Digital Marketing Trends Shaping the Ecommerce Landscape
We looked at data from over 2,000 of the world’s most popular ecommerce stores in a variety of categories, including:
- Consumer Electronics in Fashion
- Kids Products
- Skincare and Beauty
- Automobile
- Pet products
- Sports
And there’s more. The data in this report was compiled using Semrush’s analysis and technologies.
In Italy, for example, YouTube had a 49 per cent increase in traffic, yet CPC prices are falling across the board in major ecommerce categories. As the outbreak dragged on until June 2020, advertiser trust dwindled.
The silver lining:
The decrease in CPC is ideal for launching new products or increasing sales of existing ones.
This research will help you make sense of the future of ecommerce and how everything that happens in 2021 will affect your industry and market.
Key Takeaways: Ecommerce Digital Marketing Trends in 2020
Although the intricacies of this digital marketing trends research are fascinating, we’ve summarised some of the key lessons for you here.
The increase in visitors to eCommerce sites in the spring of 2020 outpaced the regular shopping rushes of the winter holidays, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday.
The top three eCommerce categories with the biggest growth witnessed a 40 to 50 per cent increase in visitors year over year. Food and Groceries, Sports and Outdoors, and Home and Garden are the three categories.
Outdoor toys, for example, have seen a 400% increase in searches, while garden chairs have had a 300% increase in searches in the Home and Garden category.
Yoga mat searches have increased by 323 per cent, and men’s running clothes searches have increased by over 164 per cent.
Ecommerce Consumer Demand Trends
Apart from the massive increase in search traffic for toilet paper, which increased by 14,928 per cent, other consumer goods have expanded significantly.
In February and March, bidet searches increased by more than tenfold. Other consumer goods that have grown in this manner include:
- Freezers are set to 512 degrees Fahrenheit.
- At 396 per cent, bread machines are the most popular.
- Pelotons have a 124 per cent success rate.
- At 83 per cent, the air purifier is effective.
And there is a slew of others. Let’s look at the digital marketing trends in eCommerce for consumer expectations in 2020.
1. The search volume for hand wash joined the top five in Health and Beauty
Handwash searches have increased from 73,000 monthly searches in the first half of 2019 to 638,400 monthly searches in the same period in 2020. Meanwhile, the remainder of the top five products has remained unchanged yearly.
2. Webcam searches have increased by more than 300 per cent year over year in 2020.
The monthly search for cameras in consumer electronics was one million in 2019, but it has increased to 3.045 million in the first half of 2020. Drones have been pushed out of the top 10 most searched products in that category by the increased demand for webcams.
3. Consumers are turning their homes into workspaces
Demand for homes and gardens has increased. The monthly search for “office chair” increased from 417,200 to 1,254,000, surpassing beds as the most sought product.
Meanwhile, the most popular products by search have stayed consistent during this time in other industries.
5. Outdoor and sporting goods searches have increased by 164 per cent to over 400 per cent.
Outdoor toys and garden chairs, in that order, have seen 4x and 3x their search volumes in 2020. Meanwhile, the demand for sporting goods has increased.
Men’s running apparel has seen a 164 per cent increase in popularity. The number of people looking for Yoga mats has increased by 323 per cent. The number of puzzles has increased by 309%.
Nintendo Switch consoles were ranked one and three among the top three Walmart products in terms of traffic to webpages during the outbreak. The most popular console received 945,000 visitors, while the second received 479,000.
Ecommerce Traffic Trends
According to researchers, eCommerce sales are expected to reach an all-time high of $3.914 trillion in 2020. However, the epidemic is set to increase that number.
Shoppers use online businesses to purchase everything from necessities to high-end items. Groceries, electronics, vehicle components, skincare products, and other items are all purchased online.
In particular, from 2019 to 2020, the search for laptops increased by 123 per cent year over year.
7. In March, Shopify got over 7.3 million site visitors, up from the previous month.
The eCommerce platform increased by 29% year over year. In March alone, searches for “Shopify free trial” increased by 89 per cent.
