MINI PROJECT REPORT

On
E-Commerce Industry
Submitted To
MR. DINESH KUMAR SINGH
(Head of the Department)
In partial fulfillment of the degree of
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Under the Guidance of
Dr. ROSHAN SHEIKH
(Faculty of Department of Business Administration)
Submitted By
KAJAL VATS

(MBA-2ND SEM)

ALIGARH COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

AND TECHNOLOGY, ALIGARH
AFFILIATED TO AKTU

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my teacher (H.O.D)

Dr. Dinesh Kumar Singh who gave me the golden opportunity to do this

wonderful project on the topic E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY, which also

helped me in doing a lot of Research and I came to know about so many new

things I am really thankful to them.

Secondly I would also like to thank my parents and friends who helped me a

lot in finalizing this project within the limited time frame.

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 DECLARATION

I the undersigned solemnly declare that the project report on

E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY is based on my own work carried

out during the course of our study under the supervision of Dr.
Roshan Sheikh.

I assert the statements made and conclusions drawn are an

outcome ofmy research work. I further certify that

 The work contained in the report is original and has

been done by me under the general supervision of
my supervisor.

 The work has not been submitted to any other

Institution forany other degree/diploma/certificate in
this university or any other University of India or
abroad.

 We have followed the guidelines provided by the

universityin writing the report.

 Whenever we have used materials (data, theoretical

analysis, and text) from other sources, we have given
due credit to them in the text of the report.

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

S.NO. TOPIC PAGE

NO.
1 INTRODUCTION 5-8
2 MARKET SIZE & GROWTH 9-10

3 VARIATIONS IN E- COMMERCE 11-12

4 TECHNOLOGIES FOR 13-19
E- COMMERCE

5 KEY PLAYERS IN E-COMMERCE 20-23

6 FUTURE GROWTH 24-26

7 SWOT ANALYSIS 27-30
8 GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES 31
9 ISSUES & CHALLENGES 32-37

10 TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES 38

11 EMERGING TECHNOLOGICAL 39-42

TRENDS
12 INNOVATIONS IN E- COMMERCE 43-47

13 CONCLUSION 48

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INTRODUCTION

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Ecommerce stands for electronic commerce. ‘Ecommerce’ and ‘online shopping’ are
often used interchangeably but Ecommerce is much broader than online shopping – it
includes a broad concept for doing business online, incorporating a multitude of different
products and services e.g. Money Transactions, Online lectures and Making
appointments etc.

Ecommerce deal in goods and services with the help of the internet and electronic media.
The growth of Ecommerce in India is due to It being customer friendly and improved
comfort with the help of internet the online retailers who sells products or services and
goods directly to the customer from the online marketplace using a digital cart and allows
payment through Debit/Credit Card, wallets, UPI, Net banking. The benefits of
Ecommerce include its 24x7 Availability, the easy access, the extensive availability of
products and services for the customer and across the world reach. In the present
environment Ecommerce industry is increasing in demand. Ecommerce makes customer
to get the goods at cheaper cost, multiple choice and saves time. Ecommerce business is
expanding in India because of wide availability of product with cheaper cost multiple
suppliers and customers. In this field every business in India is still growing stage but it
offers massive opportunity.
The rapid emergence of e‐commerce is radically transforming the business landscape.
Start‐up firms are capturing new opportunities in the electronic market place through
existing or innovative business models. Established firms are racing to transform and
adapt their old business models to the new environment.

• An e‐commerce firm would be any business that derives a substantial part of its total
revenue from internet transactions. Additionally, a pure play firm would be one that
derives all of its revenue through e‐commerce.

• The sector has experienced phenomenal growth, breaking down old shopping habits
& inculcating newones. Also, inspiring a new way that people transact

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• Indians, in a matter of minutes, can literally shop from a wide range of services and
goods, from travel, movies, clothes, groceries, pharmaceutical products, gadgets &
even handymen services such as plumbers, electricians, etc.

• E‐Commerce in India is now characterized by low pricing, fast shipping and a multitude
of options to choosefrom.

• India is home to over 5000 e‐Commerce hubs dedicated exclusively to exploiting the
burgeoning growth rateof this sector.

• Though, the bug of e‐Commerce seems to have been late to catch on in India, it doesn’t
look very likely todeflate or even disinflation anytime soon.

REASONS FOR THE GROWTH OF ECOMMERCE:-

 Rapidly increasing Internet user base.

 Technology advancements have bridged the gap between buyers and sellers online.

 The emergence of blogs as an avenue for information dissemination and two-

way communicationfor online retailers and Ecommerce vendors.

 Improved fraud prevention technologies that offer a safe and secure business

environment and helpprevent credit card frauds, identity thefts and phishing.

 The young population finds online transactions much easier.

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MODES OF CONDUCTING ECOMMERCE

Electronic commerce operates in all four of the major market segments:

i) Business to business,

ii) Business to consumer,

iii) Consumer to consumer and

iv) Consumer to business.

 BUSINESS TO BUSINESS: On the Internet, B2B (business-to-business),

also known as e-biz and is defined as the exchange of products, services, or

information between businesses such as between a manufacturer and a

wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer.

 BUSINESS TO CONSUMER: A transaction that occurs between a

company and a consumer. The term may also describe a company that

provides goods or services for consumers.

 CONSUMER TO CONSUMER: Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) electronic

commerce involves the electronically facilitated transactions between

consumers through some third party. A common example is the online

auction, in which a consumer posts an item for sale and other consumers

bid topurchase it; the third party generally charges a flat fee or commission.

 CONSUMER TO BUSINESS: In internet commerce, means through which

consumers decide what they want to pay, and the vendors decide whether or

not to accept. When a consumer writes reviews, or when a consumer gives

a useful idea for new product development, then this individual is creating

value to the firm, if the firm adopts the input.

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 MARKET SIZE AND GROWTH

India's Ecommerce market was worth about Rs.3.8 hundred crore in 2009, it went up to
Rs. 12.6 hundred crore in 2013. In 2013, the e-retail segment was worth US 2.3 hundred
crore. About 70% of India's Ecommerce market is travel related. According to Google
India, there were 35 million online shoppers in India in 2014 Quarter 1 and is expected
to cross 100 million mark by end of year 2016. Compound Annual Growth Rate
(CAGR) vis-à-vis a global growth rate of 8–10%. Electronics and Apparel are the
biggest categories in termsof sales.

Propelled by rising Smartphone penetration, the launch of 4G networks and increasing

consumer wealth, the Indian Ecommerce market is expected to grow to US₹ 200
hundred crore by 2026 from US₹ 38.5 hundred crore in 2017 Online retail sales in India
are expected to grow by 31 per cent to touch US₹ 32.70 hundred crore in 2018, led by
Flipkart, Amazon India and Paytm Mall. During 2018, electronics is currently the
biggest contributor to online retail sales in India with a share of 48 per cent, followed
closely by apparel at 29 per cent.

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Owing to the increasing internet user base and favorable market conditions, India has a
lot of potential in the e-commerce industry. Growing at an exponential rate, the market
value of the e-commerce industry in India was approximately 22 billion U.S dollars in
2018. This number was estimated to reach 200 billion U.S. dollars by 2027.

