In a recent whitepaper published by Plusnet, 80% of retailers worldwide revealed that they believe the Internet of Things (the connectivity of daily appliances to the online world) will have a major influence in changing eCommerce sites’ business patterns over the next three years. This is even more significant when you consider that Shopify projected the industry’s growth to reach $4.5 trillion (£3.5 trillion) by 2021.
How will digital developments affect your future eCommerce strategies and help to shape consumer trends? We explain this and more below.
Make your site speed and accessibility a priority
Retailers will need to pay even closer attention to the speed of their sites. The effects of good or bad site speed were showcased, by digital marketing expert Bradley Shaw, in the Plusnet whitepaper: “using Amazon as an example, 100 milliseconds of latency results in a 1% reduction in sales”. Coupled with the growing number of online shoppers, these results demonstrate that slower eCommerce sites will suffer the most.
Growing internet penetration will also lead to online retail growing in non-Western markets. While China (valued at $672 billion/ £523 billion, according to Business.com) is the current world eCommerce leader, Africa is also worth watching. As reported in Hootsuite’s ‘Digital in 2018’ whitepaper, online accessibility jumped 20% (with 73 million more users) between 2017 and 2018. 34% of the continent, and 435 million people in total, now have online access. This market poses huge eCommerce opportunities, especially for local retailers with whom the population is more familiar with.
Don’t make shopping a chore
In an age of busy lifestyles, online shopping provides a convenient alternative to physical outlets. From a sample of 6,000, 40% of customers in a survey by Capgemini referred to brick-and-mortar shopping as a ‘chore’. With this in mind, retailers must provide a digital alternative and connect off and online experiences.
Brands could find a solution through virtual reality and allow consumers to try products, before buying, without having to go in-store. The enablement of this feature would empower shoppers to make better purchase decisions, along with limiting how many online-bought items are returned.
Make it personal
Artificial intelligence (AI) is already used by many eCommerce sites. As the industry attracts more consumers, predicting customer behaviours and catering for their tastes will become even more imperative.
Technological developments have paved the way for the introduction of additional personalisation-related innovations, such as geotargeted advertising. Considering that 68% of retailers view personalisation as a priority for the future (according to Forrester Research Inc.), features such as AI, geotargeting and many more will further grow in significance going forward. Therefore, brands that act sooner to develop personalisation strategies will be best-equipped for long-term success.
Enhancing next-generation shopping experiences
As technology influences the growth of eCommerce, retailers will need to be more innovative in creating better online shopper experiences. In a world of impatient users, optimising for speedy shopping will also become more important. Brands that keep pace with ever-changing consumer trends will remain ahead of the competition, and the likes of AI and VR will prove to be tantalising UX options.