Smart Services for Improving eCommerce

Abstract

AbstractThe level of customer support provided by the existing eCommerce solutions assumes that the person using the functionality of the shop has sufficient knowledge to decide on the purchase transaction. A low conversion rate indicates that customers are more likely to seek knowledge about the particular product than finalize the transaction. This is facilitated by the continuous development of customers’ digital competencies, resulting in the increasing popularity of web services enabling the exchange of information, e.g. through social networks. Currently the user act with eCommerce platform like a source of information. At the same time, he or she usually use more than one source of information e.g., web portals, social networks, etc. The existing online shops seem unsuited to these trends because they remain simple trading platforms without integration with external web services and sources of knowledge. New categories of smart services are suggested, enabling the newly implemented eCommerce network platform to enhance the offered knowledge and reduce the abandonment of the platform by the user. Our empirical studies show an increase in the conversion rate in the case of shops which increased the level of customer support using the proposed model of integration.KeywordsElectronic commerceSmart ServicesTransaction scenariosUser knowledge developmentIntegrated platforms