What is the Online Retail Market?
The online retail market is selling and buying goods and services through the internet. There are numerous applications or websites which provide the facility of online shopping to people.
The retail market industry has seen tremendous growth.
E-commerce is a trending sector in India too. Since the introduction of various technological advancements, the online shopping market is on the rise. There are also many trends in the eCommerce market which is enhancing online shopping for the customers.
The revenue of these online stores has immensely grown as the demands of customers have increased. The companies are highly profitable as more customers are buying online items.
Some of those trends are mentioned below. Ecommerce Software development Companies can look out for these trends to increase sales and marketing of the company.
Such companies can use technology like Ionic app development to enhance their applications and websites. They can hire Android app developers to ensure perfect websites and apps to display to the customers.
The design and content in online retail sites play an important role in defining the choice of customers. The design, layout, and template used by the developers of applications and websites should be attractive enough to interest the users.
Trends in online business:
Mobile shopping:
Mobile Shopping has now become a trend. Recently, mobile devices have attracted a lot of customers due to their cheap price and excellent services. With the increase in the number of smartphone users, online shopping is at its peak. Almost every other person orders seamlessly on their mobile phones.
There are various shopping apps or websites available from where buyers can buy the commodities. It becomes really easy for the customers to search for their desired product and buy it online.
From various surveys conducted, it is estimated that maximum sales of products have been done through the mobile phone.
Voice search facility or voice assistants:
The Voice search feature has greatly contributed to the growth of the online retail market. It allows people to search for the item on the internet. The item does not need to be typed and searched. Just say the name of the item that is needed and it gives you a list of recommendations.
It is a popular trend of technology in recent years. Mostly, every site available on the internet has this feature to attract a large number of customers. Talking about online retail shops, the voice search facility is an advantage. Moreover, it brings a lot of people towards online shopping.
Shops on Social Media:
In the 20th century, Social Media is at the top. Social Applications like Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, etc. are trending due to their popular services. Services such as video calls, chatting, sharing pictures, watching videos, etc. interest most people. It provides them a sense of connection to the outer world.
One of the most attractive features some of these social media apps provide is online retail shopping. There are numerous pages on Instagram and Facebook which offer people to shop. Worldwide, people are using social media not just to interact with others but to sell items.
Commodities like Clothes, electronics, accessories, footwear, etc. are easily available on social media apps. This is also a reason for the growth of online retail shopping. Both men and women buy stuff from social media shops.
Role of Artificial Intelligence in the Online Retail Market:
AI collects the data from the search pattern of the user. It keeps a look at how and what item the user is searching for. It then recommends similar kinds of products to the user. The variety of choices increases which in turn helps the user to choose a perfect product.
For example, a woman searches for a white maxi dress on the internet. Artificial Intelligence stores a white maxi dress in its data. Then it shows white dresses which are in the maxi pattern.
The recommendations are mostly on social media platforms.
Chatbots are an advantage:
Artificial intelligence-based chatbots are acting as a great benefit to the online retail sector. It answers the queries of a customer and clears their doubts regarding the product. This also increases the sales of the company and hence they earn profit.
As soon as the user enters a website or app they get a pop-up where they can chat and ask questions. Chatbots are an interactive way that attracts a lot of customers.
These Artificial Intelligence based chatbots are an extraordinary and interesting system of chatting with customers and explaining various properties of the particular product.
By 2025, chatbot usage in the online retail market will be around $1.25 billion. Most of the customers prefer chatbots to get specific details of the product.
PWAs are helping the online retail market:
PWAs stands for Progressive Web Apps. These are web-based applications designed to make the services available on the websites. It is a website having features of a native application.
The word progressive represents the increased quality based on the abilities of the web browser. For example, Twitter lite is one of the best examples of PWAs. It provides all the same facilities that are provided by the Twitter application and takes less time to load. Such enhanced features of PWAs have made them the first choice of the user.
One of the largest online retail markets in India is Flipkart. After observing the greater popularity of web apps in the market. It has also launched Flipkart Lite to attract as many customers as it can. This has proved beneficial to them. Other examples include Alibaba, George.com, 5miles, Eleganza, etc.
Customer or user experience:
With the growth of digitalization in the country, Artificial intelligence and Big Data have influenced all the major sectors including the online retail sector. These technologies provide one more interesting facility to the customers.
It shares the feedback of those customers who had already bought a product from the online shop. The reviews have a big impact on the customers who desire to buy that product.
Ratings and comments are two of the major features which help to express the experience of the user. If the ratings and comments are good, there is a high probability of the customer buying that product without thinking twice. So, it can be said that good reviews are important to convey a customer and to maintain a good image of the company.
Discounts and Sales offers:
Every customer is attracted towards the cheap price and good quality of a product. Offers like discount and sales brings a lot of customers to the online retail shops.
Big online retail companies like Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, etc. have had various offers going throughout the years.
Also, it offers special sales discounts on Indian festivals like Diwali, New Year, etc. Beautiful and trending clothes are available at affordable prices. According to the stats, there have been records of high sales during festival offers and discounts.
Mostly, people prefer to shop during the time of sale. They especially wait for this time of the year. Moreover, they prefer to buy items which are available at discounts. Offers like buy one get one free, get cashback on a particular amount of shopping, etc. interests a lot of customers.
Easy Payment methods:
There are many online options present nowadays which help in an easy transaction of money from the customers to the retail companies. In recent times, there is a decrease in the usage of credit cards or cash for paying anyone.
Cashless transactions are on the rise. Such transactions are completely safe as it involves a secret code or secret pin. This pin ensures a safe transaction.
Cash on delivery options is also available in the online retail companies to get payments from those who do not use online payment services.
Wrapping up:
The future of online shopping is bright. The online shopping market in India is booming. Since the covid pandemic, everyone is forced to buy things online which are safe, easy to pay for, and do not require movement from their house.
The e-commerce industry overview is interesting. It has changed the ways traditional business is done in India. In the 20th century, digitalization has introduced various facilities like voice search, mobile shopping, Artificial intelligence features, Social media shops, chatbots, customer reviews, online payment, PWAs, and various discounts and offers.
Many trends are introduced in the e-commerce environment. But the companies should use trends according to e-commerce industry analysis. It is giving high competition to the traditional market.
In recent times, the importance of e-commerce has greatly increased and has earned huge profits.
