Buying things using the internet, better known as e-commerce, has been around since the late 1990s. Over the last three decades, you have probably noticed a change in what is available online and the overall e-commerce experience. Today, you can order just about anything through a website and have it delivered to your door in a matter of hours. One of the biggest areas of e-commerce that has not only grown extensively over the years but has probably seen the biggest evolution in defining online shopping, is technology.
You may not be someone who closely follows technology and changes in tech, but you cannot deny the role tech plays in your everyday life. Tech has made e-commerce the centerpiece of our purchasing world. Everything from the development and global adoption of smartphones to being able to try the fit of an item in your home using virtual and augmented reality shows the role that tech plays in e-commerce. This revolution in shopping continues to evolve and change, and the future of online tech shopping will be very exciting.
Experience it with virtual reality
You have likely heard of virtual reality, and you probably think of bulky headsets used to play immersive games. However, virtual reality, and its technological cousin augmented reality, have become integrated pieces of an expanding web of online enhancements. And e-commerce has not been immune from the implementation of these technologies. You may already have used your smartphone to see what a new piece of furniture will look like in a room before clicking the buy button. However, the capabilities of tech to enhance the shopping experience go well beyond seeing what something looks like before buying.
Imagine a scenario where you are looking to buy a new car, and you have the opportunity to use virtual reality to experience what it would be like to drive that car. Would you take advantage of the chance to drive a new car around a racetrack a few times to experience its power and acceleration before ever setting foot in a dealership? Using virtual reality coupled with e-commerce, these types of experiences are becoming more common. Your interconnected online footprint allows retailers to cater your online shopping experience to you, and when these same retailers make use of virtual or augmented reality to bring an experience to life, that helps you make a more informed decision from home or when you are on the go.
Virtual reality has advanced from bulky headsets for games, becoming a tool for enabling the future of e-commerce using tech. Even shopping for new technology can be enhanced with virtual reality, and e-commerce retailers are learning to employ these technologies to help them market and sell other technologies to you.
The role of artificial intelligence in tech e-commerce
Regardless of how closely you follow the developments in tech, chances are you have heard of the explosion of artificial intelligence over the last couple of years. You may not be intentionally seeking out opportunities to utilize and take advantage of AI in your personal life, but the internet has become an enormous proving ground for this technology and its rapid advancement. Search engines have begun to use AI to provide results that may be more applicable to your particular needs. Oftentimes, these search results are related to e-commerce, with the results guiding you to make purchases across a variety of retailers.
If you are someone who has sought to take full advantage of AI in your life, you have probably used at least one generative AI tool to help you solve some task. You can use these tools to help you find and purchase exactly what you are looking for, without needing to scour the internet across multiple sites. Using AI, you can save yourself time and effort, freeing you for other tasks and giving you more time to enjoy the fruits of your latest online tech purchase.
Personalized e-commerce solutions
Artificial intelligence and virtual reality are making e-commerce and shopping online more like shopping in a brick-and-mortar store. The technological advancements over the years have made shopping online for tech and other must-have items easier and more enjoyable. You have probably found more ways to integrate online purchasing into your daily life. Through online retailers, you have access to products that are not available nearby, regardless of how many stores you visit.
When e-commerce sites use technology to help make shopping for and purchasing advanced tech for your personal life, it helps them to make the experience as personal as possible. Making the online shopping experience personal will bring customers back to the site for further purchases because it reduces the feeling of missing out on something because you are not interacting with someone to make your purchase. The data you provide to retailers and other sites as you browse the internet are compiled to give retailers a better picture of who you are and what you are interested in purchasing. No amount of interaction with a person in a store can achieve this same level of personalization, and such personalization results in a more enjoyable shopping experience for you.
Finalizing a big online purchase
It is certainly easy to purchase something like a new computer or blender online. But what if you want to purchase something bigger? What if you want to purchase a new car or advanced entertainment system to be installed? These bigger purchases have generally been relegated to going into a physical store, talking to someone, and signing a contract. However, even these types of purchases have undergone an e-revolution, becoming possible through an online portal.
If you take advantage of AI and virtual reality to help you decide exactly which car you want to buy, you should not need to go into a store to complete the purchase. Digital tools have made it possible to sign even the most complicated contracts and other documents from the comfort of your home. Using these online resources, an e-retailer can have your documents prepared instantly and delivered via email for you to review. Through an online portal, you can review the documents and sign them digitally, before returning them to the retailer to complete your purchase.
