The e-commerce purchase journey is complex, and it can expand offline. Here, omnichannel is the only strategy that makes sense as it fosters interaction between retailers and shoppers across all channels, from storefronts to smart devices and desktops, through emails, call centers, smartphone applications, and even smart TVs. The Chinese e-commerce model is a powerful example of what is possible to achieve with the right mobile-branding-customer service combination. China also serves as an example of how using big data and AI can boost sales and revenues.

1. E-Commerce Trends & Innovations 2018
Carmelon Digital Marketing | October 2018

2. Introduction
Statista reports global B2C e-commerce is expected to grow to
$4.5 trillion by 2021, compared to $2.3 trillion in 2017. In contrast,
B2B e-commerce sales exceeded $7.7 trillion in 2018. (Statista
Digital Market Outlook - Trend Report - B2B e-Commerce 2017)
eMarketer expects retail e-commerce sales to increase to $4.058
trillion by 2020. (eMarketer report - Worldwide Retail E-commerce
Sales: The eMarketer Forecast for 2016)
Absolutet notes that e-commerce influences up to 56% of in-store
purchases in the USA, with e-commerce itself representing 10%
of retail sales. (10ecommercetrends.com)
The numbers indicate new opportunities for retailers and B2B
companies alike. The following study identifies the trends that
shape the growth of e-commerce in 2018 and beyond.

3. 1. China is the world's biggest e-commerce market, with annual sales of
over $672 billion thanks to e-commerce platforms like Taobao,
Alibaba.com, Tmall, WeChat, and others.
2. The United States only generate $340 billion, less than half compared to
China, yet they are the world’s second largest e-commerce market.
3. Ranking third, the United Kingdom generate $99 billion annually.
4. Japan owes players like Rakuten annual revenue of $79 billion
5. Germany is Europe's second largest e-commerce market with $73 billion
in annual online sales
6. $43 billion yearly online sales for France.
7. South Korea makes the top with $37 billion in annual e-commerce
sales.
8. Canada is a huge e-commerce market: $30 billion in annual online sales.
9. Russia has the largest population of internet users in Europe and
generates $20 billion annually in e-commerce sales.
10. Brazil is the tenth on the list, with $19 billion in annual e-commerce
sales.
Source: Business.com
World‘s largest e-commerce markets

4. For years now, e-commerce is a vital touch point in the customer
journey in China. China is the world’s largest mobile e-commerce
market (Counterpoint) and more than 533 million people in China shop
online.
Moreover, Chinese consumers use their smartphones for more
activities than any other consumers in the world, giving businesses
massive marketing opportunities based on big data.
China's employment driven by e-commerce is projected to exceed 48
million jobs in 2018 (China Daily).
Looking at what makes China a dominant e-commerce market helps
identify opportunities for businesses all over the world, especially
because Chinese customers perceive foreign goods as better, and
more reliable than domestic goods.
China e-commerce trends 2018

5. 1. Cross-border e-commerce
Cross-border e-commerce, or haitao (海淘), is one of the main revenue drivers in China.
China cross-border retail e-commerce sales are expected to exceed US$115 billion in 2018 and the total transaction value of cross-border
e-commerce market in China will exceed RMB 8.8 trillion (US$1.4 trillion) in 2018 (China Internet Watch)
For brands willing to establish a presence in the Chinese e-commerce market, the willingness of Chinese consumers to buy through haitao
represents a tremendous business opportunity. The top sellers on cross-border e-commerce are fashion, cosmetics, and groceries. Most
Chinese consumers find haitao more reliable than other shopping channels.

