When the world faced the Covid-19, the pandemic which affected each sector of modern economics, the eCommerce market got certain bonuses. More and more sellers became interested in running online shops and integrating e-сommerce. The number of those sellers is gradually increasing, and the owners of online business want to know the e-Commerce trends for 2022.

However, it also needs to be kept in mind that the competition in the eCommerce space is intense. You need to research the specific industry before you set forth to eCommerce world. Select the one that is in sync with the goals that you desire to achieve from the business.

We have provided some easy tips and trick on how to start an eCommerce business in 2022. Let’s get into it.

• What eCommerce Business Ideas Should You Try in 2022?
• What is The Expected Trend in eCommerce in 2022?
• Will eCommerce Grow in 2022?
• Is There a Future For Small eCommerce?
• How Long Does it Take to Start an eCommerce Business?
• How Long Does it Take to Set up an Online Business?
• What Are US eCommerce Sales Expected to Reach This Year?
• What is The Next Evolution of eCommerce?
• How Can I Succeed in eCommerce 2022?
• How do I Start an Online Business Right Now?
• What is The Most Profitable Online Business to Start?
• What is The Easiest Online Business to Start?
• Can You Make Money With an Online Business?
• How to Start Your Online Business Right Now
• What is The Future of Online Sales?
• What Are The Best Upcoming Trends in eCommerce?
• Is eCommerce Growing?
• Should I Adopt all eCommerce Trends?

What eCommerce Business Ideas Should You Try in 2022?

We have handpicked these profitable business ideas that are worth a try in 2020.

Healthy Lifestyle And Beauty Products

We see an amazing growth in healthy lifestyle products such as organic health food, natural beauty and supplements sector. The beauty and health products industry has flourished phenomenally in recent years across the globe. More and more people are making these products an essential part of their daily lives to look and feel good.

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With ever-increasing demand, it has paved the way for an eCommerce sector with high potential. For beginners and millennials with a flair of marketing, this is the perfect eCommerce idea to look forward to. The paramount step to taste success in this industry is to build brand loyalty.

With innovation, communication and by winning the audience’s trust, you can reach new heights in this extremely profitable eCommerce business category.

Smart Home Devices

For a society that seeks comfort and convenience, the home automation technology has come as a blessing. IoT (Internet of Things) has made converting a residence to a smart home a possibility by allowing the interconnection of devices. It’s amazing how one can control lighting, temperature, entertainment systems, and even appliances with just one tap.

Technology is undeniably making our lives simpler and it is here to stay. With increasing popularity, yet less competition, this is a smart ecommerce idea that won’t disappoint you.

Smart Watches

Do you own a smartwatch? Or are you planning to buy one soon? If the answer to either of the question is a yes, you already know what e-commerce Business to try out. The popularity of Smartwatches between parents and kids has made it one of the highest-selling wearables in the present time.

More than just checking the time, it allows fitness tracking, receiving notifications, and much more. Besides, it’s a great fashion accessory that enhances every look. With customers turning to E-commerce stores for their shopping needs, venturing in the Smartwatch business is worth a try.

Selling e-books

The desire of getting your book published need not be a distant dream anymore with the advancement of technology. Selling E-books will let you reach a wider audience to acknowledge your work. The higher the number of copies you sell, the higher will be the profit.

Hence, research about a trending topic and write an engrossing E-book or get a ghost-writer to do it for you. Direct your marketing efforts to target the right audience and increase conversions. Since people spend most of their time stuck to laptops and mobiles, selling an E-book is a remarkable business idea that can bring huge revenue.

Online Learning Courses

Another remarkable idea that you can try is an E-commerce business selling online courses. It’s an impeccable way to share knowledge of experts to people who desire to learn something new. Online courses are popular among students because of its accessibility and convenience.

Also, in a continuous bid for success at the workplace in this competitive world, people prefer online courses to improve their skills. Think of unique course ides that are attractive and new in the online course platforms to stand out.

There are plenty of niches that one can choose from like science, ethics, technology, etc. You can get experts to create and sell their courses on your E-commerce store. This is a great idea to attract customers from across the world.

Toys and Games

Toys are one of the most special assets of one’s childhood. It kickstarts imagination in children and is phenomenal to teach problem-solving skills and improve concentration. From the colourful rattles to complex electric cars, they play a significant role throughout the growing years. The tech-savvy society has exposed children to mobile screens at a very early age which needs to be stopped.

The realization of its harmful effects has increased the demand for innovative toys more than ever. To divert kids from mobile phone screens, parents are even ready to spend an extra penny on toys. With consumers now considering E-commerce stores as there ultimate shopping destination, it would be a great product to build an online business.

What is The Expected Trend in eCommerce in 2022?

As per a recent report released based on the analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic, online shopping has grown by $183 billion. This figure spans from the beginning of March 2020 to February 2021. During this span, U.S consumers alone spent a staggering amount of $844 billion online.

Adobe, in its report, mentioned that a large part of this money was spent online in November and December 2020 when the holiday season saw an expenditure of $188.2 billion. But, while this hindsight is a sure-shot motivation for eCommerce business ventures, it is the rise of eCommerce trends in 2022 that we are quite excited about!

The experts are anticipating the eCommerce industry sales to reach its first $1 trillion in 2022. So, while this revenue is surely reflecting a very bright potential; we are more excited about the trends that will help shape this up.

1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Most of the time when we visit a brick and mortar store, a shopping agent gives us recommendations based on our taste and helps us navigate the store. Similarly, online shops use AI and machine learning to give consumers a more personalized shopping experience, by making smart product recommendations and using predictive search.

Broadly, AI means making technology understand repetitive human behavior. Earlier, product recommendations were manual and prone to errors. Now, they are automated and smarter, as AI can make suggestions on the basis of a customer’s search history, purchase history, gender, demography, etc.

Though there’s nothing novel about using AI and machine learning in eCommerce for enhancing user experience, as of now these technologies are only used for recommendations and product searches.

