With 2013 right around the corner, we wanted to get a sneak peak at what the next ecommerce trends would be….

But there was no “sneak peaks.”

From blogs to forums, we found forecasting for what many see as the next, or even current trends for 2013.

The first idea is “touch commerce.” An estimated 50% of consumer time is spent on one’s pad device in the living room.  With touch devices, all is included. From shopping to social media, cameras and television to controls for almost any house or office appliance, you name it, the pads have it. With the tap of a finger, you can purchase a car in Tokyo or turn off the lights in the living room.

But the price of touch devices will become drastically cheap in the next year. People will be able to afford tablets, and they will own and use them. Consumers are buying fewer laptops, and more “convenient” and smaller technology. And with many pad options, comes competition. From Samsung to Apple, anyone who is anyone is creating a better, more advanced tablet.

Which leads to mobile phones. Who doesn’t have an iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy SII? But this is a trend of 2012. Gartner predicts that mobile phones will replace PC’s.  But an even larger trend will be mobile payments. We already see this trend with account services for Starbucks, or for gas stations.  You can order a taxi, watch it arrive via map services and pay for the ride with a few clicks or swipes on your mobile. In 2013, these services will expand, from companies to corporations and credit card companies.

Our next trend is searches. We will always have Google, but consumers are searching more locally. From how we eat to how we buy, local has become important for consumers. The idea is essentially placing a GPS on most services. Consumers want to buy close to their homes, or find the gym closest to their workplaces. Watch for trends in search engines and how they adapt to become more local, or search engines driven by GPS services.

And constantly we found emphasis on personalization.  Man are becoming one with the web, and social media is playing huge roles in ecommerce.  It is not just enough to buy via ecommerce, but to be part of the process. Consumers want to share how they buy, where they buy and how they buy via their social media outlets.

Reviews are huge. 70% of Americans refer to reviews before purchases. More and more, consumers feel the importance for personal interactions. It may seem contradictory with “ecommerce” and “online reviews” as personal, but more consumers prefer to shop online. More consumers feel they can trust reviews or receive more accurate and precise information via the web.

That is just a few of the trends, but the big ones we felt mentioning.

What do you see as the next trends for 2013?

Sources:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9232800/Gartner_s_Top_10_tech_trends_for_2013

http://www.reveltouch.com/touch.html

About Nachshon Ben-Tzion