6. The top 10 Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms are Kaola.com (24.2% market share), Tmall Global (20.3% market share), Vip
International, JD Worldwide, YMT, Red Book, Daling, Bolo.me, Fengqu and Higo.
Just to give you an idea, currently, more than 100,000 brands have established storefronts on Tmall, including Zara, Victoria's Secret, Nike,
Adidas, Apple, Starbucks, Estee Lauder, and Lancome. (China Daily)
Besides the top players, the market welcomes new specialized platforms every year and many businesses also turn to WeChat for cross-border
e-commerce experimenting with WeChat stores all kinds of marketing strategies to generate sales. And here are the top reasons why cross-
border e-commerce and domestic e-commerce are so prevalent in China:
o China has 772 million Internet users, out of which 97.5% are
mobile Internet users (China Internet Network Information
Centre – December 2017)
o As of December 2017, the number of Chinese online shoppers
has reached 533 million, with 527 million mobile payment users.
o The total market value of Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu accounts
for 73.9% of the total market capitalization. (China Internet
Network Information Centre – December 2017)

7. 2. Digital payments
• Chinese consumers conduct 11 times more mobile payments than their counterparts in the United States. (Visual Capitalist)
• 90% of Chinese consumers have adopted WeChat as a method of payment in offline purchases. (China Channel)
• Today, Alipay and WeChat Pay mobile wallets hold more than 72 % of the market share and most users have both (China Internet
Network Information Center)
• China is set to be the global leader in digital payments by 2020 (Capgemini and BNP Paribas, 2017).

8. 3. Online to Offline (O2O) services
Online to Offline (O2O) is a dynamic business model that creates many opportunities for businesses in every industry. A report by
McKinsey & Company revealed just how critical O2O services have become for Chinese consumers. Travel, dining, and mobility are the
most important O2O niches powering additional growth in China’s e-commerce market.
According to McKinsey & Company, travel is the most popular O2O category, used by 36 % of the O2O consumers all over China. Here
are some key takeaways:
• 60 % of the respondents to McKinsey’s latest survey of China’s Internet users expect to pay O2O travel providers less than they
would pay traditional providers.
• 77 % of O2O travel users say their travel spend increased after they began using O2O travel services.
• 80 % have traveled in the past 12 months.
As a result, hotels and airlines are strengthening their e-channels to avoid pricing pressure from O2O services.

9. 4. E-commerce shopping festivals
Chinese marketers are brilliant innovators. They manage to use both traditional and emerging marketing trends to keep buyers interested
and engaged. As such, e-commerce shopping festivals attract thousands of shoppers. The Singles’ Day held on November 11 every year
generates more revenue than the Black Friday and Cyber Monday US counterparts. Last year, Singles’ Day, promoted by Chinese e-
commerce giant Alibaba, generated more than $25bn (168.2bn yuan) in e-commerce revenues. (The Guardian)
Because it’s held November 11 (11/11), this celebration is also known as Double 11. Alibaba’s competitor JD.com achieved over 50
percent growth with 127 billion RMB during Double 11. (Marketing to China)
Other noteworthy Chinese e-commerce festivals include (Chozan):
• Nian Huo Festival (January – February) - Ban Niao Huo (办年货) is before the Chinese New Year, and both Alibaba and JD, offer 7
days mega sales during the festival
• Suning’s 418 Shopping Festival – China’s largest online retailer of home appliances offers mega sales in April.
• I Love You Day 我爱你 (May 20th – China’s Valentine’s Day) – e-commerce giants like Alibaba’s Taobao and Xianyu take full
advantage of this holiday to boost sales.
• June 18th, 1998, JD, the second largest e-commerce giant in China holds its own JD’s 618 Festival on June 18 every year.
• The 818 Fever Shopping Festival (Aug 18th) is Suning.com’s main annual event. Home appliances, groceries, smartphones, and
financial products are discounted up to 50% during the festival.
• 99 Wine Festival (Sep 1st-9th) needs no explanation – but Alibaba is a big player during this e-commerce shopping festival.
E-marketers in China take advantage of all opportunities to satisfy customer demand. Their strategies define the future of e-commerce in
general.

10. 5. Partnerships
Chinese businesses understand the importance of business association.
They manage to close strategic partnerships that challenge the status quo.
The latest include:
• WeChat and Lego for online games: Lego Group partnered with
Tencent to develop digital content and digital platforms for Chinese
children. (XinhuaNet)
• Halo and Destiny studio Bungie closed a major partnership with
Chinese tech and gaming company NetEase. (The Verge)
• In April 2018, Walmart Inc. opened its first supermarket in China
where smartphones can be used to pay, and partnered with JD.com
(Reuters)
• In February 2018, Vodafone and China Mobile have joined forces to
resell each other’s services and to share new IoT project
opportunities for the first time. (Vodafone)
The list of strategic partnerships between Chinese and foreign
businesses will continue to grow as China is gearing up for
broader economic and trade ties.

