The debate and doubt is long over. Gone are the days when an e-commerce division
was the lonely stepchild of a merchant’s business, clamoring to prove its value.
e-Commerce has fully stepped up to assume its rightful place as a critical growth
channel for businesses in just about every industry. And now, with the emergence of
social and mobile commerce, and the continuing integration of these channels with
physical stores and contact centers, the e-commerce infrastructure has gone from
fringe to foundation. e-Commerce platforms are becoming cross-channel platforms,
serving as the core engine powering an entire cross-channel commerce operation. With
this evolution business managers need to think strategically about how to engage, sell
to, and serve customers across all established and emerging channels and devices.
1) The document discusses the challenges companies face in delivering personalized experiences to customers across offline, online, and mobile channels in today's digital marketplace.
2) It outlines five fundamental steps for restructuring marketing functions to achieve a more customer-centric approach: acknowledging the present state, building an integrated strategy, developing an information infrastructure, selecting enabling technologies, and restructuring the marketing function.
3) Taking these steps can help companies meet the challenge of personalization by gaining insights from customer data to better understand behaviors and deliver relevant messages and offerings.
This document discusses how social networking and mobile commerce have changed customer expectations and business dynamics. It notes that customers now have unlimited access to information and can instantly share it. This is changing how products are sourced, manufactured and distributed, making business more complex. The document introduces IBM's approach called "Smarter Commerce", which places the customer at the center of business operations. Smarter Commerce uses insights from social and mobile commerce to enhance customer value across the commerce cycle.
Social commerce combines e-commerce and social media by allowing customers to interact with each other and share opinions and recommendations about products online. It can drive new visitors to retail websites, increase customer engagement on the site, and boost conversion rates. Retailers can integrate social commerce features like reviews, ratings, photos, videos and forums to provide a more social and interactive shopping experience for customers online.
6 Strategies to Address Price Transparency in RetailMartin Mehalchin
Lenati provides marketing and sales consulting. They address how retailers should respond to increased price transparency from smartphones and apps. Retailers need consistent pricing across channels to meet customer expectations. Trying to block apps or discount excessively risks losing customers. Instead, retailers should add value through exclusive products, loyalty programs, social responsibility, and bringing online info into stores.
[Executive summary] Digital Shopper RelevancyCapgemini
Digital shoppers can be segmented into six distinct groups based on their behaviors and attitudes toward digital channels. The largest segments vary by country and product category. Digital Shopaholics and Social Digital Shoppers dominate in developing markets like India and China, while Rational Online Shoppers are most common in mature markets. Significant differences also exist between developing and mature markets, as digital channels play a greater role across all shopping phases in developing areas.
Digital shopper relevancy__Executive_Summary_Miguel Garcia
Digital shoppers can be segmented into six distinct groups based on their behaviors and attitudes toward digital technologies. The segments range from Techno-Shy Shoppers who are not interested in digital channels, to Digital Shopaholics who are early adopters that actively use digital across all shopping phases. Differences exist between developing and mature markets, with developing markets having more Digital Shopaholics and Social Digital Shoppers. The document provides insights into each segment and how they vary by demographics, geography, and shopping preferences.
Opening Trend Report: "Mobile: A Consumer Rethink. Not a Technology Rethink."iMedia Connection
The document summarizes the iMedia Breakthrough Summit, which focuses on keeping pace with mobile consumers. It discusses major consumer mobile behaviors like communication, content consumption, creation and commerce. It emphasizes that mobile is a consumer rethink rather than a technology rethink and that location changes everything by enabling geo-targeting of ads and content. The summit aims to provide strategy insights, speaker analysis and networking around mobile trends.
1) The document discusses the challenges companies face in delivering personalized experiences to customers across offline, online, and mobile channels in today's digital marketplace.
2) It outlines five fundamental steps for restructuring marketing functions to achieve a more customer-centric approach: acknowledging the present state, building an integrated strategy, developing an information infrastructure, selecting enabling technologies, and restructuring the marketing function.
3) Taking these steps can help companies meet the challenge of personalization by gaining insights from customer data to better understand behaviors and deliver relevant messages and offerings.
This document discusses how social networking and mobile commerce have changed customer expectations and business dynamics. It notes that customers now have unlimited access to information and can instantly share it. This is changing how products are sourced, manufactured and distributed, making business more complex. The document introduces IBM's approach called "Smarter Commerce", which places the customer at the center of business operations. Smarter Commerce uses insights from social and mobile commerce to enhance customer value across the commerce cycle.
Social commerce combines e-commerce and social media by allowing customers to interact with each other and share opinions and recommendations about products online. It can drive new visitors to retail websites, increase customer engagement on the site, and boost conversion rates. Retailers can integrate social commerce features like reviews, ratings, photos, videos and forums to provide a more social and interactive shopping experience for customers online.
6 Strategies to Address Price Transparency in RetailMartin Mehalchin
Lenati provides marketing and sales consulting. They address how retailers should respond to increased price transparency from smartphones and apps. Retailers need consistent pricing across channels to meet customer expectations. Trying to block apps or discount excessively risks losing customers. Instead, retailers should add value through exclusive products, loyalty programs, social responsibility, and bringing online info into stores.
[Executive summary] Digital Shopper RelevancyCapgemini
Digital shoppers can be segmented into six distinct groups based on their behaviors and attitudes toward digital channels. The largest segments vary by country and product category. Digital Shopaholics and Social Digital Shoppers dominate in developing markets like India and China, while Rational Online Shoppers are most common in mature markets. Significant differences also exist between developing and mature markets, as digital channels play a greater role across all shopping phases in developing areas.
Digital shopper relevancy__Executive_Summary_Miguel Garcia
Digital shoppers can be segmented into six distinct groups based on their behaviors and attitudes toward digital technologies. The segments range from Techno-Shy Shoppers who are not interested in digital channels, to Digital Shopaholics who are early adopters that actively use digital across all shopping phases. Differences exist between developing and mature markets, with developing markets having more Digital Shopaholics and Social Digital Shoppers. The document provides insights into each segment and how they vary by demographics, geography, and shopping preferences.
Opening Trend Report: "Mobile: A Consumer Rethink. Not a Technology Rethink."iMedia Connection
The document summarizes the iMedia Breakthrough Summit, which focuses on keeping pace with mobile consumers. It discusses major consumer mobile behaviors like communication, content consumption, creation and commerce. It emphasizes that mobile is a consumer rethink rather than a technology rethink and that location changes everything by enabling geo-targeting of ads and content. The summit aims to provide strategy insights, speaker analysis and networking around mobile trends.
The document discusses how retailers are working smarter by adapting to changes in consumer behavior and technology. It describes how leading retailers are implementing dynamic supply chains and merchandising, maximizing store efficiency, and offering customized shopping experiences. This allows retailers to stay competitive against online options and respond quickly to customer trends. The document also provides examples of how companies like Carrefour, Metro Group, and Moosejaw Mountaineering are innovating their operations and customer engagement to work smarter.
