Digital transformation is brewing up a storm in the e-commerce business. While mobile has brought the shopping experience to the customer’s fingertips, augmented reality is powering up immersive experiences. IoT is the next hottest trend to deliver enhanced customer experiences and optimize business operations. Let’s see how mobile, Internet of Things (IoT), and Augmented Reality (AR) are revolutionizing e-commerce.
With more consumers discovering the convenience of online shopping, e-commerce will expand to become ‘the preferred’ shopping platform. According to eMarketer, the e-commerce business will reach USD 4 trillion by 2020.
So let’s discover how the latest trends are transforming e-commerce.
The good thing about trends is that they are not fads that are forgotten. They are embraced and soon become the norm.
Also Read: 6 Digital Marketing Tips to Boost Ecommerce Sales
Top 3 Trends Transforming E-Commerce
Mobile, IoT, and AR have become the biggest trends in the marketing industry and are now headed to transform how e-commerce works. Let’s look at each aspect of these three trends that will help you strategize your e-commerce business.
1. Mobile is THE Strategy in the E-Commerce Business
“The number of mobile phone users in the world is expected to pass the five billion mark by 2019,” says a Statista report.
Mobile offers unprecedented opportunities to reach out to customers, irrespective of their geolocation.
Here are some ways you can utilize mobile in e-commerce:
A)Power Personalized Experiences with Mobile Intelligence
Personalization is the holy grail of marketing. An e-commerce business needs to understand the customer persona and create contextual, relevant moments to win customer loyalty and trust. Mobile data can arm marketers with the insights they need to help them become contextual, relevant, and well-timed across all touchpoints.
Tobin Thomas, Co-Founder and CEO, Lifesight, writes the following on mobile intelligence, “mobile intelligence – specifically human mobility data – is a major boon for e-commerce brands. E-commerce brands no longer need to rely on just online behavior and site navigation patterns to understand their customers. Using mobile-led data solutions, e-commerce brands now enrich their customer data with insights about their audiences’ real-world behavior.”
B)Migrate to Mobile Apps
Mobile apps are a game-changer in the e-commerce industry, and many businesses are migrating to mobile apps for various reasons.
Here are the most prominent ones:
- Apps have a higher reach and help target customers who are on the go.
- Conversion rates are much higher on apps, according to a Build Fire’s mobile e-commerce statistics article.
- Customers prefer apps as they are convenient to access, faster and offer a better overall experience.
C)Deliver Targeted Personalized Messaging
Smartphones come loaded with GPS. A customer’s location can be used to push promotions or deals by blending them naturally with her search result.
A customer’s wishlist or previous purchase/s can be used to determine her preferences, and she can be notified about special deals, price drops, or back-in-stock information about her favorite product/s.
D)Simplify the Shopping Experience with Diverse Payment Options
Diverse mobile payment options like pay on delivery, payment banks, cards, payment solutions like Apple Pay or Google Pay, mobile wallets, etc. have made one-click checkouts possible and thus simplified shopping experiences.
Also Read: Top 5 E-Commerce Trends You Can’t Miss in 2018
2. Accelerate Engagement and Conversion with Augmented Reality
AR is increasingly being used in the e-commerce industry to pique customer interest, enhance customer experience, and drive conversions.
Here are some actionable tips:
A)Build Innovative Campaigns
AR is a relatively new technology and can help create buzz to attract customers and improve engagement. An immersive experience makes customers feel more connected and generates curiosity. AR-driven innovative campaigns can capture customer attention and influence their attitudes. AR can help them experience the brand’s offerings before making a purchase decision.
B)Enhance the Customer Experience
AR can make the ordinary seem magical, thus contributing to an improved experience throughout the customer journey.
AR is changing customer-business dynamics in the following ways:
- Virtual showrooms can help customers explore products from their homes without having to visit a store. Trying out various options, without physical involvement serves multiple purposes: serving up interactive experiences, significantly reduces discomfort, and saves time.
- AR visualization can help customers see if a product will fit in their homes, etc.
- Instead of reading the product description, customers can see or listen to product descriptions and capabilities through AR-driven catalogs and help material.
C)Aid Customers’ Decision-Making to Drive Sales
AR offers tremendous opportunities to make e-commerce a hassle-free channel for sales. Ambiguity and not being able to imagine how a product will fit their needs is the biggest roadblock for a shopper to hit the buy button. AR can help you visualize how that dress will look on you or whether a particular lipstick shade is just right for you, or even how a beanbag would fit into your living area.
Try before you buy takes post-purchase dissonance out of the game and will significantly reduce the rate of returned products. Also, the customer is more confident in making the purchase, thus increasing sales.
3. Optimized Processes with IoT
Internet of Things is a network of internet-enabled devices that share and exchange information. IoT will revolutionize the e-commerce business in more than one way.
Changing the Shopping Experience:
- Personalization
IoT will provide a gold-mine of information needed to drive personalized experiences to customers. By tracking customer preference for products, order history, shopping behavior, businesses can better serve customers and improve engagement.
- Automated Shopping
Setting up IoT enabled devices with your product preference and time will help automate the purchase process. For example, Amazon’s Dash Button simplifies the process of re-ordering your favorite product. It can be integrated with the Samsung Family Hub smart refrigerator to ensure you never run out of daily essentials.
- Maintenance, Warranty, and Theft
It is difficult for retailers to keep track of scheduled maintenance for all customers with a variety of devices. With IoT, smart devices can send malfunction details or maintenance schedules directly to the retailer. For example, General Electric can remotely perform advanced diagnostics on smart appliances, alert owners about upcoming maintenance dates, and automatically order dishwashing detergent. Some smart devices can even send their location in case of loss or theft.
Smart Management of E-Commerce Business Functions
- Inventory Management
IoT sensors and Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tags can simplify and expedite inventory management. Monitoring and tracking, along with product placement and stock information are available without human intervention. Once the stock reaches the re-order level, the smart shelves in retail stores can even place automatic orders.
Sensors can monitor temperature for perishable items in the warehouse and send alerts whenever needed. Having warehouse robots can enhance productivity in picking and packing processes.
- Supply Chain Management
Uninterrupted and efficient movement of goods from one location to another is crucial for an e-commerce business. RFID and GPS help to track the items in transit, manage route and speed, track delayed shipments, and predict arrival times.
Also Read: Beyond the Hype—All You Actually Need to Know About IoT for Business
Conclusion
Mobile, smart devices and AR are a lethal combination to help deliver immersive and personalized customer experiences, optimize e-commerce business processes, and simplify the customer-business-product lifecycle.
Do we recommend adoption? Absolutely!
How is technology impacting your e-commerce business? Tell us on Twitter or LinkedIn or Facebook; we’re always listening!