By Jim Clanin
So far, 2013 has been a big year for ecommerce on a global scale. As more and more people worldwide move to smart phones, and countries like Brazil, China, and India join the digital revolution, we’re beginning to see the emergence of ecommerce 3.0.
Ecommerce 1.0 was the beginning on business online. We saw the establishment of the first web-based stores, virtual versions of their brick-and-mortar businesses.
Ecommerce 2.0 was the development of these simple online shops into more sophisticated multimedia centers. More than a basic presentation of products, these sites aimed to persuade would-be customers into purchasing.
Ecommerce 3.0
The newest trend in ecommerce is creating an experience for customers free from interruption, across all devices and domains. For many businesses, survival in this new ecommerce atmosphere will require doing just that.
Apps in the New Ecommerce Ecosystem
In this new ecommerce-driven world, more customers expect to interact with businesses through apps on their smart phones or tablets. Currently, most apps provide limited features, but there’s a promising future forecasted in the world of apps. Ecommerce developers will create more sophisticated, more powerful, more competitive, and more relevant apps.
The Web, World-Wide
As countries like Brazil, China, India, Russia, and a handful of African countries enter the fray, the global ecommerce market just keeps getting bigger. It also means that competition will keep heating up.
Mobile users in China now number over 1.13 billion- that’s roughly 4.5 times the population of the US.
Revenue in Russia in Google Play has increased 250% since 2011, about twice the rate in the US.
In Brazil, since April 2012 (when games were first introduced for the iPhone app store), revenue increased over 80% in a single month.
Of course, not every business will have to compete in a global market. But those that aren’t bound by a local service area need to ask themselves if they’re prepared to go international.
Critical to success in this burgeoning global market is the way to collect and process data about interactions with potential online customers. This is where a robust back-end ecommerce design comes in. Your ability to handle growth, incorporate new strategies, and track customers across multiple domains and devices are important factors for success.
The possibilities of the digital universe in which we live are astounding and ever-developing. Is your ecommerce business ready to meet the challenge?