Experts say that we have only slightly tapped into AI’s potential to enhance online shopping experience. There is still a lot more that can be done.

2. Customizable Products

A lot of eCommerce stores are selling products that can be customized by the individual, as well as for the individual. Online stores are leveraging interactive content to gain in-depth insight into customer needs. These stores use quizzes, surveys, online interaction sessions, etc to build products that cater to different types of customer segments.

Stores like Curology create product lines based on an individual’s health needs and goals.

Many big brands allow customers to make changes online. The custom products are then delivered to their address. For example, Nike allowed customers to create their own designs and choose their own colors for its Lunarglide shoe edition.

3. Voice Search

Voice assistants like ‘Okay Google’, Amazon’s Alexa, and Apple’s Siri are gaining traction at an increasing rate. People buying these voice assistants use them for every little thing- from checking the news to playing songs and buying products online.

In the coming times, more and more users will buy into this technology and get accustomed to purchasing products through them. Being able to order products using smart speakers will give consumers, especially multitaskers, a hands-free and effortless shopping experience they are bound to appreciate.

As of now, it will take some time to make voice assistants completely reliable and usable across the globe. A lot of development needs to go into making them understand different languages, accents, customer behaviors, etc.

But once all that is done, eCommerce merchants will definitely want to inculcate voice technology into the shopping experience they offer.

4. Chatbots

Chatbots have been trending in the eCommerce industry for years now and will continue to do so because of the level of personalization they offer. As soon as your customers visit your store, a chatbot greets them and offers help. This makes customers feel less alienated from the store, as they can easily reach out for help.

Chatbots facilitate communication with thousands of customers, and help e-stores give a personalized experience to the customers through appropriate recommendations.

Nowadays, a growing number of shoppers prefer to converse with bots and other digital self-help tools. This is because of the easy accessibility and prompt responses.

In addition to automated responses, there are a lot of ways in which chatbots are expected to evolve and contribute to providing a top-notch experience to customers.

For example, look at H&M’s chatbot:

5. Augmented and Virtual Reality

Ordering products online makes the shopping process effortless and wholesome. You can browse variations of a product, compare its pricing and features, read customer reviews and then make an informed decision, all from the comfort of your home. Speedy deliveries ensure that we don’t have to wait long to receive our beloved products.

However, one downside of online shopping is that there’s always a gap between the consumer’s visualization of a product, and how it actually fits into their lives.

Virtual and Augmented reality can bridge this gap. Virtual reality gives you a 360-degree view of a place, whereas Augmented reality helps you place computerized graphics on real-life objects so that you can get a clear picture of how they will look in the real world.

This means, VR can give customers a virtual tour of how a product actually looks, and AR can provide them with a more accurate idea of whether or not it meets their expectations.

For example, Sephora’s ‘Virtual Artist’ feature allows you to try on different make-up products and mix-and-match to create different looks. This creates a personalized shopping experience that consumers will never want to say no to!

The consumers of today increasingly want to make smart buying decisions. Augmented and virtual reality are definitely here to stay, and will start gaining even more popularity in the coming times.

6. Headless eCommerce

Store owners like to be in full control over the frontend design and layout of their website so that they can offer customers a more personalized and seamless user experience. However, eCommerce platforms come with a premade frontend design. Though themes can be changed, all layouts available in the market are structured in accordance with the architecture of the eCommerce platform.

Headless eCommerce platforms come with a separate frontend and backend layer. This means that any changes made in the frontend presentation of the store need not be followed by a subsequent change in the backend functionality. Data is retrieved from the backend via API calls and is separate from the frontend

For merchants, this means they have full power over the UX and UI of their website across different channels (desktop, social media, mobile). They can structure everything according to their consumer base, and create a design that perfectly represents their brand.

Stores can employ a CMS, DXP, PWA, or other custom frontends without requiring a major time or resource investment. This can help stores accomplish more with their content marketing, SEO, and digital experience of their storefront.

7. Mobile Shopping is still on the rise

Mobile eCommerce offers a remarkable advantage- the ability to shop from anywhere. In the US, 4 out of 5 customers are online shoppers, and more than half of them use their smartphones to make purchases. In Europe, 55% of consumers are shopping from their mobiles.

eCommerce businesses are doing their best to improve a customer’s experience of shopping on their store while using their mobile devices. They’re offering a slew of payment options to customers, from credit/debit cards to e-wallets, Amazon Pay, etc.

Experts believe that offering a multitude of mobile payment integrations is a big step towards a better mobile shopping experience.

A lot of eCommerce merchants are adapting PWAs as well. A Progressive Web Application is a website that acts like a native app. The functions, look & feel, and structure of a PWA are same as that of a local application, thereby eliminating the need for eCommerce businesses to create an app for their store.

PWAs offer features like push notifications, ability to work offline, accessible from the home screen, etc. They enhance the customer’s journey as users don’t have to install a store’s app locally on their devices.

8. Sustainability is an Important Factor

Consumers are becoming more conscious of the fact that the resources we have at our disposal are limited, and every day we neglect this issue, we edge closer towards the complete exhaustion of our natural habitat. With this also comes the realization that our purchasing habits can play a huge role in sustaining our environment.

A lot of eCommerce businesses are adopting sustainability and eco-friendly measures in one way or another in their business operations. Whether it is supporting a charity, donating their proceeds to a cause, using sustainable raw materials in their manufacturing and packaging, etc.

For example, Nau is an eCommerce apparel store that manufactures its clothing with recyclable material. They use recycled polyester instead of nylon, as the latter cannot be recycled.

Infusing sustainability in your business model can help you contribute to society, reduce costs, and target the environmentally-conscious segment of your consumer base.

9. Drone Delivery

Drone delivery is still in its infancy, but it is gaining popularity and is seen as a viable delivery method, especially for small and local deliveries. The Coronavirus outbreak has compelled governments and societies to enforce social distancing norms.

It is expected that this change will fastrack the developments needed in drone technology, so that drone delivery becomes feasible, employable, and more secure in the coming years.

