E-commerce has become a central part of how businesses operate. For the last five years, e-commerce grew in importance because of the rise of mobile technologies and consumers' preference for shopping online. This trend is set to continue and companies have to adapt in order to capitalize on the benefits of e-commerce in business.
The leaders of e-commerce departments within companies are looking for ways that those companies can improve their e-commerce sales going into next year. While it is possible to be widely successful in e-commerce, it is not without its challenges. In this article, we discussed the challenges for e-commerce leaders in 2021.
The Dominance of M-Commerce
Although many people think that e-commerce only covers a small segment of online business, e-commerce actually covers all online business transactions. There are many different ways to conduct e-commerce transactions and those subsets are monitored by agencies to see which ones are most effective. Above all others, m-commerce (e-commerce using mobile devices) has overtaken all of the others.
Mobile devices are everywhere, and companies are capitalizing on this by setting up systems to make it easier for customers to shop online. Mobile apps and mobile-focused websites have proven effective in helping businesses continue to profit on. Because of this, companies need to adapt and develop mobile commerce-focused systems to remain competitive in the e-commerce space.
This is becoming a challenge for e-commerce leaders because the m-commerce space is becoming overcrowded. With more companies trying to capitalize on the rise of m-commerce, this means that customers are constantly bombarded by ads for apps and sales-related content making it hard for any one company to cut through the noise. The challenge will be running ways to overcome and stand out from the competition so that companies can benefit from their m-commerce platforms.
Dependency on Machine Learning Technology
Machine learning is one of the biggest advancements of the century and has the potential to unlock the full potential of machines. Even in the e-commerce space, machine learning is making a big difference. Companies are integrating machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies into their mobile platforms to make them more effective and efficient. These systems learn about consumers, specifically learning what they like. Then, it tailors the experience and the products that are shown to consumers based on their preferences. It can be a powerful way to increase sales and enhance the user experience.
The downside to incorporating machine learning into current systems is that companies may become dependent on that machine learning technology. Machine learning technologies are still new and require a lot of investment in technologies that are almost exclusively owned by large companies like Google and Microsoft. The potential benefits may make it worth the investment, but it also comes at a significant non-financial cost: dependence on technologies.
Many companies are already dependent on large companies for technologies that make it possible for them to function. Google, for example, has control of the largest search engines in the world making a large proportion of businesses dependent on high SEO rankings to bring in new business.
Introducing another technology, no matter how good it is, further increases this dependence. Going forward, e-commerce leaders should be wary of the technologies that they become dependant on. If anything happens to the companies that own and control those companies, other businesses will experience problems that could derail their operations.
Big Data and Consumer Rights
Consumer rights is an important issue for e-commerce leaders going forward. Big data, the ability of companies to collect massive amounts of information about their consumers, makes it possible to perform some of the largest data collection and analysis projects on the planet. The result is the ability to significantly improve how companies understand their target audiences and provide them with goods and services.
The problem with big data is that many of the companies involved in it have gone a bit too far and it makes consumers uncomfortable. The extent to which a company can invade consumer’s privacy is intense, and consumers are pushing back against it. People do have a right to not be surveilled, among other things, and big data is threatening those rights.
For e-commerce leaders, the problem becomes knowing what their target consumers want and balancing their big data concerns with those of consumers. There is a real possibility that consumers will avoid companies that they feel are too invested in getting their information for their own purposes. This is already becoming a more popular trend, and it threatens to reshape e-commerce as we know it.
Finding the Right Help for Business Development
E-commerce requires a lot of resources and support from different departments. An e-commerce director mays struggle if they don’t find a reliable source of help and support. Agencies like KitelyTech provide the services that e-commerce leaders need to effectively run operations and grow businesses. They can call KitelyTech at (800) 274 2908 to get the help that they need to keep e-commerce operations running smoothly.
