Let’s Talk About Smart Commerce Powered by Data and Analytics

We are surrounded by data. Everything we consume, buy, and view over the Internet generates data. Then, companies use this data to spot trends in user behaviour and make marketing and sales decisions based on that. Even the eCommerce industry is well-versed with the potential use cases of big data. Over the years, social media adoption, smartphone penetration, new mobile technologies (think 5G), and online market models have managed to revolutionise how customers buy from the comfort of their homes. Maturing technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Augmented Reality, and the Internet of Things further fuel this rapid change in the eCommerce industry. But data lies at the core. Large datasets and their applications in eCommerce are many. Companies are now able to identify loyal customers and casual visitors when people visit their website. Big data has positive implications on almost all industries, but let’s see how it is impacting the commerce industry- making it more intuitive and smarter.

HOW DATA AND ANALYTICS IMPACT COMMERCE

The fast-moving value chain in the eCommerce industry is now described as smart commerce. Smart commerce concerns with how purchasing experiences are evolving and what might be the implications of these changes for eCommerce businesses with their customers. Big data is playing a big role in driving these changes. Here’s how-

DYNAMIC PRICING

Pricing is one of the critical parameters that businesses need to dwell on for success. Customers are getting increasingly fickle-minded. They might not stay loyal to an eCommerce business that does not provide them the best prices. Sellers must, therefore, price products based on market standards. It only takes a customer a few minutes to look through the best and popular websites and compare pricing. The best approach here, therefore, is dynamic pricing. Respond to market trends, demand, and competitor’s prices to dynamically change the price of products. Big data and analytics can help gather information on various factors that can play a role in determining the price of products.

By offering the best prices to its customers, albeit at the cost of long delivery timelines, Wish became worth more than Sears at $8.5 Billion.

PERSONALISED OFFERS AND DISCOUNTS

eCommerce businesses today face cut-throat competition. If they want to thrive and survive, they need to personalise the user experience they offer. Personalised product recommendations, offers, and discounts can speak to a customer’s interest. Big data can be used to factor in past purchases, repeat purchases, browsing behaviour, and high-interest products to recommend the right products to the customer with the best offers and high value. Discounts and offers can be personalised to fit the customer’s taste- do they like discounts? Free products? Or additional services? Amazon is an unbeatable king of personalisation. The company introduced one-click payments and personalised product recommendations. Amazon drives 35 percent of its sales from these personalised recommendations.

IMPROVE BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

Data and analytics can help you infuse intelligence into your eCommerce business. Track the buyer’s journey to drive relevant content and recommendations to them. Cross-device tracking can be used to re-target dominant buyers, reduce cart abandonment, and increase conversion rates. Data can also let you in on insights concerning incomplete transactions, bounce rates, and so on. Using these insights, eCommerce businesses can take steps to improve their UI/UX and lead to better conversions and high revenue.

BETTER PRODUCT DISCOVERY THROUGH INTUITIVE SEARCH

Often, customers don’t reveal every factor when searching on eCommerce platforms. When that happens, analytics and insights can help eCommerce sites take an intuitive function and give the customer highly relevant search results. A search functionality forms the backbone of any eCommerce website. Without this, product discovery gets hampered, and the customer returns unattended.

Intuitive searching takes into account data points such as customer interest, browsing behaviour, and intent to narrow down from many potential search results to the ones that might be the most helpful for the customer. Seamless search can facilitate higher average order values, repeat purchases, and quicker transactions – all leading to better customer experience. Forty-eight percent of online product searches in the US begin on Amazon. This shows how competitive the eCommerce landscape is for anyone trying to be more visible. The search functionality on Amazon is intuitive to the extent that it senses what the customer needs and displays hyper-relevant search results.

LEARN ABOUT USER BEHAVIOUR AND INTENT

Buyer intent is a concept that can help you understand what a user intends to do on the website. Predictive analytics can help measure buyer intent through factors such as behavioural information, content consumption, demographics, etc. Predicting buyer intent can help in creating a better picture of customers’ purchase paths. This, in turn, can be helpful when eCommerce sites want to appeal to them through targeted marketing and move them faster through the sales funnel toward making that purchase. Buyer intent can be educational or transactional. Are they looking for information around the product or plan on buying it?

SMART INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

Big Data and inventory management can prove to be a powerful force for any eCommerce business. Keeping the right levels of inventory is still a challenge for eCommerce companies. High inventory levels lead to storage expenses and risks of redundancy and waste as the goods might never get sold. On the other hand, inadequate inventory might mean the customers may not find the goods and return empty-handed. By looking at the historical transactions, data and predictive analytics can calculate the optimum stock inventory levels, including foreseeing booms in demand during festival seasons and holiday sales. Clari uses AI-powered software for inventory management and sales forecasting, both of which support faster, data-driven decision making. Data and analytics can make eCommerce businesses more responsive to buyer needs, market trends, and surges in demand. Know what to expect to fuel the right level of inventory. Give customers what they need without them having to ask – leading to smarter commerce and more revenue.

Inteliment works to make data work for you. Leverage our analytics solutions to infuse intelligence and intuitiveness into your eCommerce website. Learn more about our data analytics services and solutions.