Retail trends 2023: Social commerce, personalization, omnichannel shine
In 2023, retail is all about meeting consumers everywhere, including social media channels, the metaverse, and reimagined physical stores.
Many brands today use immersive technologies for improved product perception, better customer experience, increased sales, and fewer e-commerce returns.
Through interactive 3D product images and configurators, augmented reality (AR) shopping tools, and virtual fitting rooms, they’re providing unique, memorable, and highly customizable experiences.
In 2023, immersive technology will become even more important as brands try to attract new buyers and adapt to the explosion of mobile commerce and prepare for the metaverse.
Keeping up with Gen Z
As Generation Z begins to enter the market, brands are keeping a close eye on their buying preferences and shopping habits.
Many view this younger generation as a potential spending powerhouse within the next decade. Estimates of Gen Z’s buying power range from $140 billion to $360 billion.
Here are some illuminating stats about Gen Z shopping behavior:- 83% have high expectations from online shopping and view it as brand interaction experiences vs. transactions.
- 63% have less patience with slow or poorly functioning websites than older generations
- 37% abandon a purchase or post a negative review due to poor digital experiences.
Immersive technologies can help brands step up their online experience to accommodate these new tech-savvy buyers.
By incorporating 3D, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), online retailers can provide engaging and convenient experiences.
For example, SHOES 53045 used immersive content to improve its online shopping experience. The footwear brand digitized its items in 3D and embedded them into product pages to allow consumers to interact with products like they would in a brick-and-mortar store: rotate them, zoom in, and examine all the details.
The immersive tech is getting results, with clients spending 18% more time on product pages, according to Aurelia Ammour, Co-founder and CEO of SHOES 53045.
Generation Z consumer behavior: What brands need to know
Gen Z consumers are beginning to flex their economic muscles, bringing different perspectives and expectations than previous generations. Brands need to adapt.
Making m-commerce immersive
According to Statista, mobile phones now generate most of the digital commerce website visits around the world and also create the largest amount of orders. As of the second quarter of 2022, smartphones accounted for approximately 71% of retail site traffic worldwide and generated 61% of online shopping orders.
In 2023, mobile will keep being a massive driver of sales for e-commerce, putting pressure on retailers to provide a great mobile shopping experience.
One of the top reasons why consumers don’t complete a purchase on a mobile device is the inability to see product details.
On average, the screen size of a mobile device is just 4.7 inches, while the typical screen size for a desktop is 15.6 inches.
A bigger screen allows for more defined details, better zooming, and consumers have the opportunity to examine the product more efficiently. Seeing information such as background information, reviews, and multiple images of items helps potential buyers make a purchasing decision.
In contrast, mobile screens make it impossible to display the same supporting information all at once. As a result, users feel that they’re not getting enough information to complete a purchase.
3D product images provide shoppers with the ability to examine items from all angles and in detail even on a smartphone screen and better visualize the desired product. According to Cappasity’s survey, after embedding interactive 3D images into an online catalog, product perception improves by 23% and customers become 29% more deliberate about making a purchase.
What is mobile commerce: M-commerce definition, stats, benefits
Actually talking on the phone...not so much. But consumers are choosing mobile commerce for more than half of their e-commerce purchases today - and that number only looks to get bigger. See the trends behind the rise of m-commerce.
Experimenting in the metaverse
The metaverse is expected to reshape the future of retail. It will allow online shoppers to interact with brands and other customers in a much more direct way: examining products in 3D virtual stores, seeing how items would look in real life, and buying and using virtual products.
Technologies like AR and VR are essential technologies for creating the immersive and engaging three-dimensional environments that are associated with the metaverse. Implementing immersive tech into e-commerce today will allow retailers to experiment with them, identify their pros and cons, and better prepare for diving into the metaverse in the future.
Immersive tech and the new world of shopping
Immersive technologies, with their ability to create engaging shopping experiences, give retailers a way to keep up with a rapidly changing industry.
Sticking with outdated, static product pages won’t cut it, especially as more members of Gen Z begin wielding their purchasing power, and consumers rely on their phones to make purchases. Creating online shopping experiences that recreate IRL shopping is core to the omnichannel future of retail.