Integrated marketing communications an i volutionary perspectiveJim Boukouray, PhD
The document provides an overview of integrated marketing communications (IMC), including its history, key concepts, components and trends. IMC is defined as a strategic business process that coordinates various promotional activities to create persuasive messaging for both internal and external audiences. The summary discusses how IMC has evolved from traditional advertising to become more interactive, data-driven and focused on accountability. Current trends highlighted include the growth of digital/social media integration within IMC strategies.
The document discusses how digital technology is changing consumer shopping behavior. It finds that while e-commerce currently accounts for a small percentage of consumer packaged goods (CPG) sales, it is the fastest growing retail channel. Certain CPG categories like diapers and vitamins are better suited to online shopping due to barriers like an urgency to consume or need to inspect products. The document examines how shopper needs around convenience, choice, and value can be met through both online and brick-and-mortar retail formats. It emphasizes that understanding shopper behavior and category characteristics is key to marketing success in the digital world.
REimaginging the Retail Store: GlobalShop 2011 PresentationLeo Burnett
Alan Treadgold (Head of Retail Strategy for the Leo Burnett Group) and Bryan Gailey (Retail Design Director for Arc Worldwide) recently presented at GlobalShop 2011 in Las Vegas the headline findings from Leo Burnett / Arc's REimagining the Retail Store research program.
This keynote presentation was delivered to over 600 conference delegates, and was recognized as one of the most impressive presentations at the event.
SolidMedia: QwikBonus Program - Conversation StarterJonjozuf Hadley
The document describes a "one-stop-shop" mobile marketing solution called QwikBonus for convenience stores. QwikBonus provides a complete mobile solution including a branded mobile app, turnkey mobile marketing capabilities, loyalty programs, and data analytics. It aims to increase customer acquisition and retention through rewards programs, drive more store visits from loyal customers, and increase customer response to offers. The system works by targeting customers with a location-aware mobile app and using geofences to deliver promotions to customers both outside and within the store area.
The document discusses the mobile marketing mix and how mobile technologies can be used for marketing purposes. It outlines some key elements of an effective mobile strategy, including personalization, participation, peer-to-peer interactions, and predictive modelling. These mobile marketing techniques can help brands build awareness, enhance consumer loyalty, generate more sales, and increase consumer interaction with the brand. The document provides examples of how brands have successfully used mobile marketing to launch products, collect consumer data, and create viral marketing campaigns.
This document provides an agenda and overview of information for a May 2008 meeting. It includes:
1) An introduction to the company Lateral, describing them as a strategic communications agency with experience in both traditional and digital media.
2) A history highlighting Lateral's innovations in digital marketing from 1995 to 2007.
3) A summary of the Antidote youth engagement program launched by Lateral for Levi's, including its objectives, partnerships with content creators, online and print components, and hosted live events.
4) Contact information for the company representative Jon to answer any questions.
Measuring M-Commerce Maturity: A Must Do in a Mobile Enabled WorldCognizant
When developing a mobile strategy, retailers need to consider the maturity of their current offering and identify m-commerce opportunities that make the most business sense.
The document summarizes the third annual WPP BrandZ study on the top 20 most valuable global retail brands in 2011. Some key findings include:
1) Amazon overtook Walmart as the most valuable global retail brand, with a brand value of $37.6 billion, reflecting the transformative influence of digital on shopping habits.
2) Understanding the changing retail landscape and shopper behaviors requires extensive global knowledge across communications disciplines, as assumptions of shopper marketing are in flux.
3) Commentary analyzes how digital is reshaping the customer journey and retail industry, including understanding new browsing and purchase behaviors across online and physical channels.
Mobile in retail and multi channel strategy - LenatiArthur Megnin
This document discusses how retailers can develop a mobile strategy to enhance the customer experience across different touchpoints of the shopping journey. It identifies five key touchpoints: pre-store planning, outside the store, in-store experiences, checkout, and post-purchase. Retailers face the challenge of integrating mobile into their multi-channel strategy to improve sales and customer loyalty. An effective mobile strategy using a mobile-optimized website and app can attract more customers, increase retention, and realize financial benefits for retailers.
42 percent of Americans are using social media to shop – this equates to nearly 95 million social shoppers in the U.S. – and that number continues to rise. In fact, when asked how often social media is used to shop today versus a year ago, almost 73 percent of people confirmed they are using it more.
SocialShop – a national quantitative and qualitative research study – looks at social media usage from the eyes of a shopper to understand the influence each respective platform has on a person’s buying behavior.
From Facebook and Twitter to YouTube and Groupon, people of all ages are using social networking sites and other user-generated content platforms as shopping tools. In fact, SocialShop found 42 percent of social shoppers are using Facebook more than they were a year ago, while 55 percent of shoppers are utilizing daily deals more and 46 percent of shoppers have increased engagement on review sites and forums.
With rapid expansion of social channels and the frequent launch of new platforms, brands and marketers are trying to figure out how to successfully use social media to connect with shoppers. According to the research, success is not measured by visibility on all social media channels, but by leveraging the strengths of platforms that cater to your shoppers’ needs.
The consumer decision journey. McKinsey. Consumers are moving outside the purchasing funnel, changing the way they research and buy your products. If your marketing hasn’t changed in response, it should. https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/The_consumer_decision_journey_2373
The document discusses innovations in retail as consumer behavior shifts towards digital and mobile commerce. It outlines how retailers must adapt to an omni-channel approach, using technology to engage customers across multiple touchpoints. Specifically, it explores trends in mobile in-store shopping, tablet and mobile apps, virtual stores, and social/visual discovery platforms to enhance the customer experience across channels.
The document discusses the concept of "Value-For-Money" and how brands can lose their positioning on the "Value-For-Money line" by developing an unjustified price premium over time. It explains how brands constantly move on the model as new competitors enter with decent offerings at cheaper prices. The document recommends that brands communicate their price and value through all customer touchpoints with excellence and consistency. It also provides strategies for brands to reset their positioning on the "Value-For-Money line" by decreasing perceived price or increasing perceived value through improvements and marketing efforts.
Digital Shopper Relevancy - 2012 - Cap GeminiRomain Fonnier
The document discusses a study on digital shopper behavior across 16 countries. The study focused on how shoppers use digital channels throughout their shopping journey, from awareness of products to aftersales care. Key findings include:
1) Shoppers are no longer loyal to a single channel, but expect a seamless experience across online, physical, and mobile channels.
2) The study analyzed shopping preferences across 5 product categories and 16,000 interviews to understand digital shopper segments.
3) Retailers and brands need to understand when and where they are relevant to digital shoppers throughout the shopping process, including via social media and smartphones.
4) Insights from the study can help companies better understand changing
The document discusses a study of digital shopping behavior across 16 countries. The study analyzed how consumers use digital channels like websites, mobile apps, and in-store technologies during different phases of the shopping journey, including awareness, choosing a product, transactions, delivery, and after-sales care. The study found that shoppers expect consistency across online, physical, and mobile shopping experiences, and most expect these channels to be seamlessly integrated by 2014. The report provides insights into how digital shoppers' behaviors vary in different markets and categories that can help retailers better understand customers and invest in omnichannel capabilities.
How different is the use of digital
channels during the shopping journey
in developing countries compared with
more mature markets?
