TECH

What is the future of online shopping? The key word is optichannel

Searching online and shopping in the store, or experimenting in the store and then buying online are already common trends to many Internet users who shop on the Internet, but these are behaviors that are going to generalize with the help of technology and the adaptation of the service platforms. Alexandre Nilo Fonseca, president of ACEPI - the association of the digital economy - argues that we are already in the era of eCommerce 4.0 but that by 2025 the transformation will be even greater.
In 2017, purchases by Portuguese online users will have already surpassed 4.6 billion euros, an estimated value in a study conducted by IDC for the association that also estimates that by 2025 this value will almost double, reaching 8.9 billion of euros. According to the same study, more than 3 million Portuguese shop online and the average annual amount spent on these platforms is around 1,100 euros.
Who is later in this shift to the digital are businesses. ACEPI had already warned that more than half of the companies in Portugal are out of digital, and that in this way they are missing the opportunity to reach a global market. "In addition to the 3 million online shoppers in Portugal, Portuguese companies can reach an audience of 700 million online shoppers worldwide," recalls Alexandre Nilo Fonseca, noting that the Internet is not small businesses and that it is increasingly easier and cheaper to set up an eCommerce website."There is no sector that is immune to digital," recalls the president of ACEPI. The association marks this year's 18 years of existence, and in two decades has changed much, as Alexandre Nilo Fonseca pointed out in his presentation where he traces the evolution of the various phases of eCommerce, from the first Sting CD sold online to Pizza Hut orders and the launch of SAPO to increasingly mobile purchases and integration of social networks.

For Alexandre Fonseca, eCommerce is already in phase 4.0, where the biggest disruption is in the user experience. "With the new tools it is possible to anticipate user behavior, knowing what to buy, when and how," he explains, noting that artificial intelligence, the use of voice to give commands and the beacons and IoT (Internet of Things) are some of the elements that will influence this transformation more strongly.
"Customers are already doing more and more showrooming - getting into the physical store and then buying online. And the reverse is also true with Webrooming, where they search online and shop in the store [...] In the coming years is the ability to combine the two trends that will allow stores to attract more users and ensure their loyalty, "he explains.

Keywords are content, commerce, community and context, but also personalization and vertical search. "The new profile of 4.0 consumers will consolidate in 2018 but eCommerce will reflect the transformation of cloud usage, big data and social networks, and benefit from accelerators such as IoT, IA, Virtual Reality and Block Chain," Alexandre Nilo Fonseca told reporters.
The trend is Optichannel, and businesses have to focus on scalable, open platforms with multiple channel presence at the right time and in the right place. And for CxOs to succeed, new audiences, new revenue streams, new business models and customer-focused product and service development, CRM, opticanal strategy and operational efficiency, but also new human resources competencies and talent, as well as the consideration of new distribution channels.

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