E-commerce platforms in India

The competition in the e-commerce business in India is fierce. The market is filled with
many local and foreign companies trying to hold the maximum market share. As of
April 2017, Amazon India was the leading online market place in the country with more
than 500 million U.S dollars in the sale. Flipkart and Myntra were the prominent players
in the local market. In a survey conducted in May 2020 about permitting e-commerce
platforms to deliver goods in India after corona virus lockdown, the majority of
respondents voted in favor.

Growing trend of e-commerce in India

Increasing growth in the e-commerce industry is attributed to a number of reasons.

Digitizing the economy and providing cheap internet to the people are a few of many
reasons that boosted the growth of digital sales in India. In 2018, the e-commerce sales
across India were estimated to increase by 25 percent. The growth rate, however, was
predicted to observe a slight dip in 2022. Consequently, the revenue-generating
potential has also increased. The average retail e-commerce revenue collected per user
in India in 2018 was more than 50 U.S dollars. It was estimated to cross 75 U.S dollars
by 2024.

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 VARIATIONS IN E-COMMERCE

 The attributes assigned to a product help your product understandable to the customer
at a glance.
 A variation in size or color is the very first impression a customer gathers about his
available choices.
 Product variation makes your business more competitive as it focuses on the cost
value of the product against similar products in the market without compromising on
the price.
 Product variation creates a distinguished value for your products to the customers.
 It establishes brand loyalty among your customers
 It helps in gaining market share through product differentiation
 Product variation is synonymous with originality and uniqueness in the eyes of the
customer.
 It helps your business stand apart from your competitors in terms of different
variations of the same product.
 Product Variation is a wonderful attribute in a saturated market, where there are more
suppliers offering the same product.
 Product variation also ensures repeat purchases because customers are aware that your
e-commerce store is well-stocked.
 It helps meet customer demand, who constantly look for new features and fresh ideas.

However, in order to ensure that you achieve all of the above objectives through your product
variations, you need to make sure that –

 The attributes that you assign to your products are clear and easily understandable,
irrespective of how complex the variations actually are.
 To use long descriptions as a tool to list out full details about the different aspects of
the product variation, if necessary.

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  You make each product variation in a way that can be previewed for a better
understanding. This can be done with the help of images.
 As far as some aspects like color variations are concerned, they are best understood
when you include the image of the product in the specified color instead of just
mentioning the color. For instance, just writing ‘blue’ for a t-shirt won’t tell the
customers, which shade of blue it, is. An image helps in these cases.

A well-drawn-out product variation showcases your e-commerce store as one which speaks
variety, is well-stocked and a one which reflects customer needs. variation is best understood
in the case of apparel. Suppose an e-commerce store wants to sell t-shirts. Once the e-
commerce owner begins building his product catalog, he feels the need for different sizes
(and sometimes colors) for his t-shirts. Creating a separate product listing for every size/color
is not only a time-consuming task, but it’s also impractical. An easier way, however, is to
create one listing for the t-shirt and then create a variation for size and color – for the
customer to simply choose the desired color and size from the drop-down list or check a box
with the size/color.

As an additional benefit, variations can also manage any extra charge that you would like to
quote for a bigger size, for instance. Variation refers to a little difference (in size/color etc.)
of a single product type in Woo Commerce. By creating a variation of the same product, an e-
commerce owner can simply create a listing for each product and then let the customer
simply choose a variation from the drop-down list.

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 TECHNOLOGIES FOR E-COMMERCE
INDUSTRY IN INDIA

The use of e-commerce technologies helps to increase sales performance in the virtual store,
through automation, streamlining and optimization of processes, customization, among other
things. Increasingly advanced, technologies for e-commerce have resources capable of
streamlining processes, personalizing the shopping experience, improve customer service
and, in this way, increase the volume of sales.

Therefore, knowing the latest trends and investing in tools that make use of artificial
intelligence and other state-of-the-art technologies is a basic premise for the virtual store not
to lose market share and stand out in the future.

With that in mind, we have listed some technology resources for e-commerce that every
online store manager needs to know to ensure the competitiveness of the business.

1) ERP for e-commerce

2) Omni channel platform

3) Chatbots

4) Recommendation systems

5) Smart Search

6) Retention pop-ups

7) Pricing Tools

8) Social media monitoring

9) Indicator analysis tools

10) Payment Integration Systems

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11) Block chains

12) Remarketing

13) Augmented reality

14) Big data

15) Cloud computing

1) ERP for e-commerce

ERP for e-commerce is a software capable of managing all areas of your virtual store, such
as invoice issuance, finance and inventory control, for example. This technology can bring
several benefits to your digital business, because in addition to automating and optimizing
tasks, it also generates reports that can help you in decision making. Therefore, it is certainly
an indispensable technology for any e-commerce.

2) Omni channel platform

When it comes to technology for e-commerce, the use of omni channel platforms it's a trend
to increase profitability and stay ahead of the competition.

With this feature, it is possible integrate sales and communication channels of the company,
such as virtual and physical stores, applications and social networks, to carry out a single
effort to attract, serve and retain customers.

In this way, the information about the target audience obtained in each of these channels can
be used throughout the strategy, improving the shopping experience of the consumer and
ensuring a more dynamic service. In addition, as we mentioned earlier, it is necessary to
ensure an online experience as positive as the physical one and that also means give freedom
to the consumer choose how you want to buy from your brand — without differentiating the
physical store from the online store.

This also gives more purchase possibilities and increases the chances of conversion, as the
customer can buy online and pick up in the physical store, without having to pay for shipping,
for example. Or, you can go to the physical store, choose the product and receive it in the
comfort of home.

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3) Chatbots

Chatbots are robots that interact with humans via online chat and are undoubtedly one of the
top technologies for e-commerce today. Using this feature ensures 24/7 customer service
through a fully automated communication with resources of artificial intelligence.

In addition to streamlining operations, they can act in the customer retention, when the sales
team is not available, or even answering simpler questions. Thus, employees can focus on
handling cases that require special attention. This optimizes the work of the team and the
company as a whole.

Another interesting feature of chatbots is that they can analyze interactions with users,
identifying and ranking the relevance of each consumer and even predicting behaviors and
solutions.

4) Recommendation systems

Recommendation system is one of the most effective e-commerce technology resources

in attraction, conversion e customer retention. It uses data analysis to compose a smart virtual
showcase com product suggestions, facilitating the purchase journey and
increasing conversion rates. These windows can be customized or not for each customer,
depending on the objectives of each virtual store.

The recommendation systems with artificial intelligence are even more effective. With them,
the windows work in a way autonomous and are even more personalized for each customer.
Because the AI performs real-time analysis of both user behavior and window performance.
Thus, it identifies which ones are converting the most to that customer profile and also which
is the best position within the site. With this, the AI assembles the windows and positions
them automatically, without the need for manual work.

Highly effective, this technology is available to online stores of all sizes. It is already a reality
in the most respected e-commerce in the world, such as Amazon and eBay. And in Brazil, it
is also used by major brands, such as Diesel, Lojas Zema, Kipling, Lego, among others. The
use of this feature raises the shopping experience inside the virtual store and can generate
a 30% average increase in sales.

