Content & commerce take center stage
Published on 31 Aug 2020
Meet the new power couple
You’re probably tired of hearing how empowered today’s customers are. Everyone knows that they’re more mobile, better informed, and less loyal than ever before. And they expect brands to deliver not only a smoother, more seamless shopping experience, but a highly personalized one, too. It’s no wonder more than 10% of retail shopping is done online and it’s one reason why smart retailers have advanced their technology so much that they can send an email reminder the day after you leave an unpurchased item in your cart. Or personalize promotions according to your buying history.
Much of this is a result of integrating web content systems with commerce engines, so that the marketing department that engages with consumers through digital channels has visibility into inventories and catalog information that lives in commerce systems. The dirty secret of contextual commerce, however, is that it’s hard. Really hard. Not only do companies have to overcome siloed departments and disconnected business processes, they also have to manually integrate and align multiple systems and ensure customer data is managed effectively across all these systems.
It’s both a data challenge and an operational challenge. The technicalities of integrating disparate and diverse data sources, while also getting the buy-in of numerous business units with different agendas and goals is a hurdle that many organizations can’t overcome alone
The challenges to overcome
As a result, Gleanster research on enterprise retail organizations found that 63% of all respondents indicated changing consumer preferences and channel proliferation were their top two challenges. And when asked if their organization had a five-year plan for addressing these challenges, such as integrating systems and breaking down silos, only 26% of marketers said yes. Additionally, Gleanster states that “many organizations are finding it difficult to support the proliferation of emerging channels with legacy content management solutions .The average retail organization deploys 3-5 different technologies to support multi-channel execution.
Digital channels have evolved faster than enterprise technology infrastructure can support; even with incremental investments in point solutions.” Has your business evolved? If you’re up to the challenge, you could reap big rewards . According to a global independent survey commissioned by Infosys, almost 80% of customers are more likely to make another purchase from brands that provide targeted, relevant, and personalized offers. Another study divulges that more than 60% of consumers are willing to share online information and preferences in return for a more personalized experience.
See Also: Rightsizing Your Spend with Salesforce
