In the last article we talked about omnicanality, big data, and mobile, and now we continue with the other trends.
Social commerce: Pinterest is King, we are already getting used to the appearance of a new social network every year that will change the world. This year’s is Pinterest. For those who don’t know it, it is presented, in a nutshell, as an old cork board where we pin pictures that interest us, pinned with pins (hence the name), and of course, with all the features of a social network. Many companies are using Pinterest to understand trends and consumer tastes as well as to introduce new products. The results from conversion to sale are much higher than Facebook and Twitter. Still, I miss more innovative initiatives in this area and the development of stronger C2C (consumer to consumer) selling.
Video: Content has been one of the headaches of most websites. How to get good text and good pictures that increase sales. Now the difficulty has grown again, video about products and their uses has shown excellent results (up to 60% more conversion) and many sites are already implementing it. It might be a good time to start making videos of your main products. And be disappointed if you think it’s just a matter of showing them. STIHL (the tool company) develops videos showing practical applications of the tools, such as how to build a push beer poker table.
Security: Online security is one of the industry’s biggest concerns. New standards and policies are being implemented, and there are major efforts to kill “passwords” as the only element of security. The coming years will bring artificial intelligence that identifies behaviors (Facebook for example already asks for confirmations when logging in from a different geographic region or from a different computer than usual), dual authentication and other tools to protect users.
Logistics and same-day delivery: Major companies (eBay, Amazon, Walmart, etc.) are already preparing the entire logistics area. Almost total automation of warehouses (the Kiva robots used by Amazon are an example), deliveries with couriers on bicycles or lockers scattered around cities and in convenience stores are already being implemented. The great advantage of physical stores, which was the immediate availability of the product, is now beginning to disappear. However, a curious fact was mentioned, in certain businesses the virtual purchase is greatly influenced by the visit to the physical store. This is the case in the book market. Amazon has driven many bookstores out of business but has now noticed that many people choose books in the store and buy online (me for example). They are now looking at how they can bring the two experiences together (omnicanality once again).
For the futurists who only like the latest trends… email is still one of the best ways to generate sales. Companies are increasingly looking at email metrics and best practices, and A/B testing continues to be used obsessively. Interestingly enough, this age-old tool continues to be misused by most companies.
These were the main trends of a sector that is becoming more and more professional, justifies greater investments and is increasingly integrated with traditional retail.