Industry giants like Amazon, Uber Eats, Fed Ex, Alibaba, etc are at the cutting edge of drone technology and are already using it in some regions across the globe.

10. Shopping on Social Media

Around 74% of users rely on social media for making their purchase decisions. A large percentage of these users would like to purchase a product directly from the social media platform they’re browsing on.

Social commerce (the process of purchasing directly from social media) is also slowly emerging as a form of online shopping. Leading this trend are platforms like Instagram Shopping, as well as the newly-released Checkout on Instagram.

Instagram shopping involved redirecting the customer to an eCommerce website in order to make purchases. However, the new Instagram Checkout allows users to directly complete payment on Instagram itself, without needing to visit the brand’s website or app.

If you look carefully, you’ll be able to observe that all these emerging trends have one thing in common- their end goal is to make a customer’s shopping experience easier, enjoyable, and straightforward. Broadly speaking, all of these eCommerce trends 2022 aim to enhance user experience in one way or another.

Before choosing a trend you want to introduce into your business, conduct a detailed analysis, and see if you’ll be able to achieve what the trend wants you to achieve. The best way to determine if something will work for your business is to simply ask your customers! After all, the end goal is to maximize customer satisfaction.

Will eCommerce Grow in 2022?

In 2020, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to 4.28 trillion US dollars and e-retail revenues are projected to grow to 5.4 trillion US dollars in 2022.

eCommerce is an ever-changing industry – every year, several new trends come up that can help your business grow and compete with your competitors – 2022 is going to be no different. As the pandemic slows down, we are likely to see the penetration of eCommerce also slow down compared to 2020 – however, many eCommerce businesses will be moving into 2022 with a goal of realising high, fast growth.

The IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Sales Index has found that online sales in the UK fell by 9.1% in May 2021 versus 2020 – the largest drop on record since the Index’s inception in 2000. It is worth noting that this most recent comparison is being measured against a 61% boom in growth recorded in May 2020, which was driven by the first peak of the pandemic. 

Sales growth across most retail categories in the UK is now flatlining, with some such as health and beauty declining by 29% year-on-year. Multichannel retailers saw the largest rate of drop off in online sales, -14%, as consumers increasingly opted to shop in-store instead. Pure-play retailers, however, experienced a much smaller decline of -1.34%.

Despite this news, online sales overall remain significantly higher than those reported in 2019, before the pandemic shifted the landscape of the retail sector. In fact, sales volumes for May 2021 are 46% up compared to May 2019.

Is There a Future For Small eCommerce?

The future of e-commerce looks promising for small businesses. Let’s take a closer look at how independent merchants can continue to sell more and stand out in competition with big-box retailers who also have moved online.

The major shortcoming with online shopping to date has been the instant gratification that comes with in-store shopping and the ease with which consumers can get their hands on products in real time. As new technologies such as Near Field Communications emerge, that advantage for traditional retailing may shift.

NFC is a smartphone technology that allows for easy communication and data transfer over short distances. By connecting NFC-enabled devices to a credit or debit card, paying for goods or services is simpler and faster than ever before. Imagine simply waving your phone over a product to purchase it online.

That kind of transaction has the chance to be a real game-changer in the e-commerce space. By 2022, brick and mortar retail spaces will be little more than showrooms.

Instead of loading up a cart with goods to purchase in store, consumers will try on or sample the products in store, quickly scan and purchase the items they desire, and have them delivered to their homes within 24 hours. The shopping mall as we know it today will be much different 10 years from now.

So where should small business be focusing their efforts so they’re not tripped up by the next disruptive technology?

Invest in mobile: Consumers can now shop anywhere at any time, whether from their PC, smartphone or tablet. IBM’s Digital Analytics Benchmark survey recently showed that online shopping on Thanksgiving and Black Friday was up over 14 percent versus 2020, with 24 percent of consumers using a mobile device to visit a retailer’s site.

On Cyber Monday alone, purchases made from mobile devices accounted for 13 percent of all online purchases. International Data Corp. has predicted that by 2020 mobile web usage will actually outpace PC web use.

With the smartphone and tablet markets continuing to grow, it is safe to say that in order to be competitive in the online retail space, an app or a mobile website is a must-have. At the very least, make sure an existing website is optimized for mobile.

Video content: The impact of social media in business is indisputable at this point. For consumer-facing companies, especially online retailers, an active social media presence is essential to maintaining a core consumer base and quickly marketing your store.

Small online retailers need to take efforts a step further and start leveraging the power of online videos to sell more. In the past, text updates and photos were sufficient to drive traffic to your online store, but video offers unique opportunities. The opportunity to develop video content (which includes little cost outside of time and some basic video editing software) is too big to ignore.

Social advertising: Many small businesses are still trying to understand how best to deliver content to their customers via their social media channels while also reaching new prospects. Advertising on social channels like Facebook and Twitter can be that bridge to a new frontier.

While there is some debate about the overall value of social advertising, it is hard to argue that it offers some of the best targeting available to business owners; especially when the amount of time U.S. consumers spend on social media sites on a daily basis is taken into consideration.

Digital couponing: It was only a matter of time before large stacks of coupons got replaced with something digital and eco-friendly. A recent report presented by comScore found that digital coupons were seen as the number one method of savings for consumers.

The same report also showed that 35 percent of respondents found that digital coupons “helped with new ideas,” essentially the discovery of something they didn’t know they even wanted to purchase. Over one-third of those surveyed indicated that they actually prefer receiving coupons online versus any other format.

So what does the future of e-commerce look like for small businesses? Smarter, faster and more promising.

How Long Does it Take to Start an eCommerce Business?

The length of time it takes to begin a business relies upon the type of business, the complexity of the business model, and the sort of area.

If you are starting a locally established business with only one individual, no workers, no bank advance, no items (essentially just you and a PC), you could most likely begin in a month or two.

At the opposite finish of the range, a business that makes items in a huge office, with loads of workers may take up to a year to begin.

