Insights / Pureplay
E-Commerce Toolkit: Top Tips For the Year Ahead
- 1st February
- Neha Kale 289
January is officially over – it’s time to chase away the post-holiday blues with our guide to the trends that will drive your business in the year ahead.
Mark Blair, Senior Director, Asia-Pacific, BrightCove
“I think the use of online video will become a much more seamless part of the transaction process. The approach taken by innovators such as Thomas Pink, Marks & Spencers and Debenhams where product search and discovery are integrated with the transactional purchasing process through video will become easier and more cost effective to implement.”
Karson Stimson, Director, We Are Digital
“Web 3.0 will be white hot in 2012. The semantic web, or Web 3.0 uses intelligent technology to combine content, commerce, community and context, with personalisation, vertical search and remarketing. By integrating the technology to support this, retailers can serve up more personalised, relevant, timely and accurate content and messaging which in turn will drive incremental sales and engagement.”
Matt Hampshire, Managing Director, Contiigo
“I believe that this will be the year of the in-store app. More retailers will offer mobile-based applications that customers can use in-store to locate and order inventory, gain access to promotions and see more information about their products. Retailers will also deploy mobile applications for their staff to retrieve product and inventory information, customer history and recommendations. The focus will be on never losing a sale.”
Carl Hartmann, Managing Director, Temando
“When it comes to fulfillment, this year will see a shift from a price-centric to a customer-centric service model. The threat from offshore merchants has meant that good service and fast delivery offer major points of difference for local retailers. And while free shipping certainly appeals to many customers, retailers strive to provide customers with multiple delivery options and increased flexibility.”
Cameron Craig, Director, Whistleout
“The technology required for transferring money between phones by tapping phones together or tapping a store’s terminal is rolling out now. NFC is a massive upgrade from Bluetooth. Samsung is already offering it on their Galaxy Nexus along with a virtual wallet – the “Google Wallet” – in the US. In 2012 we will see the technology further refined. Soon we could be tapping phones to transfer music, money and make payments everywhere.”