11. 6. Live video streaming
Live streaming is one of China’s most popular marketing platforms:
• More than 100 million viewers watch a live online video event every
month. (L2)
• China's live streaming revenue will hit $4.4 billion in 2018, up 32%
from 2017. (Deloitte)
• China's live streaming sector is expected to be worth $15.9 billion by
2020. (Huachuang Securities)
• China boasts over 4000 live streaming platforms focusing on different
markets, with top players like YY, Momo, Meipai, Yizhibo, Tmall Live
Streaming by Alibaba, Huajiao Live, and Inke, among others.
• Virtual gifts are the top earner in the live streaming market. As an
example, YY made about 1.5 billion RMB ($230 million USD) with
virtual gifts in the fourth quarter of 2015. (Technode)
Live video streaming is so popular that it attracts all kinds of investors and is subject to government scrutiny to protect viewers from content
promulgating “violence, pornography, gambling, superstition, and other values harmful to public morality,” as well as content that includes “illicit
advertising.” Non-Chinese streamers must first apply to the Ministry of Culture before starting their own live-streaming channels. (Technode)

12. Here‘s why China‘s e-commerce is successful
Chinese e-commerce is
booming because businesses
understand their consumers and
care about their needs.
Studies by Alibaba and Boston
Consulting Group reveal just
how the online consumer
journey is changing, how and
why companies can capitalize
on customer insights to improve
innovation, and how retailers
can integrate offline and online
commerce to shape the future of
shopping.
China has a strong C2B (consumer-to-business) model that allows Chinese companies to give shoppers exactly what they want at the right time.
In fact, C2B innovation is becoming the norm in China.

13. Chinese companies know just how to meet customer expectations.
In February 2018, Alibaba’s C2C e-commerce site Taobao launched a highly targeted program designed for senior users and their families.
This channel was designed to deliver an improved user experience, from personalized recommendations to after-sales service, as well as to
include a peer-to-peer chat function, allowing family members to share products and consult or help one another in one click, and a “pay-for-
me” option to pay for another’s purchases. (Alizila)
Alibaba’s older Rural Taobao program on the other hand, aims to raise living standards in China's countryside by providing e-commerce access
to millions of the nations' poorer residents. (China Daily) Alibaba even formed partnerships with local governments to provide computers and
free internet access in rural areas, allowing farmers and artisans to start their online businesses. Reports by the Southwest University of
Finance and Economics and Alibaba think tank Ali Research revealed that by June 2016, the gross merchandise value of e-commerce in rural
China reached 316 billion yuan ($46 billion), accounting for nearly 15 percent of all e-commerce transactions nationwide.

14. In China, news sites, games,
videos, and e-commerce are all
interconnected in the major
online hubs, with click-to-buy
product placements and quick
links to payment options. With
the same platform, users can
send money to people, order
food, call a taxi, pay bills, buy
movie tickets, and much more.
The shopping experience is
easy and fun.
To conclude, analyzing and understanding the Chinese e-commerce model can identify the factors that boost success in online and
mobile sales. Not all strategies apply to all global markets, but most have universal value and can help local economies across the
globe boost e-commerce sales and revenue.

15. Source: SEMrush
Sources of e-commerce website traffic
Direct
42%
Search
41%
Paid
6%
Referral
8%
Social
3%
Search is the main sources of traffic for e-commerce sites, followed
by direct traffic. Social media drives the least amount of traffic for e-
commerce websites.
Desktop still delivers the most traffic to e-commerce sites, claiming
56.98% of total e-commerce traffic according to SEMrush.
Mobile organic search traffic is strongest in categories like
Electronics (44.78%), Jewelry (44.7%), travel (44.11%) and flowers
(42.85%).
However, although organic desktop traffic dominates mobile, the
gap is closing rapidly, mainly because Google rolled out the mobile-
first index in March 2018.
When it comes to online ads of all kinds SEMrush found that 50%
discount tops the list of the most advertised, and 80% discount the
least. Emotional triggers like free shipping and price guarantee rank
at the top too. These statistics help marketers define a successful
PPC and ads strategy on Google, Facebook, and other ad
networks.

