4 Technologies Mercado Livre Expects Will Drive E-Commerce

Mercado Livre, the largest e-commerce company in Latin America, continues its ascent.

Mercado Livre, the largest e-commerce company in Latin America, continues its ascent. It registered a gross transaction volume of US$3.07 billion in the third quarter of 2017, up 51% year over year. That reflects a 56% increase in the number of items sold, for a total of 74.2 million.

In the face of this increase–and a constant investment in technology–the Buenos Aires, Argentina-based company can certainly speak to the trends that should guide e-commerce in 2018.

“We will certainly be closer to customers through all possible interfaces, either visual or voice, making the purchase experience even more personalized,” said Daniel Ferro, CMO of Mercado Livre.

Ferro, along with Daniel Aguiar, senior manager of marketing for Mercado Livre Brazil, shared four areas their company is focusing on.

1. Voice Search

In 2018 product searches by voice commands are expected to advance. This is directly related to the increasing number of accesses coming from mobile devices.

“It’s more practical and easier for the consumer to talk than to type,” Aguiar said. “With the available devices in the market, it will be possible to make purchases with more agility.”

2. Artificial Intelligence

The evolution of AI in the form of machine learning will allow e-commerce sites to make the purchase process faster and offer the customer the best deals and prices.

“Machine learning will especially help us in areas such as fraud prevention, image classification, segmentation, and customer recommendation systems,” Ferro said.

3. Internet Of Things

Marketing through objects, be it a refrigerator interface or a connected window, will enable more possibilities of interaction available to the consumer not only for business transactions, but also for brand relationships.

“It is possible that we are already seeing applications of augmented reality and virtual reality that allow the service and a more immersive purchase experience, using connected objects, glasses, or even the smartphone as a base,” Aguiar said.

4. Smarter Delivery

Optimization of the purchase journey, with intelligent use of data and alignment of messages across all channels, should make the delivery of products easier.

“This decreases purchase time and impacts the way we distribute products,” Ferro said. “We will see a lot of innovations in how to deliver customer packages.”