This document discusses five key components for delivering optimal digital experiences: 1) Content and commerce - making all content and data available across systems to dynamically filter content; 2) Customers and context - understanding customers to deliver personalized, context-aware experiences; 3) Digital and physical convergence - synchronizing online and offline customer data and experiences; 4) Brand and commerce convergence - collaborating across marketing and commerce teams; 5) Scalability - easily scaling the digital experience for new markets, brands, or campaigns. The document argues that considering all five components is necessary to remove friction from the customer experience across channels.
This document discusses how precision digital marketing can now be applied to physical retail stores through technologies like beacons. It notes that consumers blend online and offline experiences, so retailers must provide a seamless experience across channels. Beacons allow proximity marketing campaigns that engage customers in physical stores and provide insights into customer behavior. This helps optimize aspects like foot traffic, customer service, and inventory management.
10 Digital Commerce Trends from the Fashion and Apparel, 2020 ReportAlaina Carter
COVID-19 made this season quite unfashionable as, just like other industries, the fashion industry also faced the consequences of this pandemic. Thanks to digital transformation, the fashion and apparel industry has a fair chance to bounce back. Read more to know what are the 10 Digital commerce trends from the fashion and clothing, 2020 report.
The document discusses how blending content marketing with e-commerce can help companies differentiate themselves and drive sales. It notes that 72% of B2C marketers are producing more content but still do not feel they have enough to meet customer demand. Poor user experiences from outdated technologies and siloed content result in $83 billion in abandoned carts annually in the US alone. The document advocates integrating content and commerce strategies to provide a seamless customer experience across online touchpoints.
The document discusses the growing importance of B2B ecommerce and the need for B2B organizations to develop effective online sales channels. While traditional B2B sales methods still dominate, the online channel is growing the fastest. Most business buyers now expect the same convenient online shopping experiences they receive as consumers. However, B2B transactions tend to be more complex than B2C with requirements for configurable products, pricing, and integrated sales teams. To achieve effectiveness, a B2B commerce platform must support five key components: 1) best practices for superior user experiences, 2) advanced product configurability, 3) analytics and segmentation, 4) sophisticated workflows, and 5) a global platform adaptable to local markets.
RSR ebook: Retail ecommerce in context: the next iterationLeigh Doyle
After years of steady ecommerce growth, there has been an unprecedented acceleration of the shift from physical stores to online shopping. Retailers are facing the limitations of their aging technology stack in allowing them to offer buy online pick up in store (BOPIS), social commerce, adding new payment methods, launching subscription programs and more. This study aims to understand how well retailers have been able to pivot to a digital-first world, the challenges they face, the opportunities nascent in the marketplace, and how their technology portfolios are able to support these shifts profitably.
Many B2B companies pride themselves on building personal relationships
with their customers. But as one global leader in specialized environmental
services has discovered, relationship building in the B2B space is shifting rapidly.
SDNC13 -DAY2- Is the Future Omni-Channel by Jonathan Blakeney & Erdem DemirService Design Network
The document discusses designing omni-channel customer experiences. It emphasizes creating complementary experiences across channels by blending digital and physical experiences, responding to customer mobility, and synchronizing information. It also stresses promoting consistency by providing consistent structures, honoring device-specific needs, and harmonizing visual qualities. Additionally, the document recommends matching offers to customer context by tying activities to appropriate devices and providing contextual offers.
This document discusses how precision digital marketing can now be applied to physical retail stores through technologies like beacons. It notes that consumers blend online and offline experiences, so retailers must provide a seamless experience across channels. Beacons allow proximity marketing campaigns that engage customers in physical stores and provide insights into customer behavior. This helps optimize aspects like foot traffic, customer service, and inventory management.
10 Digital Commerce Trends from the Fashion and Apparel, 2020 ReportAlaina Carter
COVID-19 made this season quite unfashionable as, just like other industries, the fashion industry also faced the consequences of this pandemic. Thanks to digital transformation, the fashion and apparel industry has a fair chance to bounce back. Read more to know what are the 10 Digital commerce trends from the fashion and clothing, 2020 report.
The document discusses how blending content marketing with e-commerce can help companies differentiate themselves and drive sales. It notes that 72% of B2C marketers are producing more content but still do not feel they have enough to meet customer demand. Poor user experiences from outdated technologies and siloed content result in $83 billion in abandoned carts annually in the US alone. The document advocates integrating content and commerce strategies to provide a seamless customer experience across online touchpoints.
The document discusses the growing importance of B2B ecommerce and the need for B2B organizations to develop effective online sales channels. While traditional B2B sales methods still dominate, the online channel is growing the fastest. Most business buyers now expect the same convenient online shopping experiences they receive as consumers. However, B2B transactions tend to be more complex than B2C with requirements for configurable products, pricing, and integrated sales teams. To achieve effectiveness, a B2B commerce platform must support five key components: 1) best practices for superior user experiences, 2) advanced product configurability, 3) analytics and segmentation, 4) sophisticated workflows, and 5) a global platform adaptable to local markets.
RSR ebook: Retail ecommerce in context: the next iterationLeigh Doyle
After years of steady ecommerce growth, there has been an unprecedented acceleration of the shift from physical stores to online shopping. Retailers are facing the limitations of their aging technology stack in allowing them to offer buy online pick up in store (BOPIS), social commerce, adding new payment methods, launching subscription programs and more. This study aims to understand how well retailers have been able to pivot to a digital-first world, the challenges they face, the opportunities nascent in the marketplace, and how their technology portfolios are able to support these shifts profitably.
Many B2B companies pride themselves on building personal relationships
with their customers. But as one global leader in specialized environmental
services has discovered, relationship building in the B2B space is shifting rapidly.
SDNC13 -DAY2- Is the Future Omni-Channel by Jonathan Blakeney & Erdem DemirService Design Network
The document discusses designing omni-channel customer experiences. It emphasizes creating complementary experiences across channels by blending digital and physical experiences, responding to customer mobility, and synchronizing information. It also stresses promoting consistency by providing consistent structures, honoring device-specific needs, and harmonizing visual qualities. Additionally, the document recommends matching offers to customer context by tying activities to appropriate devices and providing contextual offers.
Omnichannel IS:
A commitment to delivering a seamless, compelling and personalized shopper experience, regardless of where or how your customer is engaged with you
Your cognitive future in retail industryTero Angeria
Cognitive + retail = the future
Welcome to the age of cognitive computing, where intelligent machines simulate human brain capabilities to help solve society’s most vexing problems. For retail,cognitive computing has already arrived, and its potential to transform the industry is enormous. Cognitive systems are driving more personalized
shopping experiences and helping unearth customer trends. Our research reveals that retail leaders globally are poised to embrace this groundbreaking technology more holistically and, by doing so, will redefine the future in retail.
- The document discusses changes in the industrial distribution market including new competition from B2C companies, changing customer demographics and expectations, increased globalization, consolidation of power from manufacturers to distributors, and advances in distributor technology.
