Implementing a Flexible Commerce Platform to Provide Agility for Channel and Revenue Growth

Transcription

1 Implementing a Flexible Commerce Platform to Provide Agility for Channel and Revenue Growth A Guide for Digital Marketers, CMOs, and CIOs when Evaluating and Selecting Upgraded Commerce Technologies Contents Executive Summary 1 Capitalizing on Global Opportunities 2 W.W. Grainger, Inc. 2 Driving Growth by Increasing Speed-to-Market 3 Benefit Cosmetics, LLC 3 Emerging Channels = Unique Growth Opportunities 3 Flexible Commerce: Technology Snapshot 4 Scaling in Line with Customer Demand 4 Flexible Commerce and Interactive TV 5 Enabling Customization and Deployment Options 5 The Fine Art of Implementing a Flexible Commerce Platform 6 Executive Summary How can today s enterprises respond to sharply competitive pressures in specific markets and channels? How can they quickly create and launch new channels more effectively? How can they support their partners and take advantage of the growth opportunities in in their extended channels? How can all of this be achieved globally? These are some of the challenges being handed to marketing and information technology executives that require both flexibility and agility in the e-commerce infrastructure they adopt as the standard for their organizations. Flexibility, in its purest sense, allows for limitless adaptability and business expansion to meet the market demands of customers, from both a volume and functional innovation point of view. Business leaders need to respond to changing market dynamics and increasing competition, plus the challenges of remaining ever-responsive to customers to maintain their loyalty. Business users require a self-service ability to make changes and execute new campaigns rapidly, without having to wait for a technical initiative to be completed. IT strategists need to implement the technology and tools that enable and support all-inclusive customization and the requirements of global expansion. This paper provides an actionable discussion on how enterprises can move up or down the value chain and evolve their business models by updating and perfecting their digital commerce capabilities. It describes how to grow market share by aggressively responding to the changing needs of consumers, businesses, and partners as they make purchases in new ways such as mobile commerce, social commerce, and other emerging touchpoints. It also includes a summary of the technical attributes of commerce platforms that power worldwide flexibility and growth, including open standards, flexible deployment options, modular product offerings, and internationalization capabilities. 1

2 Capitalizing on Global Opportunities The advent of e-commerce made it possible to reach customers in new ways outside of traditional sales channels like direct sales forces, bricks-and-mortar stores, and call centers all aimed towards making sales and collecting revenue at any time of the day or night. The flexibility that the e-commerce channel brought to enterprises morphed into new demands for customer satisfaction and consistency, across the multichannel landscape and the cross-border shopping experience. For many businesses, the chance to harness new opportunities from new markets is among the most compelling possibilities of modern commerce. However, launching a successful international expansion is not without its challenges. It s difficult to evolve from multiple deployments of different platforms in different markets, and converge into a single platform that lowers costs and enhances the experience for global partners, customers, and all players in a company s extended channels. Today s commerce is global, and customers are located around the world, even though they may have bought from one particular contract in one specific region in the past. As an example, a large international manufacturing company might be supplying power generators on contract to an energy company in the U.S. and, because the company is global, one of its business units could begin purchasing generators from Europe. Supporting that contract on different commerce systems in the U.S. and Europe would be expensive and potentially confusing for the manufacturer s sales organization, and for the buyer s purchasing, finance, and legal teams at the home office. It is common for a company to be successful with e-commerce in its first foray into one market, and then want to reduce costs and benefit from the experiences gained on one platform to support its global teams and help them expand into new local markets. Having multiple e-commerce systems is not compatible with doing that effectively. An agile and flexible global commerce platform makes it possible to serve all customers, globally, with the same familiar experience tailored for each local market a single system with one instance of product and customer data supporting local concerns, local currency, local language, local customs, and local marketing programs. Establishing a successful online presence across a new global market calls for a nuanced understanding of national, cultural, and geographical specifics. This extends from payment methods that allow for multiple currencies, to social commerce functions tailored to local and hyperlocal trends and patterns, into personalization technology that responds to buying habits and shopping preferences in each country, region, or district. Enterprises eyeing global markets should select an e-commerce platform with the functionality to respond to geographical and cultural complexities, while preserving brand integrity and maintaining a seamless customer experience. Every partner needs a support infrastructure to enable them to do business with their suppliers. A flexible platform should facilitate the exchange of product information, promotional details, sales orders, and shipping instructions and be fully extensible to support all activities within their partner channels. Many popular e-commerce platforms were initially developed with built-in global functionality, while others added the capabilities later. The former were created to support multiple countries, different languages, and many currencies. So, when a commerce organization decides to expand into new markets like Asia and South America, the transition is relatively easy, because internationalization is part of the platform s original DNA. W.W. Grainger, Inc. Organizations that employ business models based on a granular understanding of dynamically shifting customer needs, and pair them with responsive, highly flexible technology platforms, are more likely to be the winners in their market categories. U.S.-based Grainger is a powerful example of this understanding. The industrial supply manufacturer, whose e-commerce sales have long outpaced offline sales, recently made serious moves toward flexible commerce through a series of technology investments aimed at strengthening customer relationships. Highlights of Grainger s flexible commerce strategy include a feature to allow authorized site access to buyers within the same company, as well as heavily personalized product recommendation engines that suggest products based on a shopper s warranty and maintenance schedules. Grainger has also made an effort to integrate its e-commerce site more tightly with its 370 bricks-andmortar stores in the U.S. For instance, it invites customers accessing its e-commerce and mobile sites to view real-time inventory updates across its various channels a customer-centric feature that s a major hallmark of omni-channel success. As a result, Grainger s investments have served as the basis for a successful, seamless brand experience with the customer at the core. More importantly, making flexible commerce part of both its business model and technology strategy has allowed Grainger to capitalize on its e-commerce sales, which have grown at a steady rate of 25% a year. 2

