Technology has had a large effect on many industries. The e-commerce design, programming, mechanical and robotic areas are all obvious areas. However, there are more touchpoints that the average person engages with daily that have been affected by technology, too. For example, online gaming with the best casino bonuses exclusively for online users or even veterinarians who now come straight to your door to inspect pets. These used to be strictly brick-and-mortar and now they are mostly digital.
Another area that people engage with often and that is technically advanced is a normal retail store – most of which have now turned online. The world of brick-and-mortar stores has experienced a rapid decline in foot traffic because many people prefer to shop online. It’s massively convenient for the customer, as they save time traveling to the store. It saves in costs for businesses as they pay less for renting a warehouse as opposed to a shop on the high street. Not to mention the employee cost savings for businesses.
Without the large amount of quality developments and upgrades within the technological sphere, brick-and-mortar stores would still be as popular as they once were. There are a few technological factors that have encouraged the online store surge and will be expanded upon below.
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Technological Advances
The rise of the mobile phone has led to a massive surge in online sales. It is recorded that 70% of website visits in the U.K. came through mobile devices. Although online visitors happen to place orders often through their desktops, the interest is formally spiked on mobile phones. Long commutes grandly serve potential customers, giving them an hour to and from their workplace to look through online shops. The consistent upgrade of mobile devices, such as the iPhone, has heavily added to the 70% mentioned above. With its large screen, user-friendly interface, high-quality graphics and speed, it’s a pleasure for online visitors to peruse a website with this highly developed piece of technology.
Financial safety and security is another area that has improved drastically and given more customers the trust to enter their card details online. The fact that stripe services with debit and credit cards now allow customers to enter their details into online stores in a secure fashion and without storing the information, makes for a seamless payment option. Not to mention that customers can also pay using other means of payment methods such as PayPal or Apple Pay, for which their information is securely stored on those individual platforms and essentially inaccessible to hackers or cyber criminals.
The uprising of stores that are truly only online also gave the world of online shopping more credibility. The only reason businesses can offer online services is due to the highly advanced technical capability of e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce or WooCommerce which form the bedrock of online sales and is often the first touchpoint between the seller and buyer. With the limitless themes to choose from, exceptional tools and features and the ability to track orders by syncing the store with the courier, digital sales grew off the charts. The e-commerce platforms that are now available to stores wanting to skip the brick-and-mortar and dive straight into the digital sphere can do so within a matter of a day or two, due to the large offering and high-tech abilities of e-commerce stores.
The Future is Digital
One area that cannot be forgotten and added to many digital sales is social media, which is an area that shows no sign of slowing down. Older platforms like Facebook are being replaced with newer sites like TikTok and that is a pattern that will continue. New platforms for merchants to showcase their items in a modern and sociable way will continue to grow and pave an even larger path for digital sales.
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