Tag: Customer Experience

The future expects to witness the e-commerce revenues to go up to $460+ billion. With the expansion of e-commerce in the recent years, it is also expected that there will be more competition in the e-commerce market. As per the recent survey, it has been found out that 67% of the millennials and 56% of Gen Xers prefer online shopping rather than in-store shopping. There are specific trends that have been observed with respect to e-commerce in the upcoming year.

Omni-Platform & Omni-Device

With the advent and expansion of Internet of Things (IoT), the consumers are making a shift towards integrated platforms and devices. The e-commerce applications will also be required to integrate to deal with the competition in future. Currently, around 85% of the online shoppers begin with their shopping on one device/platform and end it on a different device.

Faster Delivery

With the increase in online sales and competition, the brands can gain a competitive edge with faster shipments and deliveries. The e-commerce companies will be required to look out for more fulfillment options in the coming days with enhanced shipping cut-off times.

Use of Augmented Reality

Technology is witnessing modifications and advancements at a rapid rate. The use of Augmented Reality (AR) is the next big thing that will have an impact on the e-commerce industry as well. There are applications, such as Snapchat that have already started with the use of AR in their services. The e-commerce applications are sure to search for the measures to integrate their functionalities with AR.

Video Content

It is estimated that video will comprise of 80% of all online consumer Internet traffic by the end of 2020. Videos have the power to increase the purchase intent by 97% and can also boost the click-through rates by another 200-300%. The use of live videos will be in-trend to improve customer engagement.

Voice Search & Purchases

There are approximately 40% of the millennials that have used voice search to make a purchase. This number will further increase in the next few years. The e-commerce applications will be required to make their content compatible with the common user queries and terms used for purchasing.

In addition to this, the analysis is also carried out to understand these trends on the basis of different factors and parameters.

Trends by Gender

It has been recorded that both men and women spend five hours per week on online shopping with the percentage of men shoppers higher by 28%. The marketplaces have managed to attract 56% of women and 52% of male shoppers while the percentage is almost equal in case of large retailer sites with 75% men and 74% women shoppers. 40% women have used category specific online stores while the percentage in this section is 31% for men.

Trends by Parental Status

Online shopping engages parents for 7 hours per week while the duration is 4 hours for non-parents. There is also a difference in the budget for parents and non-parents as it has been recorded 40% and 34% respectively. 49% parents have stated that they cannot imagine their world without online shopping.

Trends by City-size

The percentage and budget allocated to online shopping are in the decreasing order in large/mid-size metropolitan areas, suburban areas and rural areas. Americans have scored the top rank in the expenditure made on online shopping. 63% of suburban shoppers do not prefer to pay shipping costs and online privacy is the major cause of concern for 38% of rural shoppers.

Trends by Types of Online Goods

Large retailers have succeeded in engaging 60% of the online shoppers for the purchase of clothing, shoes, and accessories. Shoppers prefer to stick to the marketplaces for the purchase of computer or electronic goods as the percentage recorded in this area is 43%. Marketplaces have also managed to attract 55% of the shoppers for the purchase of books, movies, and music. 28% category-specific online stores have been used for the purchase of flowers and goods.

Social media has played an influential and significant role in the purchasing trends of buyers. Market analysts can use the data from social media platforms to predict customer preferences and choices for the year to gain and maintain a competitive advantage.

In today’s age of hyper-competition, businesses need to focus their systems on the customer. A critical area of focus is business software. Much of business software hitherto focused on internal efficiency. However, competitive pressure mandate a realign, with the focus on the customer, and specifically customer support.

Businesses Need to Roll Out Mobile Solutions

Nowadays, the basic support for customer commerce is through customer-facing mobile apps. About 80% of shoppers use their mobile phones for product reviews, to compare prices, and find store locations. A good chunk of these customers completes the purchase process online as well. About 54% of Millennials and 49% of Non-Millennials prefer shopping online. Businesses need to roll out customer-facing mobile apps and responsive websites, to facilitate e-commerce and other customer interactions.

The Rise of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)

E-commerce websites offer a world of convenience to the customer. It brings the shopping experience anywhere, from home to office, and from the boardroom to the bathroom. However, such convenience comes without the “touch-and-feel” experience of physical stores. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (VTR) technologies bridge the shortcoming and offer the best of both worlds.

