The rise of digital marketplaces is an overnight success more than twenty years in the making. Today, their potential for growth and diversity is outpacing traditional e-commerce in every respect. Marketplaces are more than platforms for hosting sellers and attracting customers. Marketplaces as platforms are changing market dynamics and pushing sellers and service providers to rethink their mission, value propositions and overall experience.
Marketplaces will only continue to expand and diversify, introducing new retail and service experiences to sellers and buyers alike. As they do, marketplaces will open doors to new breeds of sellers and service providers, broaden customer choice for more varied product and service offerings, foster healthy competition and promote continuous innovation.
With their phenomenal growth, and the promising future of marketplaces and their role in shaping the future of retail, Kahuna and Altimeter set out to capture the state of digital marketplaces. We surveyed 100 executives and managers of mar- ketplaces across the US and across eight market segments. What we learned in this research, through a quantitative survey and third-party analysis, is that marketplac- es have been underappreciated in their role in reshaping retail and are set to define next generation experiences.
The goal of this report is to provide a lens into the rising marketplace segment to guide incumbent brands and inspire emergent marketplaces as they pave the way for the future of retail, services and customer experiences.
The State Of Digital Transformation In China Versus The Rest Of The World by ...Brian Solis
When Brian Solis was principal analyst at Altimeter Group, he launched a highly regarded series that captured the global state of digital transformation. In 2019, Brian partnered with Prophet Asia's Leon Zhang and Benoit Garbe to zoom in on digital transformation in China. The team quickly realized that China is very different than the rest of the world. As a result, Brian created this document to highlight those differences and also provide recommendations in how to more effectively compete.
The Rise of Digital Darwinism and the Real-world Business Drivers for Digital...Brian Solis
Digital transformation (DX) is shaping the future of business. While it can mean different things to different leaders, DX is about migrating from on-premises and labor-based models to the cloud, then complementing migration with cloud capabilities and agility. But to stop there would miss the full potential of using the cloud to enable DX.
The potential of DX is the sum of its parts: “digital” and “transformation.” Explored in isolation, we’re limited to either the constant pursuit and implementation of new technologies that enhance capabilities or a focus on change to modernize and become more efficient and innovative. Combined, they represent the future of business, how it operates, how it serves customers and employees, and how it adapts to industry evolution.
DX is continuous, never ends, and never a “won and done” series of checked boxes. DX is how organizations continually respond to disruptive events, trends, and technologies – beyond IT. The most effective partners in a DX journey explore existing states and capabilities within, benchmark those results against industry best practices and customer needs, and apply those insights to a strategic digital transformation plan of their own.
Future-proofing public sector and commercial businesses starts with future-proofing partner businesses. The PTP is an accelerator to drive DX and business modernization from B2B all the way to B2C. The PTP provides partners with the guidance to accelerate the development of their AWS skills and expertise to better serve their government, education, or nonprofit and also commercial customers’ journeys to the cloud.
Introducing the AWS Partner Transformation Program eBook
For PTP partners to get started, AWS created a DX playbook “The AWS Partner Transformation Program: Setting the Stage to Transformation Your Business.”
The eBook explores digital trends, DX methodologies, and the needs and areas of opportunity for partner organizations. The eBook can help PTP partners chart a “transformation plan” to set the stage for their customers’ digital transformation.
The time is now to future-proof your business to future-proof your customer's business.
Leading Trends in Retail Innovation by Brian SolisBrian Solis
Leading digital analyst, anthropologist and keynote speaker Brian Solis shares insights from his research into the most progressive retailers changing the innovation game.
Work with Brian on research, advisory/strategy or have him speak at your event or with your executives. brian@briansolis.com - www.briansolis.com
To understand the state of retail innovation, Brian interviewed 12 top retail executives at some of the industry’s most-recognized brands. He set out to learn how leading retailers are responding to digital disruptions — and staying ahead of them. We also aimed to uncover the challenges they face and the strategies that are making an impact.
His interviews and third-party research showed that retailers engage in these five strategies:
Constantly map the customer journey to create smooth cross-channel customer experiences.
Engage in deep consumer research.
Prioritize innovations that target the connected consumer.
Invest in formal innovation programs.
Cultivate the necessary digital skills across the organization.
The insights from some of the most successful retailers can offer guidance on how to stave off disruption and keep pace with an evolving retail landscape.
To understand the state of retail innovation, we interviewed 12 top retail executives at some of the industry’s most-recognized brands. We set out to learn how leading retailers are responding to digital disruptions — and staying ahead of them. We also aimed to uncover the challenges they face and the strategies that are making an impact.
Our interviews and third-party research showed that retailers engage in these five strategies:
Constantly map the customer journey to create smooth cross-channel customer experiences.
Engage in deep consumer research.
Prioritize innovations that target the connected consumer.
Invest in formal innovation programs.
Cultivate the necessary digital skills across the organization.
The insights from some of the most successful retailers can offer guidance on how to stave off disruption and keep pace with an evolving retail landscape.
Dude where's my car. Product & Marketing Innovation Deep DiveGood Rebels
The Spotify and Netflix generation is as comfortable sharing and subscribing to their driving options as they are to their entertainment. Smart players will place equal emphasis on monetising services as they will innovating their product range.
If the trends seen in this report become reality, a business based purely on production and volume sales will fail. Traditional OEMs must become service-based businesses to thrive.
Find out how to thrive if you are a product or marketing automotive professional.
The Robot and I: How New Digital Technologies Are Making Smart People and Bus...Cognizant
Our latest study shows that when enterprise robots are applied to automating core business processes, they can extend the creative problem-solving capabilities and productivity of human beings and deliver superior business results.
What the hell is digital transformation anyway ! - webinar - 25 april 2018 (1)Good Rebels
What the hell is digital transformation anyway?” a webinar presented by Mark Ralphs, partner at Good Rebels, on the 25th of April 2018.
Learn about the challenge of creating a digital first culture and organisation, the forces driving digital transformation, and practical insights and advice on delivering a transformation programme.
The State Of Digital Transformation In China Versus The Rest Of The World by ...Brian Solis
When Brian Solis was principal analyst at Altimeter Group, he launched a highly regarded series that captured the global state of digital transformation. In 2019, Brian partnered with Prophet Asia's Leon Zhang and Benoit Garbe to zoom in on digital transformation in China. The team quickly realized that China is very different than the rest of the world. As a result, Brian created this document to highlight those differences and also provide recommendations in how to more effectively compete.
The Rise of Digital Darwinism and the Real-world Business Drivers for Digital...Brian Solis
Digital transformation (DX) is shaping the future of business. While it can mean different things to different leaders, DX is about migrating from on-premises and labor-based models to the cloud, then complementing migration with cloud capabilities and agility. But to stop there would miss the full potential of using the cloud to enable DX.
The potential of DX is the sum of its parts: “digital” and “transformation.” Explored in isolation, we’re limited to either the constant pursuit and implementation of new technologies that enhance capabilities or a focus on change to modernize and become more efficient and innovative. Combined, they represent the future of business, how it operates, how it serves customers and employees, and how it adapts to industry evolution.
DX is continuous, never ends, and never a “won and done” series of checked boxes. DX is how organizations continually respond to disruptive events, trends, and technologies – beyond IT. The most effective partners in a DX journey explore existing states and capabilities within, benchmark those results against industry best practices and customer needs, and apply those insights to a strategic digital transformation plan of their own.
Future-proofing public sector and commercial businesses starts with future-proofing partner businesses. The PTP is an accelerator to drive DX and business modernization from B2B all the way to B2C. The PTP provides partners with the guidance to accelerate the development of their AWS skills and expertise to better serve their government, education, or nonprofit and also commercial customers’ journeys to the cloud.
Introducing the AWS Partner Transformation Program eBook
For PTP partners to get started, AWS created a DX playbook “The AWS Partner Transformation Program: Setting the Stage to Transformation Your Business.”
The eBook explores digital trends, DX methodologies, and the needs and areas of opportunity for partner organizations. The eBook can help PTP partners chart a “transformation plan” to set the stage for their customers’ digital transformation.
The time is now to future-proof your business to future-proof your customer's business.
Leading Trends in Retail Innovation by Brian SolisBrian Solis
Leading digital analyst, anthropologist and keynote speaker Brian Solis shares insights from his research into the most progressive retailers changing the innovation game.
Work with Brian on research, advisory/strategy or have him speak at your event or with your executives. brian@briansolis.com - www.briansolis.com
To understand the state of retail innovation, Brian interviewed 12 top retail executives at some of the industry’s most-recognized brands. He set out to learn how leading retailers are responding to digital disruptions — and staying ahead of them. We also aimed to uncover the challenges they face and the strategies that are making an impact.
His interviews and third-party research showed that retailers engage in these five strategies:
Constantly map the customer journey to create smooth cross-channel customer experiences.
