With big data being the hottest buzzword in the sales industry, it’s no wonder that e-commerce owners and shoppers are using the process to their advantage. In the scope of e-commerce, big data analysis is the collection of large amounts of information in order to determine shopping patterns and insights about customer behavior. Using big data has a lot of added benefits for both the seller and consumer.
Curating Social Media Feedback
In our current digital era, many customers will research other user’s reviews and blog posts before purchasing items. Collecting these customer standpoints through the use of big data helps e-commerce owners know what’s working. Using social media feedback is a way that some companies even improve the products themselves. Establishing networks of shoppers and using their data to improve e-commerce is a valuable and underrated tool.
Keeping track of customer preferences also allows you the ability to analyze upcoming trends. Collecting large amounts of data to determine what fabrics are the most popular, how the weather changes sales, how live streaming technology is gaining popularity, and even how social events impact the market can all be crucial to creating a profit. If owners notice something popular is running out of stock, they have the ability to meet the increased amount of customer demands.
Personalized Customer Shopping Experience
Observing the browsing click patterns of customers and their purchasing history are two ways that both shoppers and owners can get the best process out of big data. Owners are able to place and recommend items of interest, this is based on the user’s browsing and purchase history. The data is analyzed to create these recommendations. Shoppers now have access to a special list of curated items made just for them. Customers get the opportunity to see more of the items that they wish to possess while owners have the advantage of increasing their profits.
Amazon’s recommended item list is one of the most widely known successes in the area of recommendations. SBS Zipper also use this approach and they generate about 20% more revenue because of this process. If a user is looking at designer fashion items in one location, they may end up seeing an advertisement or a similar recommended item elsewhere. It’s easy to create an attractive personalized shopping experience using big data. Creating those positive connections will assist you in increasing repeat and loyal customers.
Take Customer Service to the Next Level
Poor customer service will ruin a shopping experience faster than anything else. Using big data to offer a variety of services and then collecting that user information through each one gives a lot of benefits towards the customer. Analyzing the report data through email messages, social media complaints, and online self-services helps companies to analyze the problem with their e-commerce shops. Coordinating customer service across different channels and combining that information in one place leaves a lot of good feedback for e-commerce companies to analyze. Be sure to empower your customer support team with regular trainings and the right tools like a live chat pogram, social media monitoring programs, blazing fast Internet plans and support ticketing systems.
It’s important for e-commerce owners to focus in on what their customers are saying and use that feedback to improve their product. If the site has problems and never changes poorly done features, customers will leave the website in search of better business opportunities. A little bit of change based on customer feedback can go a long way in terms of building customer loyalty and respect.
Receive Real-Time Analytics
For e-commerce owners who like to gain insight on their customer base, big data allows for real-time analytics on your shoppers. Being able to customize their experience based on their demographics and how they ended up on the e-commerce site gives a lot of awareness towards how to make profits. Information such as their gender, nationality, and age can all be used towards the creation of the personalized experience mentioned above. Being able to tailor these processes on the fly with big data gives owners a huge advantage towards sales.
Conclusion
Big data has been taking the e-commerce industry by storm. While big data assists in the profits of e-commerce owners, shoppers benefit from the personalized, real-time experience. Shoppers have the ability to view items they’re interested and purchase the items they want while owners still have the opportunity to make hefty profits. Big data is all about putting the right audience in front of the right products at the right time.