Innovations That Will Transform The Commerce Sector : Retail is one of the sectors that is undergoing digital transformation the fastest, taking advantage of the boom that eCommerce has had in the two years of the pandemic. Although society has almost returned to normal, and physical stores have recovered most of their activity, e-commerce is not going to go backward in the future. This is because many consumers who did not buy online have gotten used to doing so and many companies have seen the great potential of this channel and have decided to exploit it, even changing their business model to prioritize online sales.
In this context in which countless new players have emerged, eCommerce is witnessing a growth in competition, which leads companies to seek ways to differentiate themselves. In addition, technologies and strategies are becoming popular that provide greater knowledge to customers and that makes things easier for consumers when it comes to finding products of interest, buying them, and paying for them digitally.
The possibilities do not stop growing and companies that want to be successful in electronic commerce will need to bet on innovation to find their way and position themselves more strongly in an increasingly competitive market.
According to a report presented by the company Paclink, the number of people who use the Internet every day has doubled in the last 10 years, and by the year 2030 one in three European companies will sell through the Internet. Noelia Lázaro, Director of Marketing at Packlink, comments that “accessing any product today is cheaper, faster, and easier than ever, although evolution is constant, and the presence of the digital medium will be even greater in the coming years.” Although experts believe that this will not necessarily harm physical commerce, but rather that consumption will continue to grow in general and the range of possibilities for customers will be expanded.
Electronic commerce has been able to capitalize on this digital boom, taking advantage of the fact that during the numerous confinements the population has resorted to the Internet to make their purchases, both in online stores and through social networks, a channel that gains weight day after day. At Paclink they point out that it is difficult to make precise forecasts about how the eCommerce ecosystem will evolve in the future, but they highlight certain technologies that will drive innovation and have an increasing influence on e-commerce.
-
Table of Contents
Metaverse
The new concept of the metaverse is promoted as a new communication and sales channel with enormous possibilities for the field of electronic commerce. Although it is still too early to jump into this new virtual world, some innovation-focused companies have already launched their first proofs of concept or their own metaverse to experiment with the commercial possibilities it may hold. Within a few years, this could be a key channel for digital businesses, where people will be able to make purchases through their avatars.
-
Personalization
Digitization has made it possible to capture a great deal of information about consumers, which is being used to further personalize the offers sent to customers through digital channels. This trend will continue to evolve towards hyper-personalization which will be achieved thanks to new algorithms that are capable of extracting more information from the data generated by consumers.
-
Merged reality
Augmented reality, which until recently had limited applications, is showing much greater potential than virtual reality for sectors such as retail. At Paclink they believe that this technology will allow the user experience to be transformed in ways never seen before in physical commerce, showing detailed information about products and services by simply focusing on them with the mobile camera.
-
Smart products
Blockchain technology is finding very interesting and innovative applications in retail, with use cases linked above all to traceability of food and other products. This is spreading as large companies in the sector are betting on blockchain innovation to provide consumers with additional information about products, gaining transparency and reliability. Currently, the markets that work with this technology allow customers to know the origin of the food and the treatment it has received throughout the supply chain. But this concept will expand to other product categories, and it will not only apply to physical commerce, but also to electronic commerce.
-
Showrooms
The role of brick-and-mortar stores is changing as eCommerce gains prominence, with more stores launching their own online sales channel while reconfiguring their stores to act more like a showroom than a brick-and-mortar stores. This strategy involves proposing the use of physical spaces to enhance the brand image and customer confidence, leading them to their own online channel, encouraging this connection through exclusive experiences, discounts for store visitors, and other commercial strategies. based on omnichannel.
Advances Towards Sustainability
As in many other sectors, retail is interested in promoting the change towards a more sustainable consumption model. The next ten years will see great progress in this regard, for example in the textile sector, which is promoting the second-hand market. And, more recently, similar projects have been started in the technology sector, with a growing market for second-hand laptops and mobiles.