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5) Smart Search

A smart search it is currently one of the main technologies for e-commerce, as it optimizes
searches within the virtual store. This is extremely important as 60% of online sales come
from the search field. Also, it's no use having the product the customer is looking for if you
can't show the right results quickly.

An intelligent search uses artificial intelligence and has the following characteristics: high
speed; phonetic similarity; color search 100% automated; behavioral search customized for
each customer; voice search e image search. Counting on this technology is ensuring that
your customer will find what they are looking for and have an excellent shopping
experience, increasing conversions and influencing the Customer Loyalty.

6) Retention pop-ups

Retention pop-ups aim generate urgency for the consumer at specific stages of the purchase
journey — such as on product pages, or in cart abandonment situations —, seeking to
generate customer interaction.

By offering information that can reverse the decision, such as exclusive discounts, for
example, the focus is prevent site leakage, decreasing the bounce rate. And this,
consequently, ends up also influencing the sales conversion rate.

7) Pricing Tools

In competitive markets, quickly adjusting prices to align them with those practiced by the
competition can also make all the difference in the rates of conversion. With pricing tools,
you can compare prices in real time of its products and those of its competitors, as well as the
stock availability and shipping conditions offered by them.

In possession of this information, it is possible to make manual changes to the sales values or,
more commonly, configure the virtual store so that prices are automatically changed based on
this movement of the competition. This guarantees the competitiveness in markets with a
large number of operators.

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8) Monitoring of social networks

Social media monitoring allows you to have a more effective control of your brand image in
the market, allowing quick actions in crisis situations and increasing interaction with
consumers and brand lovers. This facilitates retention and brings positive effects to
the credibility of your business.

This technology allows, for example, you to easily find mentions of your company on social
networks and interact with users in an agile and organized way.

9) Indicator analysis tools

There is no way to improve the performance of your sales channels without a deep
understanding of your target audience's behavior. Therefore, tools for analysis of
indicators focused on digital commerce can offer powerful insights by gathering data not only
about the hearing on your website, as well as on your navigation patterns.

Completely comprehensive, these reports provide highly technical analysis in an intuitive

way. In this way, they allow you to identify consumer habits and preferences, as well as
recognize pages and products that suffer the greatest rejection, guiding decision making
based on real data.

Two excellent tools for audience analysis and navigation are the Google Analytics and
the Hotjar respectively.

10) Payment Integration Systems

In addition to good prices, the ease of payment is one of the factors that most encourage
consumers to make a purchase decision. Therefore, offering several options for financial
transactions is essential for virtual stores that do not want to lose competitiveness.

In this scenario, a integrated payment system, which allows you to offer the most varied
forms of payment without reducing your profitability, may be one of the missing technologies
to increase the performance of your virtual store.

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11) Blockchains

A kind of decentralized database containing the transactions or interactions carried out

between the parties involved, the blockchain, or data chaining, is another important resource
for e-commerce companies that want to guarantee the security of their operations. This
technology decreases the chances of hacker attacks as it distributes information into record
blocks that are linked together, creating a permanent, tamper-proof database.

Another difference is that this type of bank is not controlled by just a few authorities or
bodies — as is traditionally the case — but by the participants in the operations themselves,
and no changes can be made without the consent of the majority.

This trend touches on a fundamental point for anyone dealing with online retail: data security.
This is because e-commerce requires the handling of sensitive information, such as personal
data, document and credit card numbers, which require more and more care.

12) Remarketing

Remarketing is a very useful technology resource and increasingly used to close sales with
leads who have already visited your online store, but for some reason have not completed the
purchase.

With this mechanism, it is possible to attract ou recover consumers, across Sponsored ads of
items that they have already viewed while doing other product searches or simply browsing
the internet.

This type of strategy is done by collecting data through cookies. Thus, it is possible to
identify consumer interactions to impact them in the most assertive way. The feature is
available on major paid media channels such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads e Instagram Ads.

13) Augmented reality

Another technology for e-commerce that is increasingly on the rise is Augmented Reality,
since with it it is possible to provide the consumer with the physical experience without
leaving the online.

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Access to this technology and a smartphone in hand is enough for the consumer to be able to
visualize how they would look dressed in a particular blouse or if a sofa would look cool in
the living room. This feature also makes it possible to better examine products and their
details, even without being physically close to them. Many virtual stores are already adhering
to this technology with tools such as R2U, augmented reality solution for e-commerce.

14) Big data

As the name suggests, the technology big data allows dealing with a huge amount of data.
This is increasingly necessary in the online universe, as we have more and more data and
information available every day, but which are no longer possible to be processed by ordinary
computers.

Big data, on the other hand, goes in the opposite direction: the greater the volume of data, the
more efficient it becomes in connecting all information to each other.

For e-commerce this is very valuable, as each data and each consumer interaction helps
to understand the buying journey and enables the creation of more assertive strategies.

15) Cloud computing

A cloud computing, or cloud computing, is a network of connected remote servers that work
as a single ecosystem, without leasing physical machines. The key point of this feature is that
it allows you to create instances of virtual machines with higher speed and capacity and lower
cost, enabling scalability.

Therefore, this technology is already used by more modern product recommendation systems,
such as SmartHint, and that is why they are able to have a highest performance and a more
affordable cost.

But cloud computing is also used in many other systems, such as the aforementioned ERP for
e-commerce. The trend of cloud ERPs has grown a lot, since, in addition to high performance
and cost-effectiveness, this technology also makes it possible to keep essential e-commerce
services always available.

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 KEY PLAYERS IN E-COMMERCE

There are more than 19,000+ eCommerce companies in India, and it’s challenging to cut
through the clutter. There are eCommerce companies from the all-encompassing providers to
the super-niche selling only selected goods. Based on the size of the eCommerce company,
the services they provide, the resources they offer, their monthly traffic. We have determined
that these are the top e-commerce websites in India. All of these companies listed below have
made it easier for customers to shop online.

1) Amazon E-Commerce Company In India

Amazon began in the United States as an online bookstore where customers could purchase
books in a variety of subjects such as finance and health.% Since its inception in India in
2010, the ecommerce site has grown to an estimated 322.54 million monthly visitors, making
it by far the most popular online business website in India's ecommerce space. According to
Statista, Amazon has an audience reach of 89 percent in India today.

2) Flipkart Ecommerce Service Provider In India

Founded in 2007, Flipkart is a privately hosted ecommerce platform specializing in online

retail, fashion e-commerce, mobile phones, etc. After a 16 billion dollar acquisition in 2018,
Flipkart is now owned by Walmart Inc. It is the biggest competitor of Amazon in India, with
a 39.5% market share of India’s e-commerce industry. Flipkart is known for its big billion
days, during which it offers massive discounts on merchandise from all categories. It has a
strong online presence and is considered the best ecommerce platform in the Indian market
by many Indian consumers and third-party sellers.

3) Myntra Ecommerce Platform In India

Myntra started out as a marketplace to buy personalized gift items. By 2012, Myntra had
added 350 Foreign and Indian brands to its platform, and the number has continued to rise
year after year. In 2014, it was acquired by Flipkart. Today, Myntra is a popular online
fashion and lifestyle e-commerce company in India for men, women, and kids.

