We are witnesses to the merging of two worlds, the world of technology and the world of commerce. This process has gone so far, that we can`t talk about the commerce without talking about technology.
This especially goes for the online retail business. This kind of business is flourishing right now. On the internet, you can find countless websites which are selling something.
In order to boost their business, online retailers are using data in order to get a better understanding of the market and make their buyers shopping experience better. The best way of utilizing data is by using APIs. Not sure what APIs are? Here’s a quick rundown…
The APIs are the connectors who will transform data into intelligence that you can use to expand your business. They can help you use a feature of certain platforms and connect them to your platform. And now, we are going to talk about just some of the ways you can use APIs in your online retail business.
Table of Contents
Use APIs for Product Information
Product information APIs that provide product information for your merchandise are crucial in the modern world of commerce. By implementing one of these APIs, all of your catalogs will connect to the global database and get the information about the products you are selling.
Among that information, you can find brand names, product descriptions, pictures, product specifications, etc. It is important for customers to have an insight into the product they intend to buy. With those APIs, all of the information of your products are one click away.
Help Your Customers with Choice with Site Search APIs
By having the search bar on your website, you can help your customers to find what they need. Also, the search bar can help them discover new brands and products they didn`t know about. Filtering the categories of products can be really helpful and will save some time and make the buyers’ experience better.
This is going to be of great help for the websites that have a big number of pages with many products featured on them. The site search APIs are considered a must now, and it is one of the most used APIs today. Just look for an API that used the right API documentation tool to document everything, if you want to implement it correctly.
Post Social Proof with the Help of APIs
Recently, this way of building trust with customers has become very popular among e-commerce merchants all of the globe. Just google-around for a few minutes, and you’ll be able to find many examples of companies that have used social proofs to their advantage. Streaming news, posts and pictures from the social media are just some of the things you can do.
Having social proofs on your website can build the confidence with the future buyers and help them choose you over your competitors that offering the same products. Of course, the customers will go to your website with more confidence if they see the picture of someone using your product or a reading written review with a five-star rating.
Recommending the Product by Using an API
You can look at this as a combination of social proof APIs and site search APIs. This API will show which one of your products is the best-selling one on your site. This way, it will actually help you sell more of the same product and increase your bottom line in the process. The trending products are sure to be seen by the customers.
But that’s not all – there is actually one more way to use this API. By making a suggested list of products based on the history and the interest of the buyer, you can help the buyer make a choice on your site. There is an increased chance that the customer will buy more thing if they are similar to the one he wanted to buy in the first place.
Utilize APIs for Content Personalization
Content personalization APIs are very helpful in organizing your websites. These APIs are able to accomplish this by going through the history of your website visitor. Once they assess the history, they start arranging the suggestion bar on your site to fit the visitors’ needs.
In addition, that organizing can be based on the social and web behavior of the future customer. Basically, this API will try to match your website with the needs of your buyer. By doing that it will increase the chance of busting up your profit.
The Bottom Line
All the predictions about the market are saying that there is no future for the business who are not using the technology and data. The e-commerce is changing fast, and the companies should follow those changes in order for their businesses to stay profitable.
They need to become more flexible. In order to become more flexible, they need to use the APIs on their websites and product pages.
Experts are saying that in the next 10 years all the businesses who are not using the APIs are going to disappear. The conclusion is that, if there is an online retail business that is not using the APIs, and it wants to survive, it needs to implement them immediately.
We hope you enjoyed our article. If you have any further questions, feel free to leave a comment below and we’ll get back at you as soon as possible.
