4 Ways IoT is reshaping the eCommerce world
Based on the latest reports, the net value of global retail eCommerce sales is expected to reach a whopping $4.13T by the end of the year 2020. As customers move to online shopping platforms in large numbers, eCommerce has to become much more evolved, smarter, and more customer-friendly for better sales. This is where IoT comes into play.
IoT has carved its way into the online stores and thoroughly transformed the shopping experience of the shopper. For example, the innovation of IoT devices such as the Amazon dash button allows users to reorder the product without logging onto the site and smart mirrors enable customers to try clothes virtually. Moreover, IoT has profoundly influenced the choices, shopping patterns, and the buying behavior of the customers, altering the customer experience.
Additionally, it makes things more intelligent, and thus integration of IoT in top eCommerce businesses has led to a significant evolution in the eCommerce industry. It’s being projected that by 2025, more than 75B devices will be IoT enabled. Consult top ecommerce development companies here, if you intend to implement IoT in your business.
Now, let’s move on to exploring the ways in which IoT is reshaping the ecommerce business:
#1 Reshaping inventory management process
Most significant businesses require a massive warehouse. However, keeping an eye on the stock of all commodities in the warehouse can be tiresome and inefficient if done manually. A little mistake in noting the numbers might result in a high level of confusion and disorder. Integration with IoT leads to automation and, thus, simplification.
The combination of IoT and RFID tags is used to monitor and track the real-time stock of commodities without any manual intervention. Other important information, like product type, expiry date, manufacturer’s detail, batch ids, etc., can be stored automatically.
A new concept of IoT enabled ‘smart shelves’ further improves the customer experience. It monitors the stock of commodities present and the stock already sold to automatically reorder the best-selling items before they run out of stock. Find top IOT development companies to partner with at GoodFirms.
#2 Advancement in the supply chain
The consistency and efficiency of an eCommerce industry highly depend on its logistics and supply chain. Impropriety and flaw in this chain can be a setback for online retailers. Integrating IoT with the supply chain and logistics can advance the entire supply chain and optimize the whole logistics process, ensuring the smooth flow of commodities.
Combining RFID tracking with GPS makes it possible for the eCommerce business to track the shipment and movement of their products at every instant. To automatically recognize and track the passage of objects, RFID and smart tags use the electromagnetic field. The tag encodes the digital data, more commonly a unique number, captured by the reader via radio waves.
This technology allows us to collect real-time information about the product to ensure the sufficient speed of delivery and reduce the damage to the products by taking early precautionary measures.
#3 Better customer experience
Projections suggest that global e-retail sales will grow up to $4.8 trillion by 2021 compared to $2.8 trillion amounted in the year 2018. These stats directly indicate that more and more customers are turning to online shopping. Moreover, around 86% of customers are inclined to pay more for excellent customer experience. Integrating IoT in eCommerce can help improve customer experience in many ways.
IoT can assist eCommerce businesses in targeting specific groups of customers for personalized advertising. It can help track customer preference for specific products, shopping habits, search trends, and order history, thereby using the gathered data to create personalized offers, product recommendations, and easing the checkout process to reduce complexity and promote efficiency. This idea helps eCommerce to increase customer engagement and thereby improving customer experience leading to higher sales.
#4 Better maintenance and warranty handling
According to Lee Resource Inc, if customer complaints are resolved, 70% of complaining customers would be happy to repeat business with the firm. While selling electronics or industrial products, warranty handling and maintenance is the top priority. If retailers are not cautious, they can wind up spending a lot in terms of money and time on repairs and customer services. But, IoT can solve this problem too. For example, let’s talk about UK based service provider, MotorEasy, launched fitC warranty.
MotorEasy designed a fitC device compatible with OBD ports in cars. The customer needs to connect the device with the fitC smartphone app or website, and it will offer real-time and actionable information, like monitoring and booking warranty handling and looking after the car’s overall health.
The app allows the customer to prevent damage and car breakdown. Along with advanced fault notifications, this technology reminds the driver of the correct servicing time by careful monitoring of parameters like fuel consumption, and journey traveled, etc. In this way, using IoT based applications can help the retailer to manage customer services and warranties effectively.
Every good thing comes with the wrong side too. IoT has some security concerns, and the ongoing research has, to much extent, successfully resolved the issue. But this matter can be easily neglected when compared to benefits and advancements in this technology.
Wrapping up
The field of technology is evolving rapidly, and IoT is going to play a significant role in the majority of areas in the coming years. Moreover, with the increasing numbers of smart devices, the eCommerce industry is getting more data to work on for better customer experience and services. IoT and eCommerce have got a long way to go.
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This was a very interesting article.