What are the technologies used in e-commerce?

E-commerce was a driving force in the world economy long before the pandemic struck. Consumers even began avoiding retail stores in favour of mobile delivery apps. However, COVID-19 only expedited the shift to e-commerce that was already happening.

In other words, we shouldn’t expect to see a curtailing of online shopping; it will likely only become more prevalent. (Also read: Post-Pandemic Life in the Tech World Looks Pretty Good.)

As major retailers and e-commerce giants like Amazon double down on the technologies that have sustained their revenue streams throughout the pandemic, the cost and convenience of the digital economy is likely to draw more consumers—not fewer. This means traditional brick and mortar businesses will have to keep up, technologically speaking, if they hope to remain viable in the COVID-contextualized economy.

But what technologies are most likely to deliver the greatest value? In the online world, margins are too tight to simply deploy a bunch of systems and see what works. Going forward, retailers will have to carefully guide their investment toward tools and services delivering the best ROI.

And, from today’s vantage point, it seems like four key advancements are leading the e-commerce charge. Here they are:

1. Chatbots

Annoying as they can be sometimes, chatbots provide a conversational aspect to e-commerce, allowing customers to find what they want quickly and easily at low cost to the retailer.

As chatbot technology becomes more refined and better able to ingest and interpret both spoken and written language, we can expect them to augment the entire sales process, streamline customer service, collect data for marketing and trend prediction purposes and even generate sales leads. (Also read: Smart Data Management in a Post-Pandemic World.)

According to Ricky Hayes, co-founder of e-commerce solutions provider Debutify, chatbots can also tie into popular social media tools like Facebook Messenger to maintain clear lines of communication with customers no matter what device they are using.

This helps guide their decision-making, resolve any doubts or conflicts they are having, confirm shipping and perform a host of other duties that would otherwise require multiple customer service reps. The idea, of course, is not to replace human labor, but to make it more efficient by offloading routine tasks.

2. Mobile Platforms

New apps and services are emerging every day, all aimed at making it easier to attract customers and improve the shopping experience. The trend is so strong that some market analysts have elevated "m-commerce", as mobile e-commerce has been dubbed, to a distinct new channel.

Rakesh Jain, CEO of app development firm MobiCommerce, says that the popularity of mobile is too great to ignore. As consumers turn to apps to generate income for themselves, their phones and other mobile devices become the centre of their financial worlds. In this environment, retailers stand to miss out on significant sales activity if they don’t engage mobile customers as a primary channel.

Already, mobile accounts for nearly three-quarters of all e-commerce transactions; and emerging 5G networks are expected to dramatically improve the function of mobile apps to make browsing and purchasing easier and more engaging.

3. Augmented/Virtual Reality

Part of the new and vibrant shopping experience e-commerce facilitates will reside within augmented and virtual reality environments. The underpinning of the metaverse, in fact, is a fully immersive ecosystem where users can play, socialize and shop as if it was the real world—only better.

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) allow customers to see themselves in new clothes or behind the wheel of a new car, says technology journalist Jessica Wynne Lockhart. In fact, Snap Inc. estimates more than 100 million customers have shopped with AR already—either online or in stores. The advent of shopping in the "Metaverse" is poised to be a gamechanger in the industry, bringing a new dimension of consumer experiences to an audience that perhaps has not been immersed in this level of tech.

While the technology is most popular as a gaming tool, more than three-quarters of a recent Deloitte survey expressed interest in adapting it to their everyday lives. (Also read: 5 Common Myths About Virtual Reality, Busted!)

4. Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly emerging as a key sales and marketing tool amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's also making its way into the supply chain, where it can overcome many of the significant hurdles preventing products from reaching buyers in a timely fashion. According to All The Research, the market for AI in the logistics and supply chain sectors is growing at a compound annual rate of 24 per cent and is expected to top $12 billion by 2027. Activity is prevalent both on the supply side—with companies like IBM, Google and Amazon investing heavily—as well as the demand side, as UPS, FedEx and other carriers strive for ways to increase performance and lower costs. (Also read: How Artificial Intelligence Will Revolutionize the Sales Industry.)

Conclusion

Even with these technologies in hand, e-commerce will remain highly competitive as the 2020s unfold. New tech solutions put a lot of power into e-tailers' hands to attract customers and close sales; but they also provide more flexibility for consumers to shop around, compare prices and track down that perfect item.

In the digital economy, all markets are global. This provides access to more buyers—but introduces more rivals as well.

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COVID-19 has changed the way we are living, shopping, and socializing.

Social distancing has compelled us to use digital ways to shop for most things, and mobile phones have eased that further. Meaning that eCommerce businesses are harvesting the most out of the global pandemic.

Existing eCommerce businesses are eager to infuse the latest technologies and tools on their sites. Startup eCommerce merchants are looking for the upcoming technologies and trends to begin their game.

And these are the reasons I’m writing a post on advanced eCommerce technologies, which are going to redefine the online landscape forever!

What is eCommerce?