Engage in deep consumer research.
Prioritize innovations that target the connected consumer.
Invest in formal innovation programs.
Cultivate the necessary digital skills across the organization.
The insights from some of the most successful retailers can offer guidance on how to stave off disruption and keep pace with an evolving retail landscape.
To understand the state of retail innovation, we interviewed 12 top retail executives at some of the industry’s most-recognized brands. We set out to learn how leading retailers are responding to digital disruptions — and staying ahead of them. We also aimed to uncover the challenges they face and the strategies that are making an impact.
Our interviews and third-party research showed that retailers engage in these five strategies:
Constantly map the customer journey to create smooth cross-channel customer experiences.
Engage in deep consumer research.
Prioritize innovations that target the connected consumer.
Invest in formal innovation programs.
Cultivate the necessary digital skills across the organization.
The insights from some of the most successful retailers can offer guidance on how to stave off disruption and keep pace with an evolving retail landscape.
Dude where's my car. Product & Marketing Innovation Deep DiveGood Rebels
The Spotify and Netflix generation is as comfortable sharing and subscribing to their driving options as they are to their entertainment. Smart players will place equal emphasis on monetising services as they will innovating their product range.
If the trends seen in this report become reality, a business based purely on production and volume sales will fail. Traditional OEMs must become service-based businesses to thrive.
Find out how to thrive if you are a product or marketing automotive professional.
The Robot and I: How New Digital Technologies Are Making Smart People and Bus...Cognizant
Our latest study shows that when enterprise robots are applied to automating core business processes, they can extend the creative problem-solving capabilities and productivity of human beings and deliver superior business results.
What the hell is digital transformation anyway ! - webinar - 25 april 2018 (1)Good Rebels
What the hell is digital transformation anyway?” a webinar presented by Mark Ralphs, partner at Good Rebels, on the 25th of April 2018.
Learn about the challenge of creating a digital first culture and organisation, the forces driving digital transformation, and practical insights and advice on delivering a transformation programme.
Eight Success Factors of Digital Transformation by Brian SolisBrian Solis
Over the last 7 years, Brian Solis pioneered digital transformation research.. In this report in partnership with Altimeter Group, Brian observed a series of important patterns that companies follow in their work to digitally transform. We learned that strategists take an “OPPOSITE” approach to business as usual as they seek new and alternative insights and methodologies to blaze new trails.
In this report, Brian introduces the “OPPOSITE” framework, an acronym that represents a compilation of best practices guiding today’s successful organizations through their digital transformation efforts. These best practices apply to eight key areas of focus for the organization:
1) Orientation
2) People
3) Processes
4) Objectives
5) Structure
6) Insights & Intent
7) Technology
8) Execution
For companies looking to jump start their digital transformation efforts, this report provides a blueprint for stakeholders across the organization to come together, create a shared vision and take the first steps towards thriving in the new digital reality.
Report download: https://insights.prophet.com/8-success-factors-of-digital-transformation
Article: https://www.prophet.com/2016/08/opposite-approach-framework-for-digital-transformation/
Human-Centred Organisations prevent shareholders from feeling overwhelmed by structure. They’re obsessed with the journeys taken by their customers, employees, partners, and those taken by “citizens”, and so they’re better able to create shared value for the company shareholders as well as society at large.
Apps for the Connected World: Supercharge Customer Data with Code HalosCognizant
By making meaning from the data that swirls around every digital interaction, companies can gain unprecedented insight into what customer and prospects want and value, essentially what makes them "tick."
At first glance, Asia-Pacific retailers appear to be in good shape. Business is booming and waves of Asian millennials are entering the workforce, consuming at a rate previously unseen among older, more conservative- minded shoppers.
But take a closer look, and there is cause for concern. Profits are plummeting!
The digital paradigm is delivering an insurmountable amount of data that organisations are able to exploit to define new customer experiences and drive business growth. For companies to realise the full value of this corporate asset, there needs to be executive ownership and direction in the boardroom.
Consumer trust has become the new battleground for digital success. To win, organizations need to master the fundamentals of data ethics, manage the "give-to-get" ratio and solve the customer trust equation, our recent research reveals.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) present us with novel and efficient ways to solve challenging and persistent problems, particularly when it comes to predictions. Retail, due to its fast moving, trend powered, and fluid nature coupled to an extended logistics chain, relies heavily on making smart predictions. As improvements in AI/ML over the last several years have proliferated, not only in performance advances but deployability, there are exciting openings for experimentation in many domains of the retail value chain
https://runfrictionless.com/b2b-white-paper-service/
People — Not Just Machines — Will Power Digital InnovationCognizant
As new technologies cause value chains to rapidly evolve and organizational boundaries to blur, human roles and tasks are also digitizing, as machines alter how knowledge work is performed.
Driving growth in Indian manufacturing industry Sumit Roy
Indian manufacturing is just perfectly poised to Unlocking the transformation value with technology .While businesses understand that in order to build an organisation that is agile and suited to withstand current market and economic volatilities, there are several things to be considered before taking a digital leap. More than just a strategy for any individual technology trend or for combining more than one of them, companies need a systematic approach to adopt technologies in a holistic fashion. The industry trends and challenges primarily drive the appropriate selection of technology solutions, which need to be fine-tuned to a company’s needs based on its scale, capabilities and its specific issues. This joint CII-PwC report takes a closer look at two industries in particular, manufacturing and infrastructure, and tries to decode the prevalent challenges in these two sectors, the kind of initiatives being taken to drive growth and development, and how IT adoption is playing an important role to overcome these challenges
A global study into 16 to 25 year olds and everyday banking looking at how banks can stay relevant for young people in the face of disruption in the financial services industry.
Into the Mainstream: Influencer Marketing in Societyrun_frictionless
TAKUMI surveyed over 3,500 consumers, marketers, and influencers across the UK, US, and Germany to uncover the latest trends in the sector. The report ‘Into the mainstream: Influencer marketing in society’, uncovered divided opinions on what consumers want to see and what brands are willing to engage with influencers on.
https://runfrictionless.com/b2b-white-paper-service/
The Fintech 100 includes leading 50 fintech
companies across the globe, and the most intriguing
50 ‘emerging stars’ – exciting new fintechs with bold,
disruptive and potentially game-changing ideas –
expanding on the success of last year’s list. Presented here strictly for academic purposes...
2015-16 Global Chief Procurement Officer Survey - CPOCapgemini
Capgemini Consulting’s sixth Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) Survey examines Procurement Trends, Compliance Management, Advanced Analytics in Procurement, and the Total Supplier Experience. Since our last CPO Survey, much has changed. During the darkest economic hours, Procurement was called upon in many troubled organizations to stem costs in new and creative ways. For many Procurement executives, there was no longer the need to sell the value of its standard services (cutting costs). Instead, Procurement was being called upon as a partner to drive cost out across the organization, thus elevating Procurement executives into a highly visible role in the organization.
Integrated Marketing Communications Campaign:
- Proposed brand positioning, product offerings, and detailed implementation methods for a client's new business venture
- Completed for the course ADV4800 at the University of Florida
- The team for which I was the Group Lead/Account Executive won Best Strategic Plan
The e commerce imperative online versionVarun Luthra
The E Commerce Imperative Online Version covers the several significant aspects of E Commerce, a closer look on the category killer: Amazon and some of the important factors for the rise of e commerce in last 15 year.
Please 'Like' if you find this useful. Enjoy :)
Eight Success Factors of Digital Transformation by Brian SolisBrian Solis
Over the last 7 years, Brian Solis pioneered digital transformation research.. In this report in partnership with Altimeter Group, Brian observed a series of important patterns that companies follow in their work to digitally transform. We learned that strategists take an “OPPOSITE” approach to business as usual as they seek new and alternative insights and methodologies to blaze new trails.
In this report, Brian introduces the “OPPOSITE” framework, an acronym that represents a compilation of best practices guiding today’s successful organizations through their digital transformation efforts. These best practices apply to eight key areas of focus for the organization:
1) Orientation
2) People
3) Processes
4) Objectives
5) Structure
6) Insights & Intent
7) Technology
8) Execution
For companies looking to jump start their digital transformation efforts, this report provides a blueprint for stakeholders across the organization to come together, create a shared vision and take the first steps towards thriving in the new digital reality.
Report download: https://insights.prophet.com/8-success-factors-of-digital-transformation
Article: https://www.prophet.com/2016/08/opposite-approach-framework-for-digital-transformation/
Human-Centred Organisations prevent shareholders from feeling overwhelmed by structure. They’re obsessed with the journeys taken by their customers, employees, partners, and those taken by “citizens”, and so they’re better able to create shared value for the company shareholders as well as society at large.
Apps for the Connected World: Supercharge Customer Data with Code HalosCognizant
By making meaning from the data that swirls around every digital interaction, companies can gain unprecedented insight into what customer and prospects want and value, essentially what makes them "tick."