Is there a clear segmentation of
shoppers based on their shopping
behavior and preferences across all
channels (for example, taking into
account different behavior for women,
tech-shy or older people)?
When are retailers and manufacturers
relevant to digital shoppers in their
all-channel experience, such as with
social media and smartphones – and
how does this differ depending on the
shopper segment?
Are you wondering how social media will change your business then check out this whitepaper by IBM about how your business will be effected by social media.
This white paper discusses the essential role that small IT solution providers can play in supporting the transition to health IT among small medical providers. It notes that while policies like the HITECH Act have incentivized health IT adoption, small medical providers still face challenges adopting systems due to limited resources. Small IT solution providers are well positioned to help small medical providers but face barriers entering the health IT market. The paper recommends policy changes to support education and retraining of IT professionals in health IT, integrate IT professionals into assistance programs, and reduce privacy and security compliance burdens on small IT firms. These changes could help small medical providers adopt health IT while allowing IT firms to support the transition and economic growth.
This report by the Aberdeen Group on how since 2008 the mobile devices have changed how companies deal with the growth of mobile devices in the enterprise. And ask the question should business control what devices come into their business with a mandatory device or let employees bring their own devices and create the infrastructure to support them.
This document discusses how businesses can use mobile learning and priority communications to provide training and critical information to employees. It provides examples of companies that have used mobile technologies for real-time training evaluation, reinforcing learning, keeping employees motivated, maximizing downtime, pushing critical updates, and supporting change management. The document also discusses how technology has matured to address issues with content delivery, security, and device compatibility.
The document discusses how retailers are working smarter by adapting to changes in consumer behavior and technology. It describes how leading retailers are implementing dynamic supply chains and merchandising, maximizing store efficiency, and offering customized shopping experiences. This allows retailers to stay competitive against online options and respond quickly to customer trends. The document also provides examples of how companies like Carrefour, Metro Group, and Moosejaw Mountaineering are innovating their operations and customer engagement to work smarter.
Integrated marketing communications an i volutionary perspectiveJim Boukouray, PhD
The document provides an overview of integrated marketing communications (IMC), including its history, key concepts, components and trends. IMC is defined as a strategic business process that coordinates various promotional activities to create persuasive messaging for both internal and external audiences. The summary discusses how IMC has evolved from traditional advertising to become more interactive, data-driven and focused on accountability. Current trends highlighted include the growth of digital/social media integration within IMC strategies.
The document discusses how digital technology is changing consumer shopping behavior. It finds that while e-commerce currently accounts for a small percentage of consumer packaged goods (CPG) sales, it is the fastest growing retail channel. Certain CPG categories like diapers and vitamins are better suited to online shopping due to barriers like an urgency to consume or need to inspect products. The document examines how shopper needs around convenience, choice, and value can be met through both online and brick-and-mortar retail formats. It emphasizes that understanding shopper behavior and category characteristics is key to marketing success in the digital world.
REimaginging the Retail Store: GlobalShop 2011 PresentationLeo Burnett
Alan Treadgold (Head of Retail Strategy for the Leo Burnett Group) and Bryan Gailey (Retail Design Director for Arc Worldwide) recently presented at GlobalShop 2011 in Las Vegas the headline findings from Leo Burnett / Arc's REimagining the Retail Store research program.
This keynote presentation was delivered to over 600 conference delegates, and was recognized as one of the most impressive presentations at the event.
SolidMedia: QwikBonus Program - Conversation StarterJonjozuf Hadley
The document describes a "one-stop-shop" mobile marketing solution called QwikBonus for convenience stores. QwikBonus provides a complete mobile solution including a branded mobile app, turnkey mobile marketing capabilities, loyalty programs, and data analytics. It aims to increase customer acquisition and retention through rewards programs, drive more store visits from loyal customers, and increase customer response to offers. The system works by targeting customers with a location-aware mobile app and using geofences to deliver promotions to customers both outside and within the store area.
The document discusses the mobile marketing mix and how mobile technologies can be used for marketing purposes. It outlines some key elements of an effective mobile strategy, including personalization, participation, peer-to-peer interactions, and predictive modelling. These mobile marketing techniques can help brands build awareness, enhance consumer loyalty, generate more sales, and increase consumer interaction with the brand. The document provides examples of how brands have successfully used mobile marketing to launch products, collect consumer data, and create viral marketing campaigns.
This document provides an agenda and overview of information for a May 2008 meeting. It includes:
1) An introduction to the company Lateral, describing them as a strategic communications agency with experience in both traditional and digital media.
2) A history highlighting Lateral's innovations in digital marketing from 1995 to 2007.
3) A summary of the Antidote youth engagement program launched by Lateral for Levi's, including its objectives, partnerships with content creators, online and print components, and hosted live events.
4) Contact information for the company representative Jon to answer any questions.
Measuring M-Commerce Maturity: A Must Do in a Mobile Enabled WorldCognizant
When developing a mobile strategy, retailers need to consider the maturity of their current offering and identify m-commerce opportunities that make the most business sense.
The document summarizes the third annual WPP BrandZ study on the top 20 most valuable global retail brands in 2011. Some key findings include:
1) Amazon overtook Walmart as the most valuable global retail brand, with a brand value of $37.6 billion, reflecting the transformative influence of digital on shopping habits.
2) Understanding the changing retail landscape and shopper behaviors requires extensive global knowledge across communications disciplines, as assumptions of shopper marketing are in flux.
3) Commentary analyzes how digital is reshaping the customer journey and retail industry, including understanding new browsing and purchase behaviors across online and physical channels.
Mobile in retail and multi channel strategy - LenatiArthur Megnin
This document discusses how retailers can develop a mobile strategy to enhance the customer experience across different touchpoints of the shopping journey. It identifies five key touchpoints: pre-store planning, outside the store, in-store experiences, checkout, and post-purchase. Retailers face the challenge of integrating mobile into their multi-channel strategy to improve sales and customer loyalty. An effective mobile strategy using a mobile-optimized website and app can attract more customers, increase retention, and realize financial benefits for retailers.
42 percent of Americans are using social media to shop – this equates to nearly 95 million social shoppers in the U.S. – and that number continues to rise. In fact, when asked how often social media is used to shop today versus a year ago, almost 73 percent of people confirmed they are using it more.
SocialShop – a national quantitative and qualitative research study – looks at social media usage from the eyes of a shopper to understand the influence each respective platform has on a person’s buying behavior.
From Facebook and Twitter to YouTube and Groupon, people of all ages are using social networking sites and other user-generated content platforms as shopping tools. In fact, SocialShop found 42 percent of social shoppers are using Facebook more than they were a year ago, while 55 percent of shoppers are utilizing daily deals more and 46 percent of shoppers have increased engagement on review sites and forums.
With rapid expansion of social channels and the frequent launch of new platforms, brands and marketers are trying to figure out how to successfully use social media to connect with shoppers. According to the research, success is not measured by visibility on all social media channels, but by leveraging the strengths of platforms that cater to your shoppers’ needs.