All in all, however, on the off chance that you need an area and can discover one that doesn’t need too much renovation, you can start a retail business or service business in under a half year. Requiring credit and hiring employees will add some an opportunity to the procedure. Purchasing a current business may take somewhat less time, yet very little.

Two tasks take the most time:

1. Finding a Location for Your Business and Getting It Ready

To start with, you should settle on a general region (city or town), at that point glance around to perceive what is available, checking on area, at that point consulting for the rent or acquisition of the structure, and afterward remodeling the structure to suit your needs. This accepts you don’t need to work without any preparation, which can take numerous months.

2. Acquiring a Bank Loan

To get a bank loan, you must set up a strategy that incorporates detailed financial statements, your promoting plan, and data about your administration and tasks. Assembling a marketable strategy requires some serious energy.

For instance, you should make sense of what to purchase, the amount it will cost, and where to get it. You should get ready salary proclamations and other financial data. Then, you should take the arrangement from bank to bank to discover one that will give you a credit, with or without an SBA ensure.

How Long Does it Take to Set up an Online Business?

Nowadays, many people are starting up online businesses. If there is no special technology development behind the online business, your set up time could be much less than for a commercial, offline business. You must be very careful in choosing the company which will help you with your business website, e-commerce site or app development.

There are good and bad marketing service providers in the marketplace. And even the bad marketing companies understand very well how to promote themselves and how to sell their online marketing campaigns.

Many of them promise more than they deliver. You may find yourself spending a long time fixing the job of a bad marketing company. Often you will need to redo your marketing material from the beginning. It can be very frustrating.

Some people believe that in order to succeed in the online market, you only need to have a good website, an e-commerce platform, a payment portal to receive payments via the website and promotion via social media. It is not as simple as that. It can take a long time for people to get to know your business and your brand.

An online business selling a product or service could take 2-7 months to start selling to its clients (as long as there is no special technology or programming required for the website or app). But it could take another 3-6 months to start reaching its online sales targets.

If you need to develop special software, do not launch the business before the software is ready and tested. If you are selling products, make sure you sell to a few customers and get their feedback before you invest a lot of time developing marketing materials, websites and marketing campaigns.

List of businesses andaverage set uptime
A
Alcohol sales 3-12 months – Personal Licence/Premises Licence
Automotive Part Sales – 1-12 months – No licence requirement
B
Bakery 4-18 months – No licence requirement
Beauty Salon 1-12 months – to become a fully qualified beauty therapist, you will usually need to complete a level 2 or level 3 qualification in beauty therapy.
Bookkeeping 1-6 months – No licence requirement
Building construction 1-12 months – No licence requirement – See also CSCS
C
Car Wash 1-12 months – No licence requirement
Casino Gaming 1-12 months – see Gambling Commission
Caterer 0-12 months – No licence requirement
Child Care Services 1-18 months – See OFSTED
Collection Agency 6-12 months – FCA Licence
Consultant 1-6 months – No licence requirement
Convenience Store 1-12 months – No licence requirement
Courier 1-12 months – No licence requirement
D
Dentistry n/a – See General Dental Council (GDC)
Dry Cleaning 3-12 months – No licence requirement
E
Equipment rental 1-6 months – No licence requirement
Event Planning 1-12 months – No licence requirement
F
Fitness Centre 3-12 months – No licence requirement
Florist 3-12 months – No licence requirement
I
Insurance 6-12 months – FCA Licence
Investor 6-12 months – FCA Licence
L
Lawn care services 1-6 months – No licence requirement
Locksmith 1-12 months – No licence requirement
M
Massage Therapy 1-12 months – No licence requirement but you must register with the local council.
Motor Vehicle Rental 1-12 months – No licence requirement
Mortgage Company 1-12 months – FCA licence requirement
P
Pawn Broker 6-12 months – FCA License
Personal Assistant 1-12 months – No license requirement
Pest Control from 1-6 months – No license requirement – See Also British Pest Control Association
Pharmacy 6-24 months – Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians must be registered with the General Pharmaceutical (GPhC)
Photography 1-12 months – No license requirement
Plumbing 1-6 months – No licence requirement – See APHC
Private School 6-24 months – See Department for Education
Publishing services 1-6 months – No licence requirement – See Also Publishers Licensing Society.
R
Real Estate Broker 1-12 months – No licence requirement
Record business 1-6 months – No licence requirement
Repair/Maintenance 1-12 months – No licence requirement
Restaurant/Bar 2-24 months – Licence requirement depends on activities
Retail sales 6-18 months – No licence requirement
T
Tanning Shop 4-12 months – No licence requirement
Taxi Services 2-12 months – Transport for London licence
Telemarketing 1-6 months – No licence requirement
Travel agency 1-12 months – See IATA, ATOL
Truck Transportation 1-12 months – No licence requirement
V
Video Production 1-6 months – No licence requirement
Vending machine 1-12 months – No licence requirement
Veterinary Medicine 6-12 months – The veterinarian must have a degree approved by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons

What Are US eCommerce Sales Expected to Reach This Year?

After a tumultuous 2020, retail sales will see a bump in 2021 as the economy reopens and consumers are ready to spend. Both brick-and-mortar and online sales will benefit from pent-up consumer demand, with in-store growing 6.3% and eCommerce growing 17.9%.

US consumers will spend $933.30 billion on eCommerce in 2021, up 17.9% YoY, and equaling 15.3% of total retail sales. Brick-and-mortar retail spending will grow 6.3% in 2021, to $5.149 trillion, the strongest growth rate seen since 2011.

Ecommerce sales will continue to grow at a healthy clip, reaching 23.6% of total retail sales by 2025 versus 11.0% in 2019. We expect behaviors like click-and-collect usage will continue to grow, reaching $140.96 billion in sales by 2024.

Retailers will continue to connect with consumers across the shopping journey: Social commerce sales will be up 35.8% to $36.62 billion this year, and about one in four digital buyers will use a buy now, pay later (BNPL) service.

What is The Next Evolution of eCommerce?

