Technological advancements have enabled e-commerce companies to meet people’s purchasing needs with ease and speed. Customers can get anything at the click of a button, all thanks to the latest available technology.
Now customers can track their orders, find the best deals, and much more. With all this progress, new business opportunities are inevitably emerging.
Let’s discuss some of these e-commerce technology trends and their implications for driving forward digital business success.
The necessity of omnichannel presence and support
Modern shopping habits involve a process of cross-channel research, consideration, and purchase. Indeed, the statistics show that 90 percent of customers expect smooth interactions across multiple channels and devices, highlighting the importance of omnichannel readiness for today’s businesses.
Making use of the right technology means providing customers with not only what they want and when they want, but where they want it.
Here are some methods and technologies that work well in an interconnected customer journey:
- Video Chat allows your business to interact face-to-face with customers creating a personalized, cross-channel, visually demonstrative, and consultative experience.
- Co-browsing is a visual engagement system that brings your agents and customers together on the same page while allowing agents to seamlessly guide your customers through complex procedures.
- Screen Sharing is a method of interacting where your customers share their screens with your agents to resolve difficulties filling forms, completing transactions, etc.
The need for extensive personalization
Personalization is the most significant trend in e-commerce right now. Consumers have come to expect a relevant shopping experience based on their personal preferences.
The statistics show more than 78 percent of customers ignore offers that aren’t personalized or based on their previous engagement with the brand. This shows how important personalization in marketing and personalized customer support has become.
Effective personalization comes from understanding customers’ preferences and behavior.
Fortunately, e-commerce technology has now evolved to provide that level of insight. Nearly every user action online is captured and stored, creating a vast pool of information known as big data.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning analytics drive customer behavior patterns, whilst simultaneously interpreting this data, meaning businesses are provided with a cycle of desires and expectations, creating endless possibilities.
The shift to mobile
Mobile platforms have increased in importance, so much so that m-commerce has emerged as a key concept.
Failing to provide a mobile-oriented shopping experience will certainly not help you win potential customers who place high importance on mobile. Equipping yourself with mobile-friendly technology is crucial in maximizing your chances of future success.
The rise of conversational marketing
Traditional marketing channels flow only in one direction. The new concept of conversational marketing has opened up two-way communication, creating numerous opportunities for e-commerce success.
Getting information directly from customers makes more sense than attempting to predict it. You can establish a personalized, real-time, one-on-one conversation on the back of this, safe in the knowledge you truly understand your customers’ needs.
Below are some of the most efficient technologies for nurturing customer conversations:
- Chatbots: Chatbots are excellent conversational marketing tools, capable of handling multiple conversations at any one time. They provide your customers with answers, drawing on knowledge pooled from multiple channels, whilst maintaining a consistent tone for your brand.
- Live chat: Live chat allows your support teams to communicate with customers through live messaging. You can initiate a preemptive chat invitation to customers based on their behavior.
- Mobile messaging: Smartphones are another way for your business to reach out to customers. With potential fatigue from the onslaught of promotional emails, talk with them through mobile messaging apps instead.
The implementation of AI and chatbots into customer communications
Artificial Intelligence plays an important role in everyday life, having a major impact on how we live and work. There are several examples of AI and automation tools with customer service applications for your business, including voice-powered assistants such as Apple’s Siri, Google’s home, and Amazon Echo. Research shows that 45 percent of millennials are already using this type of voice-activated search for online shopping.
Chatbots and virtual assistants represent the future of businesses. Some are already integrating chatbots into their systems to improve their customers’ experience and boost brand image.
With the help of e-commerce chatbots, you can order food, check-in luggage at the airport, book a hotel room, schedule your flight, and get recommendations for almost anything you can think of.
The Starbucks chatbot for example gives customers details regarding their order status, payment details, etc.
Stay tuned to the evolving market to stay ahead
Many successful e-commerce ventures have got to where they are on the back of the cutting-edge technology they employ. Take the opportunity to understand new technologies to deliver improved service to your customers and your company’s bottom line will reap the benefits, too.