8. Globally, the average monthly eCommerce traffic is 17 billion dollars.
For Black Friday and end-of-year promotions, the busiest months of the year are usually November and December. Consumers traditionally shop for more things online during the holidays than at any other time.
On the other hand, the epidemic drove customers to the internet and boosted springtime traffic to eCommerce retailers beyond the end-of-year figures. Notably, traffic continued to increase until June 2020.
9. From March to June, average traffic growth was 36 per cent across all categories.
Shoppers have to rely on eCommerce sellers to meet all of their wants due to the necessity for social separation. As a result, traffic to eCommerce retailers increased steadily over time, averaging 36 per cent across all categories.
10. During the epidemic months, traffic to the top three eCommerce categories increased by 40 to 50 per cent.
Home and Garden, Food and Groceries, and Sport and Outdoors are the top three categories. Traffic to general merchandise stores like Amazon, Walmart, and eBay is not included in these statistics.
Home and Garden expanded faster than any other category in those months, as shown below. The category achieved 1.5 billion visitors and was on its way to surpassing two billion.
11. 70% of all eCommerce traffic comes from mobile devices.
The majority of visitors to eCommerce stores used a mobile device, so websites optimised for mobile saw a lot of traffic. Only 30% of visitors accessed eCommerce stores via non-mobile sources.
12. 57.77 per cent of visitors are direct traffic
Direct site visits account for over 60% of all site traffic. This emphasises the significance of branding in the eCommerce world. Buyers are growing more aware of brands, and they are also becoming more devoted to them.
The following are some of the other top traffic sources for eCommerce stores:
- At 26.44 per cent, search traffic is the most popular.
- Referral traffic accounts for 9.74 percent of all traffic.
- 2.13 percent of traffic comes from social media.
- Paid traffic accounted for 3.92 percent of the total.
13. The average traffic increase across all eCommerce categories was 17 percent.
Based on traffic statistics from January 2019 to June 2020, Semrush discovered that all eCommerce categories witnessed an average increase in traffic year over year. Because more individuals rely on these internet retailers for their requirements during the epidemic months, increased traffic implies better transactions.
Health and Beauty receive the most direct traffic, followed by Fashion eCommerce Stores.
These categories attract more visitors than others, with 61 percent for Health and Beauty sites and 59 percent for Fashion sites. Furthermore, Health and Beauty saw the greatest increase in traffic, with a 24 per cent increase.
Hanging out with family and friends came first, with 48 percent of respondents indicating that most individuals look forward to reconnecting with their loved ones. People also enjoy going to restaurants and dining out; this activity has a 32 percent interest rate.
15. Branded search traffic has increased
Health and Beauty showed the largest year-over-year rise in branded search traffic, with a 16 percent increase. The category’s brand traffic is 23 percent, only behind consumer electronics, which has the second-largest brand traffic.
Brand search traffic in the consumer electronics industry is at 26%.
Even though the Fashion category grew by only 4%, brand search traffic for fashion items increased by 45 per cent.
Other searches with double-digit brand traffic include:
- At 17%, children’s items are available.
- Groceries and food account for 11% of total spending.
- Sports and outdoor activities account for 11% of the total.
- With only 2% of branded search traffic, gifts and flowers are the least popular.
Ecommerce Ad Trends
New sellers rely on bought traffic to debut their items when entering extremely competitive marketplaces or niches. On the other hand, established merchants use adverts to bring additional visitors to their websites to stay competitive and increase their profits.
16. 45.96 percent of advertisers globally spend $1,000 or less per month on Google advertisements.
The second-highest ad spenders on Google AdWords spend $20,000 to $150,000 per month. This demographic accounts for 15.98 percent of all advertisers. Another 13.82 percent of Google ad spenders spend more than $150,000 per month.
Advertisers in the smallest group pay $3,000 to $5,000 per month. 3.59 percent of sellers that use Google AdWords to promote their business fall into this category.
The major question here is why do 30% of advertisers spend more than $20,000 per month on ads? Why are 46% of them spending less than $1,000?
There are a few plausible explanations for these expenditure patterns:
Many advertisers are still experimenting with their advertisements to see what works.
The majority of advertisers do not have a huge advertising budget.
