E-Commerce Subscription Model to Gain Widespread Use
A subscription model of e-commerce will gain popularity, which means that the consumer will pay monthly for a certain product and have the right to change outdated models or items to new ones. As told by the specialists of the software company Artezio who are developing projects in the e-commerce field.
According to Artezio engineers, markets are now oversaturated. If a company wants to grow, it needs to search for new ways to sell its products. Subscription to products is a perfect opportunity to solve this problem. In the next 10 to 15 years, the world will almost entirely switch to a subscription model, as used in Apple. Companies will strive to produce a limited number of lines of the same product. There won’t be dozens of phone models in one brand, as it is unreasonably expensive to develop and promote them.
Subscription is not something new, it has existed successfully for a long time in many industries (for example, a subscription to the theater or gym). The digital transformation fosters the spread of this format. Already today we can see successful examples of subscription implementation, for example, customers can use Volvo XC60 all-wheel drive crossovers based on subscription service.
Talking about the future of e-commerce experts highlight technologies that help better understand clients, analyze data, and predict their behavior. They are Big Data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, Business Intelligence, and data management technologies. Among data management technologies, MDM systems for customer data (Customer360) and product data (Product360) will play a special role. The former will provide maximum personalization of the proposal, the latter – omnichannel communication with customers.
MDM systems create single “golden” records for each object (customer or product) with unified data that rarely changes (non-transactional data). In many countries, such solutions are widely applied. Using this system, PUMA increased the conversion rate in its online store by 20%, and the Coop Alleanza 3.0 supermarket chain significantly improved its customer experience.
Another technology area that plays an important role for online retail is intermediary services for efficient communication between a machine and a person (chat bots, voice assistants). In future, all online retail players will have to move from SEO to AEO (optimization for voice searches). Voice biometrics will develop actively: voice assistants will be able to identify customers independently. This will allow personalizing communication between the virtual assistant and the person.
The Internet of Things is one more technology that will determine the future. Due to it, the washing machine itself will order the delivery of washing powder when it runs out.
Virtual reality will be an integral part of technological trade development.
However, experts believe that in order to actively use the capabilities of VR, devices for augmented reality should be more widely used. It is then that technology will become more important.
