New Report on E-Commerce Trends Available for TIA Members
January 13, 2017 | Emerging e-commerce trends and ideas to help toy companies maximize their digital presence are highlighted in a new TrendHunter.com monthly report, now available for free to Toy Industry Association (TIA) members. This is the latest in a series of value-added reports from the research company offering in-depth perspectives and trends in various areas related to the toy industry.
“The trends identified in this report enlighten readers on how the world of e-commerce is quickly evolving to meet the usage patterns and demands of Millennials,” said Anne McConnell, TIA senior director of market research & data strategy. “Companies looking to amplify their digital and social presence and stay ahead of their competitors are encouraged to read this informative report.”
The following trends are just a few of the report’s highlights:
- Stimulating subscription – Children’s subscription services are offering parents enticing services that engage children with creative and educational components. These include tech education subscription boxes, educational toy boxes, educational craft subscriptions, and monthly dad and kid playtime kits.
- Parcel procurement – Consumers are embracing alternative methods of package delivery to offset the conventional challenges of waiting for a delivery. These include smart lockers, peer-to-peer pickup services, crowdsourced package deliveries, and commuter parcel pick-up services.
- Subscription boutiques – Several popular brands that got their start as online subscription services are now establishing brick-and-mortar stores to provide customers with physical shopping experiences. This gives the customer the opportunity to interact with the brand face-to-face and experience the product firsthand before making a purchase. Examples include recipe-based grocery stores where shoppers can buy recipe kits and ingredients, digital wine club showrooms, and even celebrity activewear shops like Kate Hudson’s Fabletics.
- Shoppable video – Companies are increasingly converting video content into direct sales channels. This includes interior design apps, athletic wear videos, and music videos.
- Social media payment – Social platforms are quickly adapting to offer quick-and-easy payment solutions for users. Pinterest, for example, is in the process of creating a “buy” button to make pinned items shoppable. Chit is creating a new social currency, while other payment systems are allowing banks to take payments directly from social media platforms.
TrendHunter.com has accumulated nearly 3 billion views from more than 100 million visitors. The data research company helps clients “Dive Deeper,” “Work Smarter,” and “Save Effort” in order to increase the overall success of their companies and brands.
Last month, TrendHunter.com’s report covered traditional toys. Members are encouraged to send topic suggestions for future trend reports to TIA’s Anne McConnell.