Room to manoeuvre: Analytics help online retailers offer customers seamless experience
Ability to manage big data, a powerful cloud platform and a large dose of artificial intelligence are needed for e-commerce websites to thrive
The difference between online and in-store shopping experiences is that only one of them has “virtual” room to improve.
With the advent of cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI), e-commerce revenues are projected to grow to US$3.4 trillion in 2019, according to Statista.
Behind the most successful e-commerce platforms lie coordinated plans that link big data, cloud computing and AI, to ensure a seamless buying experience for customers.
“E-commerce benefits from these [big data, cloud computing, AI] as they can put the right product in front of the right user at the right time,” says Mart van de Ven, a director of Droste, a Hong Kong-based Data Science Consultancy.
One of the most successful examples is T-mall, Alibaba’s online retail platform, which smashed sales records during its annual Singles Day on November 11. Sales last year jumped 32 per cent from 2015 to a gross merchandise value (GMV) of US$17.8 billion.
“Back in 2013, $5.14 billion was our one-day GMV. Now we can achieve it in one hour," Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang said in the company’s live blog during the day, adding that during the peak hour of Singles' Day, 175,000 orders were handled per second.
None of this would have been possible without the ability to manage big data, a powerful cloud platform and a large dose of AI.