The generations being born now and the ones to come will not know a world without the internet. Children are running around with tablets and people are communicating through their watches. It’s safe to say that the internet and technology are not going anywhere anytime soon.

 When it comes to ecommerce or marketplaces the interweb is a crucial component that connects vendors, suppliers and buyers together in many ways. Emily Grunwald has pointed out five trends that have been emerging and changing the ecommerce world. Hopefully there are some ideas you can get out of these to better your marketplace.

1. Going On Air

Youtube has been thriving with their user uploaded videos since 2007. Millions, even billions, of subscribers go on to watch their favorite beauty gurus and chefs for their almost* expert advice. This following has been great for growing businesses as it can help enable partnership with the right people to promote their products.

Related: How to Build a Successful Influencer Marketing Campaign  

Although Youtube videos are awesome there is the trend of live video streaming that is popular across the board with social media platforms like Youtube, Instagram and Facebook. Live videos give your audience a chance to post live comments and get on-the-spot answers and is becoming increasingly popular. As for your what your business can do with live streaming? The possibilities are truly endless! Tutorials, Q&A, behind the scenes, live demos, etc… It all depends on what your business is and for you to know your audience.

2. AI (Artificial Intelligence)

While we’re still in the early stages of researching what AI is capable of it’s no doubt that we have come a long way from binary coding to Siri. There are simple easy to incorporate smart tech in your business. Some subtle uses of AI can be found on your favorite sites. While scrolling down your Facebook feed you may find that coffee machine you were just looking at on Amazon.

How or will AI help you with your marketplace? Well for lower level tasks you can complete them more efficiently and accurately. Using AI can also improve your ranking in search engines and help shoppers find your products faster.

3. Rise of Chatbots

If there is something that humans will never cease to do it’s communicating. Of course things have changed from voyages to letters to AIM and now to the myriad of messaging apps that help you talk to people around the world. With recent upgrades that allow you to send pictures, files, and GIFs to one another there are many ways to promote your business.

Related: 4 Tips to Get Users On Your Marketplace Platform

You can implement the casual chatbots and messaging apps to your marketing strategy by creating automated messages that give a quick greeting to any visitors. Updates on promotions and deals can also be sent through the medium of Whatsapp or Instagram. Selling products, sharing tutorials, or recipes through messaging can help create deeper connection with your customers.

Trends come and go but these three seem to be here to stay and flourish with so many opportunities for them. Pick up a camera or reach out to a few customers a day, it could be the difference to catapult your company to great success.