The goal of every e-commerce merchant is to get customers to click the buy button as quickly as possible. Traditional e-commerce experiences, however, have customers start at the homepage and work their way through catalog to checkout.
Of course, we’ve tried to expedite the process of catalog browsing by improving search functionalities, adding faceted navigation and tracking customers’ purchasing behaviors.
But what if we could go one step further, and understand not only how our customers shop for our products, but how they use them? Then, we could proactively reach out to them with the best offers that best suit their needs, when they need them.
Cloud services already do it.
Adios, catalog browsing: The content experience will reign supreme when it comes to CX
Internet and mobile phone providers, for example, sell different subscription plans and then monitor how their customers use their services, metering interactions with the product and tracking usage of the service. These observations allow the company to make intelligent suggestions about future offerings, from new products to service upgrades.
Online gaming sites offer players personalized tools, weapons or other items they need in-environment, and may even alter their prices based on the player’s need in the game.
Looking for something less niche? Look at the app store in your mobile phone. Many apps don’t even require you to leave the experience to update or upgrade – it can all be done in-app, based on your own usage.
These examples are very telling, but this opportunity is not limited to digital goods. Thanks to the digitization of the world, merchants who sell physical goods can also learn about how their products are actually used.
Take a tire retailer, for example. A customer simply needs to tell the merchant his car’s make and model, then the merchant can contact the supplier to know how long the tires last and when they need to be replaced. What’s stopping the merchant, then, from contacting the customer directly when it’s time for new tires?
And why stop there?
Cars nowadays have more computer power than our homes. Why not develop an app that tells us how much mileage is left on the tires, and make the offer for new ones on-the-spot, in-car? Then the user simply has to purchase, and pick up his new tires at his convenience.
The Internet of Things revolution that connects our physical products to the ever-growing intelligence of the internet is opening a lot of new opportunities.
Merchants, retailers, and manufacturers should start thinking outside the catalog browsing experience to the next big innovation. Think of how your business can change if you know exactly what customer wants to buy.
