The future of shopping and e-commerce technology

The retail industry time constant transformations lives, reflected on the future of consumer habits through a complete and thorough analysis of the future of shopping online.

According to the opinion of the company in the coming years, there will emerge a new generation of stores, for which it will not matter your location, consumers can view virtual exhibitors at any time and from anywhere, and shopping so instant with one click. Now, the role of businesses is to study how a future new technologies can help shape your business and how to adapt to them quickly.

The shopping experience has changed dramatically over the last ten years and now it seems strange to think that we lived without intelligent, apps or even without buying phones online, things have become an integral part of the life of the XXI century.

The advancement of technology and the Internet has changed the way we buy, and now the transformation is reaching the same spaces where we buy. For both consumers and sellers, it has never been so easy to reach the global market. The shops have to reinvent themselves, but they will not disappear.

The PWC report ‘Commerce 2020’ anticipates that in the coming years, live physical stores increasing pressure to balance their position in a global environment, and at the same time, maintain personal contact own traditional trade. As a result, for the stores online and offline will be increasingly important to design strategies that take into account the skills and opportunities of each business, either globally and locally. The personalization and simplification will also become an even more essential part. According to PWC says in his study, marks not only help buyers to make their lives easier, but they are less standards and be more customized to each client.

The role of new technologies and traditional

Industry retail live time constant alterations and transformations. A report by Deloitte entitled ‘Global Trade Powers in 2020’ says the impact that mobile is having on consumers, businesses and the industry as a whole is the largest element of change in retail to date. So while mobile undoubtedly continue to affect the way consumers buy, there are other technologies that are looking to shake up the industry trends and influence social and economic level.

As new technologies are concerned, in recent years we have experienced a wave of changes, from virtual testers to the beacons, signal transmitters short balance via Bluetooth. In addition, the “Internet of things” has taken significant steps to enter trades steps. However, not only it is new technologies that are having an impact. The old well, and an example is RFID (in Spanish, Radio Frequency Identification), which has existed since the early 80s and now used in stores to facilitate payments Contactless – those that allow purchases just approaching the card to the terminal point band shops. Another example would be smart price tags.

As technology advances, the duty of the stores is to study the different ways to create experiences more specific and personal users. The technology laptop or wearable, for example, is a virtual gold mine for geolocated marketing because it allows direct specific offers to potential customers that are near a settlement in a given time. Despite the variety of technologies available, the role of businesses is to study how these technologies can help shape your business in the future.

Opportunities online and offline

In a highly competitive market, as the Internet and consumer habits have evolved, physical stores that have not adapted have been compared to other more agile business. In this regard, the aforementioned report by PWC predicts that in an increasingly global trading environment, stores offline will be forced to maintain balance between localization and customization. At the same time, more and more businesses online target the world offline to boost growth through various initiatives such as the spaces of temporary sale (pop-ups) or points of click and collect (collection systems online shopping ). It is clear that there are opportunities on both channels.

One of them, both for businesses with physical stores or online presence ,will focus around the Big Data. The massive data processing require retailers to think more strategically in their abilities both globally and locally, and how the analysis of all this information can be applied to gain a competitive advantage. To grow in the future, businesses will have to develop a culture of more interdivisional collaboration, where sales online and offline are seen as complementary and, naturally, bound to give buyers a great experience based on perceptions of multiple channels .

The same strategy does not fit all

Sell much of a product at a bargain price it’s over. Currently consumers want a very personalized shopping experience that is both entertaining time. As a result, more businesses are using advanced multimedia content to provide a more engaging experience that gets to captivate the consumer.

The success of the campaign Coca-Cola ‘shares a Coca-Cola’, which replaced its logo with everyday names, is a great example of how a small change can really liven up buying the consumer and increase sales of the company . Its success shows how entrepreneurs and brands are increasingly aware that what the consumer wants to be entertained and informed.

Amusing consumer will create a more personalized shopping experience, offering the opportunity to customize and personalize the products and services, making small adjustments or purchases of limited edition items. If we go beyond the product itself, businesses can also provide a personal touch by recommending purchase suggestions related to previous purchases, or offering discount coupons ranges most popular products. They are simple actions, but thought they may make the consumer buy again later in the same store.

Sell in a marketplace

Across customization we find simplified purchase process, an example of which are mobile applications. As in the real world, consumers are directed to a mall to find more products in one place. The same applies on the Internet. Instead of having an application for each store is more convenient for shoppers go to a marketplace where you find all your favorite brands in one place.

In the future, we will see more and more shops selling brands through these online shopping malls, enabling them to maximize sales to make the same product can be acquired from different routes. By joining an online marketplace, sellers can benefit from increased web traffic and confidence that brings an established market, among others. And besides, they can maintain their independence and build your brand by customizing your shop window, so that each store is able to retain its own identity.

The whole world is a Store

In the coming years will emerge a new generation of stores, for which it will not matter your location. Consumers, meanwhile, will see virtual exhibitors at any time and from anywhere, and shop instantly with a single click or even easier, winking through augmented reality glasses.

In addition, the technology will also allow more companies to sell internationally. The evolution of borderless trade makes businesses can sell to anyone, anywhere in the world. A report PFSK entitled ‘The future of trade’ recommends retailers “think less about concepts such as real estate, personal, affluence and online stores, and start thinking about the world as a store where you can easily make purchases snapshots regardless of time and place.”