According to Wikipedia, “eCommerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce (M-commerce), electronic funds transfer (EFT), supply chain management (SCM), Internet marketing, online transaction processing (Payment gateway), electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems (IMS), and automated data collection systems (ADCS).”

Types of eCommerce businesses

There are four broad categories of eCommerce:

• B2B (Business to Business)
• B2C (Business to Consumer)
• C2B (Consumer to Business)
• C2C (Consumer to Consumer)

Get expert help for your eCommerce business by hiring a freelancer on Fiverr.

7 eCommerce technologies that are redefining online business

#1. M-Commerce or Mobile Commerce Technology

Smartphones are nothing but a retail shop in your palm or pocket. The impacts of lockdowns, social distancing, and self-quarantine have led our society to depend more on m-commerce than ever.

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In a sense, we have accelerated the growth of mobile commerce within a few months.

According to Wikipedia on m-commerce, new technologies like WiMax have significantly improved mobile usage among different services and for various products.

For instance, mobile money transfer, mobile ticketing, mobile vouchers, coupons and loyalty cards, content purchase and delivery, location-based services, information services, mobile banking, mobile brokerage, auctions, mobile browsing, mobile investment, in-application mobile phone payments, mobile marketing, and advertising.

Mobile games and entertainment programs have also eased our lives during the period of social isolation and lockdown.

#2. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Technology

Today EFT technology has improved a lot, and encryption-like technologies have enhanced the security aspects of it. EFT has reduced our reliance on physical banks.

For instance, direct debit or deposit for payments or withdrawals, credit and debit cards, e-bill payments, and instant payments are a bouquet of e-payment options, which determine our concurrent financial activities.

The annual report by the Reserve Bank of India supports the visible growth of EFT technology in the economy and obvious positive impacts on eCommerce.

#3. Supply Chain Management (SCM) Technology

The role of supply chain management technology has become more evident in the field of eCommerce and given birth to various online portals for B2B, B2C, C2B, and C2C like-business models. SCM covers both phases, pre-production, and post-production to ease the flow on the one hand and efficiency on the other hand.

SCM passes through a historical development right from manufacturing to globalization. Today we are living in a specialization era where SCM is also available as a service besides outsourcing.

Complete digitalization of eCommerce has made SCM easy for merchants and end-customers rapidly. Moreover, additive manufacturing and blockchain technologies have emerged as revolutionary technologies in SCM for eCommerce.

#4. Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) or Payment Gateway Technology

According to Wikipedia on OLTP, it facilitates and manages transaction-oriented applications. Today, we have the latest and most secure online transaction processing technologies to create payment gateways and offer a myriad of money transfer methods to boost eCommerce.

Digital wallets are one of the best and highly used examples of the advancement of OLTP technologies. It is because our internet is not restricted to the wired network. We have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless network options to explore. Mobile networks are another option in the market. Digital wallets have made payment quick, simple, and secure for everyone.

#5. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) or Order Management Technology

Electronic data interchange technology helps eCommerce to accomplish communicating information that a business does on-paper in traditional ways. For instance, eCommerce merchants and shoppers both enjoy automatically placing orders, creating invoices, and tracking the entire shipment process through various integrations of other systems or software.

Highly advanced standards for EDI have made the order-making process and receiving goods through online shopping stress-free. Now, eCommerce shoppers place orders, get invoices, and receive goods in automatic and hassle-free manners.

#6. Inventory Management Technology

For eCommerce, tracking inventory levels, orders, sales, and shipments is a critical phase of the business. Out-of-the-box inventory management software can help an online business eliminate overstock and outages.

The modern inventory management software comes with many attractive features. Out of those, some essential features are:

• Reorder points
• Asset tracking
• Service management
• Product identification
• Inventory optimization

ERP inventory management technologies are for enterprises. More advanced versions of inventory management software are using cloud storage and computing services. Advantages of ERP management software are:

• Cost efficiency
• Organized warehouses
• Data updates and security
• Analysis

Cloud inventory management technologies have changed the entire scenario of inventory management for multi-location warehouses. It offers the following advantages:

• Real-time tracking
• Cut expenses
• Fast deployment

It also improves efficiency and coordination.

#7. Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence or AI is everywhere, and eCommerce is no more an exception. eCommerce strives for personalization experiences for its shoppers. Personalization technologies are highly dependent on AI.

Similarly, real-time and automated chatbots are a craze in the eCommerce industry. The automated messaging system is relying on AI technologies to respond intelligently by the AI-powered chat software.

Final thoughts

You may be eager to implement the latest eCommerce technologies and trends with a dependable and progressive development company. It is the best way to hire eCommerce developers with experience and expertise.

Guest author: Ronak Meghani is a serial entrepreneur who has worked with small-medium-large companies. He is a co-founder of Magneto IT Solutions and has been closely working with eCommerce ventures since 2010. He has helped 200-plus international brands for building/improving their online ventures in the area of UI/UX, development, launching, revenue enhancement, marketing strategy, multi-vendor eCommerce marketplace company and much more.