When advertisers discover what works, they commit to a $20,000 or more monthly investment.
These are only some of the probable explanations for the polarised ad spending trends we’ve seen. Of course, there are likely other factors at play.
In the United States, 30% of advertisers set a monthly budget of $1,000 or less.
17. Approximately half of all general retailers and fashion e-tailers spend more than $150,000 each month advertising.
Fashion e-tailers and General Retailers are the top ad spenders, according to Semrush’s analysis of data from its PPC Advertising Toolkit. Half of these sellers spend more than $150,000 per month on ads.
18. During the epidemic months of March to June 2020, online ad budgets declined by 20% year over year.
Compared to the previous year, the epidemic months of March to June 2019 had a 20% reduction in the ad budget in 2020. Advertisers who spent more than $1 million per month were first hesitant to reduce their spending, but by June 2020, they had given in.
Advertisers with a budget of more than $1 million boosted their spending by 5.6 percent in March 2020, while others lowered theirs.
Advertisers who spent $100,000 to $1 million on ads were the ones who cut back the most. In June 2020, this group reduced their spending by 34%.
The cost per click for ads has decreased due to advertisers decreasing their spending. As a result, advertisers will be able to get more bang for their cash. However, this decrease in ad expenses did not occur in all eCommerce industries simultaneously.
19. In March 2020, beauty and fitness ad spend increased by 28.9% over February, while other categories decreased.
Advertisement spending in travel, sports, law and the government had decreased by 46.4 percent, 17.8 percent, and 15 percent, respectively, by March 2020. Advertisers in the Beauty and Fitness category, on the other hand, spent 28.9% more money in February 2020 than they did in February 2019.
Google’s revenue is expected to drop by $28 billion due to the drop in ad spending. Meanwhile, customers watched streaming material, read digital news, and played video games. According to Semrush’s Traffic Analytics, Italy’s YouTube had a 49.04 per cent increase in traffic.
These developments indicate that advertising is currently more profitable for eCommerce firms than ever.
CPC has decreased in all eCommerce categories except Home and Garden, Beauty and Skincare, and Jewellery.
During the epidemic, demand for jewellery, cosmetics, and gardening products increased, and ad spending in these categories also increased.
Advertisements for home and garden products climbed from $2.2 percent in December 2019 to $2.8 percent in March 2020. Ads for jewellery increased from $1.6 to $1.8. The CPC for beauty goods ranged from $1.7 to 2.1 per cent.
Insurance’s CPC fell to $15.4 from $17.7, yet it remained the most expensive eCommerce ad.
Online Education is in second place, with an ad cost of $11.2, a small decrease from the previous position of $11.6. Electronics, auto shops, and real estate experienced no CPC adjustments during the epidemic months.
22. Free delivery and variants account for 32% of all eCommerce ad CTAs.
More sellers are started to utilise “Free Returns,” “Free Shipping,” and “Free Delivery” in their CTAs as more individuals turn to eCommerce retailers to fulfil their buying demands.
CTAs, on the other hand, vary by industry.
For example, “Limited Edition” or similar exclusivity CTAs are used in Home and Garden and Health and Beauty. Quality is important in Consumer Electronics and Pets, as seen by CTAs like “vet advised,” “factory authorised,” and “trusted since.”
Fashion, Sports, and Outdoors audiences respond best to CTAs that create a sense of urgency or novelty. In the commercials studied in this business, “shop now,” “shop newest,” and “new arrivals” were utilised in 26% of the CTAs.
Ecommerce Digital Marketing Trends
During the epidemic, the eCommerce sector saw some new tendencies emerge. Because most businesses could not anticipate these transitions, they were unable to capitalise on otherwise valuable possibilities.
Businesses will tighten up loose ends in response to these trends, making internet shopping a breeze.
Ad expenditure will increase as individuals get more comfortable shopping online, and as online education expands. CPC ads are likely to become much more competitive than before the epidemic.
Farmers are turning to the internet to sell their goods directly to consumers. Stores that aren’t online can’t stay that way. Business is always evolving, and those that prepare for it and take advantage of it will reap huge rewards.
