What might the future of retail sales look like?
The concept of online sales has existed in one form or another for more than 20 years. Some of us might still recall hearing advertisements for “strange” websites such as Amazon.co.uk or eBay during the late 1990s. While the theories behind these portals were (and are) sound, it would have been nearly impossible for the budding entrepreneur to adopt a similar method. There was little mainstream technological “know how” and as a result, the online retail community experienced stunted growth.
All of this changed when we began to see the entrance of third-party e-commerce providers such as Shopify into the industry. Even novice retail businesses with little previous expertise were able to market their products and services to a massive community. This movement has taken on a global scale and thus, the notion of international sales and marketing is now a reality. What benefits does this approach offer and how will the end-user experience be forever altered?
Doing away with the generic sales platform
If you were not yet aware of the fact, the concept of generic or “cookie-cutter” sales techniques is all but extinct. Not only are such methods entirely outdated, but they will often turn off a potential customer before he or she has fully appreciated what is being offered. This is the very same reason why ad blockers have become extremely popular applications; shoppers no longer wish to be bombarded with irrelevant or annoying marketing campaigns.
The astute business appreciates these facts and has therefore developed bespoke solutions which literally “speak” to the end user. Customisation, personalised content and unique branding area all included. In other words, online firms are attempting to provide the user with a more organic sense of interaction. Now that we have quickly examined the present state of the e-commerce community, what might the future have in store?
The myth of geographic borders
The biggest leap forward in terms of retail sales involves the concept of international ecommerce. No longer will an online business be limited by factors such as geographic constraints or shipping concerns. Third-party platforms such as Shopify are now actively catering to this market segment and this is great news for the average customer. So, what can you expect in the coming year?
Imagine for a moment that a European holiday looms in the near future and that you are hoping to compare and contrast theatre tickets. Not only will you be able to find great deals from a multitude of providers, but the tickets themselves may be able to be printed out before you leave the comfort of your home. This is only one example of how international e-commerce solutions are essentially ablating borders that would have caused retail issues in the past.
Consumers can expect to enjoy a more streamlined shopping experience and the associated checkout processes will be vastly simplified. While this may appear to be fictional to some, there is no doubt that cloud-based providers such as Shopify are continuing to transform the entire online community.
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