The e-commerce industry is continuing to grow and evolve. Two of the most important trends for online retailers looking to stay ahead of the curve are mobile commerce and personalization.

30% of e-commerce sales in 2020 took place on a mobile device, and mobile commerce is expected to grow 2.58x faster than total e-commerce sales.

This means that your e-commerce store needs to be mobile-friendly and make it easy for users on smartphones and tablets to browse your products and make purchases.

It’s also important to note that 56% of consumers say they would be more inclined to purchase from retailers who offer a personalized experience, and 74% of online shoppers get frustrated when websites show content that has nothing to do with their interests.

If you’re looking for ways to improve your e-commerce site and stay ahead of your competitors, personalization could be the perfect solution. Customer experience personalization is one of the top themes we saw in E-Commerce events all over the industry, and should be a top priority for innovation over the next  year.

How Can I Succeed in eCommerce 2022?

Here are 5 digital strategies to start developing now to ensure your company can respond to the new digital landscape and consumer behaviour and more importantly, thrive in 2022.

1. Perfect the Online Hub of Your Business

With all the social media channels and Google platforms, some businesses ask themselves if their website is even important anymore.

The resounding answer is yes! Websites are incredibly important and one of the most important pieces of the puzzle of how to grow your business online.

Facebook, Instagram, Google My Business, etc. may be where your customer finds out about you or connects with you but your website is where they go to validate their feelings about you company, to ensure you are who you say you are and to learn more about your offerings.

A website establishes trust like no other platform and consumer trust is more important now than ever before. Plus, social media trends come and go but your website is the one asset that your business truly owns and can completely customize.

2. Be Obsessed with Consumer Behaviour

It’s one thing to sit in a Board Room and discuss with your team your website content, design and overall strategy. It’s another thing (and way more effective) to truly understand your ideal customer and his or her behaviour. Being obsessed with consumer behaviour will help you make more informed and targeted decisions.

COVID has changed consumer behaviour and it’s vital to understand what customers want and don’t want now. For example, curbside pick up (where a customer’s order is brought right to their car) may be a convenience that customers want continued, even when “things go back to normal.”

Investing in current customer insights reports and customer surveys will help your company stay ahead of your competition in the post-COVID landscape.

3. Optimize Your Site for Mobile

Obviously not a new trend but it can be shocking to see the websites that are still not optimized for mobile. If you’re still not convinced of the importance of mobile optimization, Google says that over 54% of websites are viewed on mobile devices and have implemented mobile-first indexing.

And it’s not just Google you need to keep happy, 57% of internet users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed website on mobile.

Your site shouldn’t just be adapted to fit on a mobile device – it should look outstanding on mobile and be designed with a mobile user in mind.

4. Stop Selling to Everyone

Yes you want consumers to pick you but what can make your company even more successful is by picking out your customers carefully. Focusing on a targeted demographic can make your digital marketing strategies and your website much more effective.

Customers more than ever want a personalized and seamless experience. How can you provide that red carpet treatment if you are trying to please everyone?

The Hammersley brothers provide a great example: If you have a website selling golfing equipment, you may determine that your traffic can be grouped into the following niches:

• First time golfers looking for their first golf clubs.
• Parents looking to buy clubs for their children.
• Intermediate golfers looking to move to the next level.
• Advanced golfers looking for the latest hot product.
• Everyone else.

A website or marketing campaign can then be designed specific to each of these target customers for a much more personalized experience.

5. Be Ruthless About Effective Web Design

And a final tip for how to grow your business online: stop focusing on good web design and focus on what’s effective web design. This strategy, highlighted by Joe Natoli from Give Good UX, is focused on being ruthless about determining what the user cares about or needs to focus on most on any given screen.

Joe says: “Even the best-looking UI design can still be nothing but an obstacle, an unusable collection of nice-looking elements.

Everything a user sees onscreen does one of two things. Each element either:

1. Illuminates the path to their desired outcome and helps them get there easily, or
2. Serves as an obstacle standing between them and what they hope to find and accomplish.”

Take a good look at your website. Are there obstacles standing the way of your success? It’s time to get out of your own way and focus on effective, user friendly and goal-driven websites that will help your business thrive online.

How do I Start an Online Business Right Now?

Once you’ve decided on an online business idea, you’ll want to do your due diligence and, eventually, give it life. Here’s how to start a business online right now, step-by-step:

1. Validate your idea with market research

It might sound harsh, but it’s true: just because you think you have a great idea, that doesn’t mean there’s a market for it. Before investing your time and energy into starting your business, research how feasible it is and whether there’s any potential buyer interest. You can hire an agency to conduct market research for you, but if you’re on a shoestring budget, you can also take the DIY approach:

2. Develop your product or service

You’ve validated your idea, now it’s time to turn it into a reality. Whether you’re selling a product or service, you need to create it. Find a manufacturer to bring your product to life, create packages of your service offerings, or write your book and identify a self-publishing option to bring it to fruition.

If you go the dropshipping route, the product has already been developed for you. It’s up to you to choose the products you’re passionate about or that you’ve identified a hot market for.

3. Set up your business finances

“How do I open a business bank account?” is a common question for many new entrepreneurs. After you’ve officially registered your business with your local government, you should have the tax identification numbers and other information required to open a business bank account.

As you grow, you might need funding for future endeavors, be it a new product launch or marketing and advertising spend. Having business bank accounts makes it easier for you to manage that capital, as well as track your revenue and expenses.

Having a bank account is also helpful when it comes to tax preparation, since your business-related transactions will be in a single place. As your business finances get more complicated, hiring a professional accountant or tax professional could be a viable option.

4. Find vendors and suppliers

Product-based online businesses in particular may require lots of business relationships. For example: a manufacturer, a dropshipper, or a third-party logistics coordinator. When identifying which partnerships you want to move forward with, it’s best to shop around and compare your options to make sure you’re getting the best solution for your needs.

Other online business ideas may require different relationships or contractors. If you’re writing a book, for example, you may want to hire a professional editor and book designer.

