E-commerce is one of the major contributing sectors in the global economy since the last few years. With Artificial Intelligence in technology, online shopping sites are the latest trends. In 2017, the top 3 online retailers have generated 100 billion US dollar revenue whereas Statista predicts that eCommerce sites will hit 4.88 billion US dollar mark by 2021 in keeping with the sync of internet, technology and eCommerce sites. Especially during peak shopping seasons, like Diwali and Dussehra in India, Christmas in England and Europe, Thanksgiving and Cyber Weeks in the US as per 2016 records of producing online sales revenue worth about 110 billion dollars which was a 15 % increase than 2015.

Increase in Online Sales – Generally there is quite a wait between an item being added to cart and finally hitting the “buy” option. In order to convert a shopping wish list to a real time purchase, the online retailers and sellers have got quite a role play! The consumers need to be influenced enough to hit the final trigger. Hence the latest trends followed by the buzzing online stores are as below:

• The latest launches and exclusive collections need to be advertised well in the social media platforms. It is from Instagram or Pinterest that people often access and make up the final wish list before hitting to the cart.
• The “try on” option is a new pinch and is a hit. The feel and touch of clothing and wearables produce a confidence and trust on the product before you buy it. For cosmetic and make up, there exists a virtual option of trying out the shade to see if it matches your skin tone.
• The featuring video and photographs of happy and satisfied customers can work wonders to improve the sales. The assurance and faith develops, especially for the newest of launches.

E-Commerce sites and technology have synced well which is the sole reason for the booming market of eCommerce. With artificial intelligence taking up the technological grounds, eCommerce sites have managed to improve customer engagement. As retailers and customers do not operate face to face customer engagement is the ultimate deciding factor. It is the retailers and sellers who can influence the customers via advertisements, promos and discount rates etc. to finally hit the “buy” option. The online sellers and sites are constantly at loggerheads in order to meet up with customer expectations of quality assured products, improved delivery and customer experience.

A Tweet by Jeffrey Buskey on the same,

Artificial intelligence makes use of customer searches, preferences, browsing history to understand their customers better. Experts predict that about 85 % customer interaction will be automated by 2021. The areas of eCommerce benefitted by Internet of Things can be summarized as below:

• Customer Preferences: Amazon is known for providing most accurate product recommendations based on recent customer searches of a particular item. If an individual is searching for a particular item, the recommended products presented are captured from another user who has searched for it! This is what other online retailers are opting for gradually.
• Inventory advantage: With RFID chips and sensors coupled with GPS, real time tracking of delivery, stocks and clearance are easy. It also facilitates maintenance and caters to customer issues like replacement.

You must have to visit one video on “E-Commerce Trends 2018 - Amazon, Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality” by Dr. Tu-Lam Pham

Ecommerce is yet to see the day, predicted at 2020 when IOT reaches 30 billion devices! Not Only AI, all other E-commerce platforms like Magento eCommerce development, Shopify, YoKart, BigCommerce etc. advancement also works for it.