- To compete with B2C companies, the document recommends that industrial distributors take a "content-first" approach that focuses on providing high-quality, consistent product content to allow customers to easily find and understand products online. This includes implementing a product information management system.
- Relationship-based sales are less effective for new generations of online customers, who expect to research and purchase independently online through tools like search and filtering.
2016 IBM Retail Industry Solutions GuideTero Angeria
IBM offers everything retailers need to transform—roadmap
development, solutions, infrastructure, research sciences,
consulting and interactive user experience design—based on
what consumers are demanding. We help retailers deepen
customer relationships and offer differentiated assortment
while driving operational excellence enterprisewide to spur
profitable growth.
This guide showcases IBM solutions for retail. It provides a quick overview of what retailers need to do within each of these areas and of the IBM solutions that can support those efforts.
Is Your Supply Chain Ready for Omnichannel Revolution Michael Hu
Online retail sales are expected to grow exponentially between now and 2025. Winning in this arena will require a supply chain that increases product availability with flexible delivery options at a lower cost.
It’s time to start developing a robust e-commerce marketing strategy to sustain in this rapidly growing e-commerce landscape. As a matter of fact, this huge market attracts different kind of brands which will make the competition tougher.
The document discusses four key areas that affect user experience for fashion e-commerce stores: the homepage, product listings, product cards, and purchasing processes. Research findings show that users want direct access to products on the homepage rather than lifestyle content. For product listings, users prefer seeing models and having the ability to view many products per page. Effective product cards use high-quality images including videos to showcase products and details. The purchasing process should provide flexibility and easy returns to improve the user experience.
2015 Marketing Trends and Predictions White Paper - Solocal Group UK, Decembe...Solocal Group UK
4 marketing trends to look out for in 2015:
#1 From multiscreen to ubiquitous internet devices
#2 Content and social meets advertising
#3 Taking the multichannel customer journey seriously
#4 The rise of the seamless transaction
This document outlines 9 key trends that will influence future consumers and retailers: 1) Advancements in mobile phones like augmented reality and holograms, 2) Increased transparency through online reviews and comparisons, 3) "Retail-tainment" through more engaging consumer experiences, 4) Integration of online and offline shopping, 5) Individual customization of products, 6) Support for local communities and suppliers, 7) Focus on ethics and environmental sustainability, 8) Growth of self-service technologies, 9) Applications of technologies like RFID, digital displays, and social media. Retailers must adapt to these trends by providing the best consumer experience both online and in-store.
This is my presentation from April 15, 2015 to the Marketo Marketing Nation Summit.
The topic covers the six drivers of eCommerce for B2B, the use cases (with examples) of B2B eCommerce, and some of the applications of marketing automation in an eCommerce application
This document summarizes the key findings from the 2014 State of B2B Procurement Study conducted by Acquity Group. The study found that B2B buyers are increasingly conducting online research and making purchases. They are more comfortable purchasing a wide range of products online. However, buyers often abandon online shopping carts due to issues like high prices elsewhere, slow websites, or confusing checkout processes. Younger buyers especially are adopting mobile devices. While price is important, suppliers can compete based on customer experience, such as by offering convenient features, fast delivery, and strong security.
Digital transformation is disrupting B2B industries similarly to how it disrupted B2C. Customers now research and make purchases online, increasing competition. Traditional leaders struggle to keep up while newer, digital-focused companies gain ground. The document outlines the benefits of the B2B Online conference for learning how to develop strategies and implement technologies to improve digital operations, customer experiences, and business performance in this changing landscape.
Ecommerce Business And Financial Model PowerPoint Presentation Slides SlideTeam
Presenting this set of slides with name - Ecommerce Business And Financial Model Powerpoint Presentation Slides. This PPT deck displays fourty slides with in depth research. Our topic oriented Ecommerce Business And Financial Model Powerpoint Presentation Slides presentation deck is a helpful tool to plan, prepare, document and analyse the topic with a clear approach. We provide a ready to use deck with all sorts of relevant topics subtopics templates, charts and graphs, overviews, analysis templates. Outline all the important aspects without any hassle. It showcases of all kind of editable templates infographs for an inclusive and comprehensive Ecommerce Business And Financial Model Powerpoint Presentation Slides presentation. Professionals, managers, individual and team involved in any company organization from any field can use them as per requirement.
IBM is cited as a leader in The Forrester Wave B2C Commerce Suites, Q3 2012IBM Software India
The document summarizes a Forrester Research report on B2C commerce suites. It finds that:
1) Commerce suite vendors now provide enhanced capabilities across marketing, commerce, and service that enable multitouchpoint solutions for customers.
2) The commerce suite market is growing as firms seek solutions for online, mobile, and social interactions across brands and geographies with complex order management needs.
3) Forrester's evaluation found that IBM, hybris, Oracle, and Demandware lead in the commerce suite market based on strengths like site management, content management, order management, and merchandising tools.
1) Capgemini provides consulting, IT, and managed services to help retail clients engage with technology-enabled consumers.
2) The document summarizes research from a 2014 study of over 18,000 digital shoppers across 18 countries. It examines consumers' use of digital channels and devices in their shopping journeys.
3) Key findings include that while physical stores remain important, consumers expect to do more online shopping in the future, and fashion purchases are growing more online than other categories.
Retail is changing from focusing on physical store location to understanding customers. Multi-channel retailing increases sales by 44% by merging physical and online shopping into a single customer experience. Building a successful multi-channel strategy requires organizational changes, skills in various areas like online marketing, product photography, customer service, and integrating retail systems and locations. The goal is to use customer data and preferences to communicate consistently across channels.
Omnichannel Customer Experience. Companies such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple already know that the future of user experience is automated interface creation depending on customer needs.
E-tailing refers to the selling of retail goods online. It allows companies to sell products to customers virtually without needing a physical storefront. E-tailing has grown significantly in recent years and enabled the development of software tools to help companies create online catalogs and manage the online sales process. Some benefits of e-tailing include reducing business costs and space needs while increasing accessibility of products to customers. However, e-tailing also lacks some of the experiential and sensory aspects of in-person shopping.
AI & Data Analytics: 3 Ways They Can Improve Customer Experience And EngagementQuekelsBaro
Analytics, data, and AI have the potential to enrich marketers’ understanding of their customers’ experiences in order to deliver meaningful, relevant experiences in the future.
The document provides an overview of trends in digital media consumption among US consumers in 2013-2014. It finds that consumers are more connected than ever, owning on average 4 digital devices, and spending over 60 hours per week consuming media across multiple screens. This has led to the rise of second screen usage and social media integration with live content. Younger demographics and Hispanics are particularly active adopters of new digital technologies like smartphones.
