In the dynamic environment of the contemporary economy, digital trends are rapidly taking over the global market. During the last year, there has been a total of $562 billion in revenue projected in the country of China alone, all funds streaming through the ecommerce channels. The US market is second in line with the impressive amount of $349 billion in ecommerce sales, followed by the country of UK, Japan, Germany, France et cetera.

One global trend that still remains universal and undisputed, is the interesting statistic which implies that the majority of customers still prefers to shop from their personal computers. More than 72% of sales in the US were accomplished through a desktop browser, even though it is now a well-established fact that while browsing for goods, products and services, people tend to go mobile. In the Europe, the percentage of desktop shoppers is even higher. Although there is a great emphasis on the importance of mobile shopping today, especially through various apps, consumers still prefer a thorough research and a reliable and transparent platform.

This contradiction in particular, which we will elaborate on in the following text, implies the importance of actual insights in the world ecommerce. When designing a sales funnel, every online merchant should know that 90% of the work is based on the clever application of thorough research. This is why it is vital for every ecommerce business owner to keep in touch with the current payment trends and challenges.

Going Mobile: A Glitch in the Rise of a Cashless Society

In the last months of the year 2015, researcher Niklas Arrvidson from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has disclosed an information from his study which depicts the current status of the e-commerce in the best possible manner. Apparently, the country of Sweden has managed to bring down the figure of Swedish crowns (which is the official currency of this country) from 106 billion recorded six years ago, to about 80 billion in official circulation. The actual amount is even lower, Niklas also suggests. This means that the use of cash in this country is rapidly decreasing, and will continue to do so in the following decades.

One of the reasons behind this surprisingly increasing trend is definitely the rise of the mobile usability and online payment services. Within the country of the UK, the number of visits to the most popular ecommerce stores, from a mobile device, accounts for more than a 50% total. However, according to the SimilarWeb, desktop visits still lead to far more conversions. So while the mobile remains the undisputed trend that will continue to increase and keep enabling impressive liquidity of funds, ecommerce merchants should be aware of the fact that the strategy of Mobile First might still remain an unfruitful approach when it comes to conversions. While the usability of devices is certainly playing a significant role in forming a cashless society of tomorrow, for the time being the very transactions are still focused on desktop.

Ecommerce Internationally: Building a One Stop Shop Payment Platform

Just three days ago, one of the Asian ecommerce giants, Rakuten, officially announced that this company is closing all marketplaces in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, laying off a total of 150 employees. The reason behind this sudden decision is the new model of ecommerce system that this company will put into practice within the following month. This model is based on a B2B2C service. Business to business to customer model will allegedly provide ecommerce shops and businesses with a solution that will handle their transactions without any personal involvement, giving the opportunity to businesses to actually outsource their commerce and trading systems throughout all of Asia. While this piece of information is still based on a lot of speculations, it is evident that one of the leading trends for the ecommerce in 2016 will be the utilization of the international market.

This trend has been addressed semi-successfully multiple times. Allowing a particular business to spread on the global market, by providing the tools and means necessary, has remained a challenge for many contemporary ecommerce magnates. When it comes to Europe, the SEPA solution is the best possible resolution that will allow you to expand on the market by providing alternative payment methods to your shoppers. While we are still in the dark about whether the Rakuten has found a way to employ this system within the Asian market, they can certainly learn a lot from the complex but the UX friendly SEPA infrastructure which allows your customers to purchase goods, products and services through their preferred local payment methods no matter the location. Building a one stop shop platform that will suit consumers of every possible market is one of the key trends and challenges that will remain unanswered for the time being. However, with Alternative Payments, you can target a great deal of the Europe market with preferred payment methods, and you can employ this solution whether your ecommerce platform is based on WordPress, Opencart, Magneto, Drupal, Oscommerce and more.

Conclusion

While there are still a lot of unconfirmed predictions regarding ecommerce safety and even biometric solutions for secure payments, the important factors that merchants should focus on are definitely the correct employment of mobile strategies, and solutions that will enhance further market expansion. Ecommerce webstores should also put emphasis on ease of doing business, and transparent pricings, instead of insisting on fast unreliable transactions. Don’t forget that online shoppers are getting smarter and more careful by the day, not to mention that they are increasing in numbers, and it is up to you to meet their terms.