16. Digital shopping device usage
Understanding digital shopping device usage patterns is essential to identify sales channels opportunities. Statista surveyed 24,471 people
globally in 2017 to identify both digital device usage and frequency.
3
16
33 34
7 7
3
11
19
21
8
38
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Daily Weekly Monthly A few times a
year
Once a year Never
Digital shopping device usage and frequency
worldwide in 2017 (%)
Desktop Mobile

17. Although currently the desktop remains the main source for e-commerce device usage, mobile e-commerce is poised for further growth and it is
expected to surpass 70% by 2020.

18. The 2018 Online Shopping and Technology Trends Survey by Adtaxi
revealed interesting digital purchase behaviors:
• 66% of respondents make an online purchase at least once a month
• 52% of e-commerce shoppers spend as much, or more, of their
dollars online than in-store
• 10% have used AR for online shopping
• 24% have used a voice-activated smart device to make a purchase
• 63% made an online purchase prompted by a digital ad
• 65% have used a mobile app for online shopping
• 82% of consumers would not consider receiving texts from brands,
even if the ad was personally relevant.
Source: Adtaxi
Digital shopping behaviors

19. A First Insight study – Mind the Gap: The Gender Effect on Shopping Habits and Technology Disruptors – revealed that women and men have
different e-commerce shopping tendencies.
• Only 22% of male respondents are frequent mobile shoppers compared to 40% of women.
• Men (46%) are shopping on Amazon less than women (60%).
• More men (53%) use voice search devices like Amazon Echo or Google Home to price compare versus 46% women.

20. In its Global e-commerce guide to scaling your brand internationally,
Shopify identifies trends that can make or break global sales as 62%
of businesses are missing out on global e-commerce opportunities
because of the complexity of going global:
• 75% of consumers want to buy products in their native language
• 59% rarely or never buy from English-only sites
• 67% prefer navigation and content in their language
• 92% prefer to shop and make purchases on e-commerce
websites that price in their local currency
• 33% are likely to abandon a purchase if pricing is in US dollars
only
A 2017 study by Propeller Insights for June20 revealed that 60.8% of
US consumers prefer in-shop purchases because they’re able to get
what they need immediately. However, from the digital e-commerce
respondents:
• 52.3% prefer e-commerce purchases because they can find the
cheapest item available
• 50.1% don‘t have time to spend waiting in line
• 46.8% enjoy reading buyer reviews, watch videos, etc.
• 42.2% enjoy comparing products
• 35.1% think it’s easier to shop online
• 34.4% enjoy the “on-the-go” shopping experience.

21. Fashion and beauty e-commerce specialist Mari Corella advises companies
to work on delivery options for online shoppers:
“Same-day delivery is becoming an expectation, and retailers are looking to
outperform the competition by matching speed with convenience.”
But Bizrate Insights says free shipping is paramount, and 90% of
consumers are willing to wait longer for delivery of an online order in
exchange for free shipping.
Mark Kelso of Glaze Digital notes that: “Customers now want a full-service
solution that links their online store with their physical store.”
Amazon’s one-click shopping patent generates a new trend where
shoppers expect a simplified checkout process.
“Thanks to the expiration of Amazon’s ‘1-Click’ patent in October, we
should expect the checkout process to become much simpler, making it
ideal for mobile shoppers,” according to Rachel Jacobs, head of content at
Pixc.
Source: Shopify
E-commerce consumer expectations

22. 2018 is one of the most exciting years for e-commerce with emerging trends like AI, VR, better chatbots, voice search, mobile-first search,
machine learning, blockchain and cryptocurrency, and others. Here are some of the most important e-commerce trends of the year.
E-commerce trends 2018
Better chatbots:
80% businesses expect to have chatbot automation implemented to
some extent by 2020 according to Business Insider. Companies like
Nordstrom, Staples, Sephora, and Staples already use chatbots
successfully to communicate with customers.
Facebook Messenger bots can accept payments natively without
sending users to an external website.
As an example, the low-cost arm of Singapore Airlines, Scoot,
launched in July 2018 a transactional chatbot named MARVIE (Most
Awesome and Resourceful Virtual Intern Ever). Currently, MARVIE
assists customers to search for flights, display the same fares and
availability as reflected on Scoot’s website and mobile app, make
flight bookings and allow payment by credit card.