The VA Aid & Attendance Benefit provides a tax-free monthly stipend to reimburse long-term care expenses for wartime veterans and their surviving spouses who require assistance. To qualify, applicants must have served during a period of war, require care due to medical needs, and have income and assets below certain thresholds. The maximum monthly benefit ranges from $1,094 for surviving spouses to $2,019 for married veterans.
Omnichannel IS:
A commitment to delivering a seamless, compelling and personalized shopper experience, regardless of where or how your customer is engaged with you
Your cognitive future in retail industryTero Angeria
Cognitive + retail = the future
Welcome to the age of cognitive computing, where intelligent machines simulate human brain capabilities to help solve society’s most vexing problems. For retail,cognitive computing has already arrived, and its potential to transform the industry is enormous. Cognitive systems are driving more personalized
shopping experiences and helping unearth customer trends. Our research reveals that retail leaders globally are poised to embrace this groundbreaking technology more holistically and, by doing so, will redefine the future in retail.
- The document discusses changes in the industrial distribution market including new competition from B2C companies, changing customer demographics and expectations, increased globalization, consolidation of power from manufacturers to distributors, and advances in distributor technology.
- To compete with B2C companies, the document recommends that industrial distributors take a "content-first" approach that focuses on providing high-quality, consistent product content to allow customers to easily find and understand products online. This includes implementing a product information management system.
- Relationship-based sales are less effective for new generations of online customers, who expect to research and purchase independently online through tools like search and filtering.
2016 IBM Retail Industry Solutions GuideTero Angeria
IBM offers everything retailers need to transform—roadmap
development, solutions, infrastructure, research sciences,
consulting and interactive user experience design—based on
what consumers are demanding. We help retailers deepen
customer relationships and offer differentiated assortment
while driving operational excellence enterprisewide to spur
profitable growth.
This guide showcases IBM solutions for retail. It provides a quick overview of what retailers need to do within each of these areas and of the IBM solutions that can support those efforts.
Is Your Supply Chain Ready for Omnichannel Revolution Michael Hu
Online retail sales are expected to grow exponentially between now and 2025. Winning in this arena will require a supply chain that increases product availability with flexible delivery options at a lower cost.
It’s time to start developing a robust e-commerce marketing strategy to sustain in this rapidly growing e-commerce landscape. As a matter of fact, this huge market attracts different kind of brands which will make the competition tougher.
The document discusses four key areas that affect user experience for fashion e-commerce stores: the homepage, product listings, product cards, and purchasing processes. Research findings show that users want direct access to products on the homepage rather than lifestyle content. For product listings, users prefer seeing models and having the ability to view many products per page. Effective product cards use high-quality images including videos to showcase products and details. The purchasing process should provide flexibility and easy returns to improve the user experience.
2015 Marketing Trends and Predictions White Paper - Solocal Group UK, Decembe...Solocal Group UK
4 marketing trends to look out for in 2015:
#1 From multiscreen to ubiquitous internet devices
#2 Content and social meets advertising
#3 Taking the multichannel customer journey seriously
#4 The rise of the seamless transaction
This document outlines 9 key trends that will influence future consumers and retailers: 1) Advancements in mobile phones like augmented reality and holograms, 2) Increased transparency through online reviews and comparisons, 3) "Retail-tainment" through more engaging consumer experiences, 4) Integration of online and offline shopping, 5) Individual customization of products, 6) Support for local communities and suppliers, 7) Focus on ethics and environmental sustainability, 8) Growth of self-service technologies, 9) Applications of technologies like RFID, digital displays, and social media. Retailers must adapt to these trends by providing the best consumer experience both online and in-store.
This is my presentation from April 15, 2015 to the Marketo Marketing Nation Summit.
The topic covers the six drivers of eCommerce for B2B, the use cases (with examples) of B2B eCommerce, and some of the applications of marketing automation in an eCommerce application
This document summarizes the key findings from the 2014 State of B2B Procurement Study conducted by Acquity Group. The study found that B2B buyers are increasingly conducting online research and making purchases. They are more comfortable purchasing a wide range of products online. However, buyers often abandon online shopping carts due to issues like high prices elsewhere, slow websites, or confusing checkout processes. Younger buyers especially are adopting mobile devices. While price is important, suppliers can compete based on customer experience, such as by offering convenient features, fast delivery, and strong security.
Digital transformation is disrupting B2B industries similarly to how it disrupted B2C. Customers now research and make purchases online, increasing competition. Traditional leaders struggle to keep up while newer, digital-focused companies gain ground. The document outlines the benefits of the B2B Online conference for learning how to develop strategies and implement technologies to improve digital operations, customer experiences, and business performance in this changing landscape.
Ecommerce Business And Financial Model PowerPoint Presentation Slides SlideTeam
Presenting this set of slides with name - Ecommerce Business And Financial Model Powerpoint Presentation Slides. This PPT deck displays fourty slides with in depth research. Our topic oriented Ecommerce Business And Financial Model Powerpoint Presentation Slides presentation deck is a helpful tool to plan, prepare, document and analyse the topic with a clear approach. We provide a ready to use deck with all sorts of relevant topics subtopics templates, charts and graphs, overviews, analysis templates. Outline all the important aspects without any hassle. It showcases of all kind of editable templates infographs for an inclusive and comprehensive Ecommerce Business And Financial Model Powerpoint Presentation Slides presentation. Professionals, managers, individual and team involved in any company organization from any field can use them as per requirement.
IBM is cited as a leader in The Forrester Wave B2C Commerce Suites, Q3 2012IBM Software India
The document summarizes a Forrester Research report on B2C commerce suites. It finds that:
1) Commerce suite vendors now provide enhanced capabilities across marketing, commerce, and service that enable multitouchpoint solutions for customers.
2) The commerce suite market is growing as firms seek solutions for online, mobile, and social interactions across brands and geographies with complex order management needs.
3) Forrester's evaluation found that IBM, hybris, Oracle, and Demandware lead in the commerce suite market based on strengths like site management, content management, order management, and merchandising tools.
1) Capgemini provides consulting, IT, and managed services to help retail clients engage with technology-enabled consumers.
2) The document summarizes research from a 2014 study of over 18,000 digital shoppers across 18 countries. It examines consumers' use of digital channels and devices in their shopping journeys.
3) Key findings include that while physical stores remain important, consumers expect to do more online shopping in the future, and fashion purchases are growing more online than other categories.
Retail is changing from focusing on physical store location to understanding customers. Multi-channel retailing increases sales by 44% by merging physical and online shopping into a single customer experience. Building a successful multi-channel strategy requires organizational changes, skills in various areas like online marketing, product photography, customer service, and integrating retail systems and locations. The goal is to use customer data and preferences to communicate consistently across channels.
Omnichannel Customer Experience. Companies such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple already know that the future of user experience is automated interface creation depending on customer needs.
