The eCommerce industry has been growing tremendously over the past few years. Initially, people used desktops and laptops when shopping online. You could not imagine doing that through your phone.

This has so far changed. Mobile commerce has expanded and grown, making the previous industry look like child play. Mobile trends and new technologies are emerging almost every year, making the industry one of the most interesting ones.

In addition, new technologies in fields such as the Internet of Things (IoT), specifically Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), have allowed investors to develop engaging applications to drive the eCommerce industry.

Here are a few ways smartphone apps and technology are shaping the future of eCommerce and mCommerce (Mobile Commerce);

Easy Checkouts

One of the most frustrating things when shopping online is having to fill out long forms that require so much personal information just to make a payment. This is something that is changing and will see a lot of improvements in the future.

We are going to see smartphone eCommerce applications that support mobile wallets and checkouts. For instance, you will easily use mobile wallets such as Google or Apple to make payments on an eCommerce app without any problems.

All you need will be a device that supports NFC. Using this feature, you will be redirected to a payment channel. Even though such an infrastructure might be expensive, businesses have no option but to meet the demands of their customers.

Augmented Reality (AR)

The eCommerce industry is facing a very crucial challenge – customers are not able to see the product they want to buy before paying for it. This is a challenge that has made some customers ignore online shopping.

Fortunately, technology is changing this. The future of eCommerce, something that has already started, is going to see smartphone eCommerce apps including Augmented Reality among their features.

For instance, let us say that a customer wants to buy eyewear. However, they would like to try them before purchase. Through Augmented Reality, customers will be able to virtually try different models before settling on one that meets their requirements.

Voice Searching and Control

Mobile app developers are going to start implementing voice searching and control on eCommerce applications. For instance, shoppers will be able to check out, add items to the cart, choose the color, style, and size of products, and search for products with their voices.

Fortunately, voice control has already been rolled out in modern mobile operating systems. For instance, we have Siri for iOS users. This is going to be added to specific mobile eCommerce applications.

It is going to improve the shopping experience and make it smoother. Imagine shopping online by just talking to your phone and not interacting with another person! It will also contribute to the growth of the eCommerce industry.

Instant Mobile Applications

Every business owner who wants to succeed in the eCommerce industry needs to understand the importance of their customers’ time. This means that they (business owners) should build instant apps to handle the requirements of these customers.

Fortunately, advancements in technology are making this possible. Today, developers do not have to build an eCommerce or any other app from scratch. They can simply implement an API (Applications Programming Interface) with the functionalities that they need on their applications.

For instance, modern eCommerce apps need a fitment app. Looking at some of the best fitment apps tells you that you do not need to build a new fitment app for your eCommerce application. You can instantly use one of these apps and provide a way for your customers to get the year, make, and model (YMM) of a vehicle or machine instantly.

Omnichannel and Social Shopping

eCommerce owners need to understand that a poor shopping experience is one of the reasons they keep losing their customers. It even does not matter whether it is offline, online, or in traditional stores.

Through smartphone apps with support for omnichannel, customers are going to have multiple touch points while shopping. For instance, they can compare different product prices while at the same time using interactive catalogs on the same eCommerce app.

In addition, social shopping is already changing the eCommerce industry. Today, businesses can sell their products on social media platforms and receive payments without any problem. This trend is going to keep on growing in the next few years.

The future for eCommerce is very bright. As technology advances, we are going to see more developments, apps, and features whose main purpose is to improve customers’ shopping experience.