I remember when it was a very scary thing to purchase anything online. Putting your credit card on the internet was the equivalent of leaving your purse in those cubby holes before you get aboard a rollercoaster ride. However since the invention of buy-sell sites like eBay followed by purchasing platforms like PayPal, online consumer purchasing discomfort has subsided. The increase in security that these sites and services offered caused an increase in the number of people willing to use them and trust them with personal financial information. This is when the e-commerce industry really took off; consumer behaviour forced INTERAC to be accepted as an online payment method, online shopping carts became online boutiques, and sales skyrocketed.

Incredibly, only a few years later, nearly every major brick and mortar retailer is showcasing and selling their products online (if you’re one of the brands who is the exception to the rule here, hop to it! You’re missing out on sales). These days you can buy anything online; from someone who will stand in-line for you (see linestanding.com) to an Apollo 17 Astronaut Space Suit Replica (see Amazon.com). Whatever the product is, the experience of purchasing that product is what will make or break your customer loyalty. For example, if buying online was a huge pain in the rear and then you received the product and realized that its online photo was a complete misrepresentation, you’re unlikely to purchase more in this manner. However, if the e-com-cards are played right (the e-commerce platform is attractive, functional and accurate) then the consumer could actually grow to prefer this method of purchasing over real life shopping. Consider that it saves gas and travel time and items are delivered directly to your door. The best year of Christmas shopping I ever did was in 2008 because everything was bought online! I mean who wants to push their way through crowded malls while holding a bundle of winter clothes and gift bags anyways? Also the gifts came pre-wrapped in some cases, saving me yet another step of seasonal madness. Creating a purchasing experience that is enjoyable and mimics the real thing is more important than ever. Today, however, the capabilities that e-commerce offers can, in some ways, actually surpass those of the real thing!

Minus the ability to try things on or actually touch and feel them, e-commerce now allows consumers to purchase the endless array of items available online, from anywhere in the world at any time. For example, in the past if you wanted to purchase online you would sit down in front of your computer and browse product pages until you found your match. Now you can still do this but at an endless level of accessibility using a mobile phone! Running late? Purchase your train ticket from your phone as you run to the station. Waiting in line for a concert that doesn’t sell tickets online and need to be somewhere? Purchase a line-stander (see link above) to come and keep your place while you get more important things done. Does anyone remember the Christmas-gift-dash for Tickle-Me-Elmo’s many years ago? Imagine what that brief moment in purchasing psychosis would have looked like if people had the option to buy Elmo from their phone – i.e. Click, click, beep… and crisis averted…thanks iPhone, Blackberry and Android e-commerce platforms!

The increasing convenience that mobile e-commerce offers, is allowing this practice to become the future of online purchasing.  According to social media authority, Venpop, by 2015 half of all online purchasing will be done using mobile phones.  If this remains true, then all existing e-commerce sites should be making their mobile version as fast as possible! In the same way that e-commerce providers had to begin offering INTERAC to appease consumer behaviour, they will now have to do the same for their growing mobile clientele (or get left behind the others who do).  A new sub-category of online purchasing has emerged and the evolution of e-commerce continues.  What’s next?  You decide, you’re the consumer ©