E-tailing refers to the selling of retail goods online. It allows companies to sell products to customers virtually without needing a physical storefront. E-tailing has grown significantly in recent years and enabled the development of software tools to help companies create online catalogs and manage the online sales process. Some benefits of e-tailing include reducing business costs and space needs while increasing accessibility of products to customers. However, e-tailing also lacks some of the experiential and sensory aspects of in-person shopping.
AI & Data Analytics: 3 Ways They Can Improve Customer Experience And EngagementQuekelsBaro
Analytics, data, and AI have the potential to enrich marketers’ understanding of their customers’ experiences in order to deliver meaningful, relevant experiences in the future.
The document provides an overview of trends in digital media consumption among US consumers in 2013-2014. It finds that consumers are more connected than ever, owning on average 4 digital devices, and spending over 60 hours per week consuming media across multiple screens. This has led to the rise of second screen usage and social media integration with live content. Younger demographics and Hispanics are particularly active adopters of new digital technologies like smartphones.
The VA Aid & Attendance Benefit provides a tax-free monthly stipend to reimburse long-term care expenses for wartime veterans and their surviving spouses who require assistance. To qualify, applicants must have served during a period of war, require care due to medical needs, and have income and assets below certain thresholds. The maximum monthly benefit ranges from $1,094 for surviving spouses to $2,019 for married veterans.
OSCON 2016 - Lessons learned from 15+ years in open source - Matt AsayMatt Asay
From the outside, open source companies try to appear to be Fine Upstanding Open Source Citizens™. On the inside of the sausage factory, however, hard decisions and trade-offs are constantly being made. After nearly 15 years of working for some of the industry’s best-known open source companies, including MongoDB and Canonical, Matt Asay decided to go to work for a company that uses and contributes to open source communities but doesn’t rely on them for revenue.
Matt describes the fundamental struggles every open source business has and explores how different companies have dealt with them (e.g., which features will be open vs. closed, which license to use, etc.). Matt also details why he decided to move on and why maybe you should consider doing so too.
Set Your Content Free: Why You Need an Open-source StrategyMatt Asay
The document discusses the benefits of adopting an open-source strategy for enterprise content management (ECM). It argues that open source offers lower costs, vendor independence, access to source code, and other advantages over proprietary software. Survey results show that organizations increasingly use open source alternatives to commercial software to save money and benefit from better quality and more innovative options. However, some vendors have responded by acquiring open source companies and proprietary solutions, restricting choices. The document advocates for open standards and open source to avoid vendor lock-in and promote innovation.
1. The document discusses the history of disruption in the entertainment industry from technologies like the VCR and compares it to the disruption caused by open source software. It examines perspectives from Alan Greenspan, Jack Valenti, and Bill Gates on the threats posed by new technologies.
2. The document then provides an overview of how open source software works, including the roles of core developers, bug fixers, and users. It also discusses the importance of licensing and modularity for open source success.
3. The document concludes with a discussion of different business strategies companies can take with open source, including running the innovation race, embracing commoditization, dual licensing, and changing rules through software as a service models.
Big Data for the Rest of Us - OpenWest 2014 - Matt AsayMatt Asay
Everyone wants to launch a Big Data project, but there's still lots of confusion as to how. The key, as this presentation shows, is to minimize the cost of failure and increase iteration, using a strategy based on using well-known open-source tools.
This document provides ideas for activities one can do with common household items like paper, a pencil, and dead mosquitoes during free time. It suggests crafts and experiments using these materials when one is looking for ways to occupy their leisure hours. A few simple activities are listed that require only basic supplies which are usually found around the home.
Introducción a la mesa redonda de creatividad en internet Presentacion Nlealunlealu
Mesa redonda de Creatividad web
Néstor Leal, Director de Arte- Posicionamiento.cl
Germán Barros - kontento
Serge De Oliveira- Uniacc - Entel
Octavio Álvarez - EMOL
El Kamasutra trata sobre el amor y el sexo. Originalmente escrito hace miles de años en la India antigua, describe diferentes posiciones sexuales y formas de intimidad entre parejas. Aunque algunas de sus enseñanzas pueden verse como controvertidas hoy en día, el Kamasutra sigue siendo una fuente de conocimiento sobre las relaciones humanas a través de los tiempos.
This document provides a handbook for analyzing issues under the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine. It contains information on determining what communications are covered by the attorney-client privilege, including documents, recorded communications, communicative acts, fees, identity, real evidence, and communications from attorneys to clients. It also discusses defining the client in both individual and organizational contexts, defining the lawyer, and defining privileged agents. Finally, it addresses when communications must be intended to be confidential.
Matt Asay - The Community Imperative - Openbravo World Conference 2009Matt Asay
Matt Asay's keynote presentation on the changing face of commercial open-source communities. Delivered on April 19, 2009, at the Openbravo World Conference.
Matt Asay presents at Strata 2013 on how NoSQL fits into the Big Data landscape, particularly how MongoDB and Hadoop work well together. Not an infomercial.
This document discusses four patterns for integrating eCommerce and content management systems: commerce-led, content-led, hybrid, and headless. It provides an overview of each pattern, examining their organizational, consumer, and technological impacts. A commerce-led pattern involves the eCommerce system delivering the primary experience and incorporating content from a CMS. A content-led pattern has a CMS front the consumer experience and integrate an eCommerce API. The document aims to help readers select the best integration model for their needs.
Contextual Commerce: Best Practices for Winning with Customer Experience with...edynamic
This document provides an overview of contextual commerce and best practices. It discusses how contextual commerce focuses on optimizing the customer experience across channels by delivering personalized, relevant content and commerce opportunities based on the customer's context. The challenges of old ecommerce platforms are outlined, such as having separate systems for content, commerce, and customers that don't provide personalization or a unified experience. Best practices for contextual commerce highlighted include investing in a connected commerce platform, gathering detailed customer data, delivering varied and engaging content including user-generated content, providing seamless omni-channel experiences, and personalization. Case studies demonstrate how improving the customer experience through these practices can significantly increase sales and engagement.
A Guide to Crafting an Effective Omnichannel Strategy (1).pdfchristiemarie4
Omnichannel is a marketing approach that offers an integrated shopping experience to the customers. Keep reading to know more about this omnichannel strategy.
The document discusses opportunities for retailers to reimagine the customer experience in the post-pandemic retail landscape. It identifies five key areas for reimagination: 1) Everywhere Commerce, where retailers meet customers in new digital and physical places; 2) Let Me Entertain You, where physical stores are reimagined as engaging destinations rather than just transaction points; 3) The Many "Re"s in Retail, focusing on redesign, reuse, repair, resale to meet changing customer values; 4) Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Purpose Is, where brands' social purpose inspires customer loyalty; and 5) If You Don't Know Me By Now, where deep customer insights and personalized experiences are key to
A Fashion Brand's Guide to Building Consumer Intimacy in the Digital AgeAndy Larsen
The document provides a guide for fashion brands to build consumer intimacy in the digital age. It discusses the importance of understanding customers' preferences across all touchpoints to foster loyalty through personalized experiences. It outlines five essential steps: 1) having a single customer view, 2) personalization, 3) real-time contextual insights, 4) customer-centric pricing, and 5) sentiment analysis. Following these steps can improve strategic planning, build loyalty, increase retention and advocacy, and enhance the customer experience. The guide is intended to help fashion businesses better connect with consumers and achieve a competitive advantage in today's omni-channel retail landscape.
