E-commerce has immense potential in future years to personalize the shopping experience. This could potentially increase customer connection to businesses they use. However, it could also contribute to individual isolation unless applied thoughtfully.
E-commerce will likely employ the increasing availability of information on customers to craft marketing and products that meet the consumer’s needs and preferences. Businesses will use Information on client location, previous choices, personal characteristics, and even health information (such as blood pressure, blood sugar, or pulse rate) to predict behavior and future preferences with increasing accuracy.
Personalized Consumer Products
Data collected regarding customer decisions will permit businesses to offer customers products and services that match their needs/wants. Businesses will have extensive data on customers’ past choices and preferences when browsing and ordering. They will also likely have fairly accurate demographic data, based both on information that the customer has voluntarily provided, as part of, for example (to use a hypothetical example relevant to this case study) registering for a “frequent caffeinator” card. Other data may be inferred from publicly available sources. The firm can now communicate electronically both with the warehouse, using Just-In-Time inventory techniques, and to computer-controlled robots. This can allow for products to even be customized during manufacture and/or packaging, such as, for example, a personal blend of coffee varietals. This could improve customer satisfaction and save money, time, energy and attention. The consumer will get something in the flavor combination, the color, the size, or the trim that they want. Customers may spend less time shopping, and save on parking, fuel, and lost productivity and develop greater trust in the business.
Targeted Marketing Messages
Businesses will be able to use consumer data to generate marketing informational messages that target customers very specifically: in fact, perhaps individually. Location and time data will help businesses also reach customers where and when they are most likely to be open to the message and can use the information. GPS location technology (used, of course, with customer permission) can be applied in a variety of ways, to follow the customer across the landscape and through the day. This can allow businesses to know when their customers are close by their own outlets (for example, the coffee shop).
This data will also help businesses to make some educated guesses as to where else the customer is going and, and with what other businesses they are interacting. This capability could be used to schedule explicitly advertising messages (“While you are in the area, stop in for our new latte flavor”), or messages that build good will. For example, when the customer’s location is the gym, the business could send a message encouraging them in meeting their fitness goals. Additionally, GPS data can make all deliveries more efficient, both in terms of, for example, allowing the business to store both address data and instructions such as “leave with Mrs. Jones down the block”. Delivery algorithms can also minimize fuel usage.
Connections between customers
Imagine being able to text a customer as follows: “Hey, there’s another fan of pumpkin spice latte who also likes jazz and the novels of Chris Bojhalian close by. Text XXX to meet them at the coffee shop!” Because people increasingly use social media to connect, a business that allows people to expand their social reach may have an advantage. People already engage in a sort of dialogue by posting comments on Yelp and Facebook about businesses they love or love to hate. These comments are, of course, a rich source of feedback and marketing data to improve the business, and they are nearly free. However, truly clever businesses will leverage this to allow like-minded folks to communicate with one another, and even perhaps form new friendships. The combination of website registration, past preference data, and location information will allow businesses to suggest potential contacts to their customers, and offer some reasonable possibility that they might actually meet someday. All of this should be achievable with current software and hardware.
Responding to the customer’s biology
E-Businesses could text a customer suggesting “decaffeinated” or herbal tea, based on their stress level, or “don’t forget your jogging this week”, based on educated guesses regarding the customer’s physical/emotional state. Wearable non-invasive e-devices could transmit information about blood pressure, pulse, and pedometer readings. Someday, they may measure blood oxygenation, blood sugar, and skin electrical resistance. These can provide a proxy measure of mood and state of health, and thereby, chances to help a customer.
Reaching out and touching the customer
E-Businesses will be able to send a ‘fist bump’ when a customer might appreciate it. Haptic technology, transmitting signals reproduced as touch, may also someday transmit other sensations as well, perhaps taste and smell, giving businesses a way to preview edible/smellable products. Haptic receptors may someday be able to detect subtle muscle tension, reflecting stress, and opening up new opportunities to meet consumer needs.
The Dark Side
On the other hand, the increase of e-commerce could keep people isolated, rather than interacting with one another. For businesses, the challenge is to find ways constructive ways to counteract these tendencies and retain the creative and innovative power of teamwork. One positive idea is that virtual reality ‘offices’ could eliminate much unconscious bigotry through the use of what are essentially ‘avatars’.
E-commerce offers seemingly unlimited opportunities. Customers can benefit as well as businesses. Thoughtful use of technology will increase customer satisfaction while keeping people connected and increasing efficiencies.
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