The Role of Big Data Technologies in eCommerce

The Role of Big Data Technologies in eCommerce

Data is everything when it comes to informed decision-making. And you can barely find any sphere that doesn’t utilize data in its operations. One of the industries relying heavily on data is eCommerce.

The more customers move to online shopping, the more information they leave. So companies take it up to predict trends, understand consumer behavior, and offer more personalized products and services.

As eCommerce is one of the most saturated markets, online merchants do their best to get a competitive edge. They develop cutting-edge solutions, increase website loading speed to improve the shopping experience, and even invest in Magento support and maintenance services or the ones applicable to their platform to ensure their platforms run efficiently.

Regarding data management, they apply modern technologies to navigate through details about customer interactions. Big data analytics is one of those innovations.

Big data is picking up steam in the world. However, it may create new challenges like data management and security.

That’s why some businesses get overwhelmed with siloed data chunks. Luckily, big data tools are built to handle the new level of complexity. In this article, we’ll look at the role of big data technologies in eCommerce and the ways to use them in this sphere.

5 Ways to Transform eCommerce with Big Data

If you’re ready to put in the necessary effort and work hard, all the problems with using big data won’t matter much. Adopt big data slowly and properly to maximize its advantages. Where can you apply big data analysis in the online store? Let’s overview some ways to upgrade the online store’s operations with big data.

1. Taking Shopping to a Higher Level

The data available to eCommerce businesses are limitless, allowing them to use predictive analytics to forecast future customer behavior. Retail websites monitor figures, such as:

  • the average number of clicks per page;
  • the number of items customers add to their shopping carts before checking out;
  • the typical interval between a visit to the homepage and purchase, and so on.

Rewards or subscription programs can also provide valuable insights. Businesses can study client demographics, age, preferences, size, education, and occupations.

Merchants can launch ground-breaking strategies to reduce the time to purchase, prevent shopping cart abandonment, and respond to emerging trends. Similarly, predictive analytics assists with planning inventory to handle seasonal and economic fluctuations. It lets you have items in stock and deliver them fast in the most critical moments.

2. Securing Online Payments

Security of payments is a must in providing the best possible shopping experience. That’s why various store owners upgrade their websites, depending on the CMS.

Big data tools can also protect online stores. They spot unusual purchasing patterns and alert clients right away. Companies can set up warnings for various fraudulent actions. For example, these can be a string of purchases made quickly with the same credit card or paying with different methods from the same IP address.

Let’s take eCommerce websites with several payment options on a single platform. Big data analysis can identify which payment methods are the most effective for certain clients and may assess the effectiveness of specific options. The results may inspire you to simplify a checkout process, configure a wish list functionality, or provide a “bill me later” option.

3. Ensuring More Accurate Personalization

You can utilize big data to create a more individualized shopping experience apart from safe, straightforward payments. How can you personalize the experience with big data analytics? It all starts with building a 360-degree view of the customers. With this approach, eCommerce businesses can categorize their clients according to their gender, location, and social media activity. This data is useful in the following ways:

  • personalizing websites based on search and purchase history;
  • displaying the most relevant content to unknown users with patterns similar to existing clients;
  • introducing new items aiming at a given demographic of customers;
  • designing and sending emails with tailored discounts and products. Below is a such example from Pulp & Press. The store provides links to goods hand-picked by the team to meet the consumer’s needs.

Source: newsletter from the official Pulp & Press website

4. Determining the Best Pricing for Various Customer Groups

Price management can rely on big data, providing benefits to eCommerce businesses. How can online retailers optimize pricing strategies with the help of big data? Analyze information from past purchases, cookies, clicks, etc. You can set dynamic pricing to adapt them to various customer groups. For example, you can see how discounts influence the purchase decision and sales.

Encourage loyal customers to stay with the company by giving them early access to special offers. Set lower prices on the items that might interest them. Or adjust prices according to where potential clients live and work.

5. Improving Customer Service

Keeping customers happy is essential for a business. Poor customer service can ruin a company’s perception and divert from purchasing goods even with the most competitive prices and products.