Let customer insight guide your bank's content marketing strategySounds About Write
While many banks and financial institutions continue to turn to content marketing to engage their prospective buyers and customers, the reality is the overwhelming majority are struggling to achieve success.
From Web Traffic to Foot Traffic: How Brands & Retailers Can Leverage Digital...Rebecca Lieb
My latest research report highlights how brands can harness the power of digital content and media to reach consumers and influence their in-store buying decisions. We surveyed 500 brand and agency marketers, including interviews with marketing leaders from PepsiCo, McDonalds, The Home Depot and Staples,
Informes PwC - Encuesta Total Retail GlobalPwC España
El informe "Hacia un modelo de Total Retail", elaborado por PwC, analiza las expectativas y hábitos de consumo del comprador online, a partir de 15.000 entrevistas a compradores digitales de todo el mundo, y las implicaciones para las compañías del sector de distribución y consumo en los próximos años.
Informe de PwC sobre las expectativas y hábitos de consumo del comprador onlineMaría Bretón Gallego
The document discusses 8 customer expectations for retailers identified from a survey of 15,000 online shoppers. The first expectation is a compelling brand story that promises a distinctive experience. The survey found that consumers are consolidating their shopping to just a few favorite retailers. This presents an opportunity for retailers that can emotionally connect with consumers through a strong brand narrative. Retailers need to focus on cultivating their brand to provide a consistent experience across all channels.
The document discusses trends in the retail industry in 2017, including retailers needing to reshape their businesses to focus on providing excellent customer experiences through convenience, choice, personalization, and profit. It highlights how retailers are blurring online and offline channels through initiatives like click-and-collect in order to better meet customer demands. The document also examines how pure e-commerce retailers are opening physical stores to enhance the customer experience, and how retailers are transforming physical spaces into destinations to attract customers.
The document discusses the challenges that technology companies face in digital commerce. It notes that technology companies have complex product offerings and networks of resellers that create challenges for digital capabilities. Additionally, technology company customers have high expectations and experience with technology. The document advocates that technology companies focus on the entire customer digital lifecycle of discover, transact, fulfill, and care when developing their digital commerce strategies. It provides details on challenges and opportunities for technology companies in each phase of the digital lifecycle.
10 DTC Trends Driving Growth In E-Commerce.pdfFarihaSaddique
The direct-to-consumer (DTC) retail model has gained significant traction recently, especially due to the pandemic. In DTC retail, brands sell directly to consumers online rather than through retailers or other middlemen. This allows brands to cut expenses, develop customer relationships, and get direct customer feedback. Popular trends in DTC include companies selling both online and offline, using subscriptions, influencer marketing, and expanding to new marketplaces and generations like Gen Z. Multichannel inventory management software is important for DTC success to manage orders across sales channels and ensure accurate fulfillment.
1. UNCTAD's E-Commerce Week is a leading forum for discussion between government officials, CEOs, and organizations about opportunities and challenges of the digital economy.
2. B2B ecommerce involves sales between businesses, such as manufacturers and wholesalers.
3. Ecommerce platforms like BigCommerce allow merchants to create online stores with various shipping and payment options.
A Guide to Crafting an Effective Omnichannel Strategy.pdfLaura Miller
Omnichannel is a marketing approach that offers an integrated shopping experience to the customers. Keep reading to know more about this marketing strategy.
The evolution of digital commerce has given rise to a growing set of customer expectations for the digital experience, both within and across channels. That experience is enabled by a combination of strategy, technology, content and features, all of which require an investment of time and resources. Those resources must work collaboratively – often across functional silos including marketing, merchandising, creative, technology and more – to deliver an optimal experience.
In this paper, we will explore:
-how successful retailers, brands and digital merchants structure their digital organizations, leveraging technology where appropriate, to achieve maximum effectiveness while operating under resource constraints
-the advantages of aligning organizational design, technologies, tools and work processes to empower internal teams to work together more effectively
-the tools that empower agile digital commerce teams to succeed
Authors: Kanaru Fukushima
Topics: Ecommerce Basics, Ecommerce Strategy, Omnichannel Organization, Ecommerce IT Development, Omnichannel Architecture
Industry: B2B / Wholesale, Retailer / Brand - Other Goods, Other, Retailer / Brand - Fashion & Accessoires, Retail Products – Electronics and IT, Travel & Leisure
Publication date: January 2017
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.
Virtually everyone agrees that a personalized message tailored specifically to an individual’s wants and needs is more likely to drive a transaction than a general one. Here are a few key drivers behind this belief and the increasing interest in marketing personalization:
• The population is more heterogeneous
• Products are more specialized and purchase
cycles have fragmented
• Media channels and audiences have fragmented
• Relentless evaluation, extensive comparison shopping
and show rooming are the norm, not the exception
• Individuals are more demanding – they expect a seamless brand experience, along with messages and offers that match their particular preferences
As a result of these market forces, many marketers are convinced that personalized communications with prospects and customers are essential to maximize their retail sales.
Virtually everyone agrees that a personalized message tailored specifically to an individual’s wants and needs is more likely to drive a transaction than a general one. Here are a few key drivers behind this belief and the increasing interest in marketing personalization:
• The population is more heterogeneous
• Products are more specialized and purchase cycles have fragmented
• Media channels and audiences have fragmented
• Relentless evaluation, extensive comparison shopping
and show rooming are the norm, not the exception
• Individuals are more demanding – they expect a seamless
brand experience, along with messages and offers that
match their particular preferences
As a result of these market forces, many marketers are convinced that personalized communications with prospects and customers are essential to maximize their retail sales.
1) The document discusses the continuum of direct marketing relationships between businesses (B2B) and consumers (B2C). At one end is branding only, and at the other end is direct sales. In between are insights, experiences, product testing, and hybrid models.
2) Customers and B2B buyers now expect convenient online shopping experiences similar to B2C. Over 50% of B2B buyers expect to make purchases online within 3 years.
3) Moving further along the direct continuum can improve brand control, increase conversions, and help grow and retain customers. While challenging, direct approaches may become necessary as other players adopt them.
E-commerce (also written as e-Commerce, eCommerce or similar variants), short for
electronic commerce, is trading in products or services using computer networks, such
as the Internet. Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce,
electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online
transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management
systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce
typically uses the World Wide Web for at least one part of the transaction's life cycle,
although it may also use other technologies such as e-mail.