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4) IndiaMART Ecommerce Website In India

IndiaMART is a renowned B2B (Business To Business) and B2C (Business To Consumer)

platform for Indian businesses. It facilitates the connection between customers and
manufacturers. Manufacturers, suppliers, and exporters can list their products on
IndiaMART's website, and customers can contact them directly via email or phone.
Currently, it holds a 60% market share in India's online B2B classifieds sector.

5) Shopclues ECommerce Company In India

Shopclues is one of the leading eCommerce companies in India that gives fantastic deals and
discounts on a wide range of products. Shopclues is a one-stop store for anything from
clothing to kitchen appliances and electronics. It is making history by empowering small and
regional merchants, especially those from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, and transforming them into
a national enterprise.

6) Snapdeal Ecommerce Service Provider In India

Snapdeal, founded in 2010, is quietly making its way to the top of India's ecommerce
websites. Snapdeal has fantastic bargains on all of life's necessities, such as electronics,
clothing, and kitchenware. That is why Snapdeal is used in 3,700 towns across India.

7) FirstCry Ecommerce Platform In India

FirstCry is Asia's most prominent eCommerce portal specializing in goods for babies and
children up to early adolescence, with over 400 brick-and-mortar locations across the
country, including Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, and other major cities.
More than 200,000 products from 5000+ manufacturers are listed on their website as of 2021.

8) Nykaa eCommerce Company In India

Nykaa, like FirstCry, began as a pure eCommerce platform that has now expanded to open 76
brick and mortar stores across India. It is a well-known online store for cosmetics and beauty
items in India, with over three lakhs products from over 2000 national and international
brands. Nykaa became India's first eCommerce company for men's grooming in 2018. The
company also bought 20Dresses.com, a private women's styling platform, later in 2019.

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9) BookMyShow Ecommerce Website In India

BookMyShow India is the most popular media and entertainment firm in India.
BookMyShow is India's one-stop destination for movies, events, plays, sports, activities, and
monument tickets, as well as selling fan merchandise. As a result of its success,
BookMyShow has created subsidiaries in Indonesia, the UAE, Sri Lanka, and the West
Indies.

10) EBay Indian ECommerce Company

eBay is a California-based international eCommerce company that presently operates in 179

countries, including India. Its website is primarily used for C2C and B2C sales. For Buyers,
the site is free to use right now, but after a certain amount of free listings, sellers will be
charged fees for listing additional products and then again when those items sell. PayPal,
StubHub, Skype, Craiglist, and qoo10.jpg are just a few of the prominent eCommerce and
other firms that eBay has acquired.

11) Rediff

Rediff.com is based in Mumbai. In addition to online shopping, India is a world-class

eCommerce enterprise that provides entertainment, news, and information. The site's major
draw is discounts and bargains. We are India's leading Internet destination, with a wide range
of editorial coverage that includes the latest news, interviews, and opinion articles, a vibrant
Get Ahead section targeted at young people, videos, movie features and reviews, live cricket
scores, live stock quotes, Enterprise Mail, and free email.

12) MakeMyTrip

Make My Trip, founded in 2000, is one of India's oldest and most well-known eCommerce
travel and hospitality companies, offering excellent deals, reasonable airfares, special
discounts, and a hassle-free online booking experience to many of its consumers. The
company operates in India, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates, serving over 5
million happy customers.

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13) LimeRoad

Limeroad.com, which began as a women's fashion marketplace, is one of India's top 15

fashion and apparel eCommerce companies. In 2015, it received the Coolest Start-up of the
Year Award. Users can utilize the portal's merchandise to build their own style on a virtual
scrapbook and make money from the scrapbook they create.

14) Paytm Mall

Paytm, India's top eCommerce payment system, introduced Paytm Mall, an online consumer
shopping platform, for its consumers in 2017. Customers can purchase everything they need
at Paytm Mall, from gadgets to clothing and home furnishings. Apart from top brands, high-
end products to affordable options, customers can also use Paytm Mall coupons to earn
discounts and cashbacks on their orders

15) AJIO

AJIO is a one-stop shop for Fashion, Home, and Lifestyle from India and worldwide and is
part of Reliance Retail's digital/eCommerce initiative. It's an eCommerce store similar to
Myntra that has earned the trust and loyalty of customers over time. In addition to supplying
exclusive international labels, the E Commerce portal also has its private label, AJIO OWN.

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 FUTURE GROWTH OF E-COMMERCE
INDUSTRY

Customers find it convenient to do shopping even when they are on the move. The future of
eCommerce in India is enormous, and the ever-increasing penetration of smartphones will
only add impetus to the growth. As the e-commerce industry sees increased traction, it is
expected to increase to reach a market size of US$ 188 billion by 2025.

The growth of the e-commerce industry is mainly due to the growth of stalwarts. However,
several smaller players are gradually carving out a niche for themselves too. The industry is
quick to adapt to new technologies too. The future prospect of ecommerce moreover depends
upon the fast uptake of latest technologies, their convenience in usage and cost. In this article,
we will discuss the technologies that can help in e-commerce growth.

The e-commerce industry is bound to see exceptional growth over the years. The growth is
bound to be led by the industry stalwarts like Flipkart and Amazon. Increasing industry
investments, M&As, and government policies are other reasons for the development of this
industry.

The current COVID-19 pandemic situation has also led to an impetus for the industry. Most
of the growth will be seen in beauty and wellness, food and grocery, electronics trade, and
apparel sectors. The industry has also seen remarkable investments by Facebook, Google, and
Reliance Retail.

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Let us discuss the reasons why the e-commerce industry is expected to grow in the country.

1. Improved User Experience

Visitors to the website would look forward to an exceptional user experience. They
would prefer optimal workflows that would help them in the buying process. The
industry has been focusing on UX design, merchandising, customer servicing,
logistics, etc. and have been ably aided through next-generation technologies.

Technology has a significant role to play and has also increased the trust factor among
customers. In addition, it has helped in ensuring an improved user experience for
customers. The tech-savvy audience is always looking for newer features, and the use
of technology helps to reach out to this audience easily.

2. More Outreach

The incumbent players have reached out more to the smaller town. The penetration of
high-speed internet services has aided it. The rise in income in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns
has also become a critical factor for the future of the eCommerce industry.

The industry's increased frequency of freebies has also allowed this segment of
shoppers to be hooked onto online shopping. The use of technology has also helped
this market adapt to the new mode of shopping. E-commerce platforms also find it
easy to keep them hooked onto the platform through targeted products.

3. Increased Use of Digital Payments

The future of eCommerce industry lies in the growth of mobile commerce. According
to studies, 73% of eCommerce sales globally will happen on a mobile device. Online
payments are seeing massive growth in India that enhances the future of the
eCommerce business in India. Customers are finding it convenient to make payments
while on the move. The digital payment platforms are secure too, and the willingness
to use these platforms is seeing an increase.

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 The sector has seen tremendous growth that has made businesses opt for mobile
optimization of their websites. Many companies have chosen to go for a mobile app.
You can also use location-based campaign strategies that allow you to send customized
messages based on the customer's location.

4. Additional Investment in Logistics

The eCommerce industry has been increasing its reach aggressively. They have
increased access to pin codes tremendously over the years. As they anticipate a
considerable increase in sales, the e-commerce companies are also growing their
warehouse space. As the incumbent players increase their reach across the smaller
towns, they also invest in their logistics channels to keep pace with this growth.

