Reload roundup: the latest commerce trends from Shopify

Head of Northern Europe at Shopify, Benjamin Lang, brought us the latest commerce trends for 2024, here’s our wrap up of what you need to know. 

The Reload Summit is a chance to refresh ourselves in what comes next in eCommerce, bringing together speakers, panellists and leading players from across the eCommerce space. 2024’s debut for Reload kicked off with Shopify’s Head of Northern Europe, Benjamin Lang, delivering the latest trends across commerce. In case you missed the day we’re bringing you the highlights in our Reload roundup. Read on for the best bits from Benjamin and Shopify’s session. 

Artificial intelligence 

The two words on everyone’s lips, and not just in eCommerce. Artificial intelligence is proving to be one of the biggest trends of 2024, with 94% of CIOs and Tech Executives already using, or planning to use AI and machine learning by 2025. 

In the world of eCommerce, 70% of retailers have plans for, or are already implementing the use of generative AI, for things like generating product images, creative content and shopper personalisation. Benjamin outlined three main areas where AI operations really show their effectiveness. As AI becomes better at predictive analytics, retailers can put together solutions to pre-empt the effects that issues have on certain retail locations or assessing stock levels for higher demand. Another aspect is the rise of the personal AI assistant, where many of the low value jobs can be replaced by super-quick AI assistants, freeing up more time for the things that need the human touch. Finally, the use of AI in design and merchandising opens up ample opportunities to tailor your floor plan, bring in multilingual chat bots for customers, and re-engineering the retail experience with augmented reality. 

Unified commerce 

Instead of thinking about the physical store in competition with eCommerce, Benjamin sees the two complimenting each other, meaning a unified approach to your channels is essential to stay ahead in retail, online and off. The customer experience needs to be seamless as they travel between different touch points, trying on clothes in a store to be followed up with a discount email for the webshop is one example. Unifying your commerce channels also simplifies processes, with noticeable effects on customer satisfaction. For businesses, you can get a clearer view of the data within your business, enabling you to get instant insights on your inventory, and look for upsell opportunities, and deliver personalisation features. 

Checkout 

60% of shoppers will walk away if they can’t complete a sale in two minutes - the average being 3 minutes - so shaving off that extra minute of complexity can close sales in baskets that would have been abandoned. Giving customers multiple payment options, including more currencies, preloading data in forms, and bringing the whole checkout process into one page are all ways to improve the checkout experience. Make sure you're streamlined from initial product discovery to out-for-delivery without needlessly losing sales to overcomplexity. 

Optionality 

When it comes to building the ideal tech stack for your business, optionality matters. According to Benjamin, 67% of retailers are considering changing their platform in the next three years, with more choices bringing more connectivity between software and plug-ins, with 67% also saying they valued the ease of use when using technology implemented into their platform. 

If you want to learn more about the evolving trends in commerce please get in touch with one of the team and start your journey today. 

Stay up the date and register your interest for the 2025 Reload Summit here.