5. Build your website

If you want to start an online business, you need to have a website. And to make money online, you’ll need to incorporate payment processing functionality. 

First, find a business name. You can use a Business name generator to help come up with one if you’re stuck. You’ll need one to start building your website.

Then choose a domain name and verify that it’s available. You can purchase a domain name for less than $20 a year in some cases. From there, you can build your own store on a platform like Shopify and start accepting payments from customers right away.

6. Market your new online business

Getting your first paying customer is a huge milestone for a new small business owner. Now that you’ve got your store set up, you’ll want to start getting your business out there. But finding new customers and creating convincing promotions takes time and energy. 

There are so many channels to choose from—email marketing, Messenger marketing, mobile marketing, etc.—it’s hard to know the best way to grow your online business. It’s easy to get caught up in the wrong tactics and invest your time and money in the wrong places. 

What is The Most Profitable Online Business to Start?

Wondering what some good online business ideas are? Browse the following list to find the best business idea for you.

1. Start your own clothing line

If you have some designs in mind and a little bit of time on your hands, you can get your clothing company off the ground.

If you already own a Shopify store, you can set up your own clothing line using Oberlo, Printify, Printful, or a similar product-sourcing app. Each automatically links your store to apparel printers and clothing manufacturers. They also handle every step of the retail fulfillment process for you, giving you the freedom to design and ship a wide range of pieces right out of the gate.

Why start a clothing line?

• There’s nothing more satisfying than creating products that people will use every day.
• As soon as you build your Shopify store, you’ll be able to start selling instantly. Thanks to print-on-demand apps, the process of designing and delivering your own custom-made clothing has been streamlined and simplified.
• You’ll love the feeling of seeing your designs come to life by transforming your creativity into something real and profitable.

2. Launch a dropshipping store

Think you need a warehouse full of inventory to run your own business? Think again! Dropshipping is a great way to start a business on a budget. You can hit the ground running by sourcing a pre-existing product from a supplier and having them take care of things like packaging and fulfillment.

This process lets you skip over a lot of obstacles that might be standing in the way of you starting your own business. More importantly, it eliminates the risk of finding out there’s no market for your product after placing a huge order with a manufacturer or supplier.

Why choose dropshipping?

• You don’t need to stock products in a physical location, meaning that your cash flow won’t get tied up in inventory. There’s less of an upfront cash risk.
• Whenever a purchase is made, you place an order with a third party and they handle the rest of the process for you. Since you don’t have to deal with things like tracking inventory or mailing packages, dropshipping eliminates a lot of potential headaches for budding entrepreneurs.
• No warehouse means you can run your business from anywhere. Whether it’s your living room or the café down the street, you decide where you want to work from.

3. Sell your art online

Whether you’re a painter, photographer, or musician, there are plenty of ways to start an online business and turn your latest masterpiece into a source of revenue with a beautifully designed eCommerce website.

If painting or photography is your forte, you can sell your work as prints, canvases, and framed posters using Printify or Printful. This is a fantastic way to turn your art into something tangible that people can take home and integrate into their space. Is music your thing? You can sell your beats, songs, samples, and more as digital products.

Just take a look at The Drum Broker, the largest online drum sample business in the world. It created a successful and sustainable business model with the help of apps like FetchApp and ShipStation.

Why sell your art?

• You’ll be part of people’s lives by getting your work into customers’ homes.
• You’ll create a platform for showcasing your work by setting up shop online.
• As an artist, creating art isn’t just a hobby—it’s a way of life. This is your chance to turn your passion into an income stream and potentially do what you love for a living.

4. Teach an online course

Teaching an online course is a low-investment business idea for generating passive income. All you need to do is put together a video walkthrough explaining a subject you’re familiar with and then host it on your own personal website.

Although it requires effort up front, if you manage to design a popular, high-value video tutorial series, you would make money on an ongoing basis as people continue to enroll in your course.

To start creating your first online course, brainstorm a topic that you know well enough to teach someone how to do from scratch. This can be literally anything—music production, social media marketing, web development, you name it.

Next, you’ll want to grab a screencasting app, like ScreenFlow, to record your screen and voice while you walk your students through your tutorial. ScreenFlow also comes with a built-in video-editing suite, letting you shoot and cut your videos all on the same platform.

Why teach an online course?

• With an online course, you can literally set it and forget it. Take a few days or weeks, depending on the complexity you’re aiming for, to build an online course, and you could be reaping the benefits for weeks.
• You already have the knowledge, you just need to share it. Focus on teaching something that you’re already an expert at and the rest will come naturally, whether it’s building iOS apps, creating monthly budgets, or running Facebook ad campaigns.
• Teaching someone a new skill is its own reward. While there’s definitely money to be made teaching online courses, helping other people is always a satisfying experience in itself.

5. Become a virtual assistant

Are you super organized and love working behind the scenes? If so, you might be the perfect candidate to start a virtual assistant (VA) business. 

A VA helps entrepreneurs, businesses, and executives organize their personal and professional lives. There’s a broad spectrum of duties, ranging from appointment scheduling to basic marketing management and everything in between. And everything is done online. 

Why become a VA?

• Work with your ideal client. Even if you don’t know at the start, over time you’ll find out who you love working with and what you love to do for them. You can evolve your business to cater to those preferences. 
• Interact with people from all over the world. All you need is an internet connection to do your work, and you can have the chance to work with international clients and professionals. 
• Grow your business into a network of VAs. If you become too busy or have growth goals, you can hire and train VAs to work under you and increase profits. 

What is The Easiest Online Business to Start?

1. Build apps and websites

If you’re tech savvy, acquire some coding skills and start building. Whether it’s mobile apps, Shopify apps, or websites, you can create digital products for purchase or as a service provider. 

For example, you can create a custom Shopify theme template and sell it to merchants looking for an affordable DIY approach to designing their website. Or work with clients directly to build websites and apps tailored to their specific needs. 

Why build apps and websites? 