5. Growth of Multiple Sectors

The e-commerce industry is seeing multi-pronged growth. While the industry has been
dominated by apparel, electronics goods, books, etc., other sectors like groceries,
FMCG and food delivery also expect tremendous growth. The industry's growth is also
pulling in traditional retailers, which adds to the growth story.

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 SWOT ANALYSIS
The eCommerce industry, otherwise known as the online shopping industry, has seen massive
growth within the last decade. Thanks to the growing popularity of the personal computer and
the fast-paced development of mobile devices, eCommerce businesses can now reach more
buyers than ever before. SWOT Analysis which analyzes the Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats impacting a chosen industry — to see how online shopping is
poised for the future.

Strengths
Here are two big Strengths of the eCommerce market:

Accessibility
Perhaps the biggest Strength of eCommerce businesses is their extensive accessibility. In the
past, shopping meant physically traveling to a certain place, within certain times. With
eCommerce, buyers can now browse, learn about, and purchase products from the comfort of
their homes, at whatever time of the day (or night). Although teleshopping offers similar
benefits, the advent of the internet has seen a huge number of consumers move away from
TV, radio, and press towards computers.

Lower Prices

Another considerable Strength of online shopping is that products tend to have lower prices,
when compared to traditional retail channels. One reason for this is that eCommerce typically
involves sellers interacting directly with consumers, cutting out middlemen such as
distributors. Another reason is that the eCommerce stores typically have significantly lower
overheads than brick-and-mortar stores, which have to account for rent costs, employee
salaries, and more.

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 Weaknesses

Here’s one big Weakness of the eCommerce industry:

Industry Specific

Certain products lend themselves to eCommerce better than others. For example, books,
electronics, and kitchen gadgets are all easy to sell through online stores, since consumers
roughly know what to expect. However, some items are much less universal; the best
example of this is clothing. It’s difficult for consumers to purchase the clothing they want
online, since they don’t know whether it will fit, how it will feel, and how it will look.
Unfortunately, it will be very difficult for eCommerce stores to expand into these industries.

Opportunities

Here are two Opportunities for the eCommerce market:

Growing Market

One of the biggest opportunities for the online shopping industry is the growing market.
While most consumers in developed countries already have electronic devices, there are
plenty of consumers in developing countries who don’t — and, as a result, don’t buy goods
online. As the prices of electronics continue to decline, it’s likely that we’ll see an increase in
the number of potential internet shoppers. This will subsequently result in a greater volume of
eCommerce sales.

Influencers

There are a number of internet users who use their large social followings to promote various
goods and services. These people, known as influencers, present a powerful marketing
opportunity for savvy eCommerce sellers. With social media becoming such a huge part of
our everyday lives, influencers are set to play an increasingly important role in how products
are marketed — and eCommerce stores are best positioned to take advantage of this.

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 Threats

Here are four Threats for the eCommerce industry:

Competition

Although the eCommerce industry’s low barrier to entry is, on the one hand, a Strength, it
also poses a significant threat for existing sellers. This is because of how easy it is for just
about anyone — anywhere — to launch a new eCommerce store and compete with other
online shopping businesses. It’s important to know that this element of competition doesn’t
affect the success of the eCommerce industry as a whole, but affects individual businesses.

Fraud

The world of eCommerce is fuelled by digital payments, whether that involves credit or debit
cards, bank transfers, or even cryptocurrencies. This makes it a huge target for fraudsters,
who now have an easy way to cash out on their illicit activities. Fraudsters can buy goods
online using others’ payment details — while staying completely anonymous — and send
those items to neighborhood doorsteps, where they’ll be swiped while the homeowner is out
at work. Unfortunately, it’s incredibly difficult to combat internet fraud, which is why it’s
such a big threat for the industry.

Data Concerns

Aside from blatant fraud, there’s a lot of potential for things to go wrong with online
shopping — especially when it comes to users data. Shopping online requires you to hand
over a lot of sensitive data, including your payment details, address, and other assorted
information. If this information gets into the wrong hands, it can have devastating
consequences. Also, since the introduction of new data-related regulations like the European
Union’s GDPR, there are new complexities in the data aspects of running an online business.

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Monopolies

Since eCommerce stores can cater to entire countries — or even the entire world — it leaves
a lot of potential for monopolies to form. Perhaps the best example of this is if you
review how Amazon has affected bookstores. In the past, a variety of local bookstores
(including mom and pop stores, smaller chains, and larger chains) would have serviced a
given area. With the advent of huge eCommerce alternatives like Amazon, these stores are
dying off and Amazon is becoming the one-stop-shop for books. This trend may spread into
other markets, and may at some point warrant government regulation.

Overall, the eCommerce industry is in a strong position, but definitely facing some
downsides. Its Strengths include accessibility and low prices — which allow consumers to
shop wherever and whenever, at cheaper prices than usual. The main Weakness of online
shopping is that it doesn’t lend itself so well to some industries (such as apparel), since
consumers can’t buy before they try.

Looking to the future thanks to the SWOT analysis of online shopping, Opportunities for
eCommerce include a growing digital market and the power of internet influencers. However,
a multitude of Threats — including competition, fraud, data concerns, and the potential for
monopolies — will need to be monitored. Doing so will likely require government
regulation, clever business practices, and close attention to detail.

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 GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES

Since 2014, the Government of India has announced various initiatives namely, Digital
India, Make in India, Start-up India, Skill India and Innovation Fund. The timely and
effective implementation of such programs will likely support the Ecommerce growth in
the country. Some of the major initiatives taken by the government to promote the
Ecommerce sector in India are as follows:

 In order to increase the participation of foreign players in the Ecommerce field,

the Indian Government hiked the limit of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the
Ecommerce marketplace modelfor up to 100 per cent (in B2B models).
 In the Union Budget of 2018-19, government has allocated Rs 8,000 crore (US₹
1.24 hundred crore) to BharatNet Project, to provide broadband services to
150,000 gram panchayats
 As of August 2018, the government is working on the second draft of
Ecommerce policy, incorporating inputs from various industry
stakeholders.

Achievements

Following are the achievements of the government in the past four years:
 Under the Digital India movement, government launched various initiatives
like Udaan, Umang,Start-up India Portal etc.
 Under the project ‘Internet Saathi’, the government has influenced over 16
million women in Indiaand reached 166,000 villages
 Udaan, a B2B online trade platform that connect small and medium size
manufacturers and wholesalers with online retailers and also provide them
logistics, payments and technology support, has sellers in over 80 cities of India
and delivers to over 500 cities.
 According to the UN’s eGovernance index, India has jumped 11 positions to
107 in 2016 from 2018in 2014.
 The government introduced Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), a simple
mobile based platform fordigital payments.

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ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

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 Cyber & Data Security

When it comes to eCommerce, one of the biggest challenges faced is security breaches. There
is a lot of information/data that is involved while dealing with eCommerce and a technical
issue with data can cause severe damage to the retailer’s daily operations as well as brand
image.
Solution: Be vigilant and always back up your data. Post that, you can install security
plugins onto your website to prevent it from getting hacked. There are several plugins
out there, pick one that works best for your eCommerce website.

