Technology is always evolving and in an area like ecommerce there are constantly new innovations to watch and adopt.
The Innovation Enterprise recently highlighted some of the top trends to watch in ecommerce and given that this sector is expected to grow with sales topping $4 billion by 2020, according to Statista, it’s certainly an area that’s worth tapping into.
But customers expect ever more from retailers, particularly when it comes to online experiences. In fact, one of the top trends identified by the news provider is interactive product visualisation. It pointed out that this is still one of the biggest differentiators between a physical bricks-and-mortar store and the online experience.
Having the opportunity to feel a product and judge its quality before you commit to a purchase is certainly an influencing factor. Therefore, anything that can help alleviate a customer’s doubts is a prudent move for ecommerce businesses.
Among the options are augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and 3D imaging. You need to think carefully about which of the new technologies that are emerging is most appropriate for your products and business.
One area where online retailers can set themselves apart though is in product personalisation. There are multiple opportunities to offer customers a more personal touch to the items they’re buying, so find them and introduce them to your platform if possible.
You also need to consider how people interact with their technology these days. Voice search is becoming more and more popular thanks to the rise in smart speakers. That means all of your products need to be searchable through voice as well as traditional methods.
“To be able to ride the voice search trend, you should concentrate on long-tail keywords, because voice searches tend to be longer and more natural than text searches,” the website stated.
Voice search may therefore be something you want to consider when you’re carrying out ecommerce website development in Manchester, to make sure you’re not left behind.
Don’t neglect technology that can help behind the scenes too. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are both improving consistently and are areas that can be particularly useful to harness when you have so much customer data to hand.
AI can help you make sense of all the data from your online and physical stores, allowing you to gain insights that could improve your sales process and provide an even better experience for customers.
IT Pro Portal also recently stressed the importance of adopting new technology in an ecommerce environment to make sure you keep up with the competition. However, the article also stated that you shouldn’t view ecommerce in isolation.
For this part of your business to reach its potential, it needs to be considered in relation to every part of your company, from digital marketing and fulfillment to operations and delivery. Taking this kind of joined-up approach also means you can better identify your strengths and weaknesses, as well as clearly seeing how new technology can fit into your company.
Having a proper strategy for ecommerce at your company, which ties into everything else you do, is the best way to ensure success.