• Technology isn’t going anywhere, and the demand for the technical skills necessary to build apps and websites will only continue to grow. 
• There’s an endless number of platforms and systems out there. If you get bored of one, learn and transition to another.

2. Launch a podcast

If you like the sound of your own voice, consider recording it for a podcast. Podcasts are a great home business idea with multiple monetization options, similar to starting a blog. 

Here’s what you need to start your podcast: 

• A high-quality microphone 
• Audio recording software 
• Call recording software

To promote your podcast, consider collaborating with prominent figures as guests on your show. Encourage listeners to leave reviews and share your podcast with their friends and family. 

Why start a podcast?

• Podcasts continue to grow in popularity. According to Podcast Insights, 51% of Americans have listened to a podcast.
• A successful podcast can lead to endless possibilities: turn your episodes into a blog, solicit sponsors and advertisers, and make connections you never would have been able to before. 

3. Become an affiliate marketer

Affiliate marketing is when you recommend a product or service by sharing it on a blog or social media to your email list, on your website, or on other channels. You earn a commission each time someone converts through your unique referral link or code.

Find an affiliate program that suits your interests, personal brand, and target audience. Affiliate Future, ShareASale, and FlexOffers are a few examples. Amazon has its own affiliate program, and you can also check out the Shopify Affiliate Program. 

Once you’ve signed up, start sharing. Create social media posts, blog articles, emails, and other content about how great the product or service you’re promoting is. Don’t oversaturate your audience with ads, otherwise you risk coming across as spammy or inauthentic. 

Why do affiliate marketing? 

• It’s easy: you likely already promote the products and services you use. Now you can get paid for it! 
• Affiliate marketing is a great source of passive income. With the Shopify Affiliate Program, affiliates earn an average of $58 for each user who signs up for a paid plan and $2,000 for each Plus referral.

4. Curate subscription boxes

Subscription boxes are themed packages of various products. There are subscription boxes in pretty much every industry, from meal-prep kits and craft snacks to fitness products and makeup. You can curate subscription boxes around virtually any theme of your choice.

Bokksu, for example, curates Japanese snacks and sends them to customers each month. 

When you curate subscription boxes, you work with brands and artisans to purchase and resell their products in a bundled offering. Typically, consumers expect to be surprised by what’s in the box, though there are some (like meal prep kits) where the customer chooses what they receive. 

Why curate subscription boxes?

• It’s a viable seasonal business. Ironically, “subscription” boxes are purchased as gifts more often than for the buyer themselves. So if you’re only interested in running your online business for part of the year, this could be a model worth checking out. 
• It’s a growing industry. Subscription commerce sales grew from $57 million in 2011 to more than $2.6 billion in 2016.
• You don’t need to create your own products. Instead, you can use proven, successful products and simply put them together in a nice package. 

5. Develop a niche product

If you recognize an opportunity in a certain niche, you might be on to your next successful online business idea. Niche products cater to a unique audience. When done well, they serve a specific community. 

Niches could be based on industry, demographic, price point, geography, values, product attributes, and more. Really, a niche could be anything specific enough to target a small group of potential customers. For example: 

• Conscious consumers: think vegan, sustainable, and eco-friendly products and brands. 
• Pet owners: you could even drill down by pet type.
• Remote workers: these professionals have specific attributes different from the traditional office worker.

Why develop a niche product?

• Niche products are unique and thus buzzworthy. Early success can be all you need to drive press coverage with zero budget. 
• Though niching down might be scary to some, choosing a specific target customer makes it easier to create marketing and messaging that resonates. Rather than trying to speak to a broad, diverse group, you’re talking to a group of individuals with lots of shared characteristics. 

6. Create handmade goods

If you’re particularly crafty, selling handmade products would be a great ecommerce business idea for you. Whether you make jewelry, picture frames, or furniture, one business idea is to monetize your craft skills and sell products online. 

While you can use platforms like Craigslist or Etsy, your own online store will give you more control and make it easier to track and fulfill orders. 

Why sell handmade goods?

• Devote as much or as little time as you want. It’s your choice on how big you want to grow. 
• Create on your schedule. Make your handmade goods on a set schedule, when you have spare time, or whenever you want. 
• Turn your passion into income. Like many of the online business ideas on this list, an entrepreneurial endeavor backed by passion leads to a more fulfilling experience. 

Can You Make Money With an Online Business?

It’s difficult to quantify just how many sellers are making a living through e-commerce sites, and just how much money they’re making. One of eBay’s most successful sellers is Jack Sheng, who made headlines in 2008 when he became the first seller to earn 1 million positive ratings from buyers. (EBay encourages buyers to provide feedback on their experiences with sellers after each transaction.)

According to eBay’s official blog, Sheng’s electronics sales company, eForcity, brings in $40 million in revenue per year through sales on eBay, Amazon.com and its own online storefront. But it’s important to keep in mind that it took Sheng eight years to build his business from a three-man operation in a garage to a national company with 200 employees. It didn’t happen overnight.

According to the most recent U.S. Census data, in 2007 there were 106,065 retailers selling exclusively through electronic and mail-order sales. Of those, more than 84,000 were single-person operations. The average annual sales for those one-person shops were $38,330 .

The Internet is full of small Web sites selling homemade crafts, or niche products, as well as stores for local boutiques and shops that have opened a Web portal to supplement income from their stores. In 2007, 32 percent of small retailers were selling their merchandise through an online portal . So, there’s room for smaller retailers to make money online.

Selling through one of the larger sites has its pros and cons. eBay offers discounts on fees and more customer service access to power sellers who make at least $3,000 per year in annual sales. Those perks can be helpful, but some smaller sellers have criticized the discounts as unfair. Listing on Amazon can bring in a lot of sales.

According to recent earnings statements, 32 percent of the site’s total unit sales are from third-party sellers. But listings from sellers often compete with lower prices from Amazon itself. Etsy is a good site for selling handcrafts, but won’t let you sell retail items.

The more sites you list items on, the more sales you can potentially make, so consider setting up accounts eBay and Amazon, dabbling in smaller portals, and starting your own Web site with an online shopping cart.

