It’s going to be an interesting half a decade ahead of us in the world of online commerce as e-comm economies continue to grow thanks to the addition of new SaaS systems and online entertainment trends.

In this review of online markets, we look at what and why people are flocking to the internet and what it is they are seeking out to either solve an everyday problem or to change the way they interreact with the world as a whole. You will find some interesting points and possible some investment opportunities if you are someone looking for stocks or currency deals.

1. SaaS Systems

Solutions to help businesses and people connect online are now on the rise. SaaS platforms are nothing new on the Web but the rate at which they are growing in almost every niche is staggering.

There seem to be 2 or 3 major platforms released every year in e-comm, digital marketing, affiliate systems, customer services communications, and finance industries. In the beginning, many of these SaaS solutions were generic, but today we are seeing another shift in this market sector as solutions now use market segmentation to target specific audiences within a niche.

One of the most remarkable leaps forward is e-comm SaaS platforms. Huge marketplaces exist where people can sell their products such as Amazon. However, Amazon is now being rivalled globally by more niche-specific e-comm platform being developed. For example, there are now platforms that specially deal in boutique fashion and even more narrowed down systems that specifically target sneakers.

Companies that commonly use these SaaS systems are DST brands that are taking the US, European, and Chinese e-comm economies by storm.

It is also worth noting that many of these platforms are now fully mobile compatible with dedicated apps. Which leads us onto our next point which is mobile gaming.

• Airbnb
• Wix
• Dropbox
• HubSpot
• GLOSKU

Check out the top 36 SaaS companies here…

2. Smartphone Gaming Development

There is no leaving mobile gaming out of the mix here. Even though it is obvious that mobile gaming is going to trend not just over the next half-decade but arguably the next half a century. Today we are in a mobile evolution with 4G moving the mobile market into a new age that we never thought possible.

One of the largest industries to find its way through all the noise within the mobile apps iGaming and trailing that is mobile MOBA gaming. Both come with apps and both are popular on a global basis whether you are in China, Africa, Europe, or in the Americas.

Arguably the king of all online gaming at this time is online video slots. iGaming is more popular than MOBA gaming on mobile and within the iGaming industry, online slots are the most popular form of entertainment. In fact, they are so popular that one of the leading developers within the slots gaming industry, NetEnt, are currently floated on the NASDAQ.

• NetEnt
• Playtech
• Microgaming
• Play’n Go
• Red Tiger Gaming

As for the MOBA mobile gaming market, this is the fastest-growing mobile gaming fad out there at this time. MOBA games such as Dota and League of Legends have always been popular amongst PC gamers, but no one thought these games could be replicated onto a smartphone or touchpad. However, as gaming developers become more advanced, they proved as all wrong.

• Mobile Legends
• Arena of Valor
• Vainglory
• Brawl Stars
• Legend of Ace

Moving back to the iGaming scene and there is another revelation that is bursting out from desktop play to smartphones and tablets. This is the introduction of not video slot but live dealer tables. These are real-life tables manned by a dealer or croupier. The tables are streamed to people’s devices who then place bets directly on the table.

The whole experience replicates the same feeling you would get sitting in a land-based casino establishment. Now, this style of gaming is available on mobile devices which is something most people thought not possible – especially when it comes to small smartphone screens.

Today there are multiple companies involved in the development of live dealer games.

• Evolution Gaming
• Pragmatic Play Live
• Asia Gaming
• eZugi Gaming
• Authentic Gaming Live

Check out more about smartphone iGaming…

3. Cryptocurrencies & Blockchain Tech

Cryptocurrencies are making headlines daily. They are being approved by governments around the world and their presence means that new tech far beyond the scope of traditional IT systems is always on the horizon.

Mass adoption of cryptos to make purchases, swap assets, register ownership, and in some cases the ability to patent ideas is remarkably close and, in many industries, already in action. For example, Food Trust by IBM is a new blockchain platform that tracks food from the source to the shelves of a supermarket. This app lets us know that the food we are buying sticks to fair trade laws.

In the iGaming industry ‘provably fair’ algorithms are stirring up an entirely new way to trust the results of a video slot game or table game. The algorithm sends users an encrypted hash with game results inside it for the session the player is about to play. Once the player has finished his or her session, the results of the game are unencrypted allowing the player to use software to check to see if the results were fair and random.

As the blockchain ecosystem the algorithm is on creates immutable records, and each session is decrypted after the user’s session is over, entire audits of a particular game’s results are now available on a public ledger. This means licensing companies and auditors, or anyone for that matter, can check the integrity of any slot game or table game.

Today, there is no limit to what blockchain tech can do to help solve problems or get around authorities trying to monopolise or control a certain market or place. Even loans are available via crypto these days which effectively cut out the banks, and there are cryptos pegged against the US$ in case you do not trust leaving you money in a bank!

Check out Coindesk crypto news and prices….

Summary

We have only touched the surface of digital trends for the future. However, we did pick out the 3 most popular game changers for the future. We could have also added VR into the mix, but we didn’t because VR development is moving so slow. It could be that we see a breakthrough in this niche sometime over the next 5 years but it is unlikely that mass adoption of VR will emerge until 2025 or after.

Right now, the feeling is that VR is not about to pop its head up above the sand any time soon despite its emergence in business markets such as travel, real estate, and conferencing.

For now, the market leaders that are changing the way we live and the world of tech are SaaS platforms, mobile iGaming and MOBA games, and blockchain technologies. These are the big game changers with smartphone gaming adapted from PC games and iGaming overtaking the gaming industry with its slots and table games now available on smartphones even with very small screens.

In the meantime, cryptocurrencies are a major talking point in the world of finance, but it is not the cryptos only that will change the way live over the next 5 years, it is the blockchain tech solutions behind them, which ironically enough many of these will be SaaS solution available on smartphones.