Digital Commerce- Where did it Come From and Where is it Going?

21st November 2018

Does anyone remember those bad old days before online shopping?   When you had to wait until the shops opened at 9 am to buy things? Today it seems quite natural to sit in bed at 11.30pm and order the weekend’s groceries before going to sleep.  Or use the train journey to work browsing for and ordering a new outfit for your holiday.

This ability would have seemed far-fetched even ten years ago.  The huge rate of growth in smartphones and tablets, and the ready availability of high-speed broadband and 4G networks means we can get online no matter where we are; we no longer give it a second thought.  Today, Deloitte report that four out of five UK adults have a smartphone.  And as of April this year, three of the UK's main network providers approach 80% availability for 4G.  The result is that close to 60% of digital commerce takes place on mobile devices.

So if digital commerce has come this far in a few short years, where will it go in the future?   We’ve already seen a shift away from it being purely transactional to more of an enriched customer experience, one that aligns seamlessly with the in-store experience that a customer may have. How will this develop, and what new themes will emerge?

We’ve looked into our crystal ball and here are a few predictions about trends we see developing over the next decade.

Prediction 1 – it’s good to talk
Expect to hear the phrase ‘conversational commerce’ entering our language.   And it’s not just conversations with people we are talking about. Voice, text chat and messaging platforms including Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp will increasingly allow shoppers to discover and purchase goods and services via a dialogue with another person, or indeed, with a chatbot. Sky have already introduced this into their customer service experience via Facebook Messenger and it works very well.

Prediction 2 – mixing it up
Augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and 360-degree video opens up a whole new world to customers.  As these technologies develop, we’ll be able to mix up virtual products with real environments – placing a new sofa into the living room for example.  We’ll be able to virtually try on a series of outfits without leaving our homes, before making the decision to buy.  We believe these technologies will be huge, with applications we can’t even dream of at the moment. Again this is currently in operation within Zara’s main London based store.

Prediction 3 – your fridge will order your groceries
We’ve all heard of the Internet of Things - machines such as electrical appliances or industrial equipment that will be connected to the internet.  Soon they will be able to make purchases for you.  You’ll be able to give them direct requests, or they will ‘learn’ what to do based on rules, context and your preferences.  So, for example, a photocopier will automatically order a replacement part when it senses that part is nearing the end of its life.  Clever, uh?

Prediction 4 – artificial is the future
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a broad term that covers a whole series of mind-blowing technologies such as natural language processing, machine learning and deep learning.  These technologies will develop to learn from collected data and draw conclusions without specific programming.  It’s not as scary as it sounds – typical applications might include product recommendations, personalisation of content, and detection of fraud – not taking over the universe.

Prediction 5 – we’ll own much less and subscribe to much more
We’ve already seen how Netflix and the like have replaced the purchase of DVDs, Spotify means we don’t have to buy CDs.  This is only set to increase with more and more goods and services sold on a recurring and automatically renewing basis.

Prediction 6 – a picture’s worth a thousand words
We’re used to seeing photographs, and increasingly videos, when we shop online.  This will develop to include visual configurators, that allow us to virtually tailor products or environments to our own need.  Using technologies such as 3D, AR, VR and CAD, we’ll be able to adjust, manoeuvre and change parameters on customisable products so that we can see exactly what we are getting before we buy. 

Prediction 7 – businesses are going modular
Businesses are building modular platforms using application programming interfaces (API) rather than one huge commercial solution.  API allows the organisations to quickly integrate new system capabilities without impacting on the technology infrastructure.  It means the development of support for new customer experiences or business models becomes quick, easy and cost-effective.

There’s no doubt that digital commerce is an area of massive growth and of innovation driving that growth.  We’re excited to see how the sector develops and how technology becomes increasingly integrated into improving the experience for us all as consumers.