1. FitForCommerce Whitepaper Series
B2C and B2B organizations agree that both product-centric and brand-focused content are essential to
delivering a complete digital experience in today’s omnichannel retail environment. However, content can
only be relevant when the context of the customer’s experience is part of the equation. In this paper, we
will examine five components critical to delivering the ideal digital experiences, including content,
customers, and context.
November 2014
John DeCaprio and Laura Swanson, FitForCommerce
5 Keys to the Digital Experience Equation: Leveraging customers,
context and content to deliver the optimal digital experience
2. The continued evolution of technology in commerce has had a transformational impact
on the traditional path-to-purchase funnel. From awareness to interaction, trial,
purchase and loyalty, B2C shoppers and B2B buyers travel interchangeably between
offline and online channels throughout the purchase funnel and expect seamless
experiences across all touchpoints. As a result, the traditional concept of distinct
commerce channels at a particular stage of the buying cycle is quickly becoming a thing
of the past. The challenge for organizations is to anticipate the consumer’s next move,
deliver relevant content, and ensure that the experience is consistent at all times. Brand
exploration, research, and purchase should be considered part of the same process and,
as such, at FitForCommerce, we see a collision of marketing and commerce that results
in the total digital experience.
Content is an important part of the buyer’s journey, but it is only relevant when the
customers and their context are brought into the equation. Today’s consumers want to
see rich content in the context of where they are in the buying cycle, and they want to
be inspired to explore brands in new ways. To deliver inspired selling experiences that
meet an infinite number of unpredictable customer needs, the digital experience must
have all content and data available and ready to dynamically filter and adapt in an
instant.
Although there is currently a lot of focus on what constitutes the ideal digital
experience, few organizations have successfully executed a strategy that takes the
entire digital experience equation into consideration. At FitForCommerce, it is our
experience that organizations are finding the delivery of the optimal digital experience
challenging, and today’s splintered experiences are symptoms of legacy organizations,
systems, and goals. The convergence of marketing, ecommerce, and retail operations is
forcing both B2C and B2B organizations to approach their online presence as a collective
experience that includes both content and commerce.
In this paper, we will explore five key components of the digital experience equation:
1. Content and commerce – availability and delivery of data and content from
multiple sources and systems
2. Customers and context – content in context of the customer at any point of the
purchase journey
3. Digital and physical convergence - synchronization of online and offline customer
behavior as the lines between these channels further blur
4. Brand and commerce convergence – collaboration between marketing and
commerce teams with shared systems and metrics
5. Scalability – ability to easily scale for new brands, touchpoints, markets, or even
single-purpose campaigns
In this paper, we will provide insights into how both B2B and B2C organizations can
successfully address these five key areas to improve digital experiences.
Introduction
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Copyright 2014 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved
The Evolution of the Path-to-Purchase
The advancement of digital commerce continues to transform the traditional path-to-
purchase. B2C shoppers and B2B buyers alike seek seamless and relevant experiences
no matter how, when, and where they choose to engage with a retailer or brand. In
both B2B and B2C, channel hopping is the norm; as a result, touchpoints, such as
websites, mobile, social, customer service, and physical stores, are no longer confined to
a particular stage of the purchase process and, therefore, the traditional concept of
distinct channels no longer exists.
Interaction with a brand is determined by the need the buyers have at any given
moment, and they want relevant content to be delivered in context to where they are in
their purchase process. This means that content or transactional capabilities required
are no longer determined by the channel or touchpoint but rather by the interactions
between the customer and brand.
The Collision of Marketing and Commerce
When the internet first started to take root, brands and retailers created marketing sites
designed to tell the brand story, inform, and inspire. As the internet gained popularity
and technology evolved, new departments were formed to launch and manage simple
consumer-facing online storefronts and B2B ordering portals, featuring product catalogs
and shopping carts.
These departments were primarily established as individual “stores” with their own
P&Ls and were typically disconnected from the core operation. Marketing and
ecommerce teams operated these sites independently and invested in different
technology platforms to support their operations. The marketing group typically used a
web content management (WCM) system focused on non-transactional content, while
the ecommerce platform (ECP) supported product sales and other transactional
interaction and merchandising.
The Collision of Marketing and Commerce
“Customers
don’t think
about
touchpoints or
channels – they
think about
their experience
with your
brand.”
Kathy Kimple, Sr.
Consultant,
FitForCommerce
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Copyright 2014 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved
As demands for online shopping grew, B2C digital commerce began to replicate or, in
some instances, replace in-store shopping, while B2B organizations sought to unify the
buying experience. Instead of managing two separate sites, they started to merge their
marketing and commerce sites to create a one-stop resource for their customers. At the
same time, the demand for omnichannel shopping has made it near impossible to
predict when, where, and how consumers and business buyers interact with different
touchpoints to explore, research, and buy. As a result, brand content has become an
integral part of the path-to-purchase and must be dynamically delivered alongside
product content to create a single destination that meets expectations for a convenient,
relevant, and personalized digital experience. To achieve this challenging goal,
marketing, ecommerce, and retail teams can no longer operate independently, but must
merge to deliver a unified content and commerce strategy.
A new set of challenges
There is a lot of discussion about what constitutes the optimal digital experience. While
most organizations agree that a highly personalized combination of content and
commerce is the Holy Grail, only a few have succeeded in achieving the right balance.
This is a challenge that many retailers and brands are trying to conquer – and it is not an
easy one.
The goal must be to remove offline and online tension between brand and commerce,
and find a way to merge the two. Add the concept of context into the equation, and the
challenge becomes even more difficult.
To achieve the optimal digital experience that meets consumer expectations, at all times
and at every touchpoints, organizations need to deliver a single and relevant shopping
The Digital Experience Equation
Almost 60% of
commerce professionals
planned to invest in
digital content in 2014
to enhance the overall
customer experience.
Source: Oracle 2014 Trends in
B2C Commerce Survey
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Copyright 2014 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved
destination across channels that incorporates rich marketing content alongside product,
pricing, inventory, and personalized merchandising. To find the right balance between
content and commerce, it is critical to determine when to surface editorial content into
the transactional flow versus when to focus purely on the transaction.
To remove friction and deliver the optimal digital experience, organizations need to
consider five key components when developing their digital strategies. While many
organizations have mastered one or more of these areas, it is the combined power of all
five components that will result in the ideal digital experience.
Content and Commerce
The notion of content and commerce plays a big role in today’s digital experiences.
Content assets take many different forms and can stem from dozens of systems within
the organization, as well as from external sources. At FitForCommerce, we often see
that brands and retailers quickly become overwhelmed when it comes to their content
strategies. However, more often than not, these same organizations already have the
content assets in-house; the challenge lies in bringing it all together, allowing access
from multiple platforms, and intelligently determining what, where, and when to
surface specific content.
