Next Generation Online Retail Trends To Watch

The global e-commerce market, comprising everything from goods and services to entertainment, is undergoing some impactful changes at the moment as it seeks to integrate and respond to developments in both technology, and consumer preferences.

Below we're taking a look at what we feel to be the top three trends that those with an interest in the e-commerce world ought to know about in 2023.

A New Wave of Chatbot

Chatbots have become a familiar part of online retail today as they enable customers to receive answers to common questions in real-time, and free up the customer service segment of retailers to deal with only the most pressing or nuanced requests.

But today's bots, while they are markedly more efficient and intelligent than those from only a few years ago, pale in comparison to what's coming next. It seems like everywhere you look today you hear about AI, from deepfakes to large language models such as OpenAI's ChatGPT - and there's good reason for this.

The latest suite of AI models have reached a level of sophistication that has proven to be truly disruptive, and its impact will be felt across most industries, including e-commerce.

If we narrow our focus as to how AI will impact this sector to just the chatbots alone, it's still remarkable. A chatbot running on something akin to ChatGPT 4 will be able to assist a shopper in every aspect of their experience, from answering customer service queries, to helping them make decisions. It would be more accurate to think of the next generation of chatbots as the equivalent of digital personal shoppers.

One could imagine that such a tool could draw on your profile, preferences, and even measurements, to suggest new outfits or colour combinations...