2014 will be the year of personalisation as brands try to take a piece of the $1.4trn e-commerce pie
2014 will see retailers offer a richer, more personal, online shopping experience as retailers gain more access to their customer’s preferences and habits, according to a global retail forecast from Rakuten, the world’s third largest e-commerce marketplace.
With global e-commerce sales expected to top $1.4trn for the first time, Rakuten has predicted that the lines between entertainment and shopping will blur further and retailers will use multimedia content to make the shopping experience more engaging.
“Retailers recognise that shoppers are no longer satisfied by the vending machine model of the last decade; they want to be entertained and informed as they browse the web and make purchasing decisions,” it said in the report.
Rakuten also suggested that social media will further steer retailers’ stocking decisions, with retailers looking to curation communities like Pinterest for insights in near real-time on popular product trends to inform and refine stocking decisions accordingly.
A top priority for retailers will also be to join up the dots between the multiple platforms and devices a consumer will use at any given time. In the coming year retailers, says Rakuten, must look at developing a comprehensive customer profile by analysing the purchase journey of shoppers to streamline the channels through which they sell and personalise the shopping experience.
Finally, since Apple’s launch of iBeacon this year – which allows precise, low-cost indoor tracking in stores – targeting shoppers in real-time with relevant and personalised offers has become a serious reality. Now, Rakuten expects to see a number of high profile trials of hyper-targeting technology as retailers try to deliver a highly personalised experience in bricks-and-mortar stores.