5 Key Components to the Digital
Experience Equation
1
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Copyright 2014 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved
Two Types of Content Used in Commerce
Product Content Brand/Editorial Content
Descriptions
Specifications and attributes
Pricing
Inventory information
Product images
Reviews
Recommendations
Marketing images
Instructional / How-to’s
Videos
Advice
Lifestyle
Forums / Knowledge Centers
Events
Historically, product content resided on the ecommerce site, while the brand/editorial
content was featured on the brand site. However, today’s consumers and business
buyers do not want the hassle of having to visit multiple destinations to explore and
buy. At the same time, increased competition has removed product assortment and
price as differentiators, leaving many organizations to find new ways to stand out.
Brands like ULTA Beauty
1
and TOMS
2
understand that both product and editorial
content is an integral part of the user experience, and have transformed their
ecommerce properties from purely transactional to destination sites. They differentiate
themselves by creating engaging digital shopping journeys that merge content and
commerce at every stage - from exploration to post-purchase.
1
Oracle Commerce and ULTA Beauty Transform Customer Experience, Integrated Solutions for Retailers, 10/27/14
http://www.retailsolutionsonline.com/doc/oracle-commerce-and-ulta-beauty-transform-customer-experience-0001
2
TOMS Drives International Expansion with Oracle Commerce, http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/2047370
Dedication to Content
ULTA Beauty crafts and features content that relates to the lifestyle of their
customers. The brand focuses on telling a story and uses content to inspire, educate,
and guide the customer through the purchase process. All aspects of the brand’s
strategy are focused on the customer experience and prioritizing content that is
relevant and integrated at all customer touchpoints, no matter whom the customer
is or what device she is using.
TOMS does an excellent job at personalizing the customer experience by delivering
relevant content and recommendations, providing a faster and easier checkout, and
a more visual, content-rich shopping experience with integrated ratings and reviews.
The platform gives TOMS’ business users better control over the customer
experience by allowing them to target promotions, personalize content, customize
search results and recommendations, and update product information across
multiple sites on the fly.
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To successfully merge content and commerce throughout the digital experience,
organizations need to ensure that they have all content available and are able to
dynamically filter and adapt in real-time. Since the digital experience should be
determined by an infinite number of unpredictable customer needs, copy, rich imagery,
videos, and PDFs must be readily available and prepared to be used with content and
data originating from product catalogs, CRM systems, customer profiles, user reviews,
search and navigation, ERPs, social media, personalization engines, in-store data, PIM
systems, merchandising, order management systems, recommendations, pricing,
inventory, customer service, shopping carts, and more.
Customers and Context
Content is only effective if it is relevant to the individual customer. Knowing their
context, such as who they are, where they have been, and even anticipating where they
will go next, is therefore critical. Without a 360° view of the customer, across both
online and offline interactions, it is impossible to know the context.
Delivering truly personalized and engaging experiences can only be achieved by
leveraging data to present relevant content, at any point of interaction, from basic
displays of select imagery or custom product assortments, to more precise elements,
such as specifically recommended products, lifestyle content, product instructions,
cross-sells and more.
Personalizing the digital experience through content
Medline Industries, Inc. is the largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of
healthcare supplies in the United States. Servicing a diverse customer base, including
hospitals, extended-care facilities, physician offices, home health agencies, and retail
medical supply outlets, the company was struggling to provide personalized experiences
that delivered tailored content based on a visitor’s market segment. For example, a
purchasing agent from a nursing home might conduct a search for drapes, and would
receive content on window treatments as well as surgical drapes, the latter not being
appropriate. Today, upon entering the site, visitors identify a market segment, which
the system captures and stores in a profile and uses to populate tailored content in
current and future sessions. Each visitor in a preferred market receives a tailored
homepage experience, with news releases, clinical solutions, and supply solutions that
are most relevant for their role and business segment.
3
3
Medline Industries Delivers Personalized Content to Healthcare Customers and Increases Targeted Content Views by 60%,
http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/customers/customersearch/medline-industries-1-atg-sl-1993719.html
2
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The data imperative
It is impossible to determine who the customer is, and her context, without data. Brands
and retailers should leverage demographics, purchase history, preferences and product
data, as well as real-time site interaction such as clickstreams, search, and navigation, to
define the shopper context, and use these insights to deliver digital experiences that
adapt to shoppers in real-time.
Most organizations already capture and store massive amounts of data about their
customers, prospects, products and more. This data often resides in multiple systems
across the enterprise, and it becomes imperative to find an effective way to centralize
and digest vast amounts of data in any form. We often recommend consolidating
crosschannel data within one dashboard, and then extend metrics to mine cross-silo
insights.
But data is only valuable when leveraged correctly. It is critical to analyze data and
implement the right business rules to ensure that the best data drives any or all
elements of the personalized user experience. If the customer is not identified, real-time
data can be used to dynamically personalize the experience based on real-time actions
and context.
Digital and Physical Convergence
In today’s omnichannel world, it is not just distinct digital touchpoints that are blurring,
but also the lines between online and offline shopping. As a result, the digital
experience cannot be restricted to online channels. Organizations need to document
3
“The 360° view of
the customer,
combined with
product data and
delivery of the right
content based on
customer context,
allows retailers and
brands to
personalize and
tailor every digital
interaction.”
Vince Clark, Sr. Consultant,
FitForCommerce
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Copyright 2014 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved
customer behaviors across both online and offline channels to be able to fully
understand the customer context at any given point in time.
At the same time, forward-thinking omnichannel brands are increasingly embracing the
opportunities for digital and physical convergence to meet customer demands. By
introducing new digital solutions in physical store locations, such as clienteling
applications that empower sales associates to provide optimized onsite sales assistance,
retailers and brands are streamlining experiences and providing high-touch interactive
solutions for shoppers and sales associates. Additionally, these in-store and portable
digital applications allow associates and sales reps to offer a more personal experience,
whether in a store or in the field, by providing real-time visibility of a customer’s profile
(history, preferences, segments) and crosschannel activity.
The shopping experience also crosses digital and physical borders as customers expect
advanced order fulfillment capabilities, such as the ability to order online and pick up in-
store, buy online and return in-store, endless aisle, and so on. To enable these
capabilities, accurate enterprise-wide inventory and real-time customer data visibility is
even more critical to the brand-wide customer experience.
Other brands are bringing the digital experience into the physical store environment
with digital displays that stream relevant content, such as videos and interactive kiosks
that allow customers to research products.
Brand and Commerce Convergence
One of the most challenging tasks, related to executing strategies for contextually
relevant digital experiences, is shifting the organization from a predominantly divided
marketing and commerce structure to a highly collaborative environment. As the
collision between marketing and commerce continues to take hold, we, at
FitForCommerce, recommend treating the delivery of digital experiences as a collective
approach. Breaking down legacy silos and internal responsibilities are necessary steps to
achieving cohesive and contextually relevant customer experiences.
Business users from the marketing and commerce teams should be empowered to
collaborate when creating and managing digital experiences. This means that they
should no longer sit separately in organizations, and should have similar success metrics
(marketing now cares about conversions and monetization/sales, and ecommerce is
now prioritizing loyalty and engagement).
