Trade is the engine of progress. Most market segments are already so saturated that simply offering consumers a high-quality affordable product is not enough. To sell, you need to stand out — this is the only way your offer will interest potential buyers.
Therefore, many innovations are emerging in the field of trade. Today we are no longer talking about cash registers and vending machines, but about the use of high technologies in e-commerce. We will tell you what solutions can change online stores in the near future, making them even more convenient for customers and even more effective for business.
1. Hyperpersonalization
There are already solutions that allow you to rearrange the page structure, select appropriate images, and rewrite text blocks on the fly. They prove their effectiveness every day, significantly increasing customer engagement and conversion rates.
Well, in the future, we can expect that intelligent website builders will assemble landing pages from scratch, based on the preferences of a particular user. Do you spend a lot of time on Facebook? Then the store will offer you a similar marketplace feed and a discreet, trustworthy color scheme. Do you like old school catalogs? The page will be designed to make it easy for you to explore their content. Do you love personalized recommendations? An automatically generated site will “guide you by the hand” to the perfect products.
2. Virtual assistants
Opinions about consultants in stores are divided. Some consider them too annoying, while others happily accept their help and appreciate the opportunity to communicate while shopping. Virtual assistants in e-commerce are being developed especially for the second category of customers.
This is the next step in the development of familiar chatbots. A virtual assistant is a fictional person with their own emotions, communication style, and memory. It remembers regular customers and recommends products to them based on their purchase history and browsing history. His advice will help you choose a specific product according to individual tastes and get advice on using such a product. Virtual assistants can have their own appearance — we are talking about animated 3D models. Samsung has already conducted similar experiments. Although the project has been closed, the new generation of technology may be more in demand.
3. Pattern recognition
Sometimes it's hard to put into words what exactly you want to buy. Attempts to explain to an online store or search engine the appearance and purpose of a product can turn into a fiasco and a waste of valuable time. This is why many tech companies are working on creating visual search.
An example of this technology is Google Lens, which is available on most Android smartphones. However, it has several drawbacks today. First, you should get a reasonably clear photo of the product. Secondly, the system is looking for exactly the same product — it can't explain that you want to buy a red polka-dot sweater rather than a plain blue one. The solution may be to combine visual search with live speech recognition. Such technologies will allow you to correct queries, for example, search for a gray iPhone instead of a white one, or a charging station with a large number of outlets.
Another area of development is pattern recognition. Imagine that you are drawing a sketch from several lines, and artificial intelligence recognizes the desired product in it. It relies not only on visuals, but also on accumulated information about you, which significantly improves search accuracy.
4. Augmented reality integration
Another problem with online shopping is that you see the product as a flat image on your device's screen. Only people with a strong creative imagination can imagine how it would fit into their daily lives.
IKEA and H&M have already presented their augmented reality (AR) solutions. Their applications allow you to try on clothes by pointing your smartphone in the mirror, or to place virtual furniture in a real room. But these are few examples that have not yet been widely used. In the future, public platforms may appear that will allow you to post 3D models of goods online or adapt clothing images to people's photos. You don't need to buy expensive equipment to do this — just have a smartphone with a good camera on hand.
However, the number of consumers who own AR or VR headsets is gradually increasing. They can go shopping in virtual reality — walk between shelves in an online store, inspect each product, compare them with each other and place an order. When it comes to the Metaverse, other people can also be present in the store — live and digital consultants, as well as customers. Such technologies make it possible to combine the best of both worlds — comfortable online shopping from home with the ability to inspect and try on goods in a physical store.
5. Predictive loyalty programs
You've probably heard that many companies provide bonuses to customers as compensation for certain inconveniences. But it's also important to understand that only one in 9 to 25 customers complains about poor service. The rest keep their emotions to themselves, silently reducing the amount of purchases at a particular store or moving on to competitors.
For businesses, this means huge losses. To avoid them, you should not catch up and respond to complaints, but to be proactive. Artificial intelligence, which is able to analyze visitor behavior on the site, will help with this. He can respond to such signs of discontent:
- frequent irritated clicks;
- repeatedly moving the cursor over the purchase button without completing the transaction;
- studying the contact form or complaint form without sending a message;
- quick transitions between catalog pages that end with exit from the site;
- studying the conditions for returning and exchanging goods after purchase, etc.
A predictive loyalty program can recognize signs of customer dissatisfaction in time. To reassure him, you can give him a discount, bonuses, or a gift in advance. Such a system will help bring back departed customers by sending them a message with a personalized offer. It can also reward positive customers, turning them into brand advocates.
6. Automatic error correction
Sometimes negative experiences are the consequences of a series of random events, not the online store's fault. For example, a buyer moved to a new apartment but, out of habit, gave the old address. The customer can also choose accessories that are not suitable for the main product.
Artificial intelligence is able to recognize such errors, reporting them to company employees or offering corrections in real time. It can provide assistance in the following ways:
- Detect abnormal changes in the delivery address, for example, a return to an old apartment. The system will ask the buyer a clarifying question without causing irritation or negative reaction.
- Compare the characteristics of items in the cart. If they're not compatible, the interface will show a warning.
- Find errors in entering the phone number and details of the recipient of the goods. The system is able to correct typos on its own or point them out to the buyer.
- Offer affordable alternatives. For example, if a similar model of the same product is currently participating in a promotion, the store interface will let the user know.
Automatic error detection is not only about loyalty and satisfaction with the service, but also about cybersecurity. Artificial intelligence can also detect intentional fraud, for example, an attempt to return money for an item to another person's card. Modern technologies make it possible to predict fraudulent transactions, including nervous cursor twitching or abnormally high page switching speed by a bot.
The not-too-distant future
Most of the technologies we've described already exist today in the form of beta services or partial solutions to a problem with a limited number of features. Therefore, we can assume that they will become available to small and medium-sized businesses in the next couple of years. By subscribing to relevant platforms, you can significantly increase the efficiency of your online store and improve your company's financial performance.
Would you like to start today? Contact StartDuck for advice. We work with innovative services based on artificial intelligence and more. Our experts will select a ready-made solution for you or find a reliable partner who can create an appropriate program from scratch. We will also help integrate intelligent services into ready-made business models, provide training and evaluate the effectiveness of their daily use. StartDuck provides turnkey services. By contacting us, you will discover the hidden potential of your business, making it work at 100%.
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