue to be able to order RBF. Without it, you are more than likely going to be rejected.

But don't fret, if you’re a start-up looking for newer outlets of funding for your business or even if you're a business looking for better financing to help with the assistance of international expansion, you’re not alone. According to this study, e-commerce companies globally totaled $90 billion USD ($16.8 billion Q2) in funding in 2021.

That's a pretty staggering amount even for when it comes to how rapidly the industry is expanding all on its own. Perhaps, with time permitting, your business will soon find its financing availability open up to further options.

To the Point

Expansion to a global standard for your brand is ideal in the e-commerce market if you know the markets well it can increase revenue shares ten-fold. Luckily, despite all the barriers when it comes to international expansion, there are many new and innovative ways you can finance your business for the long haul to continue your current and future profit in revenue.