The consumer decision journey. McKinsey. Consumers are moving outside the purchasing funnel, changing the way they research and buy your products. If your marketing hasn’t changed in response, it should. https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/The_consumer_decision_journey_2373
The document discusses innovations in retail as consumer behavior shifts towards digital and mobile commerce. It outlines how retailers must adapt to an omni-channel approach, using technology to engage customers across multiple touchpoints. Specifically, it explores trends in mobile in-store shopping, tablet and mobile apps, virtual stores, and social/visual discovery platforms to enhance the customer experience across channels.
The document discusses the concept of "Value-For-Money" and how brands can lose their positioning on the "Value-For-Money line" by developing an unjustified price premium over time. It explains how brands constantly move on the model as new competitors enter with decent offerings at cheaper prices. The document recommends that brands communicate their price and value through all customer touchpoints with excellence and consistency. It also provides strategies for brands to reset their positioning on the "Value-For-Money line" by decreasing perceived price or increasing perceived value through improvements and marketing efforts.
Digital Shopper Relevancy - 2012 - Cap GeminiRomain Fonnier
The document discusses a study on digital shopper behavior across 16 countries. The study focused on how shoppers use digital channels throughout their shopping journey, from awareness of products to aftersales care. Key findings include:
1) Shoppers are no longer loyal to a single channel, but expect a seamless experience across online, physical, and mobile channels.
2) The study analyzed shopping preferences across 5 product categories and 16,000 interviews to understand digital shopper segments.
3) Retailers and brands need to understand when and where they are relevant to digital shoppers throughout the shopping process, including via social media and smartphones.
4) Insights from the study can help companies better understand changing
The document discusses a study of digital shopping behavior across 16 countries. The study analyzed how consumers use digital channels like websites, mobile apps, and in-store technologies during different phases of the shopping journey, including awareness, choosing a product, transactions, delivery, and after-sales care. The study found that shoppers expect consistency across online, physical, and mobile shopping experiences, and most expect these channels to be seamlessly integrated by 2014. The report provides insights into how digital shoppers' behaviors vary in different markets and categories that can help retailers better understand customers and invest in omnichannel capabilities.
How different is the use of digital
channels during the shopping journey
in developing countries compared with
more mature markets?
Is there a clear segmentation of
shoppers based on their shopping
behavior and preferences across all
channels (for example, taking into
account different behavior for women,
tech-shy or older people)?
When are retailers and manufacturers
relevant to digital shoppers in their
all-channel experience, such as with
social media and smartphones – and
how does this differ depending on the
shopper segment?
Are you wondering how social media will change your business then check out this whitepaper by IBM about how your business will be effected by social media.
This white paper discusses the essential role that small IT solution providers can play in supporting the transition to health IT among small medical providers. It notes that while policies like the HITECH Act have incentivized health IT adoption, small medical providers still face challenges adopting systems due to limited resources. Small IT solution providers are well positioned to help small medical providers but face barriers entering the health IT market. The paper recommends policy changes to support education and retraining of IT professionals in health IT, integrate IT professionals into assistance programs, and reduce privacy and security compliance burdens on small IT firms. These changes could help small medical providers adopt health IT while allowing IT firms to support the transition and economic growth.
This report by the Aberdeen Group on how since 2008 the mobile devices have changed how companies deal with the growth of mobile devices in the enterprise. And ask the question should business control what devices come into their business with a mandatory device or let employees bring their own devices and create the infrastructure to support them.
This document discusses how businesses can use mobile learning and priority communications to provide training and critical information to employees. It provides examples of companies that have used mobile technologies for real-time training evaluation, reinforcing learning, keeping employees motivated, maximizing downtime, pushing critical updates, and supporting change management. The document also discusses how technology has matured to address issues with content delivery, security, and device compatibility.
Surveys show that 35 percent of American adults have a profile on a social networking site. Seventy-five percent of Facebook
users admit to checking their Facebook at work, on company time and company-owned equipment. In 2004, more than 10 percent
of employees spent more than half of a day on email (86 percent of which is personal), and more than one in five employers
(21 percent) had employee email and instant messages subpoenaed in the course of a lawsuit or regulatory investigation. One
hundred percent of information placed on the Web is never really “erased” completely (Pew Internet Project, 2008).
This document provides updates and tips for social media marketing. It discusses setting up a content marketing program with regular blog posts. It promotes embedding videos in blogs and using Twitter to share interesting facts from reports. Mobile apps and curating factoids are also presented as ways to engage customers. An alumni company, Wirehead Technology, is featured for its curated mobility blog.
This guide to designed to help private doctors and small clinics understand the HIPPA regulation and get them ready for an audit. The guide contains several checklists that will guide them step by step to make sure everything is done to create and secure and EMR network
Mobile phones have come a long way since their introduction over 30 years ago. Phones are smaller, weigh less, and do more, carrying data as well as voice. Phones not only make telephone calls, they send e-mail and text messages, take and send photographs, play games, and access and browse the Internet. And mobile phones are everywhere. By the end of 2009, mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide numbered approximately 4.6 billion.1 Neither age, nationality, nor economic status represents a barrier to owning and using a mobile phone. The first phones may have been novelties, but mobile phones now are a necessity, especially for the under-35 demographic.
The document provides an introduction to mobile coupons, including:
1) An overview of the mobile couponing process from delivery to redemption.
2) Different types of mobile coupon deals and best practices for designing effective mobile coupon campaigns.
3) Details on the UCC/EAN-128 coupon extended codes that provide additional information for clearing coupons.
The document discusses the rise of "everywhere commerce", which is digitally enhanced commerce undergoing exponential growth through multiple channels. This complexity creates challenges for brands to meet rising consumer expectations of connected experiences across touchpoints. The solution proposed is a "Connected Brand Commerce Experience" (CBCE) strategy. A CBCE strategy aims to create three-dimensional brand experiences that are triggered, shareable and shoppable across digital and offline channels. It seeks to compress the purchase journey and eliminate friction so that consumer needs can immediately be met. A successful CBCE strategy defines a brand's key purchase journeys and removes barriers to shopping through ecommerce or calls to action.
Accenture: Multichannel Attribution Dec 2012Brian Crotty
Anticipating consumers’ every move to conversion is essential to realizing a strong return on marketing investment (MROI), yet, pervasive methods for understanding consumer behaviors fall short in a multichannel environment.
In the digital world, channel savvy, highly mobile, multiple device-happy consumers are in control. While they move from one media channel to another—and from one device to another—companies across industries are struggling to keep pace.
Anticipating consumers’ every move to conversion—and measuring every interaction across every channel—is essential to realizing a strong MROI and to sustaining competitive differentiation. Yet, pervasive methods for understanding consumer behaviors fall short in a multichannel environment.
As such, various attribution models and approaches have emerged to help businesses better capture and analyze consumers’ purchase journeys across both offline and online channels. Though a singular approach for measuring consumer data has yet to emerge, multichannel attribution holds exciting promise.
December 6, 2012
Accenture: ACN-interactive-pov-multichannel-attribution Feb 2013Brian Crotty
The document discusses the challenges of measuring marketing return on investment (MROI) in a multichannel environment where consumers move between devices and channels in nonlinear ways. Traditional attribution methods like last-click attribution are insufficient because they do not account for the influence of multiple interactions across channels. The document advocates for multichannel attribution approaches using techniques like clustering, neural networks, and analyzing big data from all consumer touchpoints to better understand the consumer journey and allocate credit and budgets appropriately among channels.