At first glance, Asia-Pacific retailers appear to be in good shape. Business is booming and waves of Asian millennials are entering the workforce, consuming at a rate previously unseen among older, more conservative- minded shoppers.
But take a closer look, and there is cause for concern. Profits are plummeting!
The digital paradigm is delivering an insurmountable amount of data that organisations are able to exploit to define new customer experiences and drive business growth. For companies to realise the full value of this corporate asset, there needs to be executive ownership and direction in the boardroom.
Consumer trust has become the new battleground for digital success. To win, organizations need to master the fundamentals of data ethics, manage the "give-to-get" ratio and solve the customer trust equation, our recent research reveals.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) present us with novel and efficient ways to solve challenging and persistent problems, particularly when it comes to predictions. Retail, due to its fast moving, trend powered, and fluid nature coupled to an extended logistics chain, relies heavily on making smart predictions. As improvements in AI/ML over the last several years have proliferated, not only in performance advances but deployability, there are exciting openings for experimentation in many domains of the retail value chain
https://runfrictionless.com/b2b-white-paper-service/
People — Not Just Machines — Will Power Digital InnovationCognizant
As new technologies cause value chains to rapidly evolve and organizational boundaries to blur, human roles and tasks are also digitizing, as machines alter how knowledge work is performed.
Driving growth in Indian manufacturing industry Sumit Roy
Indian manufacturing is just perfectly poised to Unlocking the transformation value with technology .While businesses understand that in order to build an organisation that is agile and suited to withstand current market and economic volatilities, there are several things to be considered before taking a digital leap. More than just a strategy for any individual technology trend or for combining more than one of them, companies need a systematic approach to adopt technologies in a holistic fashion. The industry trends and challenges primarily drive the appropriate selection of technology solutions, which need to be fine-tuned to a company’s needs based on its scale, capabilities and its specific issues. This joint CII-PwC report takes a closer look at two industries in particular, manufacturing and infrastructure, and tries to decode the prevalent challenges in these two sectors, the kind of initiatives being taken to drive growth and development, and how IT adoption is playing an important role to overcome these challenges
A global study into 16 to 25 year olds and everyday banking looking at how banks can stay relevant for young people in the face of disruption in the financial services industry.
Into the Mainstream: Influencer Marketing in Societyrun_frictionless
TAKUMI surveyed over 3,500 consumers, marketers, and influencers across the UK, US, and Germany to uncover the latest trends in the sector. The report ‘Into the mainstream: Influencer marketing in society’, uncovered divided opinions on what consumers want to see and what brands are willing to engage with influencers on.
https://runfrictionless.com/b2b-white-paper-service/
The Fintech 100 includes leading 50 fintech
companies across the globe, and the most intriguing
50 ‘emerging stars’ – exciting new fintechs with bold,
disruptive and potentially game-changing ideas –
expanding on the success of last year’s list. Presented here strictly for academic purposes...
2015-16 Global Chief Procurement Officer Survey - CPOCapgemini
Capgemini Consulting’s sixth Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) Survey examines Procurement Trends, Compliance Management, Advanced Analytics in Procurement, and the Total Supplier Experience. Since our last CPO Survey, much has changed. During the darkest economic hours, Procurement was called upon in many troubled organizations to stem costs in new and creative ways. For many Procurement executives, there was no longer the need to sell the value of its standard services (cutting costs). Instead, Procurement was being called upon as a partner to drive cost out across the organization, thus elevating Procurement executives into a highly visible role in the organization.
Integrated Marketing Communications Campaign:
- Proposed brand positioning, product offerings, and detailed implementation methods for a client's new business venture
- Completed for the course ADV4800 at the University of Florida
- The team for which I was the Group Lead/Account Executive won Best Strategic Plan
The e commerce imperative online versionVarun Luthra
The E Commerce Imperative Online Version covers the several significant aspects of E Commerce, a closer look on the category killer: Amazon and some of the important factors for the rise of e commerce in last 15 year.
Please 'Like' if you find this useful. Enjoy :)
Global Powers of Retailing Deloitte 2018Oliver Grave
Global Powers of Retailing Top 250
The 21st annual Global Powers of Retailing identifies the 250 largest retailers around the world based on publicly available data for FY2016 (fiscal years ended through June 2017), and analyzes their performance across geographies and product sectors. It also provides a global economic outlook and looks at the 50 fastest-growing retailers and new entrants to the Top 250.
The top five largest retailers maintained their positions on the leader board. A combination of organic growth, acquisitions, and exchange rate volatility shuffled the rest of the Top 10—which now accounts for 30.7 percent of the overall Top 250’s retail revenue (compared to 30.4 percent last year).
Retailers of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) are by far, the largest companies (average retail revenue of nearly US$21.7 billion) as well as the most numerous (135 retailers accounting for 54 percent of all Top 250 companies and two-thirds of Top 250 revenue).
Transformative change, reinvigorated commerce
The rules of retailing are being rewritten in this time of transformative change. Innovation, collaboration, consolidation, integration, and automation will likely be required to reinvigorate commerce, profoundly impacting the way retailers do business now, and in the future. Across the retail industry, disruption of traditional business models has given way to unprecedented and transformative change—change required online and offline to better serve more demanding shoppers and redefining customer experience.
The four trends identified in the report are:
- Building top-notch digital capabilities
- Combining bricks and clicks makes up for lost time
- Creating unique and compelling in-store experiences
- Reinventing retail with the latest technologies
Ритейлеры должны адекватно и целостно планировать, разрабатывать стратегии и выполнять их во всех каналах независимо от того, происходит ли окончательная продажа в магазине или в интернете. И это ключевая причина, по которой компании всего мира активно инвестируют в онлайн и digital.
The power of Chinese e-consumption is unstoppable despite the slowing economy and is estimated to reach 9.6 Trillion RMB by 2020. This sheer magnitude alone is the main reason why we are now taking a spotlight on China’s E-commerce industry.
Strategies to Help CPG Companies Win in Chinaaccenture
Accenture’s latest study reveals consumer insights and strategies that can help accelerate growth for CPG companies and Retailers in China.
The profit rates of CPG companies have been declining in China recently, but by understanding the changing Chinese consumer, and adjusting their strategies to best serve consumer needs, CPG companies can drive growth in the country.
For more information view us on http://www.accenture.com/ConsumerGoods
GroupM’s The Great Shift 2020 details the shift caused by the pandemic in four major sectors (Auto, CPG & E-comm, Telecom and Financial Services) and another (Entertainment) where the industry has gone through significant change and, as a result, we must alter the way we think of them as sources of inventory.
Top 5 Trends For CPG & Retail Industry 2015ITC Infotech
With the CPG & Retail industry gaining fast grounds into an increasingly global market place, businesses are demanding a blend of Strategic Consulting, Operational Consulting and Value Realization through flawless
execution. Glocalisation – phenomenon of the modernized world – has a profound effect in the CPG & Retail industry and has created unprecedented challenges such as, maintaining consistency in customer experience, optimizing supply chains in emerging markets and devising
methods for developing new products more efficiently. We believe that in order to help the industry gear up for success and be future-ready, consulting firms will have to seamlessly blend industry & domain expertise
with management consulting skills, bringing unique capabilities to discover and resolve business concerns of the day.
This report marks the 20th year of identifying
the 250 largest retailers around the world and
analyzing their performance across geographies,
sectors, and channels.
Over the last 20 years we have seen a seismic shift
in retail and the customers that retailers serve.
Consider that in 1997, the inaugural year of this report,
today’s average Amazon Prime customer was just
16 years old, AOL was pioneering social media, and
handheld virtual pets were the hottest-selling toys.
Today, handheld (or wearable) digital devices are
ubiquitous and a younger, social customer has come of
age. We are living in an era where customers are in the
driver’s seat more than ever before and they are craving
authenticity, newness, convenience, and creativity. We
are living in the customer-driven economy.
The End of Business as Usual: Rewire the Way You Work to Succeed in the Consu...Brian Solis
A book review by Michael B. Pasco, Professor, Graduate School of Business, San Beda University, Philippines.
It is amazing that Solis foresaw the need for digitalization strategies and alarmed different companies before the great requirement occurred during and after the pandemic. Today, we observe the future of business as being affected by developments in information, as he portrayed.
The reader of the book gains an awareness of the predicted conditions that made them calm, composed, and in control of their activities during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. One can learn more business and management techniques from this book.
I experienced to achieve organizational heights instead of firm’s losses because of the readiness, and the processes that Solis guided.
More efficient marketing investments and inter-organizational communication were improved faster, leading to normal business as usual.
While he elaborated different frameworks to justify his arguments, there are a lot of scenarios that the business communities are now aware of to validate his principles and recommendations in the book.
