Challenges and solutions in Digital Commerce

Challenges and solutions in Digital Commerce

The rapid increase in online buying has warranted industry experts to clarify the difference between digital commerce and e-commerce. The leading IT consulting firm, Gartner describes digital commerce as the buying and selling of goods and services using the Internet, mobile networks, and commerce infrastructure. Whereas e-commerce focuses on the tools, functions and operations that a business utilizes to sell its products or services, digital commerce is ‘consumer-centric’ and focuses on making every stage of the online consumer buying experience seamless. According to a survey conducted by Forrester Consulting, more than half of consumers are willing to pay more for a better online buying experience, so it is crucial that online retailers plan and execute their digital commerce strategy well.

The top current challenges and their potential solutions that are trending in digital commerce are:

Delivering to customers’ expectations: Businesses need to offer customers a smooth online experience by keeping updated as newer devices and technologies such as chatbots, voice assistants, augmented & virtual reality, blockchain technology for payments, and drones & droids for delivery are being developed. Personalization as a trend refers to optimization of the individual consumer experience by streamlining site visits, cookies, landing pages and product recommendations, through the utilization of artificial intelligence. Analyzing and measuring consumer experience through consumer or digital analytics enables the online retailer to make continuous improvements.

ATAWAD (Any Time, Any Where, Any Device) is an acronym related to the digital transformation of a business. As it suggests, consumers expect to connect to any platform or e-commerce site at any time, at any location on any device. For example, if a consumer places an item in the shopping cart on a mobile device, the item in the cart should appear across any other device that the consumer uses. Voice assistants and/or chatbots support in providing 24/7 assistance no matter where the consumer is logging in from. Consistency is key and even before the consumer registers with the platform, the digital assets, advertisements and content from the online retailer play an important part in creating an impression on the consumer. Sustaining the impression or the brand image needs to continue beyond the transaction so that repeat sales occur. The need for consistency has placed importance on content management systems.

Digital commerce has necessitated B2B companies to join the bandwagon or be left in the dust. As B2C companies invest more in technologies to engage with consumers online, B2B companies are required to keep up to engage with business consumers, such as creating online ordering and real-time logistics tracking systems. For example, Staples.ca now serves business consumers online specifically through eway.ca for their stationery needs. A technology that has become prevalent is API-based commerce or headless commerce which enables businesses to interface different backend systems with front end systems, thereby providing flexibility and speed. Salesforce has seen its adoption soar thanks to APIs available on its enterprise marketplace. An online enterprise marketplace is a great opportunity to offer a bundled subscription of programs and/or services by understanding consumers and to allow collaboration from other service/software providers.

Revenue Analytics for 2020 E-commerce

Online sellers embarking on a digital commerce transformation need to monitor and analyze consumer behaviour through analytics before investing heavily into technologies that offer personalization. Most companies start small and increase personalization after testing the most appropriate technology. This approach is cost-effective and allows for experimentation. Content has become extremely important to maintain brand image and many companies now outsource to content providers or maintain content management systems that track effectiveness of content published, going beyond clicks and simple page views. In conclusion, companies expanding online need to continuously monitor current trends and solutions being offered in the realm of digital commerce and adopt technologies to stay ahead of or with their competition. A failure to do so jeopardizes the company’s brand image and in the long term, puts them out of the game.

What you need to know about Gross Merchandise Value

Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) is defined as the gross sales revenue generated over a period of time by an e-commerce platform before any deduction for fees or commission . It is used to track the growth rate of an e-commerce business since it measures the value of the total merchandise that has been sold through the site for a specific time period, quarterly, bi-annually, or annually. Gross Merchandise Value = Number of Goods sold x Price of goods sold This metric is useful for e-commerce businesses that buy and store the merchandise from suppliers and delivers to customers when purchases are made. However, it cannot be used as a standalone metric for all online retail platforms. For e-commerce sites that operate as a Customer-to-Customer (C2C) business, they do not physically manage the goods. The total commissions generated and accrued expenses, such as delivery fees, advertising, return expenses incurred are more important to track for this business model. This is also known as Gro...

Influencer Marketing in E-commerce Strategy

Influencer marketing is not a new concept in advertising. Before the rise of the internet, celebrities and sportspersons endorsed brands through traditional advertising mediums (TV, news, magazines). Social media platforms such as Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat, on the internet now allow influencers to directly connect with the core audience. Additionally, the platforms have given opportunities to other people, also known as micro-influencers. Today, 9 out of 10 brands utilize influencer marketing to reach their target consumers and the ROI on using influencer marketing has proven to be more effective, generating $18 for $1 spent. With 7.9 million retailers vying for online consumers, influencer marketing has become a core part of digital marketing strategy. Who or what are Influencers? It’s not possible for upcoming brands to partner with A-list celebrity influencers such as Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Kim Kardashian, o...

Buy Online, Pickup in Store

A National Retail Federation study on Consumer Views in late October 2019 revealed that70% of the survey participants would pay for a Buy-online, pick-up-in-store service (BOPIS). BOPIS has emerged as a convenient option not only for consumers but retailers that invested in brick-and-mortar stores. Growth in online retail sales was overtaking traditional brick-and-mortar retail before the pandemic and BOPIS was being adopted by top retailers. With the onset of the pandemic in 2020, a Digital Commerce 360 survey in late 2020 showed results that 43.7% of the top 500 retailers with physical stores were offering BOPIS — up from 6.9% before the pandemic started. BOPIS, also known as click-and-collect or curbside- pickup provides a safe, contact-free way to shop online and pick up the ordered items. In order to implement BOPIS, a retailer needs to implement the following tools: 1) A website or app where customers can shop and place orders for the products online 2) A brick-and-mortar locatio...