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Today, Mary
Meeker released her highly anticipated annual “Internet Trends” presentation for 2014. All 164 slides are
jam-packed with pretty much everything you need to know about the state of the Internet.
And as luck
would have it, Oracle is staying ahead of these trends (but we’ll talk about that
later).
There were
a few surprises, some stats to solidify what you likely already know, and Meeker’s
novel observations about where we are all going. What interested me the most is
not only how people are engaging in their personal lives, but how they engage
with brands.
As you
could probably predict, Internet usage
growth is slowing while tablet user and mobile data
traffic growth continue their meteoric rise around the globe, with tremendous growth in underpenetrated markets like
China, India, Brazil and Indonesia. Now hold those the “Internet is dead”
comments. Keep in mind there’s still plenty of room to grow, and a multiscreen
model is Meeker’s vision for our future. Despite 1.5x YOY growth for mobile
traffic, mobile still only makes up about 23% of all traffic today. With tablet
shipments easily outpacing figures for PCs even at their height (in 2007),
mobile will only continue on it’s path, but won’t be everything to everyone. Mobile won’t replace every touchpoint, it’s
just created our shorter attention spans and demand for simpler, more personal
experiences. As Meeker points out TVs, tablets, PCs, and smartphones are used
for different activities at present, but lines will blur (for example, 84% of
smartphones owners use their device while watching TV).
Day-to-day activities are being
re-imagining through simple, beautiful user experiences. It seems like every day I discover a
new way a brand/site/app made the most mundane or mounting task enjoyable and
frictionless – and I’m not alone. Meeker points out the evolution of how we do
everything from how we communicate, get information, use money, meet someone, get
places, order a meal, and consume media is all done through new user interfaces
that make day-to-day tasks simpler. This movement has caused just about
everyone’s patience for a poor UX to take a nosedive. And it’s not just the
digital user experience, technology is making a lot of people’s offline lives
easier, and less expensive. Today 47% of online shopping utilizes free shipping—
nearly half. And Meeker predicts same
day local delivery will be the “next big thing” (and you can take a guess on
who will own that).
Content, Community and Commerce
creates the “Internet Trifecta.” Meeker pointed out that when content, communities and
commerce occur in a single experience it’s embraced by consumers, which
translates to big dollars for brands. The magic happens when consumers can get
inspired, research, and buy in a single experience. As the buying cycle has
changed and touchpoints (Web, mobile, social, store) are no longer tied to
“roles” or steps in the customer journey, brands must make all experiences
(content and commerce) available in a single, adaptable experience. (We at
Oracle Commerce have a lot to say on this topic – stay tuned!)
And in what
Meeker calls the “biggest re-imagination of all:” consumers enabled with smartphones and sensors are creating troves of
findable and sharable data, which she says is in the early stages, by growing
rapidly. She notes that transparency and patterns of consumers with this
hardware (FYI - there are up to 10 sensors embedded in smartphones now) has
created a Big Data treasure chest to be mined to improve business and the life
of the consumer. The opportunities are endless.
So what
does it all mean for a company doing business online? Start thinking about how
you can:
Re-imagine your experience. Not your online experience and your mobile experience and
your social experience – your overall experience. When consumers can research, buy,
and advocate from anywhere (and their attention spans are at an all-time low)
channels don’t exist. Enable simple and beautiful interactions informed by all
of the online and offline data you leverage across your enterprise. Ethically
leverage the endless supply of data (user generated content, clicks, purchases,
in-store behavior, social activity) to make experiences more beautiful, more
accurate, and more personalized (not to mention, more lucrative for you).
Re-imagine content and commerce. Content and commerce must co-exist in a single destination
where shoppers can get inspired, explore, research, share, and purchase in a
collective experience. Think of how you can deliver an experience where all
types of experiences (brand stories and commerce) adapt to every customer need.
(Look for more on this topic coming soon).
Re-imagine your reach. Look to Meeker’s findings to see how the global appetite
for digital experiences is growing, but under-served in many places (i.e.: India,
Mexico, Indonesia, Brazil, Philippines, etc.).
Growing your online business to a new geography doesn’t have to mean starting
from scratch or having an entirely new team manage the new endeavor. Expand
using what you’ve already built in a multisite framework, with global language
support. And of course, make sure it’s optimized for mobile!
Re-imagine the possible. After every Meeker report, I’m always left with the
thought “we are just at the beginning.” Everyday there is more data, more
possibilities, more online consumers, and more opportunities to use new latest
technology to get closer to your customers and be more successful. There’s a
lot going on in our Product Development and Product Innovations groups to
automate innovation for our customers, so that they can continue to stay ahead
of these trends, without disrupting their business. Check out a recent interview with our Innovations Team on some
of these new possibilities.
Staying on
track despite the seemingly endless possibilities out there is the hard part.
Prioritizing where you will focus based on your unique brand promise, customer and
goals is what you do best. To learn how Oracle Commerce can help your business
achieve your goals check out oracle.com/commerce.
Check out
Meeker’s entire report here.
