Having experienced phenomenal growth in the last year, the e-commerce sector is preparing for a year of growth fueled by new, digitally enabled, business models. Businesses are now thinking actively and expansively about the world in which they operate. From opportunities offered by new tech to challenges posed by the climate crisis, the industry anticipates a dynamic year in which competition is fierce, innovation is critical and the potential gains are significant.

Sustainability, social commerce, payment optimization and diversification, cyber security and fraud, and growth in marketplaces are some of the major trends that will shape e-commerce in 2022, according to a report by Checkout.com. 

In line with country-led initiatives towards environmental sustainability, this year has seen merchants pledge to implement more eco-friendly practices in an effort to better meet their customers’ expectations. With the majority of millennials (73 percent) preferring to purchase from sustainable brands, merchants are acting in everybody’s best interest by prioritizing sustainability going into the New Year. 

Secondly, the trend of social commerce has undeniably got a lot of traction in recent times with 40 percent of merchants saying they are investing in improving their social commerce offering for the coming year, the report added.

This is also evident by the fact that increasingly, brands are maintaining active social media presences in order to drive prospective buyer engagement.

Now, given the rapid pace at which the industry is growing the role of payments optimization has become extremely critical. This has become true since nearly a third (31 percent) of large enterprise merchants cited losses in revenue during 2021 due to poorly optimized payment solutions. Meanwhile, a fifth (20 percent) of merchants see this as a key challenge yet to be overcome in 2022.

Another important trend will be the implementation of best-in-class cyber security and fraud tools. As fraudsters only get better at their criminal trade, brands will strive to mitigate the risks of fraud and cybersecurity breaches through better technology and data analytics.

“2022 is going to be a really tough year as it relates to fraud. The criminals have got a lot more sophisticated and have a lot more tools, so this will be the year merchants need to be at the top of their game,” says Julie Fergerson, CEO, Merchant Risk Council. 

Lastly, marketplaces have now become a common model of business for many retailers. Given the competition, merchants have growing concerns over their ability to be heard above the buzz of the marketplace that is dominating the retail industry.

Experts predict 50-70 percent of digital commerce to be conducted on marketplace platforms by 2025.