As the year winds to a close, 2015 saw marked growth of the Ecommerce industry, as according Statista.com 44% of the entire world shopped online during 2015. 2016 looks to be even bigger for Ecommerce, as the trends towards personalization, data, and better interfaces continue to drive traffic to shop on the web.

So here are Local Fresh’s Five Ecommerce Trends To Watch For In 2016:

Mobile and Touch-Based

Online stores need to be mobile first at this point, as touch-based consumerism is here to stay, whether on the windows 8, a tablet, phablet, or a smartphone. If your store isn’t responsive to whatever your device we are on, or the customer User Interface and User Experience is clunky or frustrating, buyers will take their business elsewhere in a hot second. Think long scrolling pages, knolling, card based design, and stellar photography to achieve this mobile goal.

Online services and retailers also need to think about exclusively mobile sales, deals, and incentives for this portable market. As we move towards marketing at Generation Z, we also must remember that this will be the first generation to be mobile first and mobile only.

I still daily load up sites on smartphones where I cannot click to call the retailer, and where the their Google or Yelp listing info is inaccurate or mistaken. For mobile users, you must make sure your information is seamless and correct or say goodbye to sales and visits.

Dynamic Viewing

This has been coming for a long time, but in 2015 and 2016 it hits a new level. By dynamic we mean trying something on before you buy it, in a virtual way. From trying eyeglasses or clothing on with an actual photo of yourself, or customizing those shoes or cars in real time, this is the era of “try before you buy” on the interwebs. So personalize the online experience as much as you can towards your customer, and you will be rewarded.

Selling On Social

It’s bigger then Facebook brand pages, boasted posts, Twitter Cards and promoted Pins, though those are all great ways to get your product or service out there. But now it will be selling directly from social accounts like Facebook stores, Chirpify on Twitter, Have2have.it for Instagram and the Pinterest and Google buy buttons which are making the buying process immediate.

And at this point we have all hopefully learned that simply repeating your brand messaging on social networks is not what consumers want. They want to be connected to as people, because in the end the greatest Return On Investment comes from people who talk about you and your brand and not a nameless brand page. Treat those customers well and they will be integral to your success. According to Kiss Metrics “93 percent of millennials have made a purchase based on social recommendations. 89 percent say they would trust a social recommendation over a brand’s claims and 68 percent seek out these recommendations before making a purchase.” People buy from people – not from automated and generic company pages.

Using The Data

It is time to update your marketing strategies to reflect the insights gained from all the customer data you have access too. This will include segmenting the audience, personalizing communication, and targeting and retargeting the customer. Yes, most experts will say big data this and big data that, (and if you can afford a 3rd party big datsystem, go for it), but for small and medium sized business, start small with what you know. Get back to who makes you successful, and learn what you can about their particular habits, how they liked being communicated and sold to, and then play to those data points.

Leveraging Content for Commerce

Nowadays people want more then just a product, they want to know what to do with it, and how you can make it relevant in their lives, That’s why lifestyle sites and their great use of content keeps consumers coming back over and over. With sites like Etsy profiling their artists and offering DIY tips, to Reeboks quite amazing “Be More Human Experience”; to sites like home furnishings upstart One Kings Lane who offer tips on “How to Hang Artwork” or Birchboxes’ renowned How-To Guides (8 ways to hack your shave, How to Wrap Presents Perfectly), rhese are informative and useful for all, and pay dividends for branding and SEO purposes.

In the end personalizing the experience for your shopper the Ecommerce trend that is key in 2016 and beyond. Finding out what the customer needs and catering to those needs will result in more conversions. Period. This means a tight integration of all the steps above to create a user-friendly environment that the consumer wants and really needs.