Connected brand commerce experiences (CBCE) are triggered, shareable, and shoppable experiences across digital and physical touchpoints that compress the consumer purchase journey. A CBCE strategy defines a brand's essential purchase journeys and ways to remove friction to allow immediate purchasing. It ensures touchpoints have the right mix of on-demand, personal, engaging, and networked attributes. This fusion of branding, social interaction, and direct sales creates bias towards action for consumers and sustains relationships before and after purchase.
HCLT Whitepaper: Mobility Solutions an emerging trend in the Retail IndustryHCL Technologies
The document discusses how mobile technology is becoming an emerging trend in the retail industry. It provides examples of how mobile apps and technologies can enhance the customer shopping experience by providing product information, driving traffic to stores, and implementing loyalty programs and mobile coupons. The document also describes offerings from HCL's Mobility Solutions group to develop mobile apps across various platforms and technologies for retailers.
The spread of mobile technology has also opened up new data-gathering and analytics possibilities for retailers, but for many, turning the new waves of mobile-generated information into useful insights is still very much a work in progress. Analytics opportunities – and challenges – enabled via shoppers’ mobile devices are multiplied when consumers enter, or even come near, a retailer’s brick-and-mortar store. Mobile-enabled analytics can be used to gain a greater understanding of general traffic patterns and customer behavior, but can also be tied to individualized measurements of shopper activity.
Creating a Great Customer Experience Any Place with Tara and AnneiQmetrixCorp
This document discusses creating an omnichannel customer experience across in-store, web, social, and mobile channels. It defines omnichannel as providing a seamless customer experience anytime, anywhere across touchpoints. Customers now expect consistency between online and in-store experiences. The rise of mobile and social media has changed customer expectations and behaviors. Retailers need to bring the benefits of online channels into physical stores to remain competitive in this new landscape. Case studies like Macy's show how unifying digital and in-store experiences through technologies like mobile and social media can drive sales and customer loyalty.
FIVE TECHNOLOGIES RETAILERS CAN ADOPT TODAY FOR A SUCCESSFUL 2015Arunas Vizickas ✔
This document discusses five technologies that retailers can adopt today for success in 2015: 1) geofencing for location-based marketing, 2) beacons and Bluetooth technology for proximity marketing, 3) augmented reality for in-store and virtual fitting rooms, 4) highly personalized and contextual marketing, and 5) aspirational services like same-day delivery. It emphasizes that adopting these technologies requires rethinking IT's role to better support dynamic solutions for marketing and merchandising needs. Retailers should explore these leading-edge technologies to enrich customer interactions and show they understand shoppers.
Capturing intelligence while managing relationshipsIntergen
Focuses on how to provide sales representatives with the tools to manage customer relationships and to capture valuable field intelligence via direct observations. Enabling immediate transmitting of field information via mobile devices to headquarters. to enable category managers, trade promotion managers, finance and logistics instant-connect views, so that business managers can intelligently and swiftly reorder field priorities to energize a launch, or avoid a supply chain issue. Presented at the NZ Retail Show during April 2011.
This document discusses Visionet's 360° Customer Capture solution which enables retailers to deliver a complete shopping experience across channels by providing a unified 360-degree view of each customer. It highlights challenges retailers face in engaging today's connected, empowered customers who research products online and interact with brands across many touchpoints. Visionet's solution combines customer data from transactions, interactions, social media, and other sources to provide insights that retailers can use to personalize the customer experience, run targeted campaigns, and optimize operations.
360 Degree Customer Capture: Enabling Retailers to Deliver a Complete Shoppin...Imran Aslam
Visionet's 360° Customer Capture solution provides retailers with a unified approach to gain a complete 360-degree view of customers by capturing customer data across all retail channels, functions, and operations. This includes point of sale, marketing, ecommerce, contact centers, and business intelligence to track customer interactions and generate insights. The solution aims to help retailers deliver a personalized, seamless shopping experience and engage customers more meaningfully throughout their journey.
Visionet's 360° Customer Capture solution provides retailers with a unified approach to gain a complete 360-degree view of customers by capturing customer data across all retail channels, functions, and operations. This includes point of sale, marketing, e-commerce, contact centers, and business intelligence to track customer interactions and generate insights. The solution aims to help retailers deliver a personalized, seamless shopping experience and engage customers more meaningfully throughout their journey.
Raymark | Beyond MPOS: Diversifying Retail Mobile Solutions for Greater ROIRaymark
This document discusses how providing retail sales associates with mobile devices can empower them and improve the customer experience. It notes that consumers now have more information than associates when shopping due to being constantly connected. Mobile devices can give associates real-time access to product information, pricing, inventory levels, and customer data to allow them to better assist shoppers. This positions associates to influence purchase decisions rather than just complete transactions, potentially increasing sales and customer loyalty.
Retail store experience : Images Retail Jan 2013Shijo Thomas
Store customer experience management is a vast area involving aspects related to the product, customer segment, store layout and technology used. Retailers need to start layer by layer beginning with factors of customer convenience and working upwards to provide a spectacular experience.
This document discusses achieving real-time relevance in digital marketing. It explains that relevance means understanding customer behavior across channels to take action in real-time. There are four key steps: 1) measure behavior across all channels, 2) analyze the data to understand customer behavior, 3) segment customers based on shared behaviors, and 4) test and target content to different segments. Real-time relevance requires continuously optimizing marketing based on data insights to improve engagement and conversions.
This document discusses achieving real-time relevance in digital marketing. It explains that relevance means understanding customer behavior across channels to take action in real-time. There are four key steps: 1) measure behavior across all channels, 2) analyze the data to understand customer behavior, 3) segment customers based on shared behaviors, and 4) test and target content to segments. Real-time relevance requires continuous optimization based on data to improve the customer experience.
This document discusses achieving real-time relevance in digital marketing. It explains that relevance means understanding customer behavior across channels to take action in real-time. There are four key steps: 1) measure behavior across all channels, 2) analyze the data to understand customer behavior, 3) segment customers based on shared behaviors, and 4) test and target content to different segments. Real-time relevance requires continuously optimizing marketing based on data insights to improve engagement and conversions.
This document from Whospoppin Enterprises discusses relationships between doctors, patients, and pharmacies. It likely outlines how these groups interact and exchange medical information to provide healthcare services and prescribe/fill medications. The date, 1/2/2014, indicates when this policy or procedures document was created or last updated.
Smart machines IBM’s watson and the era of cognitive computingWirehead Technology
We are at the dawn of a major shift in the evolution of technology. The next two decades will transform the way people live and work just as the computing revolution has transformed the human landscape over the past half century. The host of opportunities and challenges that come with this new era will require a new generation of technologies and a rewriting of the rules of computing.
Healthcare is in crisis. While this is not news for many
countries, we believe what is now different is that the
current paths of many healthcare systems around the
world will become unsustainable by 2015.
