All too soon, the holiday shopping season will be upon us. Ecommerce sales have been increasing each year it has been in existence, and this year is expected to be no different. Due to some new trends in ecommerce, the overall market share is projected to grow to 9% of total retail sales this year, or $79.4 billion, up from 8.3% last year.
Lower gas prices and gradually improving unemployment numbers have experts predicting a healthy 5.7% increase over 2014's holiday season. Ecommerce is expected to grow 13.9% over 2014, with some sectors growing even faster.
Trends in Ecommerce This Season
Mobile commerce is skyrocketing this year with an expected growth rate of 32.2%, more than double the forecasted increase for ecommerce as a whole. By the end of 2016, eMarketer estimates that 25% of all U.S. retail ecommerce sales will take place through mobile devices.
"Consumers are opting to complete their transaction with the same device they began the shopping journey with, and that is increasingly with a smartphone," says eMarketer analyst Monica Peart.
Social commerce is the other big trend of the 2015 shopping season. Sites like Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram have all added "buy now" buttons to their product ads in the past year to facilitate easy purchasing from their sites on PCs and mobile devices. Some of the social sites store credit card information to allow purchasing in just a few clicks. Social sites aren't charging extra for adding the buttons; it's a way for them to make sales more trackable, which adds value to their advertising.
Capitalizing on Ecommerce Trends
Selling your products online is a way to grow your business, and the holiday rush is the perfect time to get in on this lucrative market and see what it can do for you. 72% of U.S. small businesses don't currently sell online, even though there are clear advantages to doing so.
If your business doesn't have a mobile-optimized website, it's worthwhile to spend some money to get one up and running as soon as you can. For those who do have a website, setting up social media accounts with advertising and linking them to your website may help maximize your holiday profits by driving more traffic to your site while promoting sales across platforms.
Worldwide, ecommerce sales have jumped to well over a trillion dollars, with China taking over the number one sales spot with $562 billion in purchases. The U.S.A. is second in ecommerce purchases with $349 billion. If your products have crossover appeal into foreign markets, there is great potential in optimizing your website for different languages and international shipping options.
A business cash advance can provide working capital for your business to join the ecommerce market. As the sales roll in, the cash advance will be repaid automatically with small daily payments. Apply for a Quikstone Capital Solutions business cash advance now and expand your market share with ecommerce sales.
