While we wait for the analysis of Q4 to get a solid understanding of how 2022 really was, some platforms have started releasing a few facts we all should consider before plunging into 2023. For example, about 30% of Americans have started their holiday shopping, and about 73% have tightened their spending level given the economic and geopolitical context.
2022 is not over, but we’re in the final lap and many things are unlikely to change in the remainder. In this post, we’ll point out the main changes we’ve seen during the year, and the trending ecommerce categories in 2022, which sketch the ones for next year.
2022 Recap
2022 has been marked by unexpected changes with strong implications for many businesses. The rising cost of raw materials and the delays and disruptions in the supply chain pose challenges for SMEs. Survival is, for many, a matter of understanding the context we face at the busiest spending time of the year and optimizing processes and resources.
Because ecommerce is not going to stop.
The surge of Social Commerce
Even if it existed before, Social Commerce is one of the most solid trends since the pandemic, TikTok being its main torchbearer. Social commerce uses live streams to present, explain, promote, and sell products. The engaging power of video, the possibility to answer questions in real-time, and gather communities together have surpassed all expectations and favored DTC as well as new branding strategies.
Social media is now essential in product discovery, and therefore, in product marketing.
Omnicanality
The pandemic also narrowed down the space between the physical and the digital world, forcing brands to become phygital through Omnichannel strategies for their customers to seamlessly interact with them. The changes in consumer behavior patterns are closely related to the growing concern about what happens with all the user data needed to personalize experiences. And this is pushing towards our next point.
Non-invasive personalization
The slow death of third-party cookies has been an open secret for a while. The increasing cost of ads due to the growing competition, and the upcoming revolution Google is preparing with Analytics 4 has sowed the coming year with uncertainty. An uncertainty that, for now, can only be avoided by seeking consumer trust to develop long-term bonds through subscriptions.
The value of long-term customers calls for research, listening, and understanding what they expect from brands, to offer personalized experiences only then.
[GRAPH Users agree to share their data with brands they trust ]Sustainability
One of the most significant changes in ecommerce this year has to do with demographics and how Gen-Z is changing the game. Businesses are increasingly pushed to act and, more importantly, to show it if they want to reach younger generations.
Authenticity, brand activism, and storymaking (rather than storytelling) are pointing out the way brands should follow to optimize their processes, reduce their carbon print, and prove they are as committed to a more sustainable world as their potential customers are.
From packaging design to governance models prioritizing the better good, the future of ecommerce is – still driven by the tangible rather than the virtual.
Trending ecommerce categories in 2022
Because there is a platform where every industry performs better; because each one of them publishes reports based on the data they handle, and because the Q4 data is still subject to change – specifically due to Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the Christmas campaign.
More accurate numbers will come with the Trend Reports for 2023. Nevertheless, the following are useful indicators of how certain product categories have performed lately and can provide useful insights for your market research.
Oberlo
Oberlo is known for being Shopify’s partner in providing dropshippers with a reliable tool to manage inventories they will never really have. Thus, this list is somewhat limited to or constrained by the risk consumers are willing to take when purchasing a given product – especially electronics.
Customer service becomes the biggest challenge for dropshippers, who – as mere intermediaries – have little leverage to build and maintain their reputation in front of defective or low-quality products.
Shopify
But Shopify goes way beyond Oberlo, despite offering the ease of its structure and user experience to dropshippers. Companies of all sizes have adopted Shopify as their online sales channel, mostly to benefit from the opportunities of DTC and the centralization of their stock control. For example, Nestlé, Unilever, or the L.A. Lakers.
You can find a bunch of interesting facts and numbers in our post about Shopify, or the one comparing Shopify and WooCommerce.
Should you go deeper into Shopify’s data, here’s the source!
Amazon
Amazon may not disclose lots of data, especially when it’s useful in the short term. However, Jungle Scout does for being the preferred tool by Amazon sellers in keyword research.
| JUNGLE SCOUT | |
|---|---|
| 1. Home & Kitchen | 15. Garden & Outdoor |
| 2. Beauty & Personal Care | 16. Grocery & Gourmet Food |
| 3. Toys & Games | 17. Appliances |
| 4. Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry | 18. Cell Phone & Accessories |
| 5. Health, Household & Baby Care | 19. Automotive Parts & Accessories |
| 6. Sports & Outdoors | 20. Handmade |
| 7. Arts, Crafts & Sewing | 21. Apps & Games |
| 8. Books | 22. Industrial & Scientific |
| 9. Kitchen & Dining | 23. Computers |
| 10. Baby | 24. Video Games |
| 11. Electronics | 25. Collectibles & Fine Art |
| 12. Tools & Home Improvement | 26. CDs & Vinyl |
| 13. Pet Supplies | 27. Luggage & Travel Gear |
| 14. Office Products | 28. Musical Instruments |
Key insights and tips
2022 was supposed to be a year of stable growth, although a few things haven’t gone as planned. Now we face Q4 surrounded by alerts on recession, which may surprise one or two business owners. Probably the best way around this is to monitor prices closely and focus on engaging long-term customers.
A general overview of the stats above confirms this year’s trend: the market is shifting towards sustainability, DIY, and repairability. And as younger generations populate consumer demographics, this will nothing but grow. Partly due to a domestic expense cut too, people are ordering spare parts to fix products instead of replacing them. Mostly to build furniture, create handcrafts, and home improvements.
While ecommerce continues to grow both in sales and in use, consumer trust doesn’t quite keep pace. On the one hand, due to environmental awareness and the tendency to support local businesses to reduce carbon print. On the other one, as mentioned earlier, because of the little risk users are willing to take when buying products that are expensive, or from brands that don’t have a good online reputation or a reputation at all.
Considering pre-sales during the holiday season is a good way to ensure stock availability and reduce risks. Focusing on referrals will help create long-term relationships – if you pamper them enough. See your sourcing and logistics options, not only for cost reduction but aiming also at that so-appreciated lower carbon print.
And, of course, give your products the content they need to show their best look. That, we can help with!