23. Social shopping on the rise:
Social media is a powerful tool to generate sales. Facebook has a
powerful marketplace and “buy now” buttons on company pages,
Instagram launched a shopping feature in March 2018, buy now pins
on Pinterest are quite popular, and the list goes on. Here are some
interesting social shopping statistics:
• 25% of business owners are selling through Facebook
• 40% are using social media as a whole to generate sales
• 20% of online shoppers would be likely to make a purchase
from Facebook, 17% from Pinterest, 14% from Instagram.
• Men are more likely than women to make a purchase through
Facebook (23% vs. 17%), through Instagram (18% vs. 11%),
through Twitter (17% vs. 7%), and through Snapchat (15% vs.
6%).
• 29% of online shoppers would be likely to follow a brand on
Facebook,. 21% on Pinterest, 21% on Instagram, 18% on
Twitter, and 13% on Snapchat.
• 20% of online shoppers would purchase an item a friend has
included on their Pinterest board,18% on Facebook
• 21% of online shoppers would purchase an item featured in a
brand’s Facebook post.
• 18% of online shoppers would purchase an item from a brand’s
Pinterest board.
• 51% of Millennials would be likely to purchase over social media,
compared to 36% of Gen Xers, 14% of Baby Boomers, and 3% of
Seniors
• 29% of Millennials and Gen Xers would likely buy through
Facebook if given the option.
• 26% of Millennials and Gen Xers would likely make a purchase
through Pinterest if given the option.
Source: Big Commerce

24. AR shopping:
In September 2017, DigitalBridge predicted that Almost 70% of
consumers expect retailers to launch an AR app within the next six
months. Things didn’t evolve so fast, but AR shopping is already a
mainstream phenomenon.
After releasing Lens Studio in December 2017, Snapchat released
the Shoppable AR Lens for brands in early 2018. The Shoppable AR
Lens lets advertisers add a “Buy Now,” “Watch” or “Install Now” button
to branded Lenses, turning every branded Snapchat selfie into a
potential purchase, video view or app download. Therefore, users can
now use Snapchat AR features to connect with those products, learn
more, and make a purchase.
Amazon’s has an AR view feature on its app for iPhone and Android
users too. Users can use the AR feature to search in categories like
Top Picks, Electronics, Living Room, Kitchen, and Tables. Once they
find an item they like, they can purchase it right in the app and have it
shipped as quickly as possible.
Many retailers use AR successfully to deliver a more interactive
shopping experience: Lacoste, American Apparel, Timberland, and
the list goes on.

25. Voice search for shopping queries:
Voice-activated AI is no longer a matter of SciFi movies: it is a reality
in thousands of modern homes around the world.
The global market for smart speakers recorded 4.4 billion U.S. dollars
in 2017, and Statista expects it to reach 17.43 billion U.S. dollars by
2022.
The smart speaker installed base worldwide is expected to cross the
100-million barrier by the end of 2018. (Canalys)
Although China is an e-commerce power, it is still a nascent market
for smart speakers. (Canalys)
In Q1 2018, Amazon has recorded 102% YoY growth in the smart
speaker market, with 4 million units shipped, while Google has
recorded 709% YoY growth, with 2.4 million units shipped.
Amazon Echo and Google Home smart speakers can be used play
songs, playlists, and audiobooks; get personalized help with your
schedule, reminders, and calls; control smart home devices; and
much more – all via voice.
Alexa voice control can be used for Amazon purchases too. Voice
shopping is already enabled by default in the Alexa app on a users’
phone and can be disabled if the owner of an Amazon Echo device
doesn’t want to employ it.
Google Home has a shopping feature too, although it is currently only
available in the USA.
Voice shopping is still an emerging trend, but the possibilities are
tremendous for early adopters. Besides, it is expected that 50% of all
searches will be voice searches by 2020 (ComScore)
Voice shopping will be adopted is brands are ready. Think with
Google revealed that 44% of those who use their voice-activated
speaker at least weekly say they use the device to order products
they need, like groceries and household items at least once a week.