Furthermore, readers can learn that the structure, technologies, and infrastructure needed to adapt to the new normal are mandatory.
Business, management, and academic communities should read this book and evaluate the fulfillment and the gaps between the premises. These efforts will drive the implementation and advancements of different digitalization business models to prevail in the new normal.
Publication Link: https://www.abem.ca/x/JABEM-2024-V4N1.pdf
FAST COMPANY: Liderler için yol haritası - Brian SolisBrian Solis
Müşteri odaklı şirketler, müşteriyi organizasyonun
merkezine koyduklarına işaret ederler ki bu harikadır. Ben müşteri davranışlarını ve eğilimlerini takip eder; yolculuklarını, temas noktalarını, hizmetleri ve ürünleri ters mühendislikle incelerim. Öncelikle müşteri deneyiminin tanımından başlamak gerek. Müşteri deneyimi, bir müşterinin şirketinizle etkileşimlerinin toplamını, her aşamada markanız hakkında nasıl hissettiklerini ve markanızın akıllarında nasıl kaldığını ve tüm o adımların deneyimi bütünsel anlamda nasıl etkilediğini ifade eder. -nin ekini ekleyerek müşterinin deneyimi demek, müşteri deneyimine (CX) dair bakış açımızı, onların bakış açısına döndürür.
LEADERS Magazine Features Brian Solis on Innovation and PurposeBrian Solis
In this must read interview in LEADERS Magazine, Brian Solis explores the challenges and opportunities executives face in this Novel Economy.
Brian also details how companies can create a culture of innovation to grow and scale in uncertain times.
"The Memo That Started It All" by Christopher VoglerBrian Solis
In 1985, Christopher Vogler, a Disney story analyst and student of Joseph Campbell, wrote a seven-page memo synopsizing the myth-master’s description of the archetypal Hero’s Journey, culled from thousands of years of stories, myths, legends and fairy tales. It was far from the first time Hollywood heard of Campbell--he’s been a conversational staple at least since George Lucas cited his influence on “Star Wars"--but outside of a few screenwriters, critics and academics, precious few people had actually read “Hero with a Thousand Faces.”
So Vogler’s memo became a sort of a Cliff’s Notes for Hollywood literati and it soon began a journey of its own. Dawn Steel in 1987 asked Vogler for a copy and made it required reading for Paramount executives, producers and writers. Other studio story departments followed suit. The memo grew to a 15- and then a 40-page essay as Vogler continued to test and refine his ideas, talking with colleagues at Disney, friends at other studios and students at the UCLA Writer’s Program, where he teaches a story analysis class.
Writers, producers and actors asked for copies. Among them was Jeff Arch, who, among other projects, wrote the story for “Sleepless in Seattle” and co-wrote the film’s screenplay, says Vogler’s work is “brilliant.” “Every time I write something, I run each charcter throuh the system Chris has outlined,” says Arch.
Finally, the memo made the ultimate metamorphosis; Vogler write “The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers & Screenwriters.” Published last year, the book presents the Hero’s Journey in 12 stages.
Link to the original: https://livingspirit.typepad.com/files/chris-vogler-memo-1.pdf
'Decentraler internet komt er, maar moet eerst door fase van desillusie' | De...Brian Solis
De antropoloog en futurist van de digitale wereld Brian Solis is optimistisch over de pogingen het web te hervormen, decentraler te maken en de gebruikers meer macht te geven. Hij waarschuwt wel dat dat zogeheten web3 eerst door een 'vallei van de desillusie' moet.
Link: https://www.tijd.be/ondernemen/technologie/Decentraler-internet-komt-er-maar-moet-eerst-door-fase-van-desillusie/10398532
Digital Darwinism An Interview with Brian Solis, Global Innovation Evangelist...Brian Solis
Leaders Magazine features Brian Solis in an in-depth interview that explores innovation, digital Darwinism, distractions and wellness, and the future of business.
The Digital Change Agent's Manifesto: How the People Behind Digital Transform...Brian Solis
By Brian Solis
In a world where digital technology is evolving faster than organizations can adapt, it’s no secret that companies are investing in digital transformation and corporate innovation. But who is leading the charge? Often, it’s the individuals who share a deep expertise and passion for digital. And while these “digital change agents” are striving to bring change from within their respective group in the organization, they aren’t necessarily seasoned or trained at navigating the cultural dynamics that drive change throughout an organization.
With support and guidance from the C-Suite, change agents spread digital literacy, drive collaboration between silos, build internal bridges with executives, and help accelerate their organization’s progress across the “Six Stages of Digital Transformation.”
The Digital Change Agent’s Manifesto is the result of more than five years of research and 30 interviews with those who have led digital transformation initiatives within the world’s most renowned brands, including Coca-Cola, Equifax, FCC, NFL, Samsung, Starbucks and Visa, among many others.
Key Takeaways:
Although digital transformation is one of the biggest trends in business today and companies are investing heavily in new technologies and innovations, many still do so as a grassroots effort driven by expert individuals — digital change agents — across the organization.
Digital change agents are passionate about digital innovations and ardent believers in their potential to help the organization succeed — but are sometimes reluctant to step into a leadership or change-management role
Change agents can rise from anywhere in the organization and often begin as digital advocates — employees who introduce or promote new digital ideas or products — and can eventually progress to experienced transformers
To garner support across the organization, change agents quickly realize that they must acquire basic change-management skills if they are to secure cross-functional collaboration and leadership support
Without support, digital change agents may become disenchanted and lose moral and seek to take their expertise and passion elsewhere
Mobile is Eating the World - Four ways to rethink customer experiences as mob...Brian Solis
Demand more from mobile
When was the last time you checked your smartphone? Was it a few minutes ago? Or maybe it was a few seconds ago. In fact, you might even be reading this article on your phone, on your daily commute to work or in the comfort of your couch at home on a tablet.
The point is, mobile is big. It’s so big that in May last year, Google has revealed that mobile search has overtaken desktop search. Effectively what this means is that we are searching more information with our mobile devices than on laptops or desktops.
For brands this is huge – it redefines the way they become discoverable. However, this also means that the competition to catch a consumer’s attention is fiercer than ever as smartphones and smart devices continue to evolve and take over the market.
This mobile consumer looks at their phone about 1500 times a day on average and they spend 177 minutes interacting with it daily. Their gestures, the way they act, their process to finding information – business are expected to understand that and act upon it.
This new generation is defined by digital, mobile, real-time and an always-on lifestyle. They’re nothing like your traditional customers.
So, in order to understand them and how they think, you need to redefine and rethink your mobile-first approach to customer experiences. Here are 4 ways you can do just that.
Economic and Creative Disruption - Linda Yueh and Brian SolisBrian Solis
In Madrid, Spain, Salesforce and Accenture hosted economist Linda Yueh and digital anthropologist Brian Solis to share their respective outlooks regarding the impact of the global pandemic on the economy, businesses, and human behavior.
During her presentation, Linda Yueh focused on our approach to the current economic climate, offering an outlook of what the years ahead may bring, and reflected not just on how to live with the virus, but how to prosper alongside it where possible.
At the beginning of his presentation, Salesforce Global Innovation Evangelist Brian Solis emphasized that he can already see the light at the end of the tunnel. Even though his work is focused on innovation, digital transformation and the future of markets, Solis has dedicated the last two years to studying how digital transformation affects us as individuals, as human beings, and its impact on the role we play in society. “There came a time when I personally felt anxious about the daily influence of digital on my life and I wanted to explore why I felt so affected by technology and also what to do about it.”
Following is a report that summarizes the presentation of Yueh and Solis along with the conversation that ensued. The attached report includes 11 key takeaways to prosper in a post-pandemic economy.
Power to the People: The Socialization of BusinessBrian Solis
Exhibitor cover story in March 2011 features Brian Solis on the socialization of business, a topic that's probably more important today.
Social media is infiltrating our societal psyche with brute force. But what does that mean for the face-to-face marketing industry? According to author and digital sociologist Brian Solis, it means we are in the throes of a revolution that will ultimately, and irreversibly, change the exhibit and event marketing landscape.
www.briansolis.com
@briansolis
Digital Darwinism: An Interview with Brian Solis, Global Innovation Evangelis...Brian Solis
Under pressure to act fast during the pandemic, businesses sped up their digital transformation plans, compressing their timetables from years into months. Now they face the next phase of evolution, what digital prophet Brian Solis calls the “novel economy”. For businesses to adapt and thrive, says Solis, they must take a more profound and humanistic approach to transformation.
Audio Interview: https://www.customerfirstthinking.ca/digital-darwinism-an-interview-with-brian-solis-global-innovation-evangelist-salesforce/
The Magic of Stories: How Storytelling Can Save MarketingBrian Solis
Brian Solis author of Engage and X: The Experience When Business Meets Design has teamed up with LinkedIn and GapingVoid to create an exclusive new eBook, Once Upon a Digital Time. LinkedIn's Megan Golden talked to hi about how telling better stories can help future-proof marketing itself.
