How To Kickstart Your Career As A Software Engineer In The eCommerce Industry

The ecommerce platform has been growing incredibly fast. As a result, the entire retail industry has been revolutionized and evolved to meet changing customers’ requirements. 2020 is here to reshape e-commerce further. With the implementation of new technologies, customers are now able to customize and visualize products, as well as have better shopping experiences.

eCommerce has also changed the way companies approach digital marketing. In effect, there are many platforms where companies can sell their products and services today—starting from simple websites to smartwatch applications.

For that reason, software developers have played an essential role in the ecommerce industry. These professionals have created solutions in order to gather data and personalize customers’ experiences more efficiently. The use of virtual reality and augmented reality have also taken e-commerce to the next stage.

Technologies have enabled various features including one-click payment methods. It makes shopping a comfortable and easy process, as well as highly engaging. These are only the possibilities that we have learned so far. As tech continues to progress, you would want to be there in the frontline when e-commerce takes a whole different shape in the future. That is why we highly recommend a career in software engineering, particularly in the e-commerce sector.

If you are interested to learn more, here are some skills you can learn to kickstart your career today.

Cross-Platform Development

As e-commerce doesn’t necessarily mean on the web anymore, software engineers must be able to create solutions to fill the needs of different platforms. For example, nowadays, a company can also manage its e-commerce business through mobile apps. For that reason, high-level programming skills are required.

So, if you want to become a proficient software engineer in this sector, you should equip yourself with a powerful tool that can lead you to create cross-platform solutions. Python, the programming language, is a good example of this. Being a general-purpose language, Python will allow you to build the front end as well as the back end side of a website. In return, data will be gathered more efficiently and data scientists that your company employs will be able to gain better insights into them.

Learning other programming languages like Java or JavaScript can also be useful in developing cross-platform software. Typically, there are three ways to go about this—self-education, traditional degree, or coding bootcamps. In this article, we’ll focus on the last option because it is the fastest, cheapest, and most efficient method of learning.

Thinkful, for instance, offers part-time software engineering courses where you can learn multiple programming languages. In effect, you can become proficient at full stack development. Students will have a career support team that includes a personal mentor, career coaches, and academic success managers. Thinkful is a school committed to its students’ career fulfillment, and for that reason, they will learn only from the best. Furthermore, the school offers several financing options that might ease your financial stress while pursuing an education.

Machine Learning

In the ecommerce sector, machine learning technology has allowed companies to personalize shopping experiences for customers as software engineers create smart solutions. The algorithms are able to teach machines to learn from customers’ inputs. Therefore, when specific customers visit your website, they will only see products that are desirable uniquely to them. In effect, companies can segment customers to target campaigns and receive higher revenues.

Thousands of students have learned machine learning at Springboard. The school offers an expert-curated curriculum, as well as one-on-one mentorship. Its courses are available part-time, which means you can learn from the comfort of your home. Also, the school will train you to be job-ready in only nine months. Its machine learning course will teach you how to build and deploy AI systems that are really useful in the e-commerce sector.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) has changed how customers are making purchases. A few years ago, the idea of objects coming to “life” through a phone was unthinkable, but now, it is a common feature we have come to expect when online shopping. Software developers who are able to create AR solutions will definitely thrive in the ecommerce industry. The use of AR allows users to visualize furniture, try on clothes, test out cosmetics, and others. For that reason, the days of shopping online and not knowing what to expect from products have ended. The use of AR has boosted the rate of impulsive shopping because most consumers are not able to resist buying a product that fits their expectations so well.

AR solutions are developed using in-demand skills like JavaScript. JavaScript is a programming language that is the base of almost all web browsers and websites in the world. For this reason, if you want to stand out as a software engineer in the ecommerce sector, you must learn how to code using JavaScript.

At Kenzie Academy, you will learn JavaScript coding skills and other in-demand programming abilities. The school offers 12-month full-time courses. It also has courses where you can also learn User Experience (UX) design—a skill that complements AR and software development skills so well. Kenzie Academy is based in Indianapolis, but if you are not able to attend in-person classes, you can also opt for the online lessons.