How to Start Your Online Business Right Now

To get your online business started, you need to decide what you’re going to sell. Some sellers use drop shipping, which allows them to handle sales and leave order fulfillment to a third party.

Drop shippers stock catalog items in bulk and ship them to customers on demand, collecting a commission along the way. Others prefer to source their own products, either by collecting unique items from flea markets, making their own handcrafts or buying from wholesalers.

Whatever you decide to sell, it’s better to choose a narrow niche, especially when starting out. Online shoppers can find DVDs or TVs any number of places, and a small seller probably won’t be able to compete in terms of pricing. But if you sell something not many people offer, you’ll have less price competition and more of a chance to stand out.

Good marketing can prevent you from fading into the background among thousands of other Google hits. Search engine optimization (SEO), the process of inserting key words into Web pages and item descriptions, is crucial for making sure your store pops up on Web searches.

You can do it yourself by reading books on the topic, or hire an expert to help with your copy on a contract basis. You can also market yourself through pay-per-click advertising, which allows you to buy ads more affordably by using one of many ad sellers who only charge you when potential customers click on your links.

Reputation and appearances are key with Internet selling. To convince first-time customers that you’re an actual merchant and not a site looking to scam their credit card information, make sure you have good Web design.

It should look polished and legitimate, and paying a professional Web designer is probably worth it. You should also have SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protection, a form of encryption that allows buyers to send personal and credit card information securely through the forms on your Web site.

Make sure your product pages are detailed and accurate, and that pictures look professional. Display shipping and return policies prominently on product pages, and include a separate page that tells customers about you and your business.

These details can take a lot of work, and may end up costing money, but they will help shoppers feel like they’re shopping at a legitimate Web site, encourage repeat business and increase sales in the long run.

What is The Future of Online Sales?

eCommerce is an industry that is always changing–trends shifting and companies adapting to the way people are purchasing goods and services. 

In light of this, the future of eCommerce is strongly impacted by consumers and there are numerous possibilities and trends that retailers and brands can harness to help them prepare. Paying attention to both consumer and business trends will help retailers plan for the future.  

In the past, eCommerce sales have been a minority in total retail sales, and Statista reports eCommerce once made up only 14.1 percent of global volume. This was even lower in the United States.   

However, with so many brick-and-mortar stores closing, there’s been a shift in these numbers.  

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that for March 2020, retail sales fell 6.2 percent year over year. Some retailers like clothing stores, fell 50 percent.  

But, retailers with a strong eCommerce platform didn’t lose anything. Instead, they saw their in-store sales replaced with digital sales. For example, Digital Commerce 360 reported that since April, Target saw digital sales increase 275 percent, which could make it the best quarter the company has had since 2000, even as in-store purchases rapidly declined.

eCommerce sales are booming inside and outside of the United States. They’re expected to top $4.2 trillion USD in 2020 and reach more than $6.5 trillion by 2023. An estimated 2.1 billion shoppers are predicted to buy goods and services online by 2021. And interestingly enough, many of these online shoppers live outside the U.S. 

1.4 billion people are expected to join the world’s middle class by the end of 2020, and about 85 percent of them will be in the Asia Pacific region (APAC). eCommerce has shifted away from the West and will probably continue. 

If they haven’t already, most retailers are finding ways to revamp their order processing, delivery and management systems to handle nationwide and worldwide sales. 

Implementing an eCommerce order management solution allows for: 

• Inventory visibility 
• Order orchestration 
• Logical order routing 
• Returns management and analytics 
• Enhanced functions 

What Are The Best Upcoming Trends in eCommerce?

No matter how mature your eCommerce store is right now, if you don’t keep up with eCommerce trends, you’ll risk falling drastically behind. You need to keep looking ahead to ensure future success. As we move into 2022, you need to know these trends in order to take advantage of them.

That’s why it’s so important that eCommerce trends are analyzed and adopted in a timely manner. By doing this you can drive your eCommerce brand forward, and stay ahead of your competition.

Are you wondering what the future of eCommerce looks like? Do you want to look into what trends will shape the success of your online store? Here is a list of 10 eCommerce trends for 2022 that you need to look out for.

1. AR enhances the reality of online shopping.
2. There will be a growing volume of voice search.
3. AI helps shops learn about shoppers.
4. On-site personalization uses those insights to create individualized experiences.
5. Big data plays a big part in creating personalized experiences.
6. Chatbots improve the shopping experience.
7. Mobile shopping is still on the move.
8. More ways to pay.
9. Headless and API-driven eCommerce allow continued innovation.
10. Customers respond to video.

There’s a lot of new things happening in eCommerce. Technology and people are always evolving, and since eCommerce brings it all together, we are always going to be looking toward the future.

Read Also: Top 10 Must-Have Plugins For WordPress Blog in 2022

One thing is for sure, is that it’s never too late to jump right in, learn something new, and evaluate if it’s right for your business. For now, consumers are in the driver’s seats and eCommerce businesses will be customizing the journey ahead for them.

Is eCommerce Growing?

Yes, eCommerce is growing. Consumers of all sorts expect to be able to browse and make purchases online. Because of this, many businesses are jumping online and creating storefronts to compete for sales.

In today’s world, shoppers who may not have shopped online were forced to when brick-and-mortar stores closed and/or only offered buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS) options.

Should I Adopt all eCommerce Trends?

It would be both impossible to manage to adopt every trend and also likely not the right business choice. Trends are often popular because many businesses have found success with them; however, that doesn’t mean that every trend will work with every business.

The best thing you can do is evaluate each trend as it comes to see if it makes sense for your business to adopt. Stay abreast of industry news, assess your customer behavior, analyze competitor activity and make informed decisions about each new idea.

Last Words

Starting an eCommerce business can be one of the best decisions of your life as it has great potential to bring profits. To achieve desired results, it is essential to stay updated on market pulse. Carry out meticulous research and do your best to keep up with the demand. With your eCommerce store, get ready to enter into a world with unlimited possibilities.