Outstanding customer service contributes to higher profitability. People will be more likely to share positive recommendations with others and ensure a stable income for a company. Big data enhances customer service by showing weaknesses and strengths, including:

  • the levels of consumer satisfaction (that’s where sentiment analysis may help);
  • issues with product delivery;
  • the brand image on social media.

Conclusion

Big data in eCommerce is crucial, and this cannot be understated. It is unquestionably one of the major forces behind the development of the current eCommerce industry, providing tools for increasing productivity regardless of the business size or type. How will big data evolve in the future?

The next generation of big data will offer greater depth and accuracy to data analytics, secure data storage, and unprecedented convenience for suppliers and customers. The technology will undergo all-encompassing improvements. And that’s a fact. Thus, if you want to stay up to date with the current trends, you should pay attention to this and similar technologies.

The Impact of E-Commerce Packaging on Customer Satisfaction and Brand Perception

The Impact of E-Commerce Packaging on Customer Satisfaction and Brand Perception

It may be quite hard to imagine the modern world without e-commerce, which has truly revolutionised the way we shop. The comfort that consumers get by being able to order products and have them delivered right to their doorsteps with just a few clicks is staggering. However, the importance of e-commerce packaging should not be underestimated. Are you aware of the impact that e-commerce packaging has on customer satisfaction and brand perception?

#1 Unboxing experience – the power of first impression

Unboxing has become quite popular thanks to influencers and vloggers who have made it a real art, keeping their fans on the edge of their seats before they can finally see what’s inside the box. When a package arrives, don’t we, the customers, feel exactly the same – excited, eagerly anticipating the reveal of the purchase?

The moment of unboxing can be turned into a delightful surprise with thoughtful and aesthetically pleasing packaging. Yet, it won’t be achieved when the products are packed in a huge box with lots of space left or sloppily wrapped in bubble wrap. Leave a lasting impression on customers thanks to perfectly fitted packaging, which can be easily produced with the use of developed technologies.

It’s enough to mention Sparck Technologies, as the expert in automated packaging systems, being able to scan the products to wrap them thoroughly into a package of the right size.

#2 Brand recognition equals customer loyalty

E-commerce packaging should not be considered just a simple container to deliver the product; it can be turned into part of the marketing strategy. Custom packaging with a brand’s logo, colors, and tagline can significantly enhance brand recognition and recall.

It’s an easy way to reinforce customers’ connection to the brand when they see the distinct packaging, helping them remember the positive experience they had with the company. Consequently, positive experiences with any brand can lead to repeat purchases and increased brand loyalty.

#3 Support those who support eco-trends

Companies owners need to be aware of the customers growing awareness of environmental issues, resulting in a higher demand for sustainable practices from the brands they support.

E-commerce packaging that is eco-friendly and responsibly sourced appeals to environmentally conscious consumers, gaining favor in the eyes of customers.

Big companies and governments have more power to fight environmental issues, but that doesn’t mean our actions don’t count. Starting with simple steps, like purchasing from companies that do care about the planet, can lead to bigger solutions that make a big difference.

#4 Quality and safety

The aesthetic appeal of e-commerce packaging is essential as we already know, its primary function is to protect the product during transit. Nothing will cause more damage to a brand’s reputation than damaged goods due to poor packaging. Customer frustration and disappointment will surely keep the customers away from your brand, instead of keeping them loyal.

Only perfectly fit packaging, with proper size and safety measures, will keep the goods safe, which only shows the importance and advantage of automated packaging systems over traditional manual processes. Packages that securely protect the product and arrive in pristine condition will definitely result in positive reviews from your customers, keeping them loyal and encouraging new, potential ones to trust your brand.

#5 Personalization and customer engagement 

There are two completely different attitudes toward packaging: one understands packaging as a necessary part of being able to send a product, and another sees packaging as a part of the marketing strategy. According to the latter, the packaging is a great way to personalize the purchase by adding handwritten notes, thank-you cards, or discounts for future purchases.

When you show your customers you care about them and you want them to be loyal, they will most probably stay loyal, purchasing from you again and again, due to your giving them a human-like and less transactional shopping experience.

#6 Customer reviews

In the context of unboxing and the popularity of social media, unique packaging has the potential to go viral. Customers receiving a visually appealing or creatively packaged product will likely share their excitement on platforms like Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube. Can you imagine a better review than being present on a multitude of social media accounts? And all for free!

