Tech Powers E-comm for Businesses Impacted
With the COVID-19 pandemic in full-swing, we continue to witness how it has affected the retail industry and e-comm platforms. According to IBM’S U.S. Retail Index, the pandemic has led to a major increase in digital shopping; roughly 10 years of growth took place within three months of 2020. The growth accounted for 33% of all U.S. retail sales (McKinsey data). With emerging tech making its way across online shopping platforms, it will enhance aspects that play a role in making the shopper’s e-comm experience much more efficient.
Social Media Discovery
The algorithms implemented by social media applications provide suggestions based on the user’s previous shopping behavior. However, each platform has a unique way to cater to the user’s assumed preferences. Pinterest only features products that are available in stock from participating retailers. Depending on the keywords provided by the retailers and frequency of posts, Pinterest will have posts make an appearance in users’ feeds. Instagram also suggests products based on the user’s behaviour, even if they weren’t purchased, such as items they might have favorited or scrolled past on their feed.
Virtual Assistance
Automated customer service has assisted users’ by handling FAQs, producing personalized recommendations, and helping out “real humans.” According to a research study conducted by March Juniper, it is estimated that global retail sales enabled by chat bots would grow from “$2.8 billion in 2019 to $142 billion in 2024.” Several platforms have also transitioned to augmented reality by activating the user's smartphone camera, so that they can virtually try on products. Ulta Beauty’s GLAM Lab allows shoppers to “test” hundreds of their products through virtual makeup application. Warby Parker’s mobile application utilizes AI face-mapping, so that shoppers can try on glasses.
Warehouse Fulfillment
From the shopper’s perspective, it only takes a few clicks for the product to reach their doorstep, however there is more to this than what meets the eye. At fulfilment/distribution centers, AI systems have helped “mediate order flows, forecast demand, manage inventory, and track an item’s journey across the retail supply chain.” Amazon has enforced a warehouse system that is able to track individual worker productivity, which will automatically generate warnings for substandard performance levels. Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and non-AMRs have also taken over tasks, such as transporting and packaging products. In January, Walmart introduced a floor-to-ceiling robotic platform, known as Alphabot, that packs and processes online grocery orders. With e-commerce demand skyrocketing, an investment for robots with new capabilities is needed to achieve goals.
Delivery
The journey of the product to its destination all depends on the product itself, such as its accessibility, location, and regional distribution of fulfillment centers. Tech investors, auto manufacturers, and logistics businesses have spent “tens of billions of dollars into autonomous vehicles.” Aurora, an Amazon-backed virtual driver, is currently being developed and will involve trucking with its first commercial product. The delivery of the product to the destination is considered to be the most “expensive, complicated, and time-consuming part.”
Improved technologies financially profit retailers from having to rely on expensive and slower resources such as humans. Emerging tech is also favorable in order to ensure loyalty of their customers through “online discovery, order, and delivery processes.”