Your 2021 Strategy: Consumer Trends Influencers Can (and Should!) Tap Into

2020 was… Well… Yeah. #dumpsterfireanybody? We laughed, we cried, we quarantined, we voted, we protested, we quarantined some more. 2020 did, however, speed up the development of a LOT of consumer trends, and 2021 looks to be heading towards the same space. Read on for five of the top-predicted consumer shopping trends for 2021, and how YOU, a content creator, can use them to your benefit!

1. Mobile Shopping

Surprise, surprise, mobile shopping skyrocketed by over 25% in 2020, and now accounts for an estimated 44% of all ecommerce sales (Forbes). We’re all on our phones preeeeeetty much 24/7, especially when it became our social & shopping lifelines during Covid-19. Personally, I knew mobile shopping had finally reached widespread adoption when my tech-averse 60something dad started shopping on his phone!

Make sure you’re linking to retailers with easy-to-shop mobile sites and fast checkout pages. With an average 67.91% online shopping cart abandonment rate (Wikipedia), you want to get your fans to the checkout page & have their transactions completed ASAP.

2. AI and AR Shopping

The days of trying on eight zillion pairs of jeans at the mall, to find that perfect pair of black skinny jeans, are… Not over, per se, but seriously limited for the foreseeable future. AI (Artificial Intelligence) helps guide customers to products they might like, based on past purchase history and browsing behavior. AR (Augmented Reality) helps shoppers see what products will look like on themselves. If you know the jeans will look good on you, you’re more likely to click “buy now”!

For example, MagicLinks partner, e.l.f. Cosmetics, pioneered a fun Virtual Try-On experience in 2020 that shows off new products AND special offers at the same time – genius!

AR isn’t fully operational on most sites, yet, so it’s vital that YOU provide the service. What do we mean? Be very specific in your reviews. YOU are your fans’ trusted expert!

• “I’m usually a size 8 in jeans, but these seem to run a half size small, so I’d recommend sizing up one size.”
• “This brand’s foundation & concealer products oxidize a bit darker after application, so you may want to try a shade or two lighter, or blend shades together.”

3. Social Commerce

Influencers are pretty much the backbone of the social commerce industry: Influencing online sales through their original video content. Searches for “How do I [fill in the blank]” or “Best rated [product type]” skyrocketed in 2020, and MagicLinks influencers saw unprecedented channel & sales growth as a result.

Again, mobile shopping is key, here. Make sure you’ve created ObsessedWith.It pages for all of your videos & posts, so your fans can shop your style and purchase before they can change their mind! *wink*

4. Omnichannel Shopping

You watch a YouTube video about athleisure style on your phone, click a MagicLink from the description because you’re interested in it, but forget about it temporarily. Later, you’re browsing the internet on your laptop, logged into the same accounts as on your phone, and you decide, “Yeah, I’m gonna go buy those cute yoga pants!” Provided the retailer has a good omnichannel experience, meaning their cookies and your site preferences will transfer to different devices, the tracking code in the affiliate link will still apply, so that creator will get a cut of the sale.

Omnichannel also refers to how seamless a shopping experience is: Can you check out in as few steps as possible? Buy online, pick up curbside OR have home delivery? Use the payment method of your choice?

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: Link to retailers with great customer experiences & customer service, to ensure more sales & happy fans!

5. Voice Commerce

“Siri, buy this Urban Decay palette and have it shipped to my house.” We all use our iPhone Siri, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa, to set timers, check the weather, Google random things, and play music. In 2021, we’re going to start buying stuff through our smart assistants, too!

Make sure your captions & posts are full of relevant information and rich SEO terms, to gain the top spot in search results on smart assistants.

Key MagicLinks Tools for Creators in 2021

1. ObsessedWith.It: Allows your fans to shop all the products from your latest content in one place
2. Text2Shop: Delivering ready-to-shop links to your fans’ text messages, encouraging impulse buys.
3. MagicLinks Retailer Ratings: Helps you find monetizable retailers with good mobile sites, cross-device tracking, long cookie windows, the best commission rates, and more!
4. Performance Reporting: Keep your finger on the pulse of what your fans are clicking & buying through your MagicLinks – if they like it, link to more things like it!

*Cover images courtesy of MagicLinks creators Nathalie Muñoz and Patty Alonso

**All GIFs courtesy of Giphy