It would be foolish to assume that the current state of E-Commerce will be in the same position 5 years from now. Even in a year, online shopping will not look the same as it is now. Look at Amazon five years ago: didn’t own one of the biggest grocery store chains in the U.S., revenue has grown by 312%, and consistently released innovative technology like the Alexa products. However, it is no longer Amazon changing E-Commerce. Major giants like Paypal and Facebook are now seriously affecting the online marketplace. E-Commerce stores will no longer need to bring the customer to the store, but bring the store to the customer.
Facebook Marketplace
The social media giants have drastically tried to “switch things up” ever since their selling private data scandal. Facebook, realizing that their main source of revenue is very illegal, has invested heavily in the new trends of 2019. This includes cryptocurrency, encrypted messaging, and an e-commerce marketplace. Within Facebook, online stores are able to create product pages to sell right on the Facebook website with integrated checkout. Customers are also able to use that page to go to the the vendor’s website. This marketplace not only give the chance for vendors to increase sells and exposure but their brand value as well. Facebook’s main age demographic is between ages 18 – 44; vendors that have products driven to sell to the older millennials should look at Facebook as a viable way to expand their business. However, Facebook also owns Instagram–filled with today’s youth and valuable consumers.
Instagram’s Marketplace: Checkout
Seen to be the future of E-Commerce, Instagram Checkout is poised to become a gold mine for online sellers. Instagram is known as the biggest social media platform and is used by almost everyone under the age of 30. Most of the users began using the app as teenagers, but are now aging into their careers and becoming the ideal consumer. As this demographic continues to rapidly grow, so will their wallets and willingness to spend their money on elastic goods. Instagram checkout created the ability for users to purchase an item straight from Instagram in the matter of seconds–simply just by clicking on the picture. The combination of easily accessible goods, willing buyers, and powerful data, there is no reason why this will not bring greater revenue to online stores. Since the rollout of the new shopping ability, Adidas saw a massive boost of 40% in online sales. Sellers that are able to effectively use the app will have a profitable presence in the incoming Generation of consumers.
Paypal’s Upcoming Marketplace
Social media giants are not the only ones looking to expand their online reach. The banking app, Paypal, has just announced the rollout of their own e-commerce platform. With already 20 million sellers and 277 million users, it is a no brainer why Paypal wants to create a marketplace of their own. The company is best known for its sophisticated back end systems (fraud protection, online banking/lending, and much more). Using these technologies as leverage, Paypal is targeting smaller sellers to join their platform and “democratize access”; meaning the company want to help vendors compete against the big name retailers will be on a leveled playing field. Paypal will also offer its advanced tools to other growing marketplaces. This seems to be a common trend for tech companies looking to diversify outside of their current market. Sellers should begin preparations to really expand into PayPal and different platforms.
Conclusion
No one really knows what the next five years will bring to e-commerce. The only thing that is certain is that it will continue to grow and become a major part of our daily lives. With technologies like blockchain and drone delivery, the upcoming technology will push what people thought was once impossible; at the same time, deepen the pockets of the innovators. Companies should begin investing in themselves so that they will be able to take full advantage of the upcoming opportunities for sellers. Social Media and other technology marketplaces are projected to be the future of selling–and I wouldn’t want to be the one that missed out. With upcoming opportunities, companies need to be sure that their accounting system is ready to understand their profits and losses. If your company is lacking an efficient accounting system, contact us for a free consultation!