26. Despite its outstanding potential, voice shopping continues to make users nervous. Concerns about shopping on voice-controlled devices cited
by 1,622 consumers surveyed by Walker Sands for the Walker Sands Future of Retail 2017 included:
20%
21%
22%
22%
24%
29%
31%
33%
39%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
Nothing
Other reasons
Shallow Product Information
Inability to Search Across Products
Difficulty of Voice Interactions
Price/payment uncertainty
Lack of Images
Privacy
Security
Why Voice Shopping Makes
Consumers Nervous

27. Omnichannel challenges:
More and more brands focus on omnichannel to improve the shopping
experience. According to Statista, only 22% of marketers consider
omnichannel a priority for digital business, most of them focusing on
mobile (54%), marketing (46%), and site merchandising (42%)
This confirms data revealed by Periscope at the World Retail
Congress 2016, where 78% of retailers surveyed admitted there was
no one brand experience across their channels, while also
acknowledging that “a well-defined cross or multi-channel strategy”
was the top innovation that would drive digital growth (64%).
According to the same survey, the reasons for this omnichannel
struggle were:
• Lack of customer analytics across channels (67%)
• Silo’d organization (48%)
• Poor data quality (45%)
• Inability to identify customers across shopping trips (45%)
• Lack of internal coordination (39%)
But companies like Disney, Virgin Atlantic, Bank of America, Oasis,
REI, Starbucks, and Chipotle get the omnichannel experience right,
down to the smallest details, according to HubSpot. They have
chatbots, shopping apps, on-the-spot, accurate, and up-to-date
product information that keeps customers happy.
According to Think with Google, Home Depot understands
omnichannel quite well too:
“Our goal is to provide our customers with a great experience no
matter how or when they shop us. The front door to our store has
changed significantly. A lot of customers begin researching and
shopping online and then end up in one of our stores. Some
customers never come into our store — they complete their entire
experience online. Digital is a huge part of the customer journey now;
mobile and tablet are over 50% of our online traffic, and 42% of online
orders are picked up in-store,” Dave Abbott, VP of Integrated Media
and Online Marketing

28. Mobile-first shopping
Mobile commerce is more than a trend: it’s the natural evolution of e-
commerce. China is currently world leader in mobile commerce, but
with Google pushing mobile-first for the entire web in 2018, mobile-
first shopping will soon take over in the rest of the world.
And here’s why mobile-first shopping is relevant: when researching
and comparing products, studies say consumers prefer the mobile
web to apps. (AdWeek)
Per Dynamic Yeld The State of Personalization in Mobile Commerce
report:
• 76% of consumers shop on mobile devices because “it saves
them time.”
• Only 12% of consumers find shopping on the mobile web
convenient.
• Consumers are 4X as likely to state that desktop is more
“convenient” than mobile web.
• 9/10 shoppers believe that mobile shopping experiences can be
improved.
But although the mobile-first shopping experience may lack maturity in
Europe and the Americas, in China it is a way of life. Can marketers
adopt and adapt the Chinese mobile-first business model soon?
For mobile-first shopping to grow, retailers must accept mobile
payments like Apple Pay, PayPal One-Touch, Visa Checkout, and
Amazon Pay and to optimize their sites for mobile-first users.
The demand for mobile-first shopping is real: a January 2017
study from Fluent found that 51% of US smartphone mobile
commerce buyers primarily made purchases via apps, while 49%
made purchases via the mobile web.
Criteo found that shopping app downloads in the USA grew by 20% in
the first half of 2017 and in-app transactions increased 64% from
2016.
eMarketer forecasts that mobile shopping will surpass 50% by 2021.

