Over two decades ago, no one would have thought we'd be shopping online. However, then e-commerce happened. Also, today, this market has grown from a simple website-based medium to a complex ecosystem that is increasingly reliant on mobile apps. Moreover, with researchers predicting that global eCommerce sales will touch $5,000 billion in 2021, the role of mobile apps has become even more critical in this context. Mobile e-commerce is expected to accounting for more than half of the total e-commerce sales by 2021.
These numbers are being driven by the fact that mobile e-commerce apps have empowered customers with the ease of shopping for whatever they need, no matter where they are or what time it is. In addition to that, it has allowed businesses to extend their reach and grow their audience base, among other things. However, will merely having a mobile app for your e-commerce business suffice? The answer is a resounding no. Besides having a robust app, companies must also integrate the latest trends in the market to have an edge.
To help you, we have put together a list some of the essential e-commerce mobile app trends that you must keep an eye on in 2019.
1. Chatbots: As convenient as it is to shop online, there's one thing it lacks -- the ability to ask questions about the products. Thanks to the advent of artificial intelligence, we have been able to remedy that as well via chatbots. Chatbots utilize natural language processing to understand customers' queries and eventually help convert sales.
2. Augmented and virtual reality: AR and VR allow customers to engage with the product in a setting of their choice. Say, a buyer wants to see how a sofa they found on an e-commerce portal will look in their living room. AR and VR enable them to do precisely that by superimposing 3D objects into different environments. It contributes significantly to pursuing the buyer to purchase your product and that too with confidence.
3. Geofencing: This feature helps the mobile app to make use of location services for enhanced marketing techniques. Geofencing can be used to send tailored notifications when customers are in the vicinity of the company's physical store.
4. Gamification: The approach is about making the most of gaming elements to influence customers and their behavior in the context of engaging with the company. E-commerce companies can use gamification to incentivize customers to shop with them using rewards like discounts, promotions, and more for completing specific actions, such as buying for a set minimum number of times within a fixed duration.
The thing about technologies is that they are continually evolving and the ones listed above too will observe transformation at some point, which is why it is essential to stay clued in and endeavor to leverage them for your business' benefit. For now, these are some of the primary ones that are beginning to change how we go about ecommerce mobile app development, and any business in this market would do well to pay heed to them.
Kaushal Shah manages digital marketing communications for the enterprise technology services provided by Rishabh Software. This article showcases the benefits & trends in eCommerce mobile apps.