Genève doit créer la Croix-Rouge de l’Internet - Brian Solis Keynote at Digit...Brian Solis
Pour ce qui est du numéri- que, CREA, l’école de comm’, fait toujours fort. L’une de ses promos est pla- cée sous le parrainage de Bertrand Perez, le patron de Libra, l’association chargée de piloter la monnaie virtuel- le de Facebook (même si cel- le-ci est bien chahutée). Et mardi, ce sont quelques-uns des meilleurs spécialistes du numérique qui ont été ac- cueillis lors du 11e CREA Digital Day, une plateforme de réflexion passionnante, quoique pas exempte de quelques tics, où chacun semble singer Steve Jobs. Reste qu’il y avait des pointu- res, comme Brian Solis, gou- rou américain du numéri- que...
Rakuten Ready and Brian Solis Introduce The NOW Economy - The Future of BOPIS...Brian Solis
Rakuten Ready, the location-centric mobile commerce platform that takes the friction out of the mobile order-ahead experience for thousands of stores and restaurants, and Brian Solis, unveiled a benchmark study enlisting secret shoppers to evaluate the Order for Pickup customer experience and wait times at 25 top quick-service restaurant, retail and grocery brands across the U.S.
Based on Rakuten Ready order data, customers who waited less than 2 minutes were four times more likely to be repeat, loyal customers. A few brands are actually meeting and exceeding this wait time expectation for in-store pickup.
“Smartphones and apps like Uber, DoorDash, GrubHub and Postmates have rewired customer behaviors and expectations and changed the game for retailers, quick-service restaurants and grocery,” said leading digital analyst, CX expert and author Brian Solis, who led the report's development. “Brands must now rethink business and operational models to not only keep up with evolving customer demands but also grow new markets. Those that do win. Those that don’t will lose.”
www.briansolis.com
The Future of Music: What Every Business Can Learn From The State of The Musi...Brian Solis
Brian Solis takes a look at how disruption changed the face of the music industry, and the lessons all businesses can learn from this period of massive change. This paper examines the effects of "digital Darwinism" on how we create, distribute and consume music, as well as the effects of disruptive technology on our everyday lives.
www.briansolis.com
Is there room for creative imagination in quantum computing? by Brian Solis f...Brian Solis
Can Quantum solve all of our Business problems one day? At the NASSCOM National Technology & Leadership Forum 2020, leading digital analyst and keynote speaker Brian Solis was asked to share his views on the state of Quantum Computing and his views on how enterprise organizations need to act today.
To book Brian as a speaker, please visit briansolis.com/speaker. For more about Brian and to learn more about how to work with him, please visit briansolis.com
--
Quantum computing is a candidate for a breakthrough in technology that can happen anytime in the next decade. Complex problem solving would be enabled once this technology matures and shows a significant potential in creating value across multiple industries one of them being healthcare drug discovery. The question that arises is what should companies do in order to prepare themselves for these radical upgrades in tech and how business partnerships will evolve over time to achieve leadership in this sector of technology?
11 Digital Trends Shaping CX and Marketing in 2020 - Live from CESBrian Solis
No predictions here...just 11 important trends that are shaping CX and marketing landscape in 2020 and beyond. Leading digital analyst, author and keynote speaker Brian Solis breaks down these trends to help brand executives, consultants and marketers think differently (and holistically) about operational and strategic investments in CX and marketing.
Brian admits that there are certainly more than 11 trends to follow, but in the context of this conversation, he focused on the convergence of AI, customer empathy, digital distractions and intentions, and the technology that connects the dots to native, end-to-end experiences.
Hire Brian as a speaker: briansolis.com/speaking
Work with Brian: briansolis.com/partner
About Brian: briansolis.com
The Six Stages of Digital Transformation by Brian SolisBrian Solis
For companies faced with the prospect of “Digital Darwinism,” the hardest part is evaluating what need to be changed first. In Brian Solis' deepest dive into Digital Transformation yet, he created a maturity model that helps companies assess exactly where they are, and where they need to be on the road to digital transformation.
After several years of interviewing those helping to drive digital transformation, we have identified a series of patterns, components, and processes that form a strong foundation for change. We have organized these elements into six distinct stages:
Business as Usual
Present and Active
Formalized
Strategic
Converged
Innovative and Adaptive
Work with Brian to develop research, thought leadership or strategy to survive and thrive in an era of digital Darwinism. brian@briansolis.com - www.briansolis.com | Hire Brian to keynote your next event! www.briansolis.com/speaking
State of influence 2.0 by Brian Solis and TraackrBrian Solis
A groundbreaking report on the state and future of influencer marketing by Brian Solis and Traackr. What if influencer marketing was more than marketing? What if it was about the end-to-end customer or employee experience?
Welcome to a new era of marketing; an era where brands are shaped by the people who experience them. In a world where most consumers are connected, the experiences that they have and share online collectively shape their perceptions, impressions and actions. To a certain extent, all connected consumers are becoming influential in their own ways.
Influence has never been more import- ant. Every year, global communica- tions marketing firm Edelman pub- lishes its “Trust Barometer” report that captures the sentiment of trust in a variety of industries and scenarios. In its 2017 edition1, Edelman learned that the credibility of CEOs was at its lowest level ever. At the same time, the report found that trust in peers, or “a person like yourself,” is as cred- ible a source of information about a company as a technical or academic expert. Without trust, brand market- ing may fall upon skeptical, distrusting or altogether inattentive audiences.
By partnering with the right influenc- ers, or people who tell the right stories in the right context by delivering value at each step, brands can reach people through those they trust while earning trust in the process.
Digital Transformation of the Guest Experience by Brian SolisBrian Solis
The digital transformation of the hotel guest experience will be a major competitive advantage for hoteliers according to this new report from Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR) in cooperation with Brian Solis.
In this new study, we investigate the market challenges facing the industry. We interviewed hotel executives from around the world to better understand the technology, challenges and trends that factor into their guest experience strategy. This report will ultimately guide you in architecting the modern guest experience.
What's Inside:
The modern guest experience blueprint
Behind the scenes + exclusive executive interviews of top hospitality brands
Challenges hospitality brands face + how to overcome them
What separates traditional brands from modern brands
Download this report to learn how you can lead change within your brand and how to overcome common hurdles including legacy systems and technologies, silos, inadequate customer journeys + outdated guest perspectives and UX.
The future of hospitality is clear: Customer experience is the make-or-break factor for hoteliers. Will it be your downfall or your competitive advantage?
Digital Transformation of the Guest Experience by Brian Solis
The State (and Future) of Digital Marketplaces by Brian Solis
1. The State (and Future)
of Digital Marketplaces
Brian Solis
2. 2
The State (and Future) of
Digital Marketplaces
Marketplaces are having a leapfrog moment. Analysts
predict1
that marketplaces around the world will account for
40% of the global online retail market by 2020. But, the rise
of digital marketplaces is an overnight success more than
twenty years in the making.
Digital marketplaces are not new; they’ve been around since the dawn of
e-commerce. But today, their potential for growth and diversity is outpacing
traditional e-commerce in every respect.
During the early days of Web 1.0, in 1995, eBay launched what would become a
mainstream digital marketplace movement. At the time, eBay remarkably brought
together a strong gathering of sellers and buyers around an auction format for
used products and specialty products. As the marketplace grew and innovative
technologies with new capabilities were introduced, eBay continually enhanced
the ecosystem, launching new value and growth opportunities in the process.
In October 2002, eBay acquired PayPal2
to streamline how buyers and sellers
transact. Over time, eBay evolved into a dynamic marketplace beyond auctions
where now, 80% of the items sold are brand new to a broad, global audience of
over 170 million buyers3
.
In 2009, “the sharing economy” or the “gig economy” represented the next chapter
in the advancement of digital marketplaces. Uber, Airbnb, Postmates, TaskRabbit,
and the like ushered in hybrid marketplaces that combined specialized products and
services across diverse market segments.
Along the way, mobile, apps and user experiences rapidly evolved, conditioning
consumers to expect convenience, choice, simplicity and even personalization
round-the-clock. At the heart of this is location awareness and device integration
that turns smartphones into powerful windows for instant, personal discovery
and satisfaction. As a result, consumer behavior – including their preferences and
expectations – changed and continue to evolve today, further disconnecting them
from the notion of physical presence when it comes to purchasing decisions.
Today marketplaces are
growing at an incredible pace.
In Amazon’s April 2018 letter to shareholders, for example, it was reported4
that more transactions were fulfilled directly from sellers than from Amazon’s
fulfillment centers for the first time. The dramatic growth of sellers listing on
Amazon’s Marketplace resulted in products being purchased from more than
300,000 small- and medium-sized businesses. Amazon also revealed an interesting
fact about the marketplace component, which is that products sold and fulfilled
Analysts predict1
that marketplaces
around the world
will account for
40%of the global
online retail
market by 2020.