29. Personalized recommendations:
A study conducted by Salesforce in March to June 2017 revealed that personalized product recommendations accounted for 26% of revenue
on e-commerce sites.
Conversion rates, add-to-cart rates, revenue share, and average order value overall varied depending on device too.
Conversion Rates Add-to-cart Rates Revenue Share Average Order Value
All Devices 4.6 times higher 24% higher 26% 10.3% higher
Desktop Computers 4.3 times higher 22% higher 25% 10.2% higher
Smartphones 4.3 times higher 26% higher 26% 7.9% higher
Tablets 4.1 times higher 31% higher 33% 15.2% higher
Further on, Accenture estimates personalization could boost profitability rates 59% by 2035.
Delivering personalized product recommendations is now an exercise in creativity. Every niche has a different approach. Netflix delivers
personalized recommendations based on what every user is watching, but also a “continue watching” feature to keep the viewer engaged.
Amazon has several recommendations based on what the user likes, including “your recently viewed items and featured recommendations,
"inspired by your browsing history,” “customers who bought this item also bought,” “frequently bought together,” and so on. Other companies
include discounts, free shipping, “before you leave” pop-up deals or coupons, abandoned cart emails, and many other personalization
strategies that boost sales.

30. Businesses now rely on a variety of omnichannel personalization
software to deliver individualized customer experiences.
Evergage’s machine learning-driven platform tracks user behavior and
determines the intent of every website visitor and web or mobile app
user. It delivers both segment-based and 1:1 content and product
recommendations that consider everyone’s unique preferences and
affinities.
Salesforce uses the 'Einstein' AI feature to understand each
customer’s preferences and automatically tailor content across every
channel: email, social, web, and mobile.
Watson Real-Time Personalization by IBM delivers the right content to
each visitor in the context of their previous interactions with the brand.
Adobe Target includes four key personalization capabilities powered
by Adobe Sensei, Adobe’s AI and machine-learning platform. It allows
marketers to automatically suggest the best products and content to
visitors based on their unique profile and interests expressed through
onsite or off-line behavior.
There are several other retail personalization services, some costly,
other more affordable. Each e-commerce business will choose the
solution the fits its needs and budget.

31. ROBO – Research Online, Buy Offline
ROBO – research online, buy offline – sometimes referred to as
ROPO (research online, purchase offline) is the trend that fuels the
rebirth of brick and mortar business and reviews are the lifeblood of
the trend.
• Absolunet discovered that 82% of mobile users search for a
local business and 18% of local searches lead to a sale within
24 hours.
• 95% of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase
(Spiegel Research Center, 2017)
• Displaying reviews can increase conversion by 270% (Spiegel
Research Center, 2017)
• Purchase likelihood improves 15% when buyers read verified
buyer reviews (Spiegel Research Center, 2017)
• 93% of local consumers use reviews to determine if a local
business is good or bad (BrightLocal, 2017)
• 97% of consumers looked online for local businesses in 2017,
with 12% looking for a local business online every day
(BrightLocal, 2017)
• Positive reviews make 73% of consumers trust a local business
more (BrightLocal, 2017)
• 45% of brick-and-mortar buyers read online reviews before
purchasing products, marking a 15% YoY increase
(Bazaarvoice, 2018)
Source: Bazaarvoice

32. • The Chinese e-commerce model is a powerful example of what is possible to achieve with the right mobile-branding-customer service
combination. China also serves as an example of how using big data and AI can boost sales and revenues.
• Although mobile-first shopping shows clear growth tendencies, in many developing areas worldwide the desktop maintains its supremacy.
• Consumer behaviors are complex influencing purchase decision and habits. The consumers also expect businesses to deliver personalized
offers and relevant content, not only on e-commerce websites, but also on the mobile web, on social media, on apps, and in-store.
• The e-commerce purchase journey is complex, and it can expand offline. Here, omnichannel is the only strategy that makes sense as it
fosters interaction between retailers and shoppers across all channels, from storefronts to smart devices and desktops, through emails, call
centers, smartphone applications, and even smart TVs.
• E-commerce trends of 2018 will include voice search, better chatbots, AR shopping, social shopping, mobile-first shopping, powerful
personalization, and the rise of ROBO (research online, buy offline) among the strongest movers.
• Businesses must adapt to the trends, delivering customers everything they expect: easy mobile payments, same day or next day delivery,
personalized offers, relevant discounts, and much more. Failure to adapt will result in loss of sales opportunities.
Conclusions

33. Thank You!
The research was conducted by: Mihaela Lica Butler
for Carmelon Digital Marketing
More articles and researches on Carmelon Digital
Marketing website:
https://www.carmelon-digital.com