Online Identity Verification

When a shopper visits an eCommerce site, how would the retailer know if the person is who
they say they are? Is the shopper entering accurate information? Is the shopper genuinely
interested in the eCommerce products? If you do not have the accurate details or information,
how do you proceed? Well, it does become tricky. The solution would be to invest in online
identity verification.

Solution: There are different ways to incorporate online identity verification. Some
examples include biometrics, AI, single sign on, one time password, two-factor
authentication and so on.

Attracting the Perfect Customer

Shoppers have a myriad of options to choose from these days. If they are looking to buy a
handbag, they do some thorough research before finalizing on one. If shoppers have several
options, how do you make sure they pick you? How do you go about finding that perfect
customer that wants your product, at your rate and to the places you can ship?

Solution: Partner with companies that help you target your customers. Digital
marketing is preferred over traditional marketing because they can target your ideal
customer. While this might not happen overnight, with A/B testing, finetuning and
analysis – your products could be showing up to potential customers on different social
media platforms.

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 Customer Experience

Customer experience or user experience is key to a successful eCommerce website. Shoppers

expect a similar if not same experience as one they would get in a brick and mortar store. The
flow of the website, the segmentation of the website and the retail personalization of products
based on the shopper’s preferences are imperative.

Solution: There are several ways to improve the user experience. The most important
would be to have a clean and simple website so that shoppers can navigate through
easily. The next point would be to have clear CTAs (call to action) so that the shopper
knows exactly what to do. Here is a post that shows you 10 ways to improve user
experience.

Customer Loyalty

Here are two facts that show the importance of customer loyalty:(a) It can cost up to 5 times
more to acquire a new customer than retaining an existing one and (b) the success rate of
selling to a current customer is 60-70% compared to only 5-20% success rate of selling to a
new customer.

The above two facts are testament to how important customer retention or loyalty is. Once a
customer makes a purchase or utilizes a service from a retailer, they have to make sure that
they keep this customer for life. But how is this possible?

Solution: These are a few different methods that can be used to retain customers. The
first would be to have excellent customer service – a customer is happy to have
purchased a great product, but they are ecstatic when the customer service is on point.
The next step is to keep in touch with the customer via a method that they like – be it an
email, SMS or blog posts – be sure to find out what works best for your customer. The
last point would be to let them know about new products, sales promotions and special
coupon codes for being such loyal customers.

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 Converting Shoppers into Paying Customers

One of the biggest ecommerce challenges is to convert visitors into paying customers. An
eCommerce website might have a lot of traffic, a lot of clicks and impressions but they aren’t
making the sales they anticipated. What can they do to get more sales?

Solution: The first and foremost would be to understand why your shoppers aren’t
converting – are you targeting the right audience? Is your mobile website working
seamlessly? Do your online platforms face technical challenges all the time? Does your
customer base trust you? Do you personalize your website for your customers? Always
think from a shopper’s perspective and see if you are doing everything possible to make
them paying customers.

Competition & Competitor Analysis

Have you heard of a Jam Experiment? Well it has quite a controversial conclusion, which is –
the less you offer customers the more likely they are to actually purchase something. A lot of
people these days are fatigued by all the options that are out there. A simple search for
something like headphones will give you thousands of options – how does one make a
choice?

From a retailer’s standpoint, how do they stand out from the crowd? How do they bring
shoppers to their website, instead of buying a similar product from their competitors?

Solution: Always do a thorough analysis of your competitors. Find out what products
they are selling, how they are generating leads and how they keep in touch with their
customers. The next step would be to make sure you stand out – be it the colors you use,
the topnotch functionality of your website or amazing user experience. And finally, offer
services or products that are unique and relevant to your customer base.

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 Price & Shipping

We have all heard of customers that prefer to purchase products from places that have free
shipping. eCommerce giants like Amazon provide such attractive shipping deals that
customers seldom want to look at other places. How does one bring down costs for shipping?

Solution: While all eCommerce sites cannot completely get rid of shipping costs, always
look to find options that work for your customer base. Would a subscription reduce the
cost of shipping? Would a certain time of the month give them lower shipping costs? Or
is there a carrier that is reliable but offers a cheaper rate? Be sure to do your research
and find the best possible solution for your shoppers.

Product Return & Refund Policies

According to ComScore, more than 60% of online shoppers say that they look at a retailer’s
return policy before making a purchase. When an eCommerce site says “no returns or
refunds” it makes a shopper nervous and less likely to trust the retailer. When shopping
online, customers want the flexibility of making a mistake that doesn’t cost them.

Solution: Customer satisfaction is the most important factor for any retailer. Therefore
having a flexible return and refund policy not only helps with customer satisfaction with
it also helps with customers making purchases without being nervous.

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 Choosing the Right Technology/Partners To
Fix Your eCommerce Challenges

Choosing the right technology or partner will make or break your business. A retailer’s
growth might be stunted because their technology is limiting them or because they have hired
the wrong agency to help them manage their projects.

There are a lot of aspects that need to be in place for a successful retail business, but a good
technology foundation is crucial.

Solution: Partner with Vue.ai, a unified Visual A.I. platform that is redesigning the
future of retail commerce to fix all your eCommerce challenges. Using image
recognition and data science, Vue helps retailers generate product, and customer
intelligence, and combine these with market insights, to power growth.
Nothing has propelled eCommerce like the conditions of 2021. While there have been a
lot of exciting and positive changes, there are still online businesses that struggle with
the challenges that eCommerce brings. The above mentioned solutions are fixes that can
help any eCommerce business move closer to their ideal customers and targeted sales.

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 TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES

Server Issues
When using external Web hosting, the hosting company's servers may experience
downtime. When the servers are down, your site is down, and when your site is down, you
can't make sales, which translates into profit loss. To reduce the risk of server issues,
choose a hosting company with backup servers, and make sure it guarantees at least 99.5
percent up-times for its regular servers.

Bandwidth Issues
Most hosting companies place a limit on the amount of bandwidth your e-business can use
each month. Some e-businesses start small and do not require a lot of bandwidth, but the
more your e-business grows, the more bandwidth you will likely need. If you anticipate that
your business may eventually exceed the bandwidth allotment, choose a host that offers the
option to upgrade to a dedicated server. A dedicated server is your own server with
unlimited bandwidth.

Dynamic IP Address Issues

The domain name for your business is assigned a “dynamic” Internet protocol address, or
IP. An IP address is a series of numbers associated with your domain name. A dynamic IP
address is shared with numerous other website owners, which decreases the stability of
your e-business website. Dynamic IP addresses are always changing, which also decreases
the stability of your site.

Static IP Address
To prevent a dynamic IP address problem, consider purchasing a “static” IP address, which
is your own IP address -- it never changes, and is not shared. This results in more site
stability. To purchase a static IP address, contact your Web hosting provider or Internet
service provider. If purchasing through your ISP, request that the ISP associate the static IP
address with your e-businesses domain name.

Security Issues
Hackers can break into your business website's database to steal confidential and
proprietary information, along with customer data. Many customers have learned how to
look for “security seals” on websites, and will not make purchases from sites that are not
secure. To prevent hacks and to increase customer confidence, secure your website by
purchasing a secure socket layer, or SSL, certificate. Most Web hosting companies offer
SSL certificates for an additional fee.

