By 2024, ecommerce will no longer be the same as it was before. The changes in economic conditions, new marketing strategies, and other retail challenges force innovative solutions to be found for solving fresh ecommerce issues.
Retailers who are still clinging to outdated marketing and business practices will face a challenge. But technological advances will also provide retailers and marketers with new ways to solve problems that could lead to safer online transactions and improved customer engagement.
In 2018, we will be able to meet the changing attitudes of consumers towards personalization and privacy. We’ll also improve customer experiences. Online shoppers hesitate to fully embrace digital payments and would prefer to return to cash transactions if vendors offered discounts.
Supply chain issues and fraudsters can also delay deliveries, which could ultimately be stolen by. porch pirates. This trend is driving shoppers to order online and pick up their purchases at local stores.
The latest predictions of leaders in the ecommerce industry are listed below. They can see both the problems and progress that lie ahead.
Killer Mobile Apps: The Rise of Killer Apps
Lawrence Snapp CEO of a leading mobile app development company, said that the current economic climate is forcing retailers to put more emphasis on their mobile apps in order to maximize business growth and return on investment. BryjA mobile app solutions company. Retailers must, however, do more than just develop native mobile apps for their target audiences to succeed.
Brands must meet the users’ increased expectations regarding mobile apps. Snapp, in an interview with the E-Commerce Times, said that this includes hyper-personalizing digital retail experiences by using AI to create targeted product promotions and customized advertisements for customers, based on their past purchases.
He predicted that retailers would increasingly rely on native mobile applications as the most affordable and effective media channel for business success beyond 2024.
In the last decade, digital and e-commerce technologies have been vital for the retail industry. Bryj’s latest data shows that less than half the consumers are satisfied with their retail mobile experiences.
Digital Wallets Fight Cash Carriers
Digital wallets make it easy to store and manage your money. Consumers are frustrated with the way they can be used for different digital transactions, despite their benefits. Digital wallet limitations are becoming more apparent, and they’re affecting adoption.
Aron Alexander predicted that these shortcomings would force the development of a secure and coherent digital payment infrastructure. Runa. The focus will be on increasing merchant adoption, and making the system more accessible to consumers at a global level.
He told the E-Commerce Times that “creating a more unified ecosystem of digital payments can pave a way for a digital-wallet experience that empowers consumers.”
Alexander pointed out that the slow digital payments are related to the return to cash. E-commerce retailers will have to cope with the recurring cash-is-back situation.
He said that as credit card fees rise, more merchants may offer discounts in cash or charge card surcharges on transactions.
“The number of transactions with cash discount is on the increase.” Card surcharges will become untenable as merchants face rising borrowing costs, rising overhead costs and rising inflation.
Omnichannel fulfillment is a way to integrate your business across multiple channels.
Meagan white, head of marketing for modular commerce platform, believes that AI will continue to foster cohesive and relevant omnichannel experiences. Kibo Commerce. AI will combine and analyse e-commerce touchespoints to allow retailers to create a customer profile including preferences, purchase histories, and behavioral patterns.
The E-Commerce Times reported that “these forecasts will provide more accurate, timely and actionable results which will help retailers minimize storage costs, reduce overstock and ensure that products are available to meet customer demand.”
White provided a list of key retailing trends that ecommerce retailers will be able integrate in the upcoming year and beyond.
- AI enhanced Customer Service Capabilities — AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants will become increasingly sophisticated and handle a broader range of customer inquiries.
- Advanced operational excellence — predictive analytics will forecast supply chain disruptions so retailers can analyze historical data to identify potential problems.
- Data integration at a higher level — AI will facilitate native search capabilities for non-technical users with either composable commerce and order management solutions or as a standalone. These capabilities will rely upon generative AI processes such as Natural Language Processing (NLP) or Large Language Modeling (LLM).
- Adoption of neural Search Capabilities — AI-based neural search capabilities will leverage deep learning models to improve search results by replacing traditional keyword matching with neural context and semantics.
Reinventing Rewards Programs for 2024
Alexander, from Runa, also believes that consumers are increasingly relying on rewards and stored-value programs to offset the rising cost. Businesses will be encouraged to focus on modernizing customer programs and reap the benefits.
“Consumers have already become frustrated by the inefficiencies and lack of effectiveness of retailer loyalty and rewards programs, and they are ready to leave if these schemes fail to meet their ever-changing expectations,” he said.
Loyalty programmes have become an important part of customer engagement for e-commerce. They serve multiple functions, from improving customer experience to preventing fraud. As these loyalty programs continue to evolve and meet the needs of customers, they are expanding into operational security.
The modernization of loyalty programmes addresses two important issues in e-commerce, namely fraud and abuse of policies. Loyalty programs are evolving to enhance the customer experience as well as safeguarding businesses. They play a dual role in the current ecommerce environment.
The FTC crackdown will force a wave of brand honesty
Keith Nealon CEO of social commerce and social media marketing firm BazaarvoiceFTC will soon be imposing a stricter policy on corporate transparency. Brands will be forced to become more aware of user-generated content when it comes to the crowded ecommerce market.
The proliferation of AI-generated content has been a major issue in the last 12 months.
“Authenticity — being honest and transparent and sharing only genuine content — has undoubtedly become the most critical attribute for brands and retailers in today’s retail landscape,” Bazaarvoice CMO Zarina Stanford told The E-Commerce Times.
Bazaarvoice’s CTO Colin Bodell said that commerce continues to evolve at the speed and light of light.
Bodell said to the E-Commerce Times that “the current economic pressures are the primary drivers of the changes in consumer behavior.”
More data transparency coming to online commerce
To remain competitive, research shows that online merchants have generous return policies. Eyal Eyal is a policy abuse expert with Fraud Prevention firm. Riskified.
“[In] By 2024, retailers will need to improve their AI security efforts in order to prevent long-term policy exploitation. In the future, we anticipate that more businesses will prioritize data visibility to detect abuse trends. They will also use AI and machine-learning tools to automate abusive identification checks and keep up with new fraud methods,” he told E-Commerce Times.
Elazar’s AI-driven solution can be seen as a way to help stem the tide against social engineering schemes by organized fraudsters. Businesses are becoming more susceptible to abuse of policy and account takeover attacks.
Emerging Loyalty Programme Trends for 2024
Merchants have already started to promote mandatory account creation as well as membership and loyalty program promotion in order to better track their customers. Elazar explained that they will be prompted to adopt more robust methods in order to differentiate between real customers and fake accounts.
He warned that merchants would change their return policies in response to the reputation of customers for honesty. AI will play a major role in achieving the desired results.
“We are as we [begin] He explained that by 2024 we can expect to see more retailers imposing stricter parameters for customers’ digital identification, and gradually limiting their access to purchase within their stores.
In 2024, merchants will increasingly use AI to identify good customers from those who abuse the store’s policies. Merchants will disrupt the shopping experience of these customers by implementing resistance against disruptive shoppers. They may even refuse new orders for policy violators.
