Online shopping and buying has gone from being non-existent to being valued at $4.9 trillion US dollars worldwide.1 It is not a trend, it “IS” the way the world works.
While there are many factors driving its growth, as the number of people shopping online increases, so does the competition. Making it harder for businesses to distinguish themselves.
Online platforms need to keep up with customer’s needs. Failure to evolve an online presence means a business risks being forgotten.
The latest ecommerce trends
One of the biggest trends driving innovation is artificial intelligence (AI). Retailers can create automated, personalised shopping experiences for customers based on what they know about their preferences.
Augmented reality (AR) is being used to enhance the reality of shopping online by enabling shoppers to see how an item might look on them before purchasing it—meaning lower return rates, higher conversion rates and improved customer relationships.
Plus, with an estimated 72.9% of all UK online purchases now from a mobile device,2 the roll out of 5G will provide faster connections and enable people to use new real-time services.
More often than not however, new technology brings new risks.
Data privacy
Data privacy is a huge risk to consider with the volume of personal data being processed. Businesses should be mindful about how they’re protecting, using and sharing individuals’ data.
Cybersecurity
Then comes cybersecurity - a serious consideration as the cost of a cyber incident like a hack or data breach can pose significant risks both financial and reputational.
Intellectual property
Finally, businesses should consider protecting the intellectual property associated with any content they develop for AR, and mitigating the risks that come with having third party content.
When it comes to choices around which technologies to adopt or develop, and how to use them, those benefits must be weighed against the risks.
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