Constantly changing, e-commerce continues to reinvent itself to offer consumers an ever more personalized experience. From voice control to augmented reality, what innovations will change online business practices in 2020?
Personalizing experience with artificial intelligence
A pioneer in personalizing the online buying experience, the giant Amazon will continue to offer products intimately linked to the tastes of each consumer by using more and more artificial intelligence. This improvement in the personalization of online shopping will allow companies to increase their profit margin significantly (more than 15%), according to the American research firm Gartner.
Buying by voice
By 2020, purchases done by voice searching on smartphones will become more popular with consumers. They will use voice assistance to find and order goods online faster and easier.
“Real” digital purchases
Augmented reality technologies will continue to develop in the new year, allowing consumers to get a realistic view of what their online purchases will look like. From furniture to fashion accessories and music, companies such as Sephora, Shopify and Apple have developed sophisticated AR technologies, introduced on their digital purchasing platforms.
Delivery in record time
With the growing popularity of online shopping, consumers are becoming more and more demanding with regard to the speed of delivery of their orders. Over the year, optimization of the business supply chain is expected to allow faster and lower cost delivery services. Customers can even expect to receive their purchases the same day.
Social platforms and instant communication
Social media such as Snapchat, Facebook or Instagram will focus on developing their
shopping experiences offered directly from their respective platforms. This will allow users to shop online without going through a merchant’s external website, a practice already used by more than 50% of social media users in China. In 2020, the development of this instant consumption model will benefit retailers and consumers alike, who will receive personalized suggestions from their favourite social platform.