Keeping completely separate marketing and commerce teams, as well as supporting
technology platforms for elements of delivery, is redundant, expensive, and results in
broken customer experiences.
4
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Copyright 2014 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved
Although it can be challenging to attain, the close collaboration between marketing and
commerce teams has multiple positive outcomes. In addition to improving operational
efficiencies, the data derived about customers and conversions from the commerce
team will help measure the success of content marketing and inform the content
strategy and direction.
Scalability
The scale required in delivering relevant content in commerce versus the scale and
power required to deliver contextually relevant customer experiences differs by orders
of magnitude. Since contextually relevant experiences are tailored to the individual
customer, it is impossible to meet an infinite number of unpredictable customer needs
with static pages. It is simply not feasible to create static pages for every potential
customer path or scenario.
Flexibility to scale with centralized ecommerce platform
Darden Restaurants is one of the world’s largest full-service restaurant companies
with 1,500 locations including Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze,
The Capital Grille, and Yard House brands.
Darden takes a “guest-first” approach to running their business and needed a way to
improve digital engagement with their customers for its many brands. They wanted
to incorporate rich digital content and had unique requirements specific to their
industry. Darden selected Oracle Commerce as the centralized platform to help
them reinvent the online experience for their customers and build ongoing
relationships and loyalty. Darden has seen some impressive results since launch:
Significant increase in To-Go sales
Higher check average
Higher stability, scalability, and availability
5
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Copyright 2014 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved
Beyond the online experience, brands also need to consider scaling to new digital
formats, new sites, new business models, and new geographies. It is recommended that
organizations ensure that they have multi-site capabilities that allow them to speed the
launch and simplify the management of optimized microsites, in-store applications,
international sites, and more.
Real-time data and content from shopping carts, product catalogs, recommendation
engines, promotions, and content delivery networks must be scalable, easily shared and
integrated across touchpoints to avoid starting from scratch or duplicating efforts. In
addition, content and data from other systems in the organization should be readily
available, and easy to leverage across all points of customer interaction.
What platform should control the experience?
As expectations for online shopping has evolved, it has resulted in the overlap of many
marketing and ecommerce functions, and the technology platforms used by each group
have developed similar capabilities. Today, areas such as site layout, experience
management, search, navigation, and personalization can be managed by either the
web content management (WCM) system or the ecommerce platform (ECP). The WCM
system is ideal for delivering non-transactional brand experiences; however, as
expectations shift to a single customer destination, deciding which path to take to
deliver the total digital experience is challenging for many organizations.
Some take a hybrid approach with WCM and ECP, each delivering elements to the page.
Although others lead with the WCM systems, they were not built to integrate with
dozens of systems and scale large volumes of data, therefore often requiring substantial
integration projects, duplicated efforts, and the inability to leverage all data points,
resulting in fragmented experiences. In addition, some organizations try to use retail
systems, such as the POS as the primary platform; however, these are not able to
support dynamic marketing necessary to manage omnichannel marketing.
Because discovery and purchase is part of the same experience, the ability to scale the
experience to anyone, at any stage is critical. At FitForCommerce, we typically
recommend that brands use the commerce platform as the primary system to deliver
the digital experience. Even if online sales today only represents a fraction of overall
sales, both B2B and B2C organizations must prepare for continued growth of the digital
channel.
Commerce platforms are already designed to leverage information and data from
multiple systems and, therefore, are best positioned to be the point system for
delivering contextually relevant and adaptable experiences. The ability to index all
Delivering the Digital Experience
Online sales are
projected to
increase from
$294 billion to
$414 billion over
the next four
years in the US
alone.
Source: US ecommerce
Forecast: 2013 to 2018,
Forrester Research, May 2014.
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Copyright 2014 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved
information and surface the right material in context along each user’s journey, pivoting
between inspiring, discovering, selling, and supporting, at any time, is imperative.
As the commerce space continues to evolve and competition gets fiercer, brands and
retailers are constantly challenged to meet the demands of the increasingly discerning
customer. In today’s omnichannel environment, discovery, research, and purchase
should be considered a part of the same process. Since these actions cross over both
marketing and commerce disciplines, it is the collision of both that is driving the total
digital customer experience.
Most organizations agree that both product-centric and brand-focused content are
essential to delivering a relevant and personalized digital experience that meets
customer expectations at all stages of the path-to-purchase. However, content is only
part of the equation. We believe there are five key components that make up the total
digital experience:
1. Content and commerce – Content should be infused throughout the path-to-
purchase. The availability and delivery of data and content from multiple
sources and systems is necessary.
2. Customers and context – Content can only be effective and relevant when
considered in context to the customer at any point of the purchase journey.
Data is essential to this process; without a 360° view of the customer, across
both online and offline interactions, it is impossible to know the context.
3. Digital and physical convergence – The concept of traditional channels has
become obsolete and the convergence between physical and digital is
inescapable. Both offline and online touchpoints are essential to experience
delivery and data capture.
4. Brand and commerce convergence – As marketing and commerce collide, any
tension between functions must be removed. Strong collaboration, shared
systems, and KPIs are needed to seamlessly deliver the digital experience.
5. Scalability – The ability to easily scale content, technologies, and processes to
new brands, touchpoints, markets, or even single-purpose campaigns is
important.
While many organizations master one or more of these areas, it is the combined power
of all five components that will result in the ideal digital experience. Therefore, we
challenge the readers of this paper to examine their organizations, and map out if and
how they are addressing each component of the digital experience equation.
Conclusion
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Copyright 2014 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved
This whitepaper is made possible by the support of Oracle Retail:
Oracle provides retailers with a complete, open and integrated suite of
business applications, server and storage solutions that are engineered to
work together to optimize every aspect of their businesses. Twenty of the
top 20 retailers worldwide—including fashion, hardlines, grocery and
specialty retailers—use Oracle solutions to drive performance, deliver
critical insights and fuel growth across traditional, mobile and commerce
channels.
For more information, visit our website at www.oracle.com/goto/retail.
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Copyright 2014 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved
Copyright 2014 All rights reserved. FitForCommerce, the FitForCommerce logo, and all other FitForCommerce products and services are
trademarks of FitForCommerce. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
FitForCommerce
40 Highland Ave
Short Hills, NJ 07078
973.379.7399 phone
973.404.8855 fax
info@fitforcommerce.com
www.fitforcommerce.com
FitForCommerce is the leading consulting firm, helping ecommerce and
omnichannel retailers and manufacturers grow their online retail operations. Our
consultants bring decades of practical, hands-on experience to guide merchants
in defining ecommerce strategy, selecting the right technologies, and building
online marketing, merchandising and best-in-class website experiences — all
using a rigorous ecommerce Diligence process and a vast knowledge base built on
our work with hundreds of leading retailers.