As the world braces for the emergence of Web 3.0, eCommerce providers find themselves in the mists of a fundamental shift in the way in which companies and their online clientele interact. New technologies, platforms, and strategies are now taking the eCommerce sector to new heights.
As an eCommerce professional, you need to understand how new technologies affect consumer behavior. Tools such as chatbots allow businesses to personalize the shopping experience for their clients in ways previously unimaginable.
With all of these changes comes a need for learning. The eCommerce sector has come a long way over the last five years. These changes mean that there are several important new skill sets professionals must master to stay relevant.
Mastering these skills will help you to beat out the competition and provide your clients with an unmatched product. Here are some of the newest technologies shifting the eCommerce sector today.
Search Engine Optimization – SEO
As long as there have been search engines there have been programmers trying to decipher the ranking protocol. In the earliest days, SEO meant keyword stuffing.
Semantic vs Lexical Search Engine Results
These strategies were effective because search engines operated on a semantic protocol back then. Semantic searches take the inputted words and attempt to match the text exactly – word-for-word. This meant that savvy SEOers would utilize as many backlinks as possible to gain SERP.
Lexical search results are the natural evolution of the search engine. As opposed to semantic search results, lexical results take the culmination of the phrase to decipher the actual meaning or intent of the user. In this manner, search engines can provide rich contextualized data that best matches the user’s desire.
Mobile Devices
Additionally, a shift in the number of smart devices and high-speed data has altered the market as well. In a recent article, the Founder of Moz and SparkToro, Rand Fishkin reported that 61.4% of Google mobile inquiries did not result in a click.
A closer examination reveals some of the reasons why. In many cases, Google answered the question directly in the query. That’s right Google took the click right out of the equation.
For example, type in Google – what is Bitcoin? The results page will show some interesting items. The first listing is a sponsored link from a paid advertiser. The next section is a graph showing the price movement of Bitcoin that links to a relevant website.
Bitcoin Search Results via Google
The third section is an accordion box of questions related to Bitcoin. Users can quickly click these boxes and the answer to the listed question expands from beneath. After all of these sections finally comes the actual search results. The key here is to get into position zero.
Position Zero
Position zero is the snippet google answers the question with. If you gain this position you are the search engine’s recommended choice and you can expect to see exponential traffic growth. To accomplish this task you will need to master a new SEO process.
Social Media
Every eCommerce platform needs to have at least one social media account on every major platform. Your social media presence allows you to speak directly with interested clients, as well as, provide high-end personalized marketing campaigns effectively.
Chatbots allow you to engage your clients directly from your social media pages. Additionally, many platforms offer some form of eCommerce marketing or sales features. These features can help you to get the most out of your marketing campaigns.
Daily Blogs
Perhaps the best way to outrank the competition is with a steady stream of high-value content blogs. In the past a weekly blog was enough to nudge the competition out of the sector, and for some industries it still is. However, daily blog updates are the new normal for a couple of key reasons. Both visitors and Google spiders will get used to your daily updates. In essence, daily updates program the spiders and your visitors to check out what’s new.
Most importantly, be sure to share every blog across all of your social media. This strategy allows you to leverage your efforts and gain followers, and site visitors, simultaneously. A blog not shared is a blog not used to its fullest potential. Remember, users will check your social media presence out, if you are lacking one, unique thought-provoking blogs are the best way to start building up followers.
Chatbots
Chatbot use is on the rise. Companies utilize these AI programs to make clients feel comfortable. In fact, the conversational marketing sector continues to expand at an impressive rate. One 2019 study found that over 64% of businesses consider chatbots as a means to better interact with their clients.
These bots are capable of answering consumer questions and offering product suggestions. You can also find these handy protocols doing customer service tasks such as handling technical repairs.
Amazon
No eCommerce discussion is complete without mentioning the king of online marketplaces – Amazon. Amazon holds a massive market share in the eCommerce sector. Consequently, selling on amazon is critical to your success.
Amazon
How important is it to sell on Amazon you ask? Well, a 2019 study revealed that an average of 32-percent of American consumers receives at least one item a week from the retail giant. Not surprisingly those numbers increase when you target the millennial demographic.
Amazon is such a powerhouse in the eCommerce sector that over 60 percent of consumers start their new product searches on Amazon. If you can get into these rankings, you can blow your competition out of the water.
Understandably, outranking the competition on Amazon takes some research into Amazon listing optimization. Luckily, the internet is filled with helpful guides to get your product on screen first.
New Skills = New Scrill
Mastering these new eCommerce tools will give you the ability to create a profitable online presence. Gaining ranking on Google and Amazon is sure to have a positive impact on your business long term. You can expect to see further online marketing strategies emerge as markets such as social media continue to develop in new ways.
