2021 Amazon: Current trends and future predictions

2021 Amazon trends – Current trends and future predictions

 As businesses face new challenges in this post-pandemic era, data is emerging on the winners and losers during the worldwide lockdown back in 2020. However, given that most of us were indoors throughout 2020, e-commerce sales shot up by 32.1% towards the final quarter of that year.

Out of that overall increase, Amazon performed well above its competitors by increasing its e-commerce sales to 38%. Increased sales lead to increased competition on the tech giant’s platform. But how will things pan out for 2021 Amazon trends and beyond? This is especially relevant if you are a seller on Amazon, as you need to gear up your seller profile to meet the new competition and challenges in the coming years.  

Growing ever stronger, Amazon has been able to cement its place as the third-largest ad company in the United States, a position also reflected in the UK. The increased sales figures shown above are reflected in their ad revenue growth, which again suggests a rise in competition among sellers on the platform.

So, what are the new trends on Amazon, and what changes can you expect in the coming year? As Amazon Experts, we share our insider knowledge, so you can plan for the year ahead. 

Current trends and how things might play out beyond 2021 
First, let us explore the latest developments on the online marketplace and how they may evolve in the coming year.

Communication with buyers

 
Amazon has made changes to how sellers contact buyers by putting a limit on the number of messages a seller can send to a buyer. Additionally, sellers cannot comment on reviews posted by buyers. As we know, product or seller reviews are important because they affect the final purchasing decision of potential buyers. 

Amazon has already introduced a ‘Request a Review’ button, which could mean that it could ultimately lead to the complete removal of the buyer-seller messaging option. Therefore, next year could see more limitations on how sellers interact with their buyers. The idea behind this restriction is to enhance the buyer's experience and encourage the seller to provide superior service without requiring them to reach out to their buyers.
 

New branding features for the store front end

 
Throughout 2020, Amazon demonstrated a clear intention to help buyers get to know its sellers. Accordingly, Amazon has been sending free traffic to your storefront, enabling buyers to browse all your items within your Amazon store page. We predict that this trend will only continue to gain momentum with more competition through paid traffic. 

To be successful, a seller needs to optimise and design the storefront to convert visitors into paying customers. Having a well-designed store also enables you to sell other items in your store that the buyer may not have been interested in when they first visited the page. Therefore, 2021 and the years to come may see a growth in sales taking place directly from the seller’s storefront. 

Merge with social media

It is no secret that Facebook has introduced stores on its partner platforms, including WhatsApp and Instagram, in addition to the Facebook Marketplace. And with the new kid on the block, TikTok is set to add fuel to the competition on selling on social media. Being a futuristic tech firm, Amazon is well aware of the implications for the growth of social media and the buyer behaviour on those platforms. According to official data, 37% of users in the US made a purchase using social media. 


The future of e-commerce lies on social media, so Amazon sellers need to keep a close eye on how things unfold in 2021. Social media might not be a sales funnel anymore as we could potentially see Amazon introduce their own way of integrating into a social platform to influence buyer behaviour.

More buyer engagement

 
In tandem with social media outreach, the tech giant has already introduced Amazon Live Stream. It allows sellers to promote their products live to customers worldwide. These live streams are featured on the main pages of products that support Fire TV – so reaching new customers has never been easy. However, to be featured on the main page requires a great deal of work. Video ads, editorial recommendations (both inside and outside of Amazon) and sponsored brand ads are a few requirements for you to secure a place on Fire TV’s home page. 

To secure your spot, you will need to register the brand. Start by designing a storefront that showcases your products, effectively demonstrating your brand identity in every image and word. The next step is to expand your sales content by creating posts and Amazon Live sessions, which can lead to more customers visiting your storefront. The primary objective of these techniques is to increase buyer awareness and attract more store visitors. To make a successful impact in 2021 and beyond, you will need to achieve some of these strategies in your Seller Central and storefront. 

Stay abreast with ads

 
It is no secret that Amazon’s success is largely driven by the data it collects from its users. And with their advertising, a cut of that data is shared with sellers who choose to pay for ads on the platform. In short, a seller can see how effective every pound they spend is.

This is because the tech giant has more than two decades of real-life data and analytics on the actual buying habits of consumers. These are not predictions or patterns, but actual figures derived from the pounds spent on the platform. According to one commentator from the Financial Times, a seller can see the entire transaction so that they can understand the value of just $1.  

Although Amazon is relatively new to advertising compared to Google and Facebook, many industry experts predict that Pay-Per-Click (PPC) on the marketplace will introduce new features at a rapid pace to bring itself in line with its competitors. 

Amazon has introduced numerous initiatives to enhance the quality and performance of its advertising. These are likely to include the increased ability to use headlines, images and off-Amazon targeting. According to other experts, improvements in ad reporting and analytics are forthcoming.

Additionally, Amazon is more likely to enhance ad campaign optimisation for sellers to streamline their ad spend. Similarly, there will be a greater emphasis on seller objectives, such as brand awareness, conversion rates, and increasing followers on the Amazon store. 2021 will see more improved targeting of buyers, enabling sellers to identify customers’ demographics, location, and interests. As mentioned above, there is room for off-platform advertising to bring buyers onto Amazon.

Conclusion

 
Kangaroo UK has helped numerous sellers worldwide optimise their Amazon seller accounts to their full potential. If you would like to know more about these changes, subscribe to our bite-sized tips (above) or would like to prepare your account to face these upcoming changes, why not get in touch and talk to one of our Amazon experts