Things that all of us take for granted today, like smartphones, internet or even farming and agriculture, all these were innovations at some point.
The only thing true about innovation is that one generation's innovation is next generation's starting point. We have seen this throughout the course of human evolution.
Things that all of us take for granted today, like smartphones, internet or even farming and agriculture, all these were innovations at some point. Similarly, for the future generation and audience, basic e-commerce is a standard utility, and the next wave of innovation will make it even more seamless and relevant to them in today's context.
In terms of online commerce, a field that I am immersed in most days of the week, an exciting world is emerging, shaped in part by the following key influences:
Emergence of the Post-Millennials: The online world is a rapidly evolving one. The post millenials are the natives of the digital world - they influence, drive and adapt to the changes intuitively. They are the ones who grew up with Facebook, Instagram and smartphones, and hence these become the starting points. The consumption, communication and collaborative (vs competitive) approach of the post-millenials will shape the trends that are described below.
Personalised Experience: Technology works best when it caters to real needs. Shoppers love personalised attention in the store, provided it is relevant, efficient and unobtrusive. Data Sciences are the cornerstone of delivering a personalised online experience. Everything we do online can give insights into our consumption behaviour, our socio-economic demographics, our social networks and other significant nuggets of our daily lives. Availability of tools to process this information in real-time will usher a wave of personalized experiences where we don't need to express intent, but the platform automatically learns that intent and makes our lives smoother. It is similar to Google maps knowing every evening that it's time for me to go home, and telling me how much time it will take without me looking for it. The abundance of online data and the increasing sophistication of data analytics will accentuate this trend of offering a custom designed online shopping environment.
Visual Shopping: How do you find something that you don't know enough about? Maybe it is design pattern that you saw on a billboard or in a magazine. Or a great pair of shoes that you saw on a model, with no idea of the brand or its availability. Technology advances and massification of camera access into smartphones in recent years have made it possible to do a multi-product search basis just an image. Simply put, you click and upload this image and use it just the way you would use key words. With the increasingly visual world that we live in through Instagram and Pinterest, this opens a new dimension in search. Snapdeal has led the way here through Findmystyle, an in house visual product discovery tool, which allows shoppers to view a variety of styles and designs to enable them zero in on the style that suits them the best.
Cash is King, Digital is Queen: Cash is not going away anywhere in a hurry and cash on delivery is still the preferred way to shop online. However, the tide is turning, slowly albeit surely. Reports show that the rise of digital payments is on the rise, more credit and debit cards are being issued every year. In conjunction with the rise in online shopping, a plethora of online friendly payment options are now available. Payments can be done through the phone and without necessarily having bank accounts. Digital wallets are enabling customers to pay for a Rs 50 recharge or buy a 4K TV for Rs 50,000 with the same ease and security. Worldwide, online commerce and payment options have formed a cohesive ecosystem Tao Bao and Alipay, Ebay and Paypal The same is shaping up in India too - Snapdeal - Freecharge Wallet is a case in point.
Internet of Things: The internet is everywhere and will embed deeper into our everyday lives very soon. This will be led by smart, connected devices communicating to each other, without the need for recurrent human intervention. The biggest applications will be in healthcare, energy and security. One can expect smart weighing scales communicating to smart refrigerators regarding your diet requirements, which will in turn order the required groceries from your designated stores, with the payment charged to your digital wallet automatically. Futuristic, as this may sound, all of this is real. In the near future, consumer durables like air-conditioners will come equipped with on-board sensors to detect impending service requirements and will send a message to the service centre automatically. All this intelligence opens new vistas for intuitive, un-assisted ecommerce to happen. Internet of Things (IoT) will change the landscape just like social media did a few years ago.
This is just a glimpse of what the future holds. I am sure when it arrives, it will be more vivid and more exciting than our visualisation. At Snapdeal, we are excited about our contributions towards the same. The co-creation of the most impactful digital ecosystem is not only our mission, it is the passion that drives us all.
(This article is authored by Rohit Bansal, Co-Founder, Snapdeal)
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