This may seem a contrarian conclusion, given the efforts
of competent and dedicated healthcare professionals
and the promise of genomics, regenerative medicine, and
information-based medicine. Yet, it is also true that costs
are rising rapidly; quality is poor or inconsistent; and
access or choice in many countries is inadequate.
Introduction
The increasing use of smartphones and tablet computers as business tools has brought organizations and their employees new levels of productivity, flexibility and mobility. But their use is a double-edged sword, bringing with it new levels of complexity to IT management and security.
The shift to mobile is dramatically changing the way people work and companies do business. IT departments are being challenged to effectively manage resources and infrastructure to support the mobile enterprise. The stakes are high, and enterprise mobility solutions are complex. To succeed, you need more than a piecemeal solution. You need a partner who can deliver a true end-to-end mobility service.
This white paper discusses how HP solutions can help healthcare providers implement bring your own device (BYOD) initiatives securely. BYOD allows doctors, nurses and patients to access healthcare resources using their personal mobile devices like tablets and smartphones. However, it also presents security and network management challenges. HP solutions like Intelligent Management Center (IMC) provide simple network access control to authenticate devices and users. IMC uses device fingerprinting to identify devices and enforce security policies, allowing BYOD while maintaining compliance with regulations and protecting sensitive patient information. The paper explains how HP solutions address BYOD challenges around security, network usage and management of both organization-owned and personal devices on the healthcare network.
The Illinois Health Information Exchange (ILHIE) has just released its Consumer Education Health IT Toolkit. It was developed to provide healthcare professionals with simple and informative educational material to share with their patients. Consumer education and engagement are cornerstones for the implementation of a successful state health IT program.
The Illinois Health Information Exchange (ILHIE) has just released its Consumer Education Health IT Toolkit. It was developed to provide healthcare professionals with simple and informative educational material to share with their patients. Consumer education and engagement are cornerstones for the implementation of a successful state health IT program.
The document summarizes how new Illinois healthcare laws will affect small businesses. It discusses small business tax credits available for employers who provide health insurance. Nearly 60% of small businesses that don't offer coverage cite cost as the main barrier. The laws also require insurers to spend at least 80% of premiums on medical claims and quality improvement. The document encourages small business owners to educate themselves and employees on the new laws and support legislation for healthcare cost transparency.
This document discusses how organizations can capitalize on collective intelligence by tapping into the knowledge and expertise of individuals both inside and outside the organization. It provides 3 approaches that organizations can use to apply collective intelligence: 1) Discovering and sharing new ideas through contests/challenges, collaborative design markets, virtual ideation, and communities of practice. 2) Augmenting skills and distributing workload through parallel task processing and distributed question/answer forums. 3) Improving forecasting effectiveness by collecting diverse opinions through prediction markets. The document also provides examples of companies that have successfully used these approaches.
The Hayt School implemented a wireless network across their campus to enhance learning opportunities. Wirehead Technology installed 49 wireless access points throughout the school, allowing students to access the internet and classroom files from laptops anywhere on campus. This has enabled hands-on project-based learning in new locations like the cafeteria and auditorium. Teachers and students are already benefiting from increased mobility and flexibility in their lessons. The school plans to expand their keyboarding program and explore other technologies that can enhance the curriculum using the wireless network.
Wirehead Technology provides comprehensive healthcare IT managed services including:
1) Helping healthcare practices create HIPAA/HITECH compliant IT networks through managed services to manage patient and practice information while improving care.
2) Offering a range of IT solutions like EMR/PM software, security systems, telecommunications, computer hardware, and mobile health applications.
3) Having experience implementing solutions for practices ranging from sole providers to hundreds of providers through customizable, model-driven systems.
The document profiles four health information exchange (HIE) efforts that are succeeding in getting doctors to share patient data. It discusses how HIEs enable doctors to access test results, diagnoses, and other patient information across organizations. It then summarizes four specific HIE initiatives: the Louisiana Rural Health Information Exchange which serves a rural, underserved region; state-level exchanges being developed in several states using federal funding; HealthBridge serving the Cincinnati area; and the Chesapeake Regional Information System for Our Patients on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The document concludes by noting the growth in HIEs and expectations that new federal incentives and requirements will further drive their adoption.
This document summarizes an EMR system called MDsuite.EMR. It provides incentives for eligible professionals to adopt certified EHR technology through government stimulus programs. MDsuite.EMR offers a fully integrated EMR and practice management system. It has customizable templates, order management, e-prescribing, and connects to external data sources. Pricing is based on the number of providers and users, with options for licensed or hosted models.
W
ith budgets in the hundreds of thousands and now in the millions, mobile advertising is proving to be the fastest-growing ad vehicle across all channels – that much is obvious in our first State of Mobile Advertising Classic Guide.
The document summarizes the results of a survey of 100 major brands and advertisers on their mobile advertising performance and future spending. Key findings include:
- 60% of non-mobile marketers plan to employ mobile advertising in 2010 and spending is expected to increase significantly from 2009 to 2010.
- Mobile advertising performance meets or exceeds expectations for most respondents.
- While internal resources remain a barrier, over 80% of agencies who have run mobile campaigns have developed internal resources to support them.
With nearly 300 million subscribers in the US today and a rapidly growing North American messaging market, mobile is here to stay. And consumers are demanding a more personal, richer mobile experience now more than ever. As text messaging has become the most popular, fastest way to reach people, the potential of mobile is clear. Now is the time to tap into the mobile market and unleash new revenue opportunities for your business.
From texting to video to social networking, mobile phones are taking an ever-expanding role in our
daily lives. And young people around the world are more immersed in mobile technology than any
previous generation.
1. White Paper
Commerce Anywhere
A Business and Technology Strategy to
Maximize Cross-channel Commerce Growth
2. Introduction Commerce Anywhere is the
term ATG uses to describe
The ATG Commerce Anywhere View the approach businesses
The debate and doubt is long over. Gone are the days when an e-commerce division must take to serve “anytime,
was the lonely stepchild of a merchant’s business, clamoring to prove its value. anywhere consumers” in
e-Commerce has fully stepped up to assume its rightful place as a critical growth
a seamless, personal way
channel for businesses in just about every industry. And now, with the emergence of
social and mobile commerce, and the continuing integration of these channels with whether they research or buy
physical stores and contact centers, the e-commerce infrastructure has gone from on the web, in a store, over
fringe to foundation. e-Commerce platforms are becoming cross-channel platforms,
serving as the core engine powering an entire cross-channel commerce operation. With
the phone, using a mobile
this evolution business managers need to think strategically about how to engage, sell device, or all of the above.
to, and serve customers across all established and emerging channels and devices.
The well-informed “anytime, anywhere consumer” with mobile device in hand,
ubiquitous access to broadband, and passion for social media has far more control
over the research and buying process than ever before. This consumer, in his or
her quest for the right purchase, will have many interactions across channels and
rely more heavily on peers, friends, and family to make final decisions. Businesses
are striving to understand this more complex consumer journey and intelligently
connect with consumers wherever they are and however they prefer to research
and purchase. Marketing, selling, and building lifetime value in this evolving
environment is clearly a new endeavor altogether.