3 Driving Growth by Increasing Speed-to-Market Time is a precious commodity in today s fast-paced digital world. Some enterprises are rapid adopters, or trailblazers, of new technology. Some are followers, and others chose not to do much in the way of innovation. The key to maintaining leadership is to stay as close to the latest innovations as the capital budget allows. Invest in a platform that delivers continuous innovation and enables the organization to respond to evolving customer demands in ways that are line-of-business centric rather than IT-dependent. The objective should be to create compelling promotions and attractive pricing for a specific market and do it fast. A platform that supports flexibility enables time-tomarket and time-to-value so that the business is able to create and respond to market dynamics with immediacy. There s a direct correlation between the steepness of an enterprise s growth trajectory and the speed at which they can roll out a new product or tap into a potential market: > Enterprises may be hindered by rigid structures and outdated commerce platforms, which throw up barriers to expansion and make it difficult to harvest opportunities as soon as they occur. Ultimately, this inflexibility can equate to serious losses in profits, revenue, and potential new business factors that mean a brand may stagnate rather than set the stage for growth. > Companies that fail to adopt flexible commerce risk forfeiting their market position to rivals who have adopted agile technologies and processes. An inability to innovate can threaten customer relationships as well as profitability and future growth. > Whether expanding into a new vertical market or launching a new e-commerce site, choosing a flexible platform will help achieve the speedy deployment that can accelerate market success. Benefit Cosmetics, LLC Benefit, a manufacturer of premium cosmetics, presents a powerful case in point. The U.S.-based company recently re-launched its flagship site and rolled out a series of country-specific sites in a bid to strengthen its brand presence across Asia and capitalize on local demand. The cosmetics giant also set out to drive e-commerce conversions internationally by creating a global online presence that would serve as the primary touchpoint for the brand. The company selected a highly flexible e-commerce platform with built-in localization features such as Chinese character sets accelerating speed-to-market and instantly capturing local customers. It chose a solution that incorporated regional payment methods and multilingual capabilities, a powerful instance of technological flexibility that satisfies specific customer requirements and fosters more profitable customer relationships and further growth. Emerging Channels = Unique Growth Opportunities The growth of online commerce and the emergence of newer channels, such as mobile and social, have redefined how customers transact with brands. For enterprises, the explosion of multichannel selling is underpinned by opportunities to engage with customers across multiple touchpoints a prospect that promotes greater profitability and longer-term growth. Market growth also promotes greater competition in the virtual realm. Shoppers may see and examine products in a bricks-and-mortar store, then buy from a different vendor online if the physical store does not offer flexible, competitive, omnichannel purchase options. This naturally includes competitive pricing, social commerce, and mobile functionality with easy access to call centers and personalization. The relationship between omni-channel success and financial prosperity is far from theoretical. A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers survey found that 58% of customers who prefer a certain vendor spent more money after that vendor offered multiple new shopping channels. Almost a fifth of those surveyed commented that this extra spending was nearly 25% greater than before the offer was made. Keeping pace with competitors on technology advancements is necessary to maintain market share and revenue growth. Technology innovation requires the addition of new and emerging touchpoints, faster and more responsively than industry rivals. Commerce leaders should also adopt the latest personalization and customer targeting technologies, plus new omni-channel fulfillment trends such as Buy Online / Pick Up In Store. Successful, continuous, and sustainable innovation can be achieved only with a flexible commerce platform that stays well ahead of the pack by regularly integrating new and leading-edge innovations. 3