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 EMERGING TECHNOLOGICALTRENDS TO
WATCH IN 2022

Let's discuss some of the current trends in ecommerce marketing ideas in the industry.

Trend # 01: Mobile Devices

The entire market runs on mobiles in current times. Every consumer is on their tablets and
mobile phones. It's important for brands to hit this market segment.
The pay-per-click marketing technique is a huge investment for all companies who want to be
ahead in the long run. Mobile eCommerce is one of the major trends in eCommerce
marketing that all online retailers swear by. This is a fact that each year all mobile
transactions are increasing by a significant number.
Recent eCommerce Market research shows that the holiday sales season is a big time to
capture customers. People are more attached to their mobiles compared to their computers.
So it is just the right time for all businesses to be responsive to Mobile eCommerce.

Trend # 02: Voice Search

Whether at home, at the office, or on the go, voice technology has smoothly entered our lives.
Google has come up with some new guidelines which involve all the eCommerce stores to
include text content. This would mean that all the companies should be on their toes
optimizing their content for voice search. Voice-enabled buttons will allow the capturing of a
larger audience. To stay ahead of the competition, this emergent technology is a big Yes.
From finding a nearby club, the best restaurant, hospitals to finding a song, we all depend a
huge deal on eCommerce marketing trends voice assistants.

Businesses can use this technology in their search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Using
keywords and phrases that are best suited for voice search queries will bring the great results
you want. This technology also helps people search by speaking into their smartphones or
home assistant devices. Google voice search going up in exponential numbers. It is crucial for
businesses to understand this emerging trend and use it in their marketing strategy.

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Trend # 03: Consumer Awareness

With the best eCommerce marketing trends, online sales of any business grow effectively
which leads to increase spending on ecommerce marketing services. Increasing consumer
awareness and loyalty is something that brands must never miss. Building your brand online
is not just about posting content. Trustworthy and transparent content is very important for
brands to accomplish. Over one-third of online shoppers switch to a new brand if the previous
one did not offer transparency. Consumer awareness must be a big part of any brand's
marketingandcommunicationplan.
A company can educate their consumer about its products or services and also about its
performance. Consumer awareness plans should be well-designed for flawless consumer
engagement and consumer welfare. Every organization operates in a competitive market. A
target audience must understand a business's products. This will make them choose these
products (single product ecommerce ) over a competing brand. Consumer awareness and
transparency between business and clients are one of the top eCommerce marketing trends in
2022.

Trend # 04: Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are the talks of the digital marketing industry.
They are useful for any business and can be affordable. AI tools can be used to email product
recommendations via machine learning. One of the most accessible parts of Artificial
Intelligence is Chatbots, which:

1. Communicate with the customers instantly

2. Collect data
3. Track the customers' behavior
4. Provide personalized answers to customer questions through machine learning

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Trend # 05: Machine Learning

With machine learning, the eCommerce industry is all set to change. You can use machine
learning to stop problems before they even occur. You can also customize search results
based on past purchases and browser history.

On the tech side of things, machine learning can help detect fraud. They keep track of data
over time, so when anything goes wrong, you're likely to get alerted. This way you can
prevent retracted payments and purchases with stolen credit cards. In the long run, this will
make customers trust you more.

Trend # 06: QR Codes

Any customer with a mobile device can scan these QR codes. QR codes are a recent technology. They can boost
landing pages or engagement and drive traffic towards social media platforms. QR code encryption lends
curiosity to the process. This can 'mystery market' your brand and lead to higher sales.

Here's how you can use QR codes in marketing:

1. Link a product packaging to your online store

2. Offer big discounts and gifts
3. Lead customers to your social media and content platforms
4. Link it to your feedback page

Trend # 07: Video Marketing

Social media is evolving and so is the role of videos. It's a fun way to capture attention and
promote products. Every strong marketer must incorporate the video into the mix. Authentic
content and value-adds will hit just the right chord with your audience. The first ten seconds
of your video must be the best because customer attention is dwindling by the day.

A video is also SEO heaven. YouTube is the second largest search engine. It's owned by
Google, which means any properly tagged video can make it to a search page. Entertaining,
enlightening, or educational - promote your products the fun way with videos.

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Trend # 08: No Free Returns

Free returns can aggressively bring down profit margins and threaten the business.
Businesses increasingly need to increase warehouse space, hire staff, and more departments
for returned products. In-Store or stricter return policy can nip this in the bud.

Trend # 09: Social Networks

Social network channels like Facebook have invested in the "Buy Now" option. This allows
the consumer to buy the product without even leaving the social media platform. This
customer-centric social selling can boost sales.

Trend # 10: Social Media

Social media attracts clients in huge numbers and in all age groups. If you want to stay in the
long run, you need to be active on social media. The target audience today is spending more
time on social media than on shopping or other sites. Any social media offering is a big
magnet for traffic and sales.

Trend # 18: Influencer marketing

With social media on the rise, the focus of the audience has shifted to the digital landscape.
This has resulted in the old ways of advertising becoming ancient. Brands are moving
to influencer marketing. Businesses can capture attention through someone who already has
theiraudience'ear.
It's important to build a larger following and a stronger brand reputation to leverage
influencer reach. This eCommerce marketing trend is all about connecting, just like
marketing is today. You can team up with influencers to offer:

1. Discount codes
2. Competitions and contests
3. Giveaways and getaways

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 Innovations in E- Commerce

Most Important Innovations in E-Commerce:-

1. Real-Time Location-Based Mobile Selling

You probably would be familiar with geo-targeting done by retail brick and mortar stores.
When a customer walks in the vicinity of a store, the in-store mobile app sends push
notifications to the customer’s Smartphone and alerts him/her to the latest sales and offers.

Geo-targeting does wonders for the retail shopping industry, as it combines the power of both
online and offline shopping. What about location-based selling for ecommerce stores? Sure,
there are plenty of responsive ecommerce websites that use geolocation tools. But, is it
possible for online stores to target customers solely based on their locations?

Today, consumers make purchase decisions on the go. They browse their mobile phones
while commuting to and from work while heading out to eat and even while at work. It’s
essential for ecommerce stores to target these customers, and understand how they make
spur-of-the-moment purchase decisions. You can expect geographically targeted discounts
offered to customers based on their real-time location. For instance, a customer may see a
push notification stating that they can pick up a particular dress at a lower price, right when
they are shopping for dresses in physical retail stores.

Here’s another example that explains geographically targeted discounts and deals. Say, you
own supplement store online. You can partner with gyms and fitness clubs, and every time a
new customer signs up at the gym, you can send him/her discounts for your range of
supplements.

2. Super Fast Delivery and Instant Pickup Counters

Long gone are the days when customers had to wait for several days on end to receive their
online purchases. With the introduction of services like Amazon Prime, same-day or two-day
delivery has become the industry standard. However, customers are not ready to wait for even
that long. With the popularity of drones, expect super-fast deliveries like one or two-hour
delivery, in the next few years.

