Today’s Digital commerce landscape is increasingly complex and competitive. Merchants are under constant pressure to manage budget and headcount while sustaining growth, enhancing differentiation and customer loyalty.
Meanwhile, the impact of technology has created higher shopper expectations. Customers not only demand the best deals, but they also want seamlessly mobile, socially integrated offerings.
Growing merchants feel the impact of this trend. They understand that meeting these customer needs, no matter how demanding, is instrumental to outgrowing the competition. It may seem daunting, but merchants who see these challenges as opportunities are transforming into innovative, customer-first organizations that offer value across all touchpoints by adapting to Digital commerce Solutions.
The Digital commerce experts at PositiveEdge, understand these challenges. We’ve whittled down what can seem like an overwhelming torrent of changes, expectations and trends into fundamentals that can help businesses compete in any environment. Let’s look at a few things to consider as you position your business to compete.
Pressure #1: Writing a best-in-class CX story
In today’s fragmented shopping environment, merchants must grapple with the evolution of technology and multiple shopping channels, including tablets and social. Shoppers now expect omnichannel fulfillment — they want to buy online and pick up in-store, return online orders to a shop and deliver to a shop.
As shoppers move across various activities and channels, you must deliver a consistent experience that maps closely to their interests.
Get personal.
Delivering a personal experience is the ultimate way to compete in today’s digital commerce market. To keep an eye on the moving target that is to create new ways for shoppers to search and buy, the digital commerce approach would be the right step.
The drive to provide contextual commerce by using insights from shopper interests and digital behaviors creates a demand for solutions that allow merchants to quickly deliver more meaningful, personalized offers at scale.
Master emerging channels.
According to Criteo, 40 percent of all 2015 commerce was transacted on multiple devices. It’s clear that fast, efficient mobile-first experiences are essential. Customized, responsive experiences are driving differentiated engagements, which requires retailers to consider various channels, including progressive web applications that offer an app-like experience straight from a browser.
Adapting Digital Commerce to be Competitive
Pressure #2: Outpacing and outgrowing the competition.
Technology is quickly evolving and it’s more easily accessible and affordable than ever before. This increases market competition, as your next big competitor could come from anywhere.
The digital revolution has significantly benefitted the customer. The customer is reshaping the industry and determining how businesses compete across multiple channels and geographical locations. Staying ahead of the pack depends on how fast and how effectively you respond to their expectations.
Explore new possibilities.
The pressure to maintain or expand growth in the face of increasing competition often means exploring new business models or channels.
For B2C merchants, the B2B boom can present an opportunity for growth and an interesting view of some of the behavioral changes that dictate customer expectations in a shopping environment.
Go global.
In addition to adding channels, many businesses are considering new markets to sustain growth. A Pitney Bowes survey found that 66 percent of consumers that have ever made a domestic online purchase have also made an online purchase from another country, creating pressure for businesses to expand into new markets. Brands are now looking at ways to compete by globalizing their product reach, but with added localized customization.
Face the competition.
Forrester reported that 81 percent of organizations are either using or planning to use mission-critical apps in the cloud. And 77 percent identified improved agility as the key motive for moving core apps to the cloud.
Convert your loyalists.
While many efforts are focused on acquiring new customers, repeat purchasers are the lifeblood of a business, so finding new ways to connect with and continually earn loyalty from shoppers is an important contributor to long-term growth.
Retail found that just more than 50 percent of shoppers surveyed feel equally rewarded with loyalty rewards online and in-store, compared to 40 percent who felt that way a year ago. With stiff industry competition, meeting customer expectations is paramount to driving loyalty.
Adapting Digital Commerce with a Right Approach
Pressure #3: Adapting to change quickly.
As we all know, the commerce landscape is fast-paced and unpredictable. That’s why you must be ready to go with the right information at the right time. Plus, you must be agile and flexible to consumer and market demands. With attention to data details and a nimble approach, you’ll be set up for success today and tomorrow.
Decode your data.
The right business intelligence tools will give you customizable dashboards and KPIs to help you to analyze disparate data sources using one unified view. With this information, you can improve purchase frequency, order size, and conversion, optimize and personalize the customer journey. An optimized view into data sources provides merchants with the insight and transparency required to navigate change in an agile manner.
Empower your internal teams.
By empowering internal teams to focus on their own tasks, you’ll reduce developer workloads and maximize efficiencies by managing one commerce relationship that’s a flexible, cloud-based platform.
Reach your potential.
Agile processes, customer-centric strategies, and integrated solutions are critical to uncovering more opportunities for success. Focus on maximizing your competitive potential by delivering better shopping experiences. With improved conversion and efficiency, you’ll see the results in your bottom line.
Learn more about taking your eCommerce business more online with that drive today’s digital commerce strategy.