Commerce Anywhere is the term ATG uses to describe the approach businesses
must take to serve “anytime, anywhere consumers” in a seamless, personal way
whether they research or buy on the web, in a store, over the phone, using a mobile
device, or all of the above. This Commerce Anywhere view encourages businesses
to extend their concept of the research and purchase process beyond individual
transactions, and to adopt a holistic view of the customer life cycle over time, using
both traditional information and new sources such as social media.
Companies need to understand how they can best evolve both their business
structure and technical solutions to effectively meet the challenges of Commerce
Anywhere. Planning for and implementing a more unified cross-channel, multi-
touchpoint, multi-interaction selling solution is critical.
Whitepaper › Commerce Anywhere: A Strategic Vision to Maximize Commerce Growth › 2
3. For which of the following activities do you use
your mobile device? (Select all that apply)
Chart: Detail of the 27% who complete
activities directly on their mobile devices
Steady Growth of Mobile Fuels Commerce Anywhere
I compare pricing between stores
I search for coupons
I use my mobile device’s GPS capability
to find a store near my location
I browse through a merchant’s collections
on their mobile store or application
18-24
25-34
While I’m in a store, I seek customer
or expert ratings and reviews 35-44
45-54
The evolving consumer journey involves numerous interactions, channels, and touchpoints. I receive SMS notifications of
product promotions and sales
55+
I use a mobile barcode scanning application
The shopping and buying cycle is much more complex than ever before, spanning: to learn more about specific products
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
• Channels (store, website, contact center )
In a consumer survey conducted in 2010, ATG found that
• Device types (mobile phone, tablet/iPad, kiosk, POS, personal computer) consumers are rapidly increasing their use of mobile devices
for a wide range of commerce-related activities. This finding
was further supported by growing mobile commerce activity
• Locations (home, work, travel, in the store) during the 2010 holiday shopping season.
• People (peer, friend, sales assistant, personal shopper) Source: ATG Research: Consumer Shopping Experiences,
Preferences, and Behaviors, October 2010
• Sites (social sites like Facebook, marketplaces like eBay or Amazon,
and comparison sites like Shopzilla and PriceGrabber)
• Times (in and out of normal business hours and over time, as the consumer
moves from consideration, research, and recommendations, to purchase)
Plus, there are significant forces driving growing consumer expectations of their
buying experience:
• New “cross-channel” consumer expectations are being escalated by
innovative brick and mortar companies like Best Buy that offer convenience
services such as the option to buy online and pick up in a store
• The popularity of social sites and user generated content
are changing the way consumers research and shop, and
thus shifting how companies market to them
• The proliferation of mobile devices, smart phones, tablets and
e-readers enable consumers to look for product information
online, even when they’re standing in a store aisle
• Extremely busy lifestyles have consumers researching and communicating
in bite-size chunks at home and on the road with their mobile devices
• The willingness of consumers to share personal information, especially
when they see a benefit to themselves - is helping sellers provide
better treatment, more relevant content, improved suggestions
and recommendations, and more valuable promotions.
Whitepaper › Commerce Anywhere: A Strategic Vision to Maximize Commerce Growth › 3
4. Yet, as consumer expectations of commerce continue to rise, many sellers are still
treating interactions as discrete, disconnected visits. They miss the context of previous
contact, and as a result fail to provide the customer with a satisfying, consistent
experience that intelligently understands where a customer is, what they’ve asked
before, what kind of device they’re currently using, to inform the current interaction and
drive a purchase. The seller’s goal should be to choreograph every channel to be able to
work in unison to meet consumer expectations and drive revenue.
A New Commerce Environment
Selling via multiple channels (web, store, call center, catalog) is not a new phenomenon:
most companies sell products and services through more than one channel, and
have done so for decades. The complexity of back-end systems, cost of integration
projects, and deeply entrenched, disconnected business processes, however, have
made it economically prohibitive to deliver a truly unified and optimized multi-channel
experience across channels. In the past, these limitations left no choice but for each
channel to operate independently, missing opportunities for synergy or coordination.
Now, however, new technology opportunities have tremendous potential. Some of
the most exciting technical trends driving cross-channel commerce include:
• Broadband penetration and wireless advancements that make mobile and rich
media applications practical and consumable by large consumer populations
• Smart mobile devices like the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry that are
starting to deliver a compelling browsing and buying experience as well
providing a compelling platform for mobile checkout and POS (Point of Sales)
• Tablet devices like the iPad that offer an ideal footprint
for sales and field assistance applications
• Advancements in integration solutions that enable the
unification of data across channels and lines of business
• Technologies like web services, REST, location-based services, and SaaS
applications that make Commerce Anywhere a cost-effective, viable possibility
An effective Commerce Anywhere environment must provide a consistent cross-channel experience
to customers, and give companies a single view of the customer.
Whitepaper › Commerce Anywhere: A Strategic Vision to Maximize Commerce Growth › 4
5. The Need for Business Transformation By leveraging a new generation
of technologies, devices, and
From a business perspective, Commerce Anywhere requires a company to deliver
the optimal customer experience for both the brief single-channel, single-device,
software, enterprises can cost-
single-interaction buying session and the more complex multi-channel, multi- effectively and efficiently move
touchpoint, multi-interaction buying cycle that spans a longer period of time from a model of independent
(days, weeks, months). This ideal “cross-channel selling” model must be unified,
while allowing some aspects to be independent. The traditional approaches are to multi-channel sales processes
treat channels separately, to hook them up pairwise over time, or to try to force all to an integrated and unified
channels to use exactly the same approach at all times. The right approach is a mix
cross-channel sales model.
of distributed and centralized aspects optimized for the strengths of each channel.
The challenge is that the data and systems supporting a unified, more intelligent
customer experience can be complex and difficult to access, typically buried in
a range of legacy systems, applications, and business functions both inside and
outside a company’s boundaries. This technology hurdle has often been the
barrier to fast or straightforward implementation, and a legitimate excuse for not
implementing the ideal customer experience.
However, the technology landscape has changed significantly. By leveraging a new
generation of technologies, devices, and software, enterprises can cost-effectively
and efficiently move from a model of independent multi-channel sales processes to
an integrated and unified cross-channel sales model.
Technology is a critical enabler, but technology alone will not lead businesses to
success. Companies must also address the business processes and organizational
structure best suited to achieving Commerce Anywhere. They need to commit to
transforming themselves from a siloed structure into a unified cross-channel selling
organization. They also need to reengineer their customer experience and business
processes accordingly.
Commerce Anywhere
Efficiently create and manage a unified, personalized customer experience across all product categories,
brands, and sites.
