Hour availability or knowledge of different opinions about the product by other buyers. The evolution of the number of Internet users in the world reveals how eCommerce is growing exponentially, at a dizzying pace with multiple changes accompanied by technological advances.
In 2021 e-commerce will reach 76.8% of all internet users (worldwide). And at the European level, 60% of Internet users have ever made purchases online.
According to the 2021 Global Digital Overview report (carried out by Hootsuite and We Are Social), 77% of internet users have purchased a product through e-commerce in the last month.
Electronic commerce represents a turnover for our country of 41,509 million euros at the local level.
The Future of e-commerce
To know the future of online shopping, we must closely follow the steps of the great Asian giant, specifically China.
A country that reflects the latest trends in ecommerce and determines the consumption habits that will export will export to the rest of the world.
We already know that the Smartphone has become the most common shopping tool used by consumers, and China predicted it several years ago.
Some of the Trends
Augmented Reality (AR):
Add digital content to physical reality to merge both elements. From a marketing point of view, it has been shown that correctly applied augmented reality generates quality added value for the user.
A strong trend in e-commerce is augmented reality to display products and bring them closer to the customer, as is the case with the so-called “virtual testers”, a simulation that allows the selected items to be tested through the camera.
Its usefulness will enable us to see products in actual size that are not available, receive more information about them and even try them without having to purchase them.
This is the case of the Sephora brand that has a system that allows multiple lipstick colours to be tested on a person using only their photo. There are numerous variations of this use of augmented reality; another application of this technique would be the one used by decoration e-commerce; a multitude of online stores dedicated to decoration or furniture sales are making applications available to users that allow users to test the furniture in the home.
An example would be the application of the Swedish company IKEA, in which, through the camera, it is possible to test the furniture in the different spaces of the home.
M-commerce:
This is e-commerce that uses the mobile phone as the primary shopping tool. Smartphones thus become the true protagonists of online purchases: more than 50% of global electronic commerce is carried out through mobile phones.
Marketing strategies take a close look at the protagonist and design strategies based on the usability of phones: they analyze and study the visibility on said platform, the movements we make with our fingers, compatibility with all devices, the conversion generated, test A /B…etc.
Social Networks:
The benefits of social networks in e-commerce are many:
- They help to enhance the brand image.
- They allow you to advertise products and services.
- They improve SEO positioning in searches.
- They humanize company-client communication.
- They favour the shopping experience … among many.
Good use of them will allow us to generate quality relationships with users, and we will be able to attract customers and boost sales.
Big Data:
To achieve efficient Big Data strategies applied to e-commerce, we must be clear about the data generated by our company to regroup and centralize it.
It is essential to detect the relevant areas in which Big Data is involved: a database of products, services and customers, logistics, user experience, customer service, pricing and marketing policy.
It is about detecting the opportunity Big Data offers us; access to our most valuable information will help us make decisions quickly and efficiently.
Artificial Intelligence:
Technological advances make it possible to optimize online shopping processes and enrich the user experience.
AI fully impacts e-commerce and covers three areas for improvement with its development and application: personalized user experience (allows companies to react in advance and sometimes automatically), customer service (the famous chatbots allow interaction with users through an acquired language and guide their passage through the store) and logistics (through predictive analysis we can determine what the user is going to buy and react well in advance of its delivery).
Electronic commerce is advancing by leaps and bounds, well-marked by the circumstances that push it to do so, such as this health crisis, or by technological advances that improve its quality in global terms.
What happens is that more and more e-commerce replaces physical purchases due to the attributes and advantages it offers.
We do not know if this will cause businesses that only offer their products in physical stores to disappear in the Future.
We will achieve a balance by alternating the online experience with the experience provided by touching a product, smelling it, or knowing the person behind the creation.