Are you running a Web2Print e-commerce storefront and wish to boost your business through the Internet of Things? But how can IoT be implemented to benefit your E-commerce business, and how can you reach prospective customers? Let’s find out.
The behavior of consumers has been changing since the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Since the first Coca-Cola vending machine hit the market in 1982, users have increasingly adopted gadgets and devices to shop. E-commerce sales have also grown with the internet and these linked devices.
Today businesses can leverage IoT for better growth and steadily increase their sales and revenue. According to BusinessWire, the retail market size for IoT is forecasted to grow to $182.04 billion by 2028. These statistics showcase how IoT is changing the face of E-commerce businesses.
Leveraging IoT for your print business
Here are some of the promising ways that IoT can be integrated with the Web to Print Solutions that you provide for your customers:
1. Better tracking and logistics
The IoT technology can help your print business in fulfilling orders for customers fulfill orders from customers who place them online. By tracking the order from when a customer places it to when you’ll deliver it at their doorstep, IoT can trace each item regardless of where they are.
With the help of cloud-based technologies such as GPS and RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification), you can track location, traffic & weather conditions and access employees’ identifications. IoT technology also automates shipping and delivery, optimizes routes, and eliminates missing shipment problems.
2. Automated management of inventory
IoT can provide real-time information about inventory stock. So, you won’t have to hire a store manager to check the stock. With the help of tools like sensors and RFID tags in the inventory management system, you will have more control over your inventory. IoT will let you know which items are in stock and which are not. It continuously gathers current information about the things going in and out of the warehouse and sends it to the ERP systems.
Furthermore, with temperature control sensors and smart shelves, you can track inventory as well as monitor temperature for items that can perish quickly. You will also know when you need to stock them again.
3. Enhances relationships between printers and end consumers
IoT supports and promotes an excellent relationship between manufacturers and customers. The IoT-linked devices ensure that the relationship is long-term and provides customer satisfaction.
For instance, printer manufacturers can offer various services and products such as cartridge replacements to remain in the customers’ minds. IoT can also generate a continuous revenue stream by creating new business models that offer remote monitoring and performance analytics for products.
4. Personalized information and actions
IoT can offer personalized experiences by including personal data in your Web to Print Software solutions. You can leverage the IoT technology to connect consumers with the devices and provide them with a tailored solution according to their preferences.
The more data you collect and the insight you’ll get into changing consumer behavior, the more you can use this information to appeal to a large audience. This data will have a significant influence on the consumers’ shopping experience.
5. IoT-oriented E-commerce websites
Over the last few years, the online shopping trend has risen, with E-commerce sales surpassing $4.2 trillion in 2020. It is an impressive figure and more so as the online sales keep climbing. The most important thing to consider in online shopping is creating responsive websites that can run on almost all devices.
Users should be able to shop on smart devices like smartphones or iPads and other devices. There is excellent competition between rivals for providing responsive websites that can offer the ultimate user experience. So, your print store can also benefit from a responsive website as you’ll be able to increase your customer outreach.
6. Increasing customer satisfaction
Some time ago, the only connection between an enterprise and its customers was through the Point of Sale system. But now, with the assistance of IoT, you can analyze customers’ data and incorporate responses through chatbots and smart speakers. This can help build an emotional connection and increase your customers’ satisfaction. The more satisfied your clients will be, the more business they will bring.
7. Automated shopping processes
Several businesses mainly automate their processes from ordering to checkout and shipping to save labor costs and time. With the help of IoT, you can offer an automatic buying process to the customer.
So, they can order quickly with the purchase will be billed to their smartphones. In the future, predictive systems will be able to detect when customers are about to shop. So stores can pack the products beforehand based on their shopping list. For instance, customers can send a shopping list for the products they require, and the only thing they need to do is to pick those products.
What to consider before applying IoT to your E-commerce business?
Before applying IoT to your print store, you must deploy some strategies to ensure customer satisfaction:
● Select platforms according to your requirements.
● Teaming up with other firms to gather data to improve marketing. You can also use AI applications for data analysis and to devise ways to attract potential customers.
● To hold a clear conversation with your clients on their data.
● Provide security for customer data, so there are no legal problems.
Conclusion
If you are running a web-to-print store, there’s great potential in using IoT for your store. You can make this technology a part of your web-to-print solutions by incorporating various inter-connected devices in your storefront. With the current IoT technology, your business will grow in leaps and bounds.
