The E-commerce Industry is one that constantly keeps evolving. This year more than ever before E-commerce businesses were being created or focussed on improving existing ones. From what we have observed it’s fairly easy to pin down the key trends that had a major impact on e-commerce businesses this year and will continue to in the following years.
Augmented reality further enhanced the reality of shopping online
Augmented reality is the kind of technology by which shoppers can truly experience the product that they are looking to buy. It will impact their buying decisions especially in industries such as fashion and home decor. With these industries, the look and feel of the product have a lot to do with the ultimate decision that the consumer makes. Through Augmented reality, a person can get the feel of the product even without seeing it in person.
There will be an rise in Voice search
More and more people will rely on voice assistants to complete everyday tasks. More people have started using smart speakers and have smart homes and voice commands can be given to perform simple tasks like search for a particular product, order food online, and generally just organize lives.
AI will help shops learn about shoppers
Things such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning have made automated personalized shopping experiences a reality. AI happens to be continuously collecting data on customer preferences, when they buy, what factors impact their buying decisions etc. This technology certainly cannot be replicated in-store.
More personalized experiences will be created
Creating personalized experiences in marketing efforts has shown a major impact on revenue. It has been observed that retailers that practiced building basic personalization capabilities, observed a revenue lift of about 10% or more.
Big data will play a key role in creating personalized experiences
A larger number of consumers are aware now that e-commerce websites collect personal data that puts them at serious risk. Due to this experts have expressed mixed feelings about big data in general and also how it impacts personalized shopping experiences.
Chatbots will improve shopping experiences
A chatbot tends to attend to a customer just the way a salesperson would do at a normal store. Shoppers today want to be able to buy a product in just a few clicks. When this doesn’t happen they tend to move on to the next thing or get irritated. This is where the chatbot steps in and helps them make the purchase.
Conclusion
More and more businesses are beginning to realise the huge potential that servicing customers online holds. Businesses are moving away from cumbersome practices such as processing order entries from email spreadsheets or even forms filled by customers. They are now focussing on engaging with the customer and enhancing the buying experience.