Out of over 7.6 billion people living on this planet, 4.1 billion of them have access to the Internet. The internet has brought forth a number of technological advancements that made our lives much more convenient, faster and efficient. One of them is e-commerce. E-commerce is defined as any commercial transaction that is electronically conducted on the Internet.
E-commerce started after the commercialization of the internet around 1991. Today, the industry accounted for over $2.3 trillion sales and is forecasted to meet $4.5 trillion in 2021. Many companies established their business foundation in e-commerce like eBay, Alibaba, Shopify and the gigantic Amazon. Amazon alone have an annual net sales of $177.9 billion.
The company is sustained by over 100 million users who use Amazon Prime globally. This kind of numbers will make you think what more can ecommerce do. The industry is still far from its maturity and is still undergoing innovation as driven by the digital age. Here are some top e-commerce trend than will dominate the future.
Customer Experience Focus
Companies now realize more than ever that to have a sustainable profit they need repeat customers. And to materialize that they need to provide great customer experience. A customer experience is a deciding factor for many consumers whether they will buy from you again and become loyal product or service enthusiast. Companies will become more sensitive to customer-centric aspect of business like ads, purchasing, complaints, product info and marketing scheme.
Big Data and Analytics Driven
Data is a powerful instrument for companies to know their consumers, competitor and the market. Almost everything we do that is connected to the internet leaves a data footprint. Big data about consumers are now easily available for companies. These data, when incorporated to business decision can lead to company growth and success. Data can accurately forecast the trends in the business landscape.
Application of Blockchain Technology
Blockchain technology has been the talk of the town for quite some time because of its potential to disrupt our current ways of transaction Blockchain can eliminate the middleman between any transactions. The technology promises speed, transparency and security in every process when applied.
Chatbots and Messenger Apps
Companies are slowly but surely utilizing the available technology of artificial intelligence, and they are starting with chatbots. Chatbots or automatic instant messaging applications are widely used right now for customer service inquiries. For now, they can accurately respond to basic queries but maybe in the future, after further development, they can reply to our more sophisticated questions.
Improved Supply Chain
Big e-commerce companies may have already perfected, if not efficiency planned their supply chain, but for a significant number of business there is a need to implement a refined supply chain management. There are three main factors for a robust and resilient supply chain; automation, data decentralization and customer-focus approach. These factors will level the playing field of ecommerce landscape.
Influencers with Content
Content marketing is a known effective strategy to increase web traffic and visits. The problem though is the tendency to oversaturate the market. In the future, influencers may step in and take over their respective online space. Rather than create a content for a certain product, influencers will be taken over by brands and companies. This means that influencers can now capitalize while mainly focusing on their present audience, influence and reputation. No need to create a scattered content.
Social Media Shopping Experience
Visual platforms like Pinterest and Instagram are likely to allow merchant to bring their products on the program. This will make marketing subtle, without customers realizing they are being enticed already. I mean, they are in your timeline for a reason – because you like what you see. And that is a controlling purchasing indicator.
