Progress in E-Commerce: A stepping stone into a futuristic modern society

For decades, the emergence of the internet has led to the interchange of information and ideas among people which have made the internet become a relatively convenient and indispensible tool for all to utilize.

The limitless functions and capabilities of the internet has so far brought the advent of many ingenious inventions including the awesome reach of social media, live newsfeed being broadcast from the screens of your I-Pad and of course, thereâs E-commerce.

With the likes of Ebay and Amazon, E-Commerce holds great significance among us with regards to online purchasing and selling of a huge array of products and services. Many would wonder what the future holds for Electronic Commerce and the prospects that it entails.

Tapping into consumer Insights
In a marketerâs perspective, knowing how and what the consumers want is an essential step to devise a robust marketing strategy. As such, with the support of E-Commerce marketers can actually tap into consumer insights to provide them with the demands of the market so as to improve consumer engagement.

Currently, a real-time data insight strategy is being developed to raise the bar for online personalization which tailors to customersâ preferences. This strategy would be immensely useful for online retailers and would incite greater customer engagement. The building blocks to this strategy are based on data and analytics. First and foremost the strategy relies on acquiring data that pertains to customer purchase patterns and preferences. After which, a predictive model system would be used to process the customerâs transaction history. The predictive model will be able to signal to marketers a consumerâs inclination to buy a specific product.

With predictive analytics installed on all E-commerce platforms, online retailers can identify what the customer wants are by engaging them in a more personalized level and providing them an optimal purchasing path. Such an implication could mean greater customer retention for online businesses.

In a consumer perspective, big plans lie in store for frequent online shoppers.

Evolution of online shopping
At the moment, there are new and upcoming developments that would certainly revolutionize the online retail experience.

Even with the rise of E-commerce brands and with the rate of online commercialization growing massively; most purchases are still carried out at brick and mortar stores. Customers want to try things on or touch their purchases in real life and that canât be done through online shops. As such, E-commerce brands are striving to create a multi-platform shopping experience for customers to further enhance and quite possibly alter the conventions of everyday shopping.

Imagine having to make a shopping purchase that allows seamless online purchases through a phone application while getting to experience the ambience of a boutique shop.

At the moment there is a growing trend of online shops transiting into offline shops, where brands such as Nasty Gal which first started as an Ebay shop has launched their physical store in Los Angeles with a store layout that includes designer vintage, vinyl records, and mirrored doors that encourage their young shoppers to create Instagram-able moments, which ties in nicely with the brand image.

However, by looking towards the future of E-Commerce, many E-commerce fashion brands such as Rebecca Minkoff is working towards incorporating technology into ordinary brick and mortar stores, starting at the dressing room. The idea is said to have the mirrors of the dressing rooms be mechanized by Kinect sensors that registers motion of the customers while also having touch screens functionalities that allow customers to order up a different clothes size or send a request for a different colour of clothing via an online text message. This new connected store uses this combination of Kinect sensors, RFID, SMS text messages, and customer tracking to connect the physical store experience to the online and mobile experiences

For online retailers, the implications of a fusing an online shopping brand with its own physical store manifestation allows shoppers to not only purchase products in real-time, but get a real-world experience that supplements the relationship theyâve cultivated online.

Digital Labour Market
Lastly, picture the potential of E-commerce having the ability and reach to create a digital marketplace that sources for you labour services ranging from the simplest of task to the more complex jobs.

As of now, freelance labour services being hired online is a growing trend and would soon be a desired component of the E-commerce industry. Digital labour marketplaces would assist with the compiling, tabulating and marketing of freelance workers, so as to promote and compare the skills sets of labour services online in a highly comprehensive and interactive manner. If the online marketplace is properly executed, many customers seeking to acquire labour services will find it more convenient, efficient and safe as compared to hiring labour offline.