4 Flexible Commerce: Technology Snapshot Technology is one of the most powerful enablers of a profitable flexible commerce strategy. An e-commerce platform that fosters agile responses to business decisions can ensure profitable customer relationships that encourage loyalty and growth. It also allows businesses to roll out new channels and enter emerging markets without sacrificing the customer experience or damaging brand values. Following are the major attributes of an e-commerce platform that can multiply conversions, profits, and reach. Flexible deployment Although it s difficult to surpass on-demand e- commerce platforms for achieving speed-to-market, on-premise solutions offer a depth of functionality that can power agile responses to customer behavior. Joining forces with a platform developer who offers both options can allow a brand to launch with an ondemand platform, then transition into a customized on-premise solution after capturing initial market opportunities an effective strategy for leveraging the many advantages of flexible commerce without forfeiting profitability and revenue gains. Out-of-the-box integrations Speed is a powerful attribute of flexible commerce. E-Commerce platforms that enable seamless integrations out-of-the-box can produce major savings in time, labor, and dollars. Platforms that incorporate customer-centric features such as social and mobile commerce tools, as well as analytics functionality, can help retailers capitalize on market opportunities as soon as they occur. Open Standards Solutions based on open standards allow businesses to quickly launch an e-commerce website, or roll out new channels and touchpoints, without engaging in a lengthy development process. Open commerce APIs enable companies to add new channnels, new features, and third-party integrations more rapidly. They also make it easier for implementation partners and developers to customize and adapt commerce solutions to address evolving needs. Hybrid SaaS Unlike traditional Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) models, hybrid SaaS platforms marry the on-demand features of SaaS with the functionality of an onpremise solution. SaaS enables flexible commerce by allowing businesses to take a scalable approach to factors like bandwidth and hosting, while maintaining an infrastructure that s robust enough to tackle security issues. Scaling in Line with Customer Demand Flexible platforms, by definition, must scale to meet demand as it evolves and grows. All levels of website traffic, from new startups to mature, high-volume sites, can be enabled and supported by a suitably flexible commerce platform. It s important to select the deployment model that best meets the organization s need to balance its cost structure with its need to expand or condense. Properties with a modest level of traffic or sites with wide swings in traffic levels may find that an ondemand deployment model is the best choice, so that performance can be adjusted accordingly. Higher volume sites, and those with constant and predictable traffic, might be better served by on-premise or managed service solutions. > Seasonal forces and the ebbs and flows of customer demand have always had a dramatic impact on e-commerce sales. > Strategies that enterprises can optimize profitably, according to customer activity, remain more elusive. Implementing an e-commerce platform that responds to traffic spikes with greater bandwidth can help enterprises leverage the growth opportunities that stem from customer demand. > Flexible e-commerce platforms are built to be highly scalable and agile allowing enterprises to adjust performance according to peaks and valleys of buyer behavior. > Companies that embrace flexible commerce are in an ideal position to turn buying patterns into a source of growth and spin market opportunities into instant revenue streams. Ultimately, architecting a scalable approach across both technology and strategy can lay the foundation for a sustainable e-commerce model able to withstand both customer evolution and digital change. 4

