Coming as I do from two industries with well established models of procurement, delivery and customer expectations (Architecture and Telecoms software) the eCommerce world is at an incredibly exciting period in its development.
At present there are large traditional bricks and mortar companies who may have an online presence and large established online only retailers who manage their own warehousing and logistics
However a revolution is happening as eCommerce opens up to smaller independent retailers who may never have their own stockrooms or logistic hubs. Shopify is a key player in abstracting the complexity of procurement, web hosting, payment processing, order processing and shipping from the customer. The retailer is then freed up to do what they love and are good at, selling products they have made themselves or chosen with care.
Larger retailers can also make use of this decoupling of the sales and marketing aspects of the business from the logistical part to drive down costs and concentrate on their strengths. Shopify Plus is ideally placed to build on the experience, strength and ease of uses of Shopify to bring these advantages to larger business, either new to the eCommerce market or transitioning from another platform.
During my time running my own architectural practice. I experienced this directly, I enjoyed and was good at designing and building projects for my clients but found the marketing, selling and associated bureaucracy very difficult. I would have found a service like Shopify very useful to take care of that end of the business for me.
Presently however services such as Shopify are geared more towards retail, and sales of discreet goods. A few minor tweaks and additions such as an easy to use hourly rate calculator or calculators to estimate the cost of a service based on the size of the job could open up the eCommerce world to hundreds of thousands of small architects, engineers, plumbers, carpenters and other professionals and tradespeople.
The potential for expansion worldwide is similarly exciting with China overtaking the USA as the largest eCommerce market and the rise of the middle class in India certain to drive the market there.
The inexorable rise of the smartphone has led to new opportunities to connect and maintain relationships with customers by tying into messaging apps. For smaller companies this can be used to deliver a more personal experience to the customer, while larger firms can make us of the increasing power of AI to deliver ever more sophisticated chatbots assist their customers.
Although most people will research their purchase first on a smartphone, smartphones have not taken over the world yet and the key to success and customer retention is a seamless multi-channel experience where the user can continue their shopping experience across whatever device they happen to be on. Service enhancements such as being able to buy an item by clicking on an image in an online article or a video coupled with mobile payment services such as Apple wallet and Android pay will transform the eCommerce model to a mobile driven one.
In summary eCommerce is an incredibly dynamic and fast changing industry with great potential for continuing growth and innovation. Shopify are one of the industry leaders in this exciting field and I believe working with them would be incredibly challenging and rewarding.