3. 3
by third parties are more profitable than those fulfilled by Amazon directly. Credit
Suisse pegs Amazon Marketplace sales at $135 billion in FY2018, and that number
could swell to $259 billion by 2020, according to Entrepreneur magazine. Alibaba is
also a great example of this phenomena. In fact, in a recent report5
, annual active
users on its China retail platforms, led by Taobao Marketplace and Tmall, increased
by 37 million to reach 552 million.
Amazon isn’t the only place where digital marketplaces are thriving. Traditional
retailers are also recognizing the opportunity – as well as the need – to invest in
marketplaces if they’re going to compete against Amazon and growing modern
commerce brands and specialist startups. For instance, in July 2018, Walgreens
launched Find Care Now6
, a dedicated section of its website and app that connects
consumers to on-demand, local service providers such as New York–Presbyterian
Hospital, DermatologistOnCall and national telehealth service MDLive. The goal is
to create a one-stop shop for health care.
Add to that the seemingly infinite growth potential for services marketplaces.
In August 2018, for example, Uber was valued at $72 billion.7[2]
And, Airbnb’s
estimated valuation as of March 2018 was about $38 billion.8[3]
So, what’s next?
We’ve now arrived at the “platform economy.” Marketplaces have become
platforms and as a result, they’re enhancing product and service models and
experiences between what sellers offer and what buyers demand. The effect
is expanded business opportunities for sellers/providers and a broader array of
choice and value for consumers. These businesses build on the success of early
product-oriented marketplaces by evolving into non-traditional products
and services.
Today, everything is in play and categories thought immune to digital disruption are
in fact being disrupted. Related services are becoming more prominent – including
delivery and installation services, for example – as marketplaces focus on
competitive advantages and customer retention. Sellers in these marketplaces
benefit from enhanced shipping and logistics services, payment processing and
reporting and integrated messaging for supporting customers.
What is interesting to consider is not how the disruption is affecting existing players
but how the underlying assumptions about specific business motivations and
incentives is also changing.
Taking the restaurant industry as an example, in just a generation, customers have
moved from using the telephone to book reservations at a restaurant to using
the internet, and finally, to using mobile apps. The rapid evolution has helped
restaurants increase traffic, drive sustained revenue and minimize open tables/time
slots. However, marketplaces have changed the dynamic between restaurants and
patrons. Food delivery marketplaces, for instance, are having a profound effect on
restaurants, expanding reach and potential. Many are seeing double-digit revenue
growth from people who might not seek a reservation but want food delivered to
their home or office instead. Now, restaurants are realizing that their business is no
longer just about driving traffic and filling reservations, but also about serving a new
breed of remote, on-demand customers. Restaurant operators are rethinking their
kitchens and support staff to increase capacity well beyond the number of seats
they can serve in their physical locations.
Marketplaces are more than platforms for hosting sellers and attracting customers.
Marketplaces as platforms are changing market dynamics and pushing sellers and
service providers to rethink their mission, value propositions and overall experience.
Platform
economy:
Tectonic force in the
digital economy,
the Third Wave of
Globalization
Multi-sided digital
frameworks
Define terms upon
which participants
engage each other
Expansive in nature,
integrating
commerce, sharing,
and engagement
4. 4
State of Digital Marketplaces:
Executive Summary
Marketplaces will only continue to expand and diversify, introducing new retail and
service experiences to sellers and buyers alike. As they do, marketplaces will open
doors to new breeds of sellers and service providers, broaden customer choice for
more varied product and service offerings, foster healthy competition and promote
continuous innovation.
With their phenomenal growth, and the promising future of marketplaces and their
role in shaping the future of retail, Kahuna and Altimeter set out to capture the
state of digital marketplaces. We surveyed 100 executives and managers of mar-
ketplaces across the US and across eight market segments. What we learned in this
research, through a quantitative survey and third-party analysis, is that marketplac-
es have been underappreciated in their role in reshaping retail and are set to define
next generation experiences.
The goal of this report is to provide a lens into the rising marketplace segment to
guide incumbent brands and inspire emergent marketplaces as they pave the way
for the future of retail, services and customer experiences.
Key findings include:
Marketplaces are generating significant revenue, with
two-thirds generating more than $50 million annually
and one-third generating $100 million or more.
New product launches, revenue growth and
customer acquisition top the list of marketplace
business objectives in 2019.
Marketplaces cite four common customer-facing
challenges in pursuing growth: competitive
differentiation, buyer retention, buyer acquisition
and social media engagement.
Sellers disengage from marketplaces
because platforms don’t provide
“growth as a service.”
To attract buyers, marketplaces go directly to
where their attention is focused: social media,
search and electronic and even snail mail.
We surveyed
100executives
and managers
of marketplaces
across the US
and across eight
market segments.
5. 5
The State of Digital
Marketplaces as Told
by Marketplaces
Kahuna and Altimeter interviewed players across leading marketplace sectors for
the inaugural “state of marketplaces” report. The goal was to understand their
business challenges and growth opportunities, as well as how they’re measuring
cultivating success for and between sellers, service providers and buyers.
Marketplace participants were selected to represent eight prevailing categories.
Most often business models included a mix of traditional retail and marketplace
revenue (mixture companies).
In the development of the survey, we examined marketplace charts to understand
how the industry was generally categorized. Of those, we then segmented the
categories into four recurrent groups including the following:
(note: company examples are not necessarily representative of survey participants)
Transportation
Classifieds
Property portals
Consumer services
Among these groups, two-thirds of companies generated revenue through a
combination of traditional retail and marketplaces. And of those companies,
consumer services were mostly a mixture of the two.
Marketplaces are generating significant revenue, with a two-thirds generating
more than $50 million annually and one-third generating $100 million or more.
Of those surveyed, most participants represented high revenue companies.
One-third of those companies generated $100 million or more in revenue in the
last fiscal year. Further, 38% earned $50 to $99 million and 25% claimed $1 to
$49 million.
The sizes of the participating companies were also varied. A significant percentage
employed 1,000 to 4,999 people (38%), and 18% employed 500 to 999 people.
However, many respondents were from companies both much smaller and much
larger.
Most marketplaces reported GMV of between $500 to $999 million.
Gross merchandise volume (GMV) is the total value of merchandise sold to
customers through a marketplace. GMV is linked to the scale of the business and
is considered one of the most important business metrics9
. In our survey, most
marketplaces (35%) reported GMV of $500 to $999 million. Only 12% reported
over $1 billion in GMV. In addition, 25% reported GMV of $250 to $499 million
and 19% reported $50 to $249 million.
MARKETPLACES ARE
GENERATING
SIGNIFICANT REVENUE,
with two-thirds
generating more than
$50
million
annually
and one-third generating
$100
million
or more
A significant
percentage employed
1,000 to 4,999 people
(38%)
and 18%employed
500 to 999 people
6. 6
To serve as a comparison, eBay reported GMV of $88.4 billion for the full year of
2017, which was up 6%10
from the previous year. Alibaba reported GMV of $547
billion on its China retail marketplaces in fiscal year 2017, which represented an
increase of 22% above fiscal year 201611
.
According to research by Internet Retailer12
, of the top 75 marketplaces, 33
reported GMV growth between 15.1% and 50% in 2017. Another 15 claimed
50.1% to 100% GMV growth and 7 reported 100%.
New product launches, revenue growth and customer acquisition top the list of
marketplace business objectives in 2019.
We asked participants to list their top three business objectives for 2019 and
learned that marketplaces are prioritizing new products and growth. At the same
time, marketplaces face great opportunities and are, in large part, expected to
drive growth and differentiation through new products and services. In general,
the marketplace business objectives for 2019 that participants identified — listed
below — illustrate a well-rounded approach to growth in general, focusing on
increased margins, value, geographic expansion and seller acquisition.
Marketplace business
objectives for 2019
Of those marketplaces we studied, professional services chose revenue growth as
a top business objective. Most consumer services, on the other hand, ranked new
product/service launch as a top business objective.
To add a seller’s perspective, we also reviewed a recent survey of 1,200 Amazon
Marketplace sellers conducted by Feedvisor13
. According to the survey, 26% of
Amazon Marketplace sellers plan to expand outside of the U.S. in 2018, which
highlights the importance of increasing their businesses’ presence and visibility.
And, 46% of seller participants stated that they are planning to sell through the
Walmart Marketplace in addition to Amazon in 2018, a significant increase over
29% in 2017.