5 Flexible Commerce and Interactive TV TV producers and broadcasters have been looking for new revenue opportunities and alternatives to traditional ads. One new option made possible by a flexible commerce platform is for production companies to create metadata in parallel with content development to identify products, clothing, beverages, vehicles, and other items depicted within the program. These items could be purchased by viewers as they watch an episode. As an example, a dress or jacket worn by an actor could be offered for sale as a one-click in-app purchase linked to Amazon, or through a commerce account with a national apparel store. Similarly, a viewer could point to an automobile shown in a program and request more information and specifications on that vehicle as part of his or her pre-purchase research. Anything viewed in a TV show or streamed movie could be purchased instantly, provided the product information is encoded in the metadata, and the viewer is linked electronically into a purchase account. hybris has developed a demo used in its software labs that shows a tablet displaying contextual product information and commerce functionality for specific products appearing on TV, sensed through an encoded audio signal. Flexible commerce opens the door to any touchpoint, including smart phones, tablets, digital wearables, and kiosks in shopping malls, hotels, transportation hubs, and theme parks. The potential audience scope and reach of entertainment developers has never extended as far and wide as they do today. Enabling Customization and Deployment Options The most flexible e-commerce platforms provide a customizable framework not just a set of predefined functionalities that are locked down and used as-is out-ofthe-box. Companies can start with a flexible framework, then modify and adapt it to deliver a unique solution that perfectly fits their needs. Unlike some on-demand-only solutions, where most of the users share the same suite of functions, a flexible, extendable framework enables a company to identify all of the business features it needs, and customize the solution accordingly. With a flexible solution, an e-commerce implementation team can select from a suite of modules. For example, they can start with a basic online store containing features such as payments, product images, and essential store functions. Later, they can add other modules, including a store locator, mobile module, or a customer service cockpit. Since each module is part of the same software stack, modules are tightly integrated, and it s easy to make additions and changes. When considering deployment options, a mid-market company might want to start with a hosted or on-demand solution. The company might also benefit from entering into a revenue-sharing agreement with an e-commerce vendor to fund platform costs from actual sales. But, as revenues increase, the on-demand model may no longer make sense, so it s important that the vendor also offers an on-premise model with standard license terms. Some vendors limit their customers to an on-demand deployment model and, when those companies outgrow the platform, they re stuck. As their revenues expand, they can choose to stay with that increasingly more expensive revenue share model, or they can switch to another provider that offers on-premise software. The problem with this strategy is that the company may have to re-implement their entire solution, which can be both difficult and expensive. When a vendor offers flexible deployment options including on-premise, on-demand, and managed hosted solutions, all of the work and energy invested in one deployment can be transferred into a different type of system downstream. This freedom of choice, and the ability to switch between deployment models as needed, offers significant strategic and competitive advantages, especially in industries where market conditions change rapidly. Another level of flexibility pertains to channel strategies like B2B, B2C, B2B2C, and B2G. Respectively, those are business-to-business, business-to-consumer, businessto-consumer via distributors or dealers, and businessto-government. Companies who deploy more than one of these channel models should engage a vendor with experience in all of the relevant areas, with the appropriate technologies to support all needed strategies. Stated another way, if an e-commerce developer specializes exclusively in the B2C retailing space, don t ask them to modify their solution for use in the B2B space. Instead, find a solution that was created specifically for B2B commerce. Only a few select vendors will have deep expertise with all of the different channel models. 5

6 On-Demand On-Premise Managed Services The Fine Art of Implementing a Flexible Commerce Platform Flexible commerce is not about uncritically jumping on trends, but rather focused on implementing technologies and processes that foster strong, authentic customer relationships. It is less about technology and creating a perpetual stream of IT projects, and more aligned towards empowering digital marketers and business users to quickly respond to customer demands and market trends using an easy, self-service platform. Successful, flexible commerce models respond more rapidly and accurately to customer needs while demonstrating an unwavering commitment to core brand values. Flexibility ultimately leads to a higher level of customer loyalty and repeat business a factor that spurs greater profitability and long-term growth. It s critical to consider the role of flexibility in futureproofing a business. Enterprises that establish agile business models and operate technology platforms that facilitate customer responsiveness are better poised to harness emerging opportunities, explore untapped markets, and build a high-value customer base that fuels exponential growth. About hybris, an SAP Company hybris helps businesses around the globe sell more goods, services and digital content through everytouchpoint, channel and device. hybris delivers OmniCommerce : state-of-the-art master data management for commerce and unified commerce processes that give a business a single view of its customers, products and orders, and its customers a single view of the business. hybris' omni-channel software is built on a single platform, based on open standards, that is agile to support limitless innovation, efficient to drive the best TCO, and scalable and extensible to be the last commerce platform companies will ever need. Both principal industry analyst firms rank hybris as a leader and list its commerce platform among the top two or three in the market. The same software is available on-premise, on-demand and managed hosted, giving merchants of all sizes maximum flexibility. Over 500 companies have chosen hybris, including global B2B sites W.W.Grainger, Rexel, General Electric, Thomson Reuters and 3M as well as consumer brands Toys R Us, Metro, Bridgestone, Levi's, Nikon, Galeries Lafayette, Migros, Nespresso and Lufthansa. hybris is the future of commerce. sales@hybris.com Version: November 2014 Subject to change without prior notice hybris hybris is a trademark of the hybris Group. Implementing Other brand names a Flexible are trademarks Commerce and Platform registered to Provide trademarks Agility of for the Channel respective and companies. Revenue Growth 6