Satisfied customers are more likely to leave positive reviews and use word-of-mouth marketing when they recommend products to their family and friends.

19 Main Advantages And Disadvantages Of E-commerce Over Traditional Retail Trade

Up-side sales and cross-selling can also be easier because you are not caught in a difficult personal situation where the customer may be free when he feels under pressure. You can easily give add-on tips as part of the shopping cart process and let the buyer go from there. Digital advertising is economical compared to traditional channels and can be more easily adapted to different budgets. You can use a combination of traditional and digital to market your entire operation, or even switch to mainly digital and save a lot of money. It goes without saying that physical settings are limited by location and, depending on your product or service, this can be the key to your income. But even if you think your business should ‘stay local’, expanding worldwide can enable you to expand into new facets of your business.

It takes a long time before they create a beautiful site and optimize it for search engines. But by selling products on a market, you already have a lot of traffic on the site that can help you generate sales. Hiring a team of developers to build and optimize the site requires additional resources and it is a full-time task to monitor your web store, which takes time. For companies that sell digital products, e-commerce enables product delivery within seconds of purchase.

Using multiple photos from different angles fills up many of the blanks created by an online experience. It is expected to represent 17.5% of global retail sales in 2021 (compared to 7.4% in 2015), and sales are expected shopware store development to reach $ 4.878 billion in the coming years. Answers to these questions can help you observe not only the demographics of your e-commerce customers, but also their lifestyle, so you can target your products accordingly.

But that doesn’t mean the physical stores will die out after the coronavirus. Lower costs of running an e-commerce store for a physical store translate into cost savings for the consumer. Online prices are often lower than traditional retail prices, and ecommerce sites can offer more discounts and promotions that are easier to claim. When you sell in the e-commerce market, you have a lot to gain. It has more customers, more control, easier inventory management, simpler returns and delivery systems. Your e-commerce site may also provide more information about your company or how to use your products.

If there is a sudden increase and the business owner cannot handle it properly, customers may feel dissatisfied. The information that customers leave behind gives you the space to connect with them. It has multiple means of communicating and ensuring future cooperation.

19 Main Advantages And Disadvantages Of E-commerce Over Traditional Retail Trade

Up-side sales and cross-selling can also be easier because you are not caught in a difficult personal situation where the customer may be free when he feels under pressure. You can easily give add-on tips as part of the shopping cart process and let the buyer go from there. Digital advertising is economical compared to traditional channels and can be more easily adapted to different budgets. You can use a combination of traditional and digital to market your entire operation, or even switch to mainly digital and save a lot of money. It goes without saying that physical settings are limited by location and, depending on your product or service, this can be the key to your income. But even if you think your business should ‘stay local’, expanding worldwide can enable you to expand into new facets of your business.

It takes a long time before they create a beautiful site and optimize it for search engines. But by selling products on a market, you already have a lot of traffic on the site that can help you generate sales. Hiring a team of developers to build and optimize the site requires additional resources and it is a full-time task to monitor your web store, which takes time. For companies that sell digital products, e-commerce enables product delivery within seconds of purchase.

Using multiple photos from different angles fills up many of the blanks created by an online experience. It is expected to represent 17.5% of global retail sales in 2021 (compared to 7.4% in 2015), and sales are expected ecommerce agency shopware solutions to reach $ 4.878 billion in the coming years. Answers to these questions can help you observe not only the demographics of your e-commerce customers, but also their lifestyle, so you can target your products accordingly.

But that doesn’t mean the physical stores will die out after the coronavirus. Lower costs of running an e-commerce store for a physical store translate into cost savings for the consumer. Online prices are often lower than traditional retail prices, and ecommerce sites can offer more discounts and promotions that are easier to claim. When you sell in the e-commerce market, you have a lot to gain. It has more customers, more control, easier inventory management, simpler returns and delivery systems. Your e-commerce site may also provide more information about your company or how to use your products.

If there is a sudden increase and the business owner cannot handle it properly, customers may feel dissatisfied. The information that customers leave behind gives you the space to connect with them. It has multiple means of communicating and ensuring future cooperation.