Cases of retailers supporting customer commerce through VR and AR-based software abound.

• Swedish furniture giant IKEA’s VR app allows customers to view different kitchen decors. Customers can walk around IKEA kitchens virtually, using a VR headset and app.
• Sephora’s app allows users to take selfies and apply the brand’s cosmetic products to their images. Customers can get conclusive proof of whether a shade of lipstick will look good on them, rather than debate endlessly or speculate.

Artificial Intelligence Systems Facilitate Personalization

Personalization is the order of the day.

Most businesses already use Google Analytics tool to segment customers. They target segmented groups with different discounts and deals. Marketers also use various other predictive analytics tools to analyze historical data. Advanced solutions deliver accurate predictions about demand. Enterprises could focus their efforts on products having the greatest potential for profits.

However, such a superficial approach will undergo a sea change in the future. More-and-more shoppers now leverage Artificial Intelligence, to source products, bargain prices, and pick up products. As a case in point, connected smart fridges detect when the stock of milk becomes low, and trigger an automatic reorder with a linked e-commerce store. Enterprises who can roll out business software to align with such smart systems, and leverage “A-Commerce” or Artificial Intelligence-based commerce, stands to gain big.

Adaptive Design Comes Centrestage

Customers’ needs are never set in stone. Smart businesses keep track of changing customer preferences and the underlying influencers of such change. Business software which connects with potential clients on a personal level, in real-time, is central to such efforts.

Use-cases abound for businesses leveraging technology, to adapting its products and services to serve real-time customer needs.

• Curve, a credit card company allows customers to switch cards even after completing the purchase. An executive purchasing a computer for the company with his personal card, to take advantage of a bargain, could later change the billing to the company card, after getting authorization.
• KLM’s new clip, attached to the traveler’s bag, offers real-time directions, suggestions, and alternatives. For instance, when a user is stuck in a long line at the Eiffel Tower, the clip suggests the nearby hot-air balloon at Parc André Citroën. The clip also directs users to specific in-house services, stealing customers away from the competition.
• Tesla recently increased the range of its electric vehicles for customers struck in places affected by Hurricane Irma. Range limitations in Tesla’s vehicles meant owners couldn’t evacuate the area.

Virtual Companions Become Mainstream

Most smart businesses now empower their workforce, especially support agents with virtual assistants. Such virtual assistants automate daily tasks in ways CRM can never enable.

Virtual assistants offer agents deep real-time insights on information hidden inside the company databases and other systems. Locating such information manually is a time-consuming task, in the absence of clear-cut information on where such information resides. The obvious benefit is a speedier resolution of consumer issues, leading to improved customer satisfaction and accelerated sales cycles.

Virtual assistants also take the shape of chatbots, replacing the manual assistant altogether. Technology has evolved considerably on this front, and businesses are co-opting it in a big way. In the future, even the most basic bots will become more interactive than Siri and Alexia of today.

AI infused bots learn from users, to offer highly relevant insight and suggestions. It could open the database and pry a solution even before a manual agent has the chance to comprehend the question. Further, the technology to make bots understand emotional intelligence has arrived. Such Emotional Intelligence capable bots would know how exactly to respond to a frustrated customer. Going forward, bots would handle most normal queries, leaving human agents only with long-tail and complicated queries.

Social Media Rises in Importance

Social media caught on big-time, with estimates suggesting a 394% increase in social media use in recent years. The widespread popularity is mainly on account of the transparency, the social media delivers. The best businesses leverage such transparency to further their business model.

Traditionally, businesses had complete control over their products and services. The business model essentially boiled down to a “take-it-or-leave-it” approach. The transparency infused by social media has changed the power equations. Customers now have unprecedented choice and ability to gather real feedback from real users of any product or service. If something goes wrong, rest assured everyone will come to know about it.

Smart companies cope with such change by giving more power to its customers. They listen to the customer eagerly and align their business software to take feedback. This ensures that the business and the customer work together, for mutual benefit. Businesses roll out more collaborative systems and link it to their key product development and management channels.

Enterprises need not always go in search of new technologies. What is important is the way in which any technology, new or old is applied. Any business today needs to adapt and change its services and products to meet the changing needs of the customers. Customer focused business software is a major enabler in this direction.