In our harsh reality, having an eCommerce application is not innovative anymore. Having such a solution developed is not going to grant you a competitive advantage by itself. Businesses in retail, from small to big, have a clear understanding that they won’t leverage the competition without an online store development. This is why eCommerce became a huge trend. Now even super and hypermarkets develop digital environments to sell online.
The graph below shows how the eCommerce market grew over the past few years and what will become of online sales in the future.
You will find more infographics at Statista
Statistics show how a stable growth in the biggest markets in the world: China, Europe, and the US. You can see, until 2024, the eCommerce niche will continue to attract more finances and investors. This is the reason why competition in this market segment is rapidly growing.
So, you must think of something unique while developing an eCommerce application. Something that’ll make people stay there; something, that’ll surprise them and grab their attention. With such an approach, you’ll have a stronger client base and be able to scale the eCommerce application on the market, hence attracting customers from various countries. To achieve the best results, you may want to keep track of new trends on the market. So, without hesitation, let’s move on to it!
Trend №1 in eCommerce app development – Augmented Reality
This trend has been in the top lists for several years now and unlikely to give up its position anytime soon. Having your customer committed to the shopping – isn’t that the greatest dream of every businessman? A technical solution like this will allow your customer to see how the item looks in their room/on them/on their face in the developed application.
For instance, while using the augmented reality technology in the eCommerce app for selling the furniture, you’ll give your customers an opportunity to work on the design of their room. The only thing they need to do is turn on the camera!
The augmented reality will add a desired item to the interior, and your customers will see whether the new closet looks good in their room, or if the new table is perfect for taking Instagram pics.
It is user-friendly technology that won’t require any special technical capabilities from your clients. All they need is a smartphone with a camera and your eCommerce app installed. Augmented reality adds a 3D model of an item into the environment which allows the customer to observe it on a full scale.
According to ThinkMobile, around 63% of eCommerce applications users say that augmented reality can positively affect their experience in an online store.
One of the best augmented reality usages in eCommerce is probably in the Amikasa app. It allows you to see how the selected item looks inside of your room. The item can be anything you’re interested in: from a lamp to kitchen furniture.
Trend №2 in eCommerce app development – Artificial Intelligence
You can find this technology widely used in eCommerce industry developments. Machine Learning algorithms can be used for CRM or supply chain optimization, speech to text conversion, or AI-powered chat-bots.
With a solution like this, you won’t need to hire many people to provide supporting services or do any kind of routine work. Artificial intelligence algorithms are able to handle it 24/7, ensuring that your business has an uninterrupted workflow.
Besides, it’s no secret that in 21st century, in the technological era, people are not really thrilled about having a real-life conversation. Automated answers for the most frequently asked questions can save a lot of time and nerves for your clients.
AI-based chatbots can imitate the real-life style of texting, hence making your customer comfortable while using it. Let’s take a Masha.ai bot as an example. A Facebook Messenger bot can find the best item for you by searching databases of more than 600 international brands.
You must’ve heard of the most impressive failures this technology had in popular applications, though. Most often it happens because the amount of analyzed data is small or the app didn’t need it in the first place.
So, implementing an AI solution into your eCommerce application takes care of its relevance to your software and business needs, in particular, counting on your target audience’s requirements.
Trend №3 in eCommerce app development – Voice Search
It may seem like a little thing, but it may drastically improve your eCommerce application operation! To begin, we need to consider that people often buy things on the go. Using a simple search, or typing words on the screen isn’t the most comfortable thing. This is why voice search became more popular in 2019 and onwards in various eCommerce applications. People are including it in their newly developed apps to make the lives of users more pleasant.
This technology is also using AI algorithms, which help it identify the human speech and turn it into a search query. Your clients won’t have to use special tech or complex combinations to find this feature in the settings. All it takes is simply clicking the “voice search” icon and starting to talk.
It is a proven way to make the sales cycle shorter for your customer. Voice search (especially when optimized with AI) may help the clients find the desired items faster. Hence, your buyer will have less time making one purchase and maybe because of it they’ll use your custom-developed eCommerce application to buy something else.
One of the greatest examples of this technology in eCommerce is Nestle company. It has used voice searches for recipes since 2017. They also provide their clients with voice tips and answers.
Trend №4 in eCommerce app development – Gamification
Let’s start with what the term means in general. Gamification is the technology of adding interactive elements into non-gaming application development. To use gamification in an eCommerce app, the only thing a client will need is a stable Internet connection and your app downloaded! Such a solution may work in both web and mobile applications, which will allow you to widen your software usage.
One of the greatest gamification examples is the popular Chinese marketplace AliExpress. They’ve integrated the gaming elements into the basic functionality of an eCommerce app, which has made it not just incredibly beneficial but also catchy.
People were addicted to growing money trees in the eCommerce app for a while since they could earn real bonuses from it. The minigame allowed you to water the tree in the app each time you log in. If you did it regularly and completed the mini game’s tasks (such as curing the tree of parasites, watering your friend’s trees, etc.), – the tree would grow up to the point when it gives you a harvest of the app’s internal coins. The customer of AliExpress could trade these coins for special items or coupons.
The eCommerce application also had the function to compare your tree with your friends’ accounts and play mini games. Such a fun game format helped AliExpress to go viral in its time, and maybe now it’s your turn!
Trend №5 in eCommerce app development – Blockchain for payments
Decentralized networks for purchasing goods in eCommerce applications development may help your marketplace work become more stable. You won’t encounter a payment system server’s failures or high fees from the bank. Aside from this, blockchain guarantees you more transparent and secured transactions. They also record the time mark of every transmission made, which may result in simpler solving of many conflicts between the buyer and the seller.
Such a solution can also be used in your promo campaign! Many users can be innovative technology fans and will be thrilled to use the eCommerce application with embedded blockchain tools.
Besides, you may develop your eCommerce app with the option of paying for the items with cryptocurrency. Today, this method is actively adopted by many companies. You already can pay for real estate, cars, and other goods with the help of blockchain.
Some giants, like Overstock, have adapted bitcoin in their developments like an official currency you can actually buy something with.
But if you’ve decided to stay away from innovations, at least pay attention to electronic payment systems such as ApplePay or GooglePay. They will significantly speed up the sales process in eCommerce apps and will be more convenient for your customers than other solutions. Perhaps this is what will make your potential customer actually “come again.”
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Watching over the trends in eCommerce applications development is vital for your business success. Don’t forget that your competitive advantage is not only in the correct business strategies and quality items you sell, but in your business technical capabilities.
To leverage the competition in the retail industry without an application development is almost impossible nowadays. But you’ll have a good chance with the trends in eCommerce we mentioned above and MassMedia Group as a reliable technical partner by your side.