Is the concept of scrolling through items in e-commerce stores almost at an end?

For so long, e-commerce has been all about searching for the item or the type of item you want and then browsing through lists of product thumbnails. However, this no longer feels like the optimal way to shop, and it could soon become an outdated method.

Thanks to the rise of technologies such as live streaming and AI, there are now more efficient ways to display products to customers. In a few years, there may no longer be a need for people to browse through long lists ever again.

Various Online Industries Adapting Their Browsing Models

Throughout the whole of the online world, consumers are faced with a vast amount of choice. They often find themselves scrolling through lists of items, trying to select something. This is something that is most prominent in the entertainment industry, where streaming services such as Netflix give viewers thousands of options to choose from.

This has led to the emergence of the concept of decision fatigue, however. It describes how, even though people are spoiled for choice, this paradoxically makes it harder to actually complete a purchase. To combat this, Netflix has updated its homepage, presenting people with fewer offerings but ensuring that what is shown is most likely to appeal to individual users.

This has also been seen in iGaming, where online bingo sites have adopted a more minimalist approach to show the quality they offer without overwhelming players. UK bingo games come in a few carefully selected rooms to appeal to different personalities and are usually accompanied by a short list of casino games containing varied titles like Pirate Plunder and Mystery Woods.

The end result, hopefully, wherever this method is implemented, is that consumers will feel more confident in completing a transaction swiftly, and thereby complete more of them on a given visit.

Live Streaming and Short Videos Replacing Browsing

In the social media era, e-commerce sites have had to adapt to the way people like to spend their time on the internet. Thanks to sites like TikTok and Instagram, users are now more accustomed to flicking through short-form videos rather than scrolling through posts. It seems that this is what they want from their shopping experience as well, as platforms like TikTok Shop have taken off in recent times.

Chinese ecommerce companies have started to shift their business models and offer more video content. Along with releasing short-form videos to advertise products on social media platforms, sites like Alibaba have begun to focus more on livestreamed shopping. Customers can comment on videos and get instant feedback, as well as buy directly from the stream.

AI Zoning in On What Customers Want to See

AI is helping a lot with improving what customers see, as it has predictive capabilities. This means that returning customers will often see products that are most likely to appeal to them when they visit a site’s home screen.

As the most futuristic technology on the market continues to advance, it will be able to analyze more aspects of customer data and generate collections of products in video format to show to customers. This reduces choice overload by showing fewer but more relevant items.

E-commerce stores need to adapt, as times are clearly changing in the industry. Companies are realizing that there’s more value in showing people targeted content rather than long lists of items. Video is also becoming more prevalent, and it’s something that all ecommerce stores should take advantage of.