Interesting trends for online shopping - Exciting times ahead for shoppers!

2014 was a fruitful year when online sales leapfrogged; making offline retailers feel the heat of the rising competition and urging them to expand their empires to the online market space. The number of people shopping through smartphones is increasing and so is the number of price comparison sites. Read more to know some interesting trends in this arena

–  Suresh Sharma, Founder and Director, iSpyPrice.com

Efficient customer service has become the top priority of online retailers, owing to the escalating tug-of-war between the e-tailers and retailers and also among the e-commerce firms themselves. It’s crucial for online stores to distinguish themselves from other firms and establish their foothold in the market.

Increasing use of mobiles for shopping

Mobile Technology has made it essential for e-commerce firms to optimize themselves for the ease and convenience of the shopaholics. Now, more and more consumers are using mobiles for online shopping instead of laptops or desktops. As mobile technology has become more secure and reliable, it has enabled successful shopping experiences for consumers. This clearly specifies that the diversification to mobiles and smart phones is no longer going to be a mere option for e-tailers but a compelling necessity to survive in the fiercely-competitive market. Hence, the e-commerce companies are sure to upgrade and augment their operating systems in conjunction with the needs of their patrons.

Social Media as an effective marketing tool

Online Shopping is poised to get convenient like never before, owing to the escalating influence of social media. The social media platforms have become an effective marketing tool for the online as well as offline firms, making the purchase transactions easier for customers and benefitting e-tailers in pocketing more profits. Popular social networking site, Twitter has already started the trend with its ‘Buy’ button, to promote in-app purchases. The trend has come in action, and other social media sites are likely to follow suit.

Speedy Delivery as a differentiator

The concept of Express Delivery and delivery within hours has already gained momentum. If it continues successfully and at the same pace, more and more customers are likely to get attracted towards online shopping. When the concept of ‘Online Shopping’ was at a rudimentary stage and e-commerce firms were just developing, the inability to deliver fast was one of the major obstacles to attaining success in the industry. The scenario has undergone massive metamorphosis since then, owing to the rising competition and increasing awareness among customers. E-commerce giant Amazon.com, recently announced its plans to develop ‘Delivery Drones’ that will ensure swift and speedy delivery, by shortening the delivery time to around 30 minutes.

Increasing role of Price Comparison sites

Besides these, the Price Comparison sites will play a vital role in the year 2015. The elevated competition levels and the thinning line between the brick and click models will bring the Price comparison sites into limelight. Hence the sites are likely to receive enormous amount of traffic this year. Online firms are going to clamor for attention, often confusing buyers regarding what to buy and from where to buy. It is possible for e-tailers to take advantage of this confusion and bombard consumers with offers that imply discounts to cut the competition. In such a situation, it’s always advised to compare the prices of products before taking the final purchase decision. This is where Price Comparison sites come to the fore. Providing hourly updates for products with fast-changing prices, these sites present buyers with the lowest prices available, enabling them to zero in on the product with the right price.

Effect of 4G rollout

A game-changing internet technology, 4G network is slowly becoming the ‘Next Big Thing’ that provides immediate access to everything from around the world at your fingertips. 4G rollout can influence the e-commerce industry in a significant manner. The fourth generation (4G) is an advanced version of 3G that facilitates its users with mobile broadband internet access. With its WiMAX LTE technology, 4G provides path-breaking speed and impeccable connectivity to its users. The technology provides wide area coverage and high speed to mobile as well as laptop users. Offering peak upload rate of 500 mbps and peak download rate of 1gbps, 4G supports HD streaming and 4G network ensures optimal use of HD phones.

4G provides constraint-free shopping experience

While 4G is taking the Indian market by storm, and the demand for smartphones is already on an upward swing, the 4G rollout is further influencing the sphere of e-commerce immensely. Online retail firms have to confront logistics as well as connectivity hindrances in order to serve their patrons efficiently. These issues can be solved with 4G internet services. By providing cutting-edge speed and connectivity, 4G is helping online firms to tackle their problems easily.

Escalated speed and enhanced connectivity provides users with a compelling and satisfactory browsing and shopping experience. Usually it is seen that potential buyers leave a particular site when they are just going to finalize their purchase. The reason can be - connectivity problem or slow internet. With 4G, customers can quickly make purchases without having to face any such hassles. This is thus, indirectly boosting the sales of e-commerce companies.

4G fosters instant purchase

With 4G for mobiles as well as laptops, e-commerce companies can be unperturbed about the size of images or videos. Even on smartphones, users can enjoy the same experience as on a laptop or PC, due to higher connectivity and speed offered by 4G. Another situation will justify the sturdy role that 4G is playing in the realm of e-commerce. Many a times, it happens that online shopping websites hang or the speed of internet dips while making payments or while checking out. This leads to reduction in the confidence level of customers, leaving them in a dilemma of whether to purchase online or not to take the chance. This can result in dwindling sales for e-commerce companies. With 4G at hand, buyers are able to make instant purchase decisions and check-out in a hassle-free way.

4G further paves the way for m-commerce

In order to gain maximum advantage of the fourth generation internet technology, the market is witnessing various e-commerce firms going the mobile-way. In short, for better results, e-commerce firms are turning to m-commerce. With 4G on mobile, people prefer to use their handheld devices to fulfill their day to day needs. Hence, e-commerce firms are coming up with ground-breaking designs and models to utilize the lucrative mobile space efficiently, making scores of firms turn to the m-commerce platform.

4G, the improved and enhanced version of 3G, is metamorphosing the entire domain of e-commerce, making transactions instant, thus delivering reliable and constraint-free experiences.

E-commerce firms are not going to leave any stone unturned to lure them and the players that will win the race are those that can offer steady innovation, tactical promotions and guarantee customer loyalty and retention in the long run.