More and more customers are realizing how convenient online shopping can be. E-commerce is continuously growing and becoming ‘the preferred’ shopping platform. Digital transformation has a huge role to play in the boom of the e-commerce business.
According to the statista.com, the IoT managed services market was more than 30 billion U.S. dollars worldwide, but it is expected to increase to 135 billion by 2027. The number of mobile users worldwide is forecast to grow to 7.26 billion for 2020. The economic impact of VR/AR is forecast to amount to 29.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2020 in the high-adoption scenario.
Trends are not fads that are forgotten. They are adopted and soon become normal. Below are the latest trends that are transforming e-commerce.
Top 3 Trends Transforming E-Commerce
Today the biggest trends in the marketing industry are the mobile, Internet of Things (IoT), and Augmented Reality (AR). They are all set to revolutionize the way ecommerce works. Read on about the trends and use then to make an effective strategy for your ecommerce business.
1. Mobile is THE Strategy in the E-Commerce Business
The number of people using mobile phones is increasing day by day. Mobile allows you to reach your customers regardless of their geographical locations.
You can use mobile in e-commerce in the following ways:
A) Power Personalized Experiences with Mobile Intelligence
Personalization never fails to work in marketing. An e-commerce business needs to win customer’s loyalty and it can be done by understanding the customer persona and creating contextual moments to gain their trust. Mobile data can help marketers to become contextual, relevant, and well-timed across all touchpoints. Experts believe that mobile intelligence – especially human mobility data is of great advantage to e-commerce brands. There is no need for E-commerce brands to depend on just online behavior and site navigation patterns to understand their customers. E-commerce brands can now use mobile-led data solutions to enrich their customer data with insights about their audiences’ real-world behavior.”
B) Migrate to Mobile Apps
Lots of businesses are shifting to mobile apps for numerous reasons. Mobile apps are a game-changer in the e-commerce industry because they have a wider reach and can target customers even when they are on the go. Conversion rates are also higher on apps. Customers prefer apps due to their easy access, faster and better experience.
C) Deliver Targeted Personalized Messaging
Smartphones have the option of GPS. Marketers can use a customer’s location to blend promotions or deals in their search results naturally. The preferences of a customer can be determined by their wishlist or previous purchase/s and that information can be used to notify them about special deals, price drops, or back-in-stock information about her favorite product/s.
D) Simplify the Shopping Experience with Diverse Payment Options
Mobile can be used to have diverse payment options pay on delivery, payment banks, cards, payment solutions like Apple Pay or Google Pay, mobile wallets, etc. Options like one-click checkouts have made shopping simpler.
2. Accelerate Engagement and Conversion with Augmented Reality
The ecommerce industry has been using AR to interest customers, improve customer experience, and drive conversions.
Below are some actionable tips:
A) Build Innovative Campaigns
AR, being a comparatively new technology can help create buzz to attract customers and improve engagement. Innovative campaigns driven by AR has the ability to gain customer attention and influence their attitudes.
B) Enhance Customer Experience
Customers can visit virtual showrooms and explore products from their homes. There is no physical involvement included, discomfort is reduced yet experiences are interactive. It saves time and improves customer experience.
C) Aid Customers’ Decision-Making to Drive Sales
Ecommerce can become a hassle-free channel for sales with the help of AR. Usually, customers don’t hit that buy button because they are not sure whether a product will fit their needs. AR can help you visualize how a product will look, as a result, customers confidently make purchases, and thus sales are increased.
3. Optimized Processes with IoT
Internet of Things is a network of internet-enabled devices. It helps in personalization, automated shopping and in issues dealing with maintenance, warranty, and theft. IoT has revolutionized the e-commerce business in many ways.
Smart Management of E-Commerce Business Functions
Inventory Management
Inventory management can be simplified and expedited with the help of IoT sensors and Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. Human intervention is not needed in monitoring, tracking, product placement or stock information. the smart shelves in retail stores can even place automatic orders is the stock reaches the re-order level.
Warehouse
Temperature for perishable products in the warehouse can be monitored by sensors and alert can be sent whenever needed. Productivity in picking and packing processes can be enhanced with the aid of warehouse robots.
Supply Chain Management
Goods have to be carried from one location to another efficiently without any interruption. The items in transit can be tracked, routes can be managed, delayed shipments can be tracked and arrival times can be predicted with the help of RFID and GPS.
Conclusion
Mobile, smart devices and AR form the best combination ever that works to provide immersive and personalized customer experiences. It also helps in optimizing ecommerce business processes, and simplify the customer-business-product lifecycle. It can be safely said that mobile, Internet of Things (IoT), and Augmented Reality (AR) have revolutionized ecommerce.
Zahoor Bhat has over 10+ years of experience as an online editor and media manager. He has worked with major online news and content sites as a media manager. He is well versed with major content management systems and web platforms such as WordPress and social media networks including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Google Business, Yelp, Instagram & Linkedin. He is an expert in content creation, proofreading and finally making it live. Being a social media expert, he is able to make relations with social media influencers and make sure to generate leads and grow business via different social media platforms.