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Another ecommerce trend that is gaining popularity is “Order Online and Pickup at a Store.”
Customers can place their orders online, and the ecommerce app will direct them to the
nearest affiliate from where they can pick up their orders within minutes

3. AI Powered Personalization

Today, ecommerce vendors are finding it increasingly difficult to differentiate their business
from the e-retail giants like Amazon, Alibaba, Flipkart (Walmart). To ensure that small
ecommerce vendors stand out – they are focusing more on improving the customer
experience. Customers no longer wanted to be treated as part of a general mass. Instead, they
highly appreciate businesses that provide them with a high degree of personalization. Small
ecommerce vendors seek the help of an ecommerce development company in usa, to integrate
AI technology in their online stores.

Advanced technologies like AI – Artificial Intelligence and machine learning are used to
provide customers with a high degree of personalization. AI holds massive potential for
ecommerce companies since it provides dynamic and adaptable targeting. Using AI,
ecommerce companies can show products that are linked to the user’s interests, which they
are more likely to purchase.

4. Voice Powered Shopping

13% of all households in the US owned a smart speaker in 2017, and the number is predicted
to increase to a massive 55% by 2022. Most of you would probably have used your Google
Home or Alexa to provide you the day’s weather report. But, did you know that your voice-
activated speakers can do more?

For instance, take the case of Amazon’s Alexa. When a user asks for a product
recommendation, Alexa is likely to show results having the “Amazon’s Choice” badge. This
is a huge benefit for ecommerce sellers who have partnered with Amazon.

Experts predict that with the soaring popularity of these voice-activated speakers, voice-
powered shopping will become as common as desktop browsing in the next few years.

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5. Shopping using AR Technology

Augmented Reality has been around for some time, and there are tons of games like the
famous Pokemon Go that are blurring the line between the digital world and the real world.
More and more ecommerce retailers are realizing the potentials of using AR, to provide
customers with an elevated shopping experience.

For instance, consider the AR app IKEA Place, which uses AR technology to let customers
envision how a particular piece of furniture will look like in their homes, before making a
decision. The AR and VR market is estimated to reach a massive $209.2 billion by 2022.

Today, AR and VR technologies are one of the most sought-after b2c and b2b eCommerce
website features, and more and more ecommerce store owners are wooing shoppers using
these technologies. From virtually trying on clothes to envisioning the same product in
different colors, AR and VR are all set to provide customers with an enhanced shopping
experience like never before.

6. Blockchain

Today’s customers are highly savvy. They are questioning everything from – the origin of
their foods to the sustainability and environmental decisions made by brands. Blockchain, the
revolutionary technology powering crypto currencies can help add transparency to supply
chains, providing consumers with answers to all their queries.

Walmart is one of the pioneers in the industry to integrate the potentials of blockchain with
online shopping. The mega-retail giant is experimenting with to track drone-delivered
packages in real-time and has also submitted a patent for a “Smart blockchain technology
Package,” that provides various info like origin, current location, environmental conditions
and more.

Blockchain adds more than transparency to the online shopping journey. It can also play a
huge role in streamlining payments, and speeding up transactions, with improved security.

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7. Single-click Checkout

This is not a new technology and has been available on Amazon for some years now. This
technology was recently licensed out to other companies like Apple Inc since Amazon’s
patent on it expired. Since then one-click checkouts have made their way into several online
retailers.

The benefits of one-click checkout are many: it reduces shopping cart abandonment rates,
helps customers make repeat transactions quickly, thereby boosting overall sales.

8. Chatbots to Handle Customer Queries

Chatbots have been around for some time now. But, today’s chatbots have come a long, long
way. Today chatbots are powered by neural networks, machine learning, and even AI
technology. The result – they are highly intuitive and can provide customers with exceptional
customer services.

Their lightning fast responses, accurate info, 24 x 7 availability, meeting all customer
demands – big and small – make chatbots the future of customer service in online shopping.
What more, chatbots can store large volumes of data compared to regular human customer
service agents; thereby they can provide customers with high levels of personalization and
instant service.

9. Social Commerce

A glance at your social newsfeed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest reveals that
there are plenty of pop-ups advertising direct purchase via social media networks.
Nearly 82% of online consumers in the USA in a survey stated that they had purchased a
product directly from social media platforms in 2018.

The power of social commerce is huge, and both ecommerce retailers and social media
platforms are reaping the benefits of it. For instance, Instagram makes it possible for users to
click on a picture that directly takes them to the corresponding product page and in Pinterest
users can click on a pin to reach the product page directly. All this boosts customer traffic to
ecommerce stores, thereby increasing conversions and boosting sales.

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10. Digital Storefronts

One of the biggest challenges for ecommerce retailers is that – they are unable to replicate the
shopping experience offered by physical stores. Even today, people love visiting retail stores,
touching and feeling the goods on display, trying out products and just enjoying the
exhilarating thrills of being in the store. Online shopping doesn’t offer this tactile experience

This is where innovative technologies help online retailers by merging the gap between
online and offline shopping. For instance, popular brands like Walmart, Delta Airlines, eBay
and others are using pop-up storefronts to help their customers enjoy the shopping experience

For instance, big brands use “memory mirror technologies” powered by RFID tags to allow
shoppers to try on virtual outfits before making a decision. Similarly, using iPads in fitting
rooms help customers to check out reviews, find out the sizes available and make other
informed choices

Take the example of Rebecca Minkoff, an American fashion brand that has partnered
with Magento ecommerce development company, to create a “Smart In-store Dressing
Room.” Users can create a profile for them, and then the smart fitting room stores various
info like – the apparel tried on by users, what they purchased and what they left behind. This
helps the app send the right notifications to users when a particular product is available on
sale

This is just the starting of the “In-store Digital Experience.” As the technology catches on,
customers can expect a seamless shopping experience, one that bridges online and offline
shopping.

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 Conclusion

The future of electronic commerce is dependent on fast and reliable on-line access. It is
expected that mature versions of Internet commerce applications will depend largely on
the use of public key certificates. These will enable secure
emailcommunicationbetweenmostleading-edgeorganizations,business-tobusiness
electronic trade, and access and payment for Internet consumers. Smart cards will be
wellestablishedinallindustrializedcountriesforcorporatesecurityandsecureInternetaccess.All
newpersonalcomputers will include smart card readers and support the new
computer/smartcardinterface.
Fingerprintandvoicerecognitiontechnologywillbeestablishedinhigh-value, leading-edge
applications. Strong cryptography will be widely adopted, supported by the relaxation
fexport controls on the dispersion of this technology. Increases in processing power will
make it possible to use bulk encryption for confidentiality at high speeds over host-to-host
links. Leading-edge organizations will have enterprise-wide trust infrastructures based on
public key cryptography and digital certificates and trusted third-party agreements will
proliferate.
It is expected that most e-mail traffic will be secure at application and network level;
most supply chains will trade electronically; some leading-edge organizations will have
been re-engineered into virtual companies; consumer certificates will be in widespread
use; smart cards will be in ubiquitous use over worldwide for everything from Internet
access and electronic commerce to ticketing in theatres and public transport; client
personal computers and network computers will be marketed with built-in finger print
scanners in the mouse or keyboard; and cryptography and the Internet trust model will be
accepted facts. A workable framework for global trust infrastructure will begin to emerge,
and trusted third-party licensing and data protection laws will have been harmonized
internationally. There will be recognized policy standards for issuing or revoking
certificates, and international laws on liability.

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