More high street shops closed their doors in 2017, as many customers prefer to shop online, the highly competitive world of Ecommerce has become increasingly vital in order for your business to survive in 2018.
As technology rapidly advances, the pressure is on to have modern and effective Ecommerce solutions in order to stay ahead of your competitors. Here are some of the new trends in Ecommerce for 2018 and onwards:
Voice Assisted Shopping
With the rise of digital voice assistants such as Siri, consumers are discovering the speed and ease of shopping via voice commerce. Businesses will need to add Natural Language to their site’s content in order to capture the growing market of voice assisted Ecommerce.
Messaging Chatbots
Businesses can now communicate with their customers via messaging platforms such as Whatsapp or Messenger to improve customer service, increase sales, and earn more profit. Rule-based Chatbots can be as simple as a basic text messaging application where customers can text a keyword in order to receive discount codes or offers, e.g. “Text CINEMA to 202020 to get a code for half price cinema tickets”. The Chatbot recognises the command and instantly sends the code.
Augmented Reality Shopping
Customers can view computer-generated images of their products on top of real world visuals – similar to the technology used in the game Pokemon Go. This experience will allow shoppers to see their purchase in a natural setting before they buy it. For example, when a customer is choosing a new sofa, they will be able to visualise it in their lounge to see how it would look and match to colour schemes. It is a fun way to try out different looks and gives customers increased confidence with their purchases.
Virtual Reality Ecommerce
Customers will be able to have virtual tours of real shopping isles and make purchases using their eye movements. This bridges the gap between physical and virtual shopping and creates a unique experience for the senses.
Virtual Personal Shoppers
Tailored recommendations go beyond following everyone else’s buying habits to focus on your customer’s individual preferences.
Mobile Payments and Wallet Apps
Payments via mobile and wallet apps do not require your customers to provide all of their personal information at the checkout. This makes the shopping experience even easier for customers who can avoid lengthy checkout processes.
Live chat
Customers want instant responses to queries, so live chat is a useful tool to ease customers through their shopping experience to aid conversion rates.
New Data Protection Regulations
The ‘General Data Protection Regulation’ comes into effect on 25th May 2018 with tougher fines for data protection breaches. Businesses should be assessing their current methods of protecting customer’s data and make any necessary changes needed to comply with GDPR and appoint a Data Protection Officer to be in charge of GDPR compliance.
Ecommerce Essentials
Before embarking on any of the new and exciting technological advances, it is important to ensure that your Ecommerce website is effectively engaging with your customers by making sure you have:
- An attractive and eye-catching website design
- User-friendly navigation and layout
- Frequently updatedand more personalised content
- Secure Payment Gateway Integration
- Search Engine Optimisation
- A website speed that doesn’t keep customer’s waiting
- A responsive website that works well on mobiles on tablets
- An effective Pay Per Click strategy
- Social Media marketing
- Whiteboard Video Content
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Call us today to discuss effective Ecommerce in 2018 and onwards.
