E-Commerce Sales have thrived in the past couple of years and it will increase. Surprisingly, in 2018 the sales for online were 15% lower than brick and mortar stores. According to Forbes, it is projected that global retail sales will be around twenty eight trillion U.S dollars by 2020. Now being in the retail industry certain companies have made it more of a convenience to shop at home by using some technology features that will drive sales. Also, when an e-commerce business opens up a store some technology is targeted to get them to come in and look around. Technology plays a huge role for e-commerce businesses. Especially with the holidays approaching companies are wanting to accustom shoppers to using these technologies. Here are some of them.
Visual Searches
Visual search is being able to take a picture of an item and searching through google on where you could find it. This is extremely helpful with industries such as fashion and interior design. For example, say you want to buy a sweater for a friend, you would be able to take a picture of it and search which store has it in stock with similar styles. While this has been around for a couple of years, it has become popular this past year. One company that has been using this strategy is Pinterest. You are able to take a picture and search related topics.
Smart Mirrors
The smart mirror is another feature that is becoming popular. What this is a two way mirror that a customer can use to visualize something without actually having the product. This is popular with clothing. The consumer would not have to try on the clothes, but simply look in the mirror to see the article of clothing on them. This is a good strategy for business to have the customer come into the store and browse with the chance of them to intentionally make a sale using a virtual try on approach.
Previously, we spoke about body measurement technology and this is using a very similar concept. This goes hand in hand with the smart mirror concept. Both of these concepts helps consumers visualize apparel on them, so they can make the right decision of what they like. This also helps by driving traffic into stores rather than them ordering online. Smart Mirrors give a precise visual of what you are potentially buying.
Augmented reality has really changed the market for retailers. It has shown that it helps the overall experience a customer has at that store. This is being applied to most stores around the world. From an article on Forbes it states, “75% expect new retailers to offer AR.”
