The evidence is in and super clear. 2022 was a year of shoppers changing behaviours as they edged their way out of the Covid slump. Predictions that sofa surfing shoppers would rule the sales market fell short of the crystal ball insights - shopping in person did recover a little but not everyone shopped solely online.

Did you shop IRL or wait for the online discounts that Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday promised?

Here are some trends in online shopping that we are keeping an eye on in the hopes of boosting ecommerce in 2023:

1. Creating video content for products to help customers shopping online.

Give your customer fresh and fun content that helps them connect with you, your brand and most importantly your products. Small businesses are really working hard to give people a front seat view of their products, what they do, how they work, the benefits they bring. Think about how you can create immersive experiences before the product is even in their hands.

2. Technology is getting better with more ways to inspire buyers and their networks with personalised shopping experience.

Your customers' buying behaviours and ways of buying keep evolving. The great news is that technology continues to evolve at a fast pace meeting the shifting needs of ecommerce businesses so that they can stay ahead of the online shopping game. Machine Learning in particular is enhancing truly personal customer experiences with better search and recommendations that learn from customers browsing habits. This year small businesses will be figuring out how to apply some of that to their ecommerce shops.

3. Swap your influencers for real customers with real experiences

The generation of influencers remains important to small businesses. Your product needs to set a high bar when brands are often measured not only on the quality of the product but also the people across communities who rate the product highly. Help people connect with your products by finding the right people to create and influential endorsement. But, alongside that, find ways to connect your customers with not just the influencers but also real people who will share their positive stories of your products and benefits for people. Finding the sweet spot between these two online selling strategies will have you ever-present in the minds of your customers.

4. Add to the experience of receiving your product with fun in your box stuff

You know that amazing feeling you get when you are shopping and take your carefully selected products to the till? Whether it is that wonderful sales assistant who has you laughing, or the extra samples ‘just for you’ offered at the counter, that experience needs to be replicated when you open your carefully packaged box. This is one of the biggest trends in online shopping to take notice of. This experience shouldn’t begin when you receive your delivery. How can you give your customer that opening a box experience even before the item hits their online shopping basket. Can you think of ways to give that special moment and insight into your brand that makes selecting your product and adding it to the basket even more fun?

5. Social media ecommerce will outrun traditional ecommerce platforms.

An increasingly important ecommerce tool, social media platforms like TikTok are being used by consumers to find new products, to research them, to get customer reviews and then make informed purchase decisions. This year small businesses will need to find a way to incorporate them alongside (or even replace) the traditional online selling platform strategies. To give you an idea of how big this could be for you and the products you sell, TikTok has now replaced Google when it comes to finding products to buy. It ties in nicely with getting the right blend of influencers and customer reviews. Using a social media ecommerce strategy could help convert those leads into new customers - faster.


Continue to look closely at the new ecommerce trends that are emerging to help with your small business growth this year. Things are getting competitive so stay ahead wherever and whenever you can.