The pace of innovation in core technologies such as representational state transfer (REST) Web services, rich Internet applications (RIAs), really simple syndication (RSS), Java and JavaScript, Adobe Systems Flash, as well as Microsofts Silverlight and the pressures on the eCommerce platform to adapt and enable that innovation in the online customer experience are tremendous.
These pressures include:
- Integrating multiple channels to optimize inventory turns and customer relationships. The
eCommerce web hosting platform is becoming key to the enablement of in-store inventory lookup, endless aisle capabilities, and in-store handhelds. For example, ALDO has had great success in enabling its stores to share inventory and fulfill directly to the consumer when items are out of stock through the Web systems. As radio-frequency-identification (RFID) and point-of-sale (POS) integrations become more critical to delivering experience-based differentiation, the Web and the eCommerce platform will become central.
- Enabling multiple customer touchpoints. Eighty-nine percent of iPhone users access the Web, and more than one-half of them access the Web daily. Other than with digital products, the mobile Web largely remains an emerging channel for online retailers. But consumer adoption is growing, and the eCommerce platform will be central to delivering the experience and supporting commerce with customers on their mobile devices.
- Driving highly relevant and long-tail product discovery. Enabling a simple browse experience and keyword search does not cut it in eCommerce any longer. Guided search, guided selling, results binning, recommendations, personalized product recommendations, and cross-linking are now critical. They are manifested not only on the site but also in direct marketing, search marketing, and search optimization as well as across channels such as the call center and, in the future, maybe even in brick-and-mortar stores. The
eCommerce software platform is the glue holding it all together and making it an effective experience for the consumer and business manager.
- Creating relevant and engaging content. Rich and accurate product information is critical when it comes to selling online today, and the burden to support effective product and Web content management is increasing. Interest in improving content operations and management is growing quickly among online retailers, many of which are placing content management among their highest priorities in their efforts to drive sales online and across channels.
- Working to increase customer content and offer targeting along with personalization. As marketers turn from customer acquisition to retention and maximization of wallet share, there is a growing interest in targeting offers and content at customer segments and one-to-one through product and content recommendations as well as search results optimization. Today, many of these solutions are implemented as point solutions, but they will increasingly be integrated into the eCommerce platforms to drive the total customer experience.
- Supporting social media and the interconnectivity of marketing campaigns. Content syndication, advertising and offer targeting, as well as refined direct marketing will drive the opening up of platforms to inbound and outbound communications among social media sites, email service providers, search marketing solutions, marketplaces, and microsites. These are all aimed at driving marketing messages in a highly relevant and targeted way to reach customers where they are. In the future, we can also expect the widgetization of transaction capability to enable consumers to transact with businesses easily while on a third-party site such as Facebook, MySpace.com, or the Web site of The New York Times.
- Understanding the opportunity in globalization. While the topic of selling internationally has cooled off due to the economy, currency changes, and other macroeconomic issues, it remains a significant opportunity for many brands. Platforms will continue to feel pressure to improve their support for global commerce by beefing up content localization tools and interfaces, support of international payment types, currency support, customer data management, and complex order management to support cross-border fulfillment scenarios.
- Incorporating complex fulfillment needs. Increasingly, eCommerce businesses are marketing and selling products that are fulfilled in a myriad of ways all from the same online store. This includes drop shipping from vendors and distributors; in-store fulfillment or pickup; digital products; made-to-order products; and, of course, warehoused products, which can be in many different locations. While today they are challenged to meet these needs without third party order management tools such as Sterling Commerce, Escalate, Vcommerce, or even Shopatron the ability to fulfill from many inventory locations and with many product types will become inherent in the eCommerce platforms.
- Allowing for improved, actionable, and automated business intelligence and analytics. Site, content, and offer optimization are low-hanging fruit for eCommerce businesses. While Web analytics solutions are pervasive, true site optimization remains a significant challenge. Few sites test offers and content routinely, automate the improvement of the site, or conduct multivariate testing. Most suffer with challenging and expensive tools, limiting their opportunity. This will be an area that eCommerce businesses will be pushing for, and eCommerce platforms will be in a position to support them through integrating services that can drive site optimization, improve the product life cycle, and drive improved margin yields.
- Facing ongoing pressures to reduce implementation, licensing, and maintenance costs. The costs to implement products and the time it takes to implement them will continue to come down as the products mature and reference applications become repeatable. Similarly, competition from emerging players and open source will drive the total cost of ownership (TCO) down. Companies will expect to pay more for customization and differentiation, but not for common commodity capabilities existing across many available platforms.
