Some E-Commerce Facts

Based in Toronto, Canada, Shaliza Somani focuses on new business development at financial technology company Paramount Commerce. Shaliza Somani’s expertise is in the fields of payment processing and e-commerce.

According to consumer and market data firm Statista, buying goods and services through the internet has now become common among people across the world. The reason individuals shop online is largely due to its convenience, and the low prices offered by many e-commerce websites are also an incentive. The number of digital buyers in 2016 was 1.66 billion, with the figure expected to grow to 2.14 billion buyers by 2021.

Product reviews and brand emails are a few the digital resources that influence online buyers. In terms of payment method, credit cards have a usage rate of 31 percent, second only to PayPal, which is used by 40 percent of the world’s online shoppers. For 2018, the world’s most popular online shopping category was fashion-related goods, with 57 percent of online users purchasing fashion-related items. With an anticipated compound annual growth rate of 12.7 percent between 2017 and 2023, food and beverages is expected to be the fastest-growing e-commerce group over this period.

Ecommerce Trends in 2019

Augmented Reality
Photo by Daniel Frank on Unsplash

A business executive with over 15 years experience in sales, strategy and digital marketing, Shaliza Somani oversees new business development at Paramount Commerce in Toronto. To inform her decisions in this role, Shaliza Somani stays abreast of developments and trends in the ecommerce and payment processing industry.

As with many industries, ecommerce is constantly evolving. Here are just a few ecommerce trends for 2019:

More Customer Engagement
Unlike traditional retail shopping, ecommerce stores cannot interact with customers fact-to-face. Because of this, online stores are working more to mimic this personalized experience by implementing more opportunities to talk to customers at various points before, during, and after their purchases. This personalized communication increases transaction rates and promotes repeat purchasing from consumers.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Chatbots
Managing inventory, fulfilling basic customer needs, and handling questions are all relatively simple tasks that traditionally require human resources. However, ecommerce stores are increasingly implementing AI for these tasks. This technology learns from customer conversations and gradually improves to provide a better customer experience online.

Augmented Reality (AR)
It’s estimated that about 120,000 online stores will use AR technologies by the year 2022. This will provide consumers with a completely different online experience thanks to AR’s ability to help customers envision the products they plan on buying within their homes. The ability to “test” certain products prior to purchasing them allows for a better online shopping experience that provides consumers with a unique way of exploring products that isn’t available offline.