Any customer, Web
in any geography
PC
B2B
Contact Center Research
Smart Phone
At every stage
Using In any Store
of the customer Browse
any device channel lifecycle
Tablet
B2C Catalog Purchase
Kiosk
Email Service
Point of Sale
Social
Whitepaper › Commerce Anywhere: A Strategic Vision to Maximize Commerce Growth › 5
6. Consider how consumers are changing their researching and purchasing habits Consider what’s happening
and how engaging and servicing them will change as a result. Consumers have
with the in-store experience
extraordinarily high expectations for access to rich valuable information and in-the-
moment service. This is driving a change in the nature of interactions that companies for businesses that have sales
will need to support over the web or mobile device, in the store or over the phone. associates in the store. With
For example, consider what’s happening with the in-store experience for businesses eroding consumer satisfaction,
that have sales associates in the store. With eroding consumer satisfaction, it will it will become increasingly
become increasingly important to untether the sales associate from the register and
provide personalized service in the aisle. By enabling the ability to shop with the important to untether the sales
consumer, fully armed with the consumer’s information, providing a personalized associate from the register,
experience turns the associate into a consumer advocate. Companies can employ
and provide personalized
iPads or other mobile devices to enable in-store personnel to provide superior
service, such as personal shopping advice and in-the-aisle check-out (sometimes service in the aisle, as the
referred to as “line-busting”). These personal assistance applications allow consumer increasingly uses
associates to create and update consumer profiles, preferences, and wish lists. It
a mobile device to seek
also enables associates to view cross-channel order history and make appropriate
recommendations to the consumer. better prices, read reviews,
and comparison shop.
Companies are also developing in-store kiosks for those customers who prefer self-
service. These kiosks, which can be stationary or accessed via mobile devices, enable
the consumer to “touch” or “experience” a product in the store, and then place an
online order immediately for the same item in a different color or to arrange for more
convenient home delivery, etc. These apps offer access to inventory or assortments
not available in every store, thus expanding selection and access without incurring
additional shipping costs or using valuable store real estate for onsite inventory.
Further, a mobile application could recognize that a consumer is in a store, and offer
personalized suggestions and recommendations based on affinities and information
captured through all their past interactions in all channels.
What else does the future hold for in-store applications? Will POS, sales assistance
apps, and kiosks converge? There is already evidence of new in-store applications
emerging that combine basic transaction-processing POS capabilities with personalized
service features such as account, profile, and preference management. These in-store
applications will offer more direct-to-consumer promotions and have the ability to
sell merchandise and service that may not be available in the store itself. The heads
of business functions will need to define the requirements of next-generation in-store
applications to include capabilities to deliver up-sell and cross-sell recommendations.
These will help lift average order value and generate repeat visits. In the end, the
focus should be on the ideal experience, knowing full well that these applications will
need to integrate with a commerce engine, other enterprise apps like loyalty or order
management, and in-store direct-to-consumer promotions.
The business transformation will not only be in technology and customer experience. It
will also include transformations in personnel skills, business metrics, and organizational
structures. The marketing function is a great example of an area that will evolve from
being very channel-specific to enterprise-centric. Progressive retailers are already
integrating their direct-to-consumer and retail store organizations to unify strategies
and processes in a goal to deliver a more consistent overall brand experience across
these channels. For example, the business process of setting up a new item can be
re-engineered to support holistic multi-channel item attributes and enable the setup
Whitepaper › Commerce Anywhere: A Strategic Vision to Maximize Commerce Growth › 6
7. for all channels at once. Metrics will change to better understand the entire cross- There is no single system
channel business, including the impact of mobile and web applications on in-store and
in enterprise data centers
total sales. Lastly, employee compensation models must account for multi-channel
shopping, so that employees are justly rewarded, whether a shopper buys goods off the today that effectively
store shelf, places a web order in the aisle, returns home to place the order online, or choreographs all of these
completes a phone order.
disparate elements. There is,
The Need for an IT Transformation: e-Commerce however, one infrastructure
becomes the Foundation of all Commerce that already houses much
of this information: the
Capturing information in multiple channels, aggregating it into a 360-degree
e-commerce platform.
view of the consumer, and painting the full picture of the enterprise operation is a
significant undertaking, to say the least. Current architectures need to transform
to a new approach suitable for a Commerce Anywhere environment, where many
disparate systems are integrated. The new architecture must adapt to varying
kinds of information available in various formats, through various API’s. There is no
single system in enterprise data centers today that effectively choreographs all of
these disparate elements. There is, however, one infrastructure that already houses
much of this information: the e-commerce platform.
A well-designed e-commerce system can form a solid foundation for a Commerce
Anywhere capability. e-Commerce systems already interface with product, inventory,
order management, and financial information; and with customer relationship and
transactional systems. They adapt to different levels of information availability and
different rules that dictate which systems provide the final authority on particular data.
e-Commerce sites are built to aggregate information for a high volume of visitor traffic,
and can personalize customer views. While no single architecture fulfills all Commerce
Anywhere needs completely on its own the information and services needed by most
selling applications (web storefront, kiosks, call centers, mobile) can be elegantly
delivered via an e-commerce platform.
The Comerce Anywhere environment
Whitepaper › Commerce Anywhere: A Strategic Vision to Maximize Commerce Growth › 7
8. Conclusion
Dropping the “e” in e-Commerce
Commerce Anywhere is within reach today. More and more companies are
choosing their e-commerce platform as the engine and software foundation for all
their selling/commerce applications supporting all their channels and devices.
Managing a unified view of customers, orders, and products across channels using
historical approaches has been almost impossible to pull off both financially and
organizationally. The complexity of back-end systems, cost of integration projects,
and deeply entrenched silo’ed business processes have made it prohibitive to
deliver a truly unified cross-channel experience for customers. In the past, these
limitations meant each channel must operate independently, without synergy or,
in some cases, coordination. This is no longer the case. New solutions and new
technologies can unify cross-channel commerce for companies.
The Challenge and the Opportunity
The commerce industry is in a major re-platforming cycle – many companies are
replacing outdated e-commerce systems that can no longer handle their growth
and new business requirements. As they plan their re-platforming projects, CIOs
and architects are rethinking their approach, striving to serve more than just the
web storefront. They see the opportunity to leverage their new platform to provide
commerce services to other sites and applications, while significantly reducing both
initial and ongoing IT costs.
The e-commerce platform can capture information in multiple channels, aggregate it into
an actionable view of the customer, leverage content and interaction history for use in other
channels, and paint the full picture of the enterprise operation. It provides the flexibility
to adapt to varying kinds of information at different times, even when that information
comes via separate interactions. There is no other single system in enterprise data centers
today that choreographs all the necessary elements so well. Current architectures are
transforming, to deliver commerce services and unified customer, product and order
information to all the applications that need them. Here’s where the e-commerce platform
emerges and takes on a new role – as the Commerce Anywhere platform.
The Commerce Anywhere Platform
A well-designed e-commerce system provides the base of a true cross-channel
commerce solution. This system must already interface with product, inventory,
order management, financial information, customer relationship and transactional
systems. It typically must adapt to different information availability and rules
about what system is authoritative on which data. It aggregates information in a
meaningful way for a high volume of visitor traffic, and is capable of personalizing
the view to serve different audience needs. It is the most compelling place to
aggregate customer-facing information.
The bottom line is that e-commerce is no longer just a web solution. It is quickly
assuming its rightful position as the foundation for all customer-facing commerce
applications across all touchpoints. So goodbye “e”, hello “commerce”.
Whitepaper › Commerce Anywhere: A Strategic Vision to Maximize Commerce Growth › 8