From online marketplaces to AI, numerous trends are shaping today’s eCommerce market. But what your business needs to prosper in the online dimension ultimately boils down to individual requirements – and any gaps that need to be filled.
Here are a few such trends, that are sure to gain momentum as the year progresses.
Online marketplaces.
Sure, a regular online web presence is essential to establish your brand and its range of products and services. But a shopping cart website alone isn’t going to suffice, if you want to ensure a timely and streamlined customer journey. A lot of work needs to happen behind the scenes, and these include numerous key tasks ranging from inventory management, to shipping and returns. In other words, your eCommerce site is only the means and the platform for users to reach and purchase your products online.
A seamless supply chain that’s combined with your customer’s overall journey is essential to deliver impressionable customer experience – there’s none of this in the absence of even one component. Therefore, a great platform to reach out to is online marketplaces, such as Amazon and eBay. This is especially beneficial for newer, smaller brands that have less bandwidth in terms of inventory and logistics – since online marketplaces offer reliable shipping and return systems that merchants will automatically qualify for, once they start selling.
Self-service.
After 2020, every customer touchpoint is being pushed to become autonomous, wherever possible – and for obvious reasons. Although self-service kiosks were long since a trend, the technologies running these have been significantly upgraded to enhance the level of accuracy and relevance provided, in addition to autonomous customer care. AI-powered chatbots are one such development, which are now embedded into existing customer service systems to assist customers with common quandaries – together with maximum speed and accuracy.
While AI is used to power self-service in the customer care department, it also helps propel personalized recommendations – without users ever having to search for what they need, since their items of choice approach them instead.
Data analytics.
Understanding what your customers like and dislike isn’t necessarily a newfound trend, but it’s an important one that will always stay in vogue. The data analytics market is a hotbed for advancements as well as constant buzz from technology experts and business leaders alike. From organizing big data to implementing data science, no stone is left unturned in the mission to provide answers for some of our most pressing questions.
If you haven’t already, consider integrating a business intelligence solution for your business operations – and one that connects companywide to reveal perceptive insights. Not only reserved for corporate giants, today’s BI solutions are available for smaller players too, and can be scaled up or down as required.
In conclusion…
More and more people are relying on eCommerce to meet their daily needs, especially after what transpired in 2020. Those who weren’t fond of online shopping have also jumped into the bandwagon, and given the height of convenience, the trends influencing these consumer habits are only bound to continue.