The Sci-Fi dream of geeks across the world is being brought to life by the e-commerce industry’s technology moves. From drone deliveries to AI-governed personal shoppers to assist you on online splurge, led by Amazon, this industry has been on the cutting edge.
In many ways, it feels pivotal in realizing long-hyped tech dreams, and making them mainstream. Our Magento eCommerce Development team is particularly psyched about four e-commerce tech trends that ensure (mostly) smooth customer experience:
1. Social Commerce to the Sales Funnel’s rescue!
Imagine this: You are on your phone, scrolling through your Instagram feed, when an ad-carousel catches your eye. The OnePlus phone cover that has been languishing in your wish list is finally backed in stock! There are no two ways about your decision – you are buying it. Just when you’re anticipating a re-route to another app page, you notice that there is a quick buy button right there! Checkout is seamless, and you go back to scrolling through your feed before you know it.
‘Buy’ buttons were launched by Facebook back in 2015, and other social media platforms integrated them into the UI consequently. However, the critical push for this feature came in October 2017 when Shopify launched the Instagram integration. This move easily deals with the twin problems that were interfering with the user journey of social commerce: payment processing and merchant on-boarding/support. With that out of the way, e-commerce players are all set to join in on the social conversation!
2. Self-learning shopping solutions.
Slacks are not your style; joggers are. Aviators are cool, but you prefer wayfarers. You are always on the prowl for Nike’s next big sneaker release – and your Amazon account knows it. Product recommendation is the most prominent presence of machine learning technology in the space of eCommerce.
However, these days’ portals are using machine learning to make search ranking more effective and efficient. This comes on the heels of the news that product search is now increasingly performed on Amazon as opposed to traditional search engines. Using variables like past search query-phrasing habits and previous product views, the algorithm recommends products that are likely to suit your taste and budget.
3. And some not-so-solutions.
Machine-learning is also being used to detect anomaly behaviors that can point to fraud. One of the more ‘fun’ use cases is introducing the element of dynamic pricing, which is a grey area in terms of customer experience. We expect popular e-commerce platforms to begin testing this feature soon and attracks larger audience to online.
4. Chatbots to assist you.
You have placed a bid on eBay. 15 minutes before time is up, a friendly reminder pops up via you Facebook Messenger window. You swoop in and make a last-minute offer that bags you the product. Friendly chatbot wishes you a nice day.
‘THIS’ or ‘THAT’? – asks you yet another chatbot from your favorite fashion accessory e-store. Just like your best friend trying to pick the perfect outfit for a day on the town. This chatbot isn’t nagging you to buy either; it just wants to know your opinion. A few rounds later, it makes a helpful recommendation that is totally up your alley. This chatbot is quite essentially your best friend to shop with.
