A brand new year brings new opportunities and ideas; it also poses some new challenges. If last year taught us anything, then there’s a solution to every problem.

This past month we determined trends, positive and negative, that online merchants will encounter over the next few months. Experts anticipate an increase in package theft as well as an increase in fulfillment options. This tells us that we’ll be seeing effects of COVID-19 on both sides of the ecommerce spectrum. Continue reading this month’s Ecommerce Lately for recent trends, ecommerce news, and latest happenings.

Porch pirates are pillaging packages

COVID-19 isn’t the only thing affecting ecommerce shipping, there’s another issue on the rise. A recent study says porch piracy is increasing as millions of packages are delivered around the US every day. In 2020, 43% of consumers claimed their online orders were stolen from their doorstep.

Unfortunately, we may see that number increase even more in the coming months. But like all illegal activities, porch piracy can be prevented by both the consumer and online merchants.

Global Ecommerce reaches an all time high

Ecommerce sales around the world reached a record breaking $4 trillion at the end of 2020, that’s a 27.6% growth from last year! Experts predict that number will hit $5 trillion by 2022. What this tells us is that consumer behavior will not change in 2021, but continue to place ecommerce over traditional shopping trends.

The famous one-click checkout

Many online retailers choose multichannel ecommerce to thrive, others prefer to stay independent and focus on customer loyalty to stay successful. While many small businesses remain independent to strengthen their identity, there are some fallbacks that follow. One feature that independent sellers miss out on is the one-click checkout function. There are plugins to assist customers through the checkout process, but very few are as effective as Amazon’s solution. To combat the retail giant, ecommerce platform Bolt is developing a one-click checkout that small businesses can use to compete with companies like Amazon and Walmart.

Prime gains yearly subscription

Amazon Prime is one of the most popular ecommerce subscription services in the world. As of December 31st, membership reached a whopping 142 million in the US alone! What’s even more impressive? Over half of those subscribers (52%) signed up for an annual membership. While this information doesn’t seem too exciting at first glance, the fact of the matter is that roughly 71 million Amazon shoppers in the US plan on purchasing online all year ‘round. It’s something to think about if you’re considering selling on Amazon.

Ecommerce fulfillment on a smaller scale

How can small businesses compete with the likes of Amazon and Walmart? By offering similar services, specifically expedited shipping. You’re probably thinking it’s nearly impossible to offer same-day shipping. In fact, there’s a solution that you should be considering. Micro-Fulfillment Centers are popping up all over the US and can help ecommerce companies offer a faster shipping option. MFC popularity is increasing and experts say it could have a “cumulative opportunity worth $10 billion by 2026.” There are ways to compete with those industry giants, you just have to know where to look and think outside of the box.

It’s only the beginning of the year, so what’s to come is unpredictable, but there’s one thing you can count on. We’ll be bringing you the latest industry news every month. View all our Ecommerce Lately articles today!

---

This article is syndicated from where it was originally published on the ecomdash blog.

The post Ecommerce Lately January 2021 appeared first on Constant Contact.