The era of technology changes everything, with innovations coming faster than the rotation of the earth around the sun. Businesses that fail to connect with the rapid changes are seen to lose the battle for the top. Changes are happening all around us, with innovation changing the way people as customers perceive value as well as manage increasing expectations. The world of ecommerce has creates first movers advantages for everyone, on a repeatedly frequent bases. Innovation in the ecommerce sector is like a storm, if businesses fight it, they drown; those that ride it come out on top. Here is a list of trends that are only to grow in the world of ecommerce.
Seamless integration
A unified business front is imperative for all businesses. Just like in the brick and mortar business models, all store outlets have the same front and the same consistent ambiance. Similarly, ecommerce businesses need to project a unified front that means all of your stores should be integrated throughout all ecommerce platforms. The content of your stores needs to be appropriately synchronized which is major trend being followed through 2017 and will continue to solidify throughout this year. Your video ad campaigns should also represent uniformity through all of the advertisement channels that you might be employing. Seamlessly integrating all of your business fronts to project a similar representation of what your business stands for.
Augmented and Virtual Reality
The first rule of marketing driven sales is what is visible sells, what the generation Z, X and millennials can’t see and experience before purchase predominantly affects their pre-purchase decision-making. Technological advancements have made virtual reality and augmented reality become more than just a cool feature to add in games. Augmented reality stores are already becoming a reality and for businesses, dealing in products their inadaptability into such system could mean the end of their life cycle. Just like all innovation, the market of today immediately becomes dependent upon the latest features.
An augmented reality store enables its products to be virtually experienced and seen, which greatly drifts consumer pre-purchase behavior from reluctant to an absolute sale.
For businesses, offering services to consumers experience is everything that matters. Consumers judge a service by the experience and the VASs (Value Added Services) that they receive from the service providers. Here is where virtual reality can become a game changer during 2018. For such businesses, having their consumers experience their services first hand could make the difference between the everyday typical businesses to a uniquely positioned business. However, this USP would not last for a very long time as other businesses would be quick to follow, yet a first mover’s advantage is evidently up for grabs.
IOET
The internet has evolved greatly from just being a means to end, serving solely communication apparatuses. The internet of things is bringing huge changes especially for Ecommerce businesses; smart appliances will soon be able to make recalled purchases. Such as your smart refrigerator will soon be able to order the next stalk of milk, eggs and even bacon when it senses a shortage. Smart consumer appliances should be integrated with all product-based businesses, by placing RFIDs that can be recognized and smartly re-ordered through advanced automation systems, similar to those in place in Supply Chain Management of stores.
Voice Run Shopping
The world is becoming a lot faster than it used to be, from having to go to the grocery store to buy daily products, to ordering them through the Amazon eco. Retail Ecommerce stores will start becoming greatly dependent on voice operated shopping experiences, especially for FMCG products where consumer purchase decisions are less likely to be as complicated as bigger products. The proper integration of such state-of-the-art technological advancements will soon become imperative. As Siri, Amazon Eco and Google’s ‘Okay Google’ becoming increasingly more occupied in the modern shopping experience.
Enhanced Mobile Purchasing
An inter-connected shopping experience with a through connectivity and a superior UX interfaces for businesses can becoming the changing factor that differentiates them from the cluster of the competition. An enhanced mobile purchasing experience can only be achieved when you have a cross platform development done through good web design agencies such as Arturo Digital, where progressive technology is the center of all creations. A more convenient purchasing experience reduces the number of screens and deducts pages that a consumer needs to go through before finalizing an order. This reduces the bounce rate, and improves cart close turnover rates.
Visual recognition systems
As content remain the king, visual searches are become a more normalized preference for consumers shopping through the ecommerce world. By integrating your web-store with image searches and improving their compatibility through more segmented algorithms e-businesses can improve the quality of searches they appear in, as well as connect with customers by offering them what they have snap-shopped for. 2018 is the year of visually interactive enhancements to the shopping experience of consumers from all backgrounds.
Advanced Customer Experience
At the end of the day, it is all about consumer preference and connectivity. Marketers have for a very long time tried to connect with their client base intimately, however being unable to connect and cater to business due to lack of consumer experience is a bigger than ever reason for businesses to have a shrinking client base. Even if an ecommerce business is solely product based, the experience every consumer individually gets can either become the sole reason for the success or failure of your business.
All of the points discussed above have been completely consumer centric, because the only way towards a progressive future is through innovative consumer experience.
Ending thoughts
These trends have long been in the cooking pot, this year is the year they actually sit in and start making tangible difference for business owners. Innovation has been both a curse and a blessing, in terms of those that have negated its prospects and undermined its influence. Secure a progressive future for your business by being a head of the game, and resolve consumer issues through connectivity and relatable marketing strategies.