NEW PRODUCT
LAUNCHES, REVENUE
GROWTH AND
CUSTOMER ACQUISTION
top the list of
marketplace
business
objective in
2019
New product/service launch59%
Revenue growth55%
Customer acquisition54%
Margin improvement46%
Competitive
positioning38%
Geographic
expansion28%
Seller
acquisition20%
7. Marketplaces cite four common customer-facing challenges in pursuing
growth: competitive differentiation, buyer retention, buyer acquisition and
social media engagement.
In addition to identifying top business challenges, we also sought to understand
top challenges facing marketplaces in the survey. We learned that the four top
challenges marketplaces are facing are competitive differentiation (39%), buyer
retention (32%), buyer acquisition (29%) and effective social media campaigns
(29%). Other challenges range from one side to the other. At 26%, it’s clear that
shopping cart abandonment continues to plague marketplaces and retailers alike.
Interestingly, technology resources to scale growth ranks 6th
with 23%. Customer
experience, one of the top catalysts Altimeter has identified in driving advanced
digital transformation, ranks 7th
among top challenges facing marketplaces at 22%.
The least challenging is lack of expertise (9%).
Of our respondents, only e-commerce companies said competitive differentiation
and customer experience are equally the biggest challenges. Among mixture
companies, however, participants said competitive differentiation is the
main challenge.
Revisiting Feedvisor’s survey of Amazon Marketplace sellers, top challenges are
directly tied to operations, customer experience and competition. At the top of the
list (38%), sellers are concerned with competition with Amazon. Marketplace
fees and negative feedback/reviews from customers ranked second and third,
respectively, at 33% and 32%.
Marketplaces report digital advertising, search and social media as the top three
channels for seller recruitment.
Even though seller acquisition sits at the bottom of the list of top business goals
for 2019, marketplaces are still investing in recruitment. For example, the top four
methods marketplaces use to recruit sellers include digital advertising (59%), search
ads (36%), Facebook (32%) and email — yes, email (31%). Notably, social media
peppers the list. In addition to Facebook, Instagram (25%), YouTube (18%) and
promoted social content (17%) took the next three top spots.
Mixture companies that offer both traditional and e-commerce options are vastly
more likely to choose advertising as a primary seller recruitment vehicle, the study
found. E-commerce companies, however, selected a full range of channels. The
least effective means reported were Twitter and offline ads.
Retaining sellers also takes marketing; integrated platform services offer
opportunities for merchants to create standalone value.
In the world of business growth, it’s often said that customer retention is as or more
important than customer acquisition. And, keeping customers happy and engaged is
oftentimes thought to be less expensive than attracting new customers. However,
since marketplaces have two types of customers — sellers and buyers — they have
double the work to retain and attract customers on both sides. And, typically, this
work is done in two very different workflows and is the responsibility of entirely
different teams in an organization.
Specifically, we asked participants what their top three methods were for retaining
marketplace sellers. Marketing activities comprises four of the top five spots.
Advertising ranks far and away the top investment with 47%. Additionally, social
media/content follows with 25%, which means that marketplaces are aiming to
reach sellers where they split business and personal time. Just below this and above
“email campaigns” at 23% is “creating standalone value” at 24%, e.g., platform
performance, enhancements and roadmaps. We expect to see that number rise
over time as marketplaces will need to be more than just “commerce as a service”
for sellers.
Top customer-facing
challenges:
Competitive
differentiation 39%
32%
29%
29%
26%
23%
22%
22%
19%
18%
16%
16%
9%
Buyer retention
Buyer acquisition
Effective social
media campaigns
Shopping cart
abandonment
Insufficient
technology resources
to scale growth
Customer
experience
Seller acquisition
Seller retention
Funding/
venture capital
Customer
lifetime value
Lack of
resources
Lack of
expertise
8. 8
Sellers disengage from marketplaces because platforms don’t provide
“growth as a service.”
For any marketplace to grow its value to sellers and buyers, it must enhance the
value proposition to both sets continually. The number and variety of marketplaces
is only expected to boom, so sellers need tools to compete and to attract
customers to grow.
When we asked marketplaces the three main reasons sellers disengage, we
assembled a list of what it takes for businesses to fail. That list also represents
areas in which marketplaces can invest to improve seller acquisition and retention
strategies.
The three main reasons for seller disengagement are insufficient competitive
differentiation (46%), insufficient sales (33%) and marketplace service fees (31%).
Additionally, sellers claim that marketing costs (28%) and the lack of buyers (26%)
are critical business issues. It’s also interesting to see that 24% of marketplaces
claim sellers leave due to network leakage, where customers leave to transact
directly with sellers.
To attract buyers, marketplaces go directly to where their attention is focused:
social media, search and electronic and snail mail.
Customers are the heart and soul of any business. One of the biggest challenges
and opportunities for every marketplace is the constant need for investment and
the balancing act of attracting the right ratio of buyers and sellers. To understand
where marketplaces are effectively luring customers, we asked them to list their top
three buyer acquisition channels.
They said the three most effective channels are Facebook (45%), search ads (27%)
and direct mail and email campaigns (both 23%).
But exploring the broader list highlights the greater breadth and complexity of
engaging customers. Loyalty programs are still important in our era of modern
commerce and rank fourth on our list at 21%. Tied with it is YouTube and just
behind it in the fifth spot is Instagram at 18%. This list demonstrates the power
of social media in attracting buyers and sellers, with three social networks ranking
among the top five.
When we look at the break down of marketplaces, those that focus on e-commerce
only are less likely to choose Facebook and search ads, and more likely to
choose direct mail. Those in consumer services say search ads are a top buyer
acquisition channel, while food and beverage services say Facebook is a top
buyer acquisition channel.
Retaining and activating buyers requires marketing with social media and
loyalty programs.
Like seller retention, buyer retention is also a critical part of the mix. Whereas
product selection, quality, competitive prices and service are hallmarks of any solid
retail business, marketing seems to be a common strategy among marketplaces for
buyer and seller retention activation.
Social media and loyalty programs are the most effective means of seller and buyer
retention, according to our study. For example, Instagram, Facebook, customer
loyalty programs and promoted social media content take the top position at 25%.
Search ads, e.g. AdWords, is second with 24%, followed by YouTube with 22%.
Interestingly, snail mail once again is cited in the top five of effective channels in
both acquisition and retention, coming in fourth with 19%.
Sellers disengage
from marketplaces
because platforms
don’t provide
“growth as a service”
3 main reasons
sellers disengage
46% differentiation
33%
33%
To attract buyers,
marketplaces go
directly to where their
attention is focused:
3 most effective
channels:
45% Facebook
27% search ads
31% direct mail
and email campaigns
insufficient
sales
marketplace
service fees
9. 9
The least effective is “other social media,” cross-channel customer service, and
in-app cross promotion.
E-commerce only companies are much more likely to choose Instagram, while
mixture companies are more likely to choose promoted social content, search ads,
and YouTube. For comparison, companies that focus on classifieds services say
Facebook is a top method for activating buyers whereas companies that focus on
consumer services say search ads are a top method for activating buyers.
Lack of sellers and shipping costs and fees combined with poor customer
engagement and experiences drive buyers away.
Aside from product choice, marketplaces must combine the minimum threshold of
product selection and competitive prices and services for buyers to remain loyal.
On many fronts, Amazon is the gold standard for logistical operations and customer
experience in any retail environment. For example, Amazon Prime offers rewarding
benefits that include free two-day shipping and, in eligible ZIP codes, free same-day
or even two-hour delivery. Customers now hold all retailers, marketplaces included,
to these standards whether they’re equitable or not.
As soon as a marketplace opens, it must work with sellers to deliver competitive
and value-added experiences and services to keep buyers active and loyal.
We asked participants about the top three reasons buyers leave their marketplaces.
A lack of sellers who meet their needs topped the list at 53%. Following were
logistical challenges including shipping costs and fees added by sellers (49%)
and large geographic distances between buyers and sellers (39%).
From there, the list of reasons for buyer abandonment focused on customer
experience and engagement issues. They include the following:
37% Uncompetitive pricing
36% Too many irrelevant emails and push messages
33% Inability of merchandising and search to surface relevant products
30% Lack of mobile app
23% Inadequate customer service
Ahead of peak liquidity, buyer and seller-focused metrics are key indicators for
marketplace health.
Marketplaces are a complex business and as such, there are many metrics to track.
For example, when it comes to business performance, among the two most im-
portant metrics are GMV and Take Rate. GMV, as we discussed above, represents
the total dollar value of everything sold through the marketplace in any given time
frame. Take rate is the total amount of marketplace fees resulting from the percent-
age of transaction value.
Top 3 reasons
buyers leave their
marketplaces
53%lack of sellers who
meet their needs
topped the list
49%logistical challenges
including shipping
costs and fees added
by sellers
39%large geographic
distances between
buyers and sellers
10. 10
In this study, we sought to learn how marketplaces measure overall health. At the
top of the list (46%), marketplaces place emphasis on tracking customer lifetime
value (CLV), which reflects larger and more frequent transactions. At 23%, market-
places are also tracking buyer and seller loyalty. Investing in loyal customers (buyers
and sellers) will only drive this and CLV metrics.
