The past 10 years of this millennium has ushered an era like none witnessed before in the industry of ecommerce. Today’s modern and state-of-the-art technology has played a tremendous role in taking ecommerce trends 2018 to the zenith where it now reigns supreme. Most developed nations of the world have harnessed its limitless potential in economy and nation-building. According to a study by E-marketer, in 2016 China alone amassed a whopping $900 billion from ecommerce alone while the US made over $423 billion on retail sales and revenue. Technology is the driving force steering the wheels of ecommerce. With every new day, there comes a new advancement in tech, and these advancements, in turn, have groundbreaking applications in ecommerce.
This brings us to the big question- In what ways has technology impacted in ecommerce?
Online shops and virtual markets.
Back in the days, the idea of going to the mall or supermarket to buy a product was quite fascinating. Much more exciting is what we have now- online stores and virtual markets. Consumers can now shop from home, school, office or anywhere in the world. The market is no longer a fixed solid place; it is everywhere.
The creation of virtual and augmented reality technologies have made these above benefits possible. Ecommerce retails, and vendors can advertise, sample and display their products in these virtual platforms. Recently, we have seen the birth of many online stores that have come to stay and have become some of the largest names in the industry. A typical example is eBay. Vendors also have shopping platforms on mobiles and tablets via their mobile apps. It is not only about shoppers; there is something for those that sell. Through the right sustainable platforms, sellers no longer have to micromanage every aspect of the business, and there is even sharing of the financial burden of start-up capital with the aid of technologies that provide easy access to communication, processing of logistics, transfer of information and online networking. The shopping experience has been redefined by the application of technology in ecommerce. Amazon, Ali express and Yandex market are a few examples of the present day online retailers.
Self-running customer care services
Advancements in the field of robotics, computer science, and software development have birthed the use of robots in customer care services. A lot of companies set up chatbots (chat robots) designed to interact with customers and help with inquiries, complains and solve basic problems that clients may encounter with their products. Implementing this innovation with human intervention, companies can cater to the needs of plenty of customers in a shorter time frame.
Technology has breathed life into platforms that deal effectively with making payments. The issue of handling payments up until now was a major challenge in ecommerce. Maintaining a payment gateway that could process orders from all markets was also a costly venture but these past few years have seen the advents of several payment options including e-wallet and e-vouchers. Other options include bitcoins and cryptocurrency payment platforms. Payment transactions including billing of clients and payment for goods have been made very easy through these options. One can say with confidence that the world is still yet to exhaust the unlimited and great potentials of ecommerce. It is the way to the future.
Ready to boost your sales? Learn more!
