By Tom Ebling, Demandware
It’s hard to overstate how profoundly advancements in digital commerce have impacted the retail industry. Perhaps the biggest change is the almost complete shift in the balance of power from the retailer to the consumer. This “democratization of commerce” puts consumers squarely in the driver’s seat.
They decide when, where and how to discover and buy your products. To a degree, they have control over how your brand is perceived, via social media and user-generated content. At the same time, what was once a linear shopping journey has turned into a complex path with multiple touch points — stores, mobile, search engines, etc. — before a purchase is made. What’s a retailer to do? What retailers need to do is become a connected brand. That means being:
- Ubiquitous: Meeting customers wherever they are;
- Contextual: Understanding your shoppers’ behavior and adapting to it; and
- Agile: Responding dynamically to market changes.
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That state of connectedness is best achieved by breaking down walls not only between you and your customer, but also among all sales channels. In fact, the rapid shift in shopping habits demands that retailers provide a unified experience to consumers regardless of where or how they shop. This is a step beyond omnichannel commerce and represents “unified commerce,” which provides a centralized platform for all channels; one platform for a single, consistent and accurate view of the customer.
Ken Morris, Partner and Co-Founder of Boston Retail Partners, told eMarketer earlier this year that “in the unified commerce world, it’s all connected in real time [not just] the web side but the mobile side, the web side and the store side.”
He added that “cloud is a much better environment to run a retail operation [because] it’s more customer-centric and customer-friendly.”
Indeed, cloud commerce platforms enable retailers to more quickly expand and implement enhancements that directly benefit consumers. In a research report, L2 Research found that retailers using cloud platforms were more agile and grew faster than those on other platforms.
Many retailers are at the very early stages of implementing unified commerce, which is understandable given the complexity and sizable investments they’ve already made in retail technology.
Still, the most effective e-Commerce platforms empower retail brands to engage with consumers on a deep level that capitalizes on the democratization of commerce.
These unified commerce platforms extend to and support mobile commerce, advanced payment methods, geo-location, search engines, in-store commerce, social networks and emerging platforms like messaging apps.
In stores, where more than 90% of business is still transacted, retailers are implementing digital technologies, like mobile POS, to engage with consumers as part of the shopping journey. BRP’s Morris told eMarketer that mobile POS solutions should be an integrated part of a centralized commerce platform, and cloud is a key enabler.
“A lot of the mobile POS solutions are architected to talk to…the machine in the store, which to us is insane,” Morris said. “A mobile solution that’s cloud-based is the smart direction for retailers to move in.”
That said, consumers don’t care about the technology that’s behind their shopping experience and drives their engagement with the retailer. They just want it to be easy, consistent across channels, informative and, importantly, relevant to their needs and tastes.
To that last point, leading retailers are investing in analytics technologies that help them deliver customized and timely information and promotions across channels to their customers.
One thing we do know in this age of the consumer is that many retailers are unwilling to compete with the largest online marketplaces on price, so they must compete on experience. A unified commerce platform, delivered in the cloud, empowers retailers to deliver experiences that today’s consumers expect, and helps them thrive in an era where consumers have more power and influence than ever.
Editor’s note: This article is part of a series that will look at trends to be discussed at the Shop.org Digital Summit, which will be held Oct. 5-7, 2015 in Philadelphia.
Tom Ebling is the CEO of Demandware, Inc., a provider of enterprise cloud commerce solutions. The company, and some of its retailer clients, will be showcasing innovative commerce capabilities in Booth #707 at Shop.org.