Tied for the third top optimal health metric at 11% are peak liquidity and repeat
customer transactions. Peak liquidity14
is a crucial metric as it represents the ratio
between buyers and sellers that maximizes transaction value. Repeat transactions
(and the total value of those transactions) are also critical as they can help mar-
ketplaces track performance and prioritize investments to grow CLV and loyalty
metrics.
Additionally, we found that participants from larger, general marketplaces and those
focused on employment services say that CLV is the optimal health metric. Con-
versely, participants from smaller companies place loyalty as the most important
health metric.
When we compared data across the survey, we also found some notable points
around where different types of marketplaces place greater value. For example,
marketplaces that care most about customer acquisition are more likely to be the
largest companies. Smaller organizations, however, are more likely to care about
peak liquidity. Those that care about broad distribution across the seller network
are more likely to be large companies. Executives who emphasize loyalty are more
likely to represent mid-range companies.
Most marketplaces claim that the concentration of sellers driving 80% of
transactions ranges between 40% to 60%.
Marketplaces aim to find the sweet spot of seller and transaction concentration
to ideal positions of higher profitability. Experts apply the Pareto principle, which
specifies 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes15
. In this case,
marketplaces16
aim for 80% of total transactions generated by 20% of sellers.
In our survey, most marketplaces are much higher than that number (45%), indicat-
ing that greater diversification and cultivation could be beneficial. The second top
response showed that some marketplaces are even higher, with 60% to 79% of
sellers driving 80% of activity. If we take the Pareto principle as the optimal balance,
then 16% of participants are reporting ideal seller/transaction activity between 20%
to 39%.
Almost half of all marketplaces say that repeat customers account for upwards
of three-quarters of all transactions and one-third say repeat customers are
responsible for half of all transactions.
When it comes to the Pareto principle, experts also believe that the concentration
of buyer activity should be the same as seller activity; 20% of buyers should drive
80% of the transactions.
While we couldn’t get that specific in this study, we found that repeat customers
are driving a significant percentage of all transactions. Specifically, 45% of market-
places pin 60% to 79% of transactions to repeat customers. And, 31% say that 40%
to 59% of repeat customers drive total transactions.
We also found that just 17% of marketplaces are
hitting at or near the bullseye, with total transactions
generated by 20% to 39% of repeat customers.
Marketplaces aim to find
the sweet spot of seller and
transaction concentration
80% of total transactions
generated by 20% of sellers
In our survey,
most marketplaces
are much higher
45%
The second top
response showed that
some marketplaces
are even higher, with
60%to
79%of sellers driving
80% of activity
11. 11
The Next Phase:
Marketplaces as Experiences
This study demonstrates that e-commerce crosses all products and services – from
ride sharing to employment to food and beverage – as well as all company sizes
and revenue. Marketers are focusing on revenue growth and customer acquisition
as they face challenges of competitive differentiation and buyer retention. By far,
these challenges are being addressed through social media channels and advertis-
ing, and through efforts to increase lifetime customer value.
E-commerce and mobile shopping are now just a way of life for a growing number
of consumers. As they become more connected, consumers also become more in-
formed and empowered. They’re actively seeking solutions and exploring new pos-
sibilities beyond the brands they buy today. In its Connect report on marketplaces,
RetailWeek learned that retailers say 86% of consumers now expect more product
choice even in the same category.
What’s more, 70% believe that a large range of product offerings boost customer
acquisition. And, 36% of retailers plan to expand in core categories.
Indeed, marketplaces represent a promising future for retailers and customers alike.
Even Amazon knows this. At the same time, service-related marketplaces are also
set to multiply.
As they grow, this sets the stage for general and nuanced marketplaces to become
go-to discovery hubs. Customers are already exhibiting behavior that not only
complements but expands search and discovery beyond Google and YouTube.
Marketplaces become discovery engines.
This opens doors to more startups to create niche and service-related marketplaces.
At the same time, generalist retailers will also set out to expand beyond core
models to include marketplace offerings. RetailWeek found that 44% of retailers
already use or are in the process of implementing a marketplace model. As more
and more options become available, differentiation becomes a competitive
advantage. RetailWeek also learned that 84% believe that with the rise of generalist
retailers, specialist retailers have an opportunity to create differentiation.
What’s next moves marketplaces beyond hyper-localized or nuanced product and
service platforms into full experience centers. While consumers may want greater
choices, they also want simplicity, utility, integration and value-added experiences17
.
As a result, marketplaces will look beyond connecting buyers, sellers and service
providers to unify platforms that deliver complete experiences as the product or
service. This changes the value proposition as it starts by changing the problem
statement.
When customers set out to find a solution for dinner, they don’t set out to simply
find a place or to book a reservation. They set out to eat dinner, whether that’s
in a restaurant or through delivery. The process by which they discover solutions
for dinner are based on several things that apps, networks and marketplaces solve
discreetly, not holistically, for the most part. There are many individual, disparate
aspects that add up to the bigger picture, but do not portray the picture in and
of themselves. These services include matching personal tastes with options,
locations, reviews, menus, pictures, videos, reservations, coupons and much more.
How marketplaces develop solutions for holistic experiences becomes the next
competitive advantage for them. Marketplaces become as much of a platform for
experiences as the do for products and services. And, as the experiences become
more valuable, the trust and loyalty that’s earned becomes stronger. And, with that
stronger loyalty comes a greater exchange of mutual value across the board.
retailers say
86%of consumers now expect
more
product choice
even in the same category
RetailWeek
70%of
consumers believe that
a large range of
product offerings
boost customer acquisition
36%of retailers
plan to expand
in core categories
12. 12
Moving forward, marketplaces should consider seller and customer experiences as
part of the platform. As such, they can plot their position and course in the context
of a maturity curve, showing where you are and where you will be in maturity as a
sell-side or buy-side marketplace.
Must-Do List:
Not all experiences are created equal and the dividing line is buy-side
vs. sell-side dynamics in a specific business. For marketplaces to thrive and
survive going forward, they must do the following:
1 Deliver a new experience for buyers, sellers and service providers beyond
the status quo. And do so continually as part of the business model. All
marketplaces are steeped in convenience by design. They bring buyers and
sellers together to find each other and transact around common areas of
interest. That’s where the similarities are open to innovation. The true value
of a marketplace is being able to make transactions possible that normally
wouldn’t occur without the experiences you deliver18
.
2 Trust is a value-added product. Buyers and sellers want the peace of mind
that a neutral party can offer help during those critical instances when
something goes wrong19
. Building for trust on the buyer side requires
marketplace operators to ensure that product listings are accurate,
goods/service requests are fulfilled in a timely manner, items are priced
competitively, and customer service is ready to help quickly and efficiently,
when needed. On the seller side, building for trust involves developing a fair
and equitable dispute resolution process. Building an effective payment
system also is essential so sellers are paid in a timely manner. Marketplaces
must also ensure the quality of the buyers AND sellers the marketplace
attracts. If sellers or buyers often raise questionable customer service
complaints or engage in fraud, the community will flock to competitors.
3 Deliver an intuitive, simplified and convenient experience. Where and
how a marketplace can enhance its users’ experiences simply, intuitively and
conveniently should become part of a marketplace’s value proposition.
Moreover, deciding which capabilities to integrate to keep customers or
buyers loyal for the long haul is also key for marketplaces today.
4 Create autonomous value to be persistent. Autonomous value is created
when marketplaces offer services that enhance the value of the platform
for buyers and sellers. Examples of this include providing shipping and
logistics services; sales tax processing; APIs for third party application
services; and buyer protections that fit within a complete customer service
offering. Autonomous value is the cornerstone of all sustainable
marketplaces. As such, marketplace operators need to view it as an
investment for long-term success.
5 Deliver exceptional value and personalization to your most passionate
users. Remember the 80/20 rule. Find opportunities to deliver added
value, services and engagement to your VIP buyers and sellers. CLV,
Net Promoter Score (NPS) and customer satisfaction (CSAT) are all
derivatives of how businesses perform at every stage of the customer
experience. No one thing equates to that experience. It’s the sum of
everything. Ensure that logistics, service, fraud, dispute resolution, are all
optimized to complement, and even work strategically, to deliver an
exceptional experience at every stage.
13. 13
Methodology
In August 2018, a ten minute, online, self-completion questionnaire was
administered to 100 adults in the US. Participants included advertising, consumer
engagement and marketing employees at companies with an online marketplace
for products and services and 50 or more employees. Participants ranged from
manager-level to the C-suite. Participants were selected from an online access
panel and incentivized. As such, margin of error cannot be calculated. As with
all research conducted using access panels, the results will be impacted by both
sampling and non-sampling error.