| Productsup, an eCommerce data integration company, has released the findings of its commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting, “The Future of Commerce Technology.” The study, which surveyed 375 business decision-makers and directors in Europe and North America, found commerce anarchy is one of the biggest hurdles organisations are facing, and in turn, are prioritising product data management to effectively scale and deliver better user experiences.
Commerce anarchy describes the exponential rise in complexity for brands, retailers and service providers to manage omnichannel business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), and direct-to-consumer (D2C) processes. With sales and marketing channels evolving rapidly, organisations are struggling to deliver a unified customer experience across all product touchpoints, resulting in fractured customer and partner relationships. Specifically, Forrester’s research reveals poor product data has led to missed sales opportunities (27 per cent), inability to operate efficiently (25 per cent), decreased revenue (24 per cent) and lower customer satisfaction (23 per cent) for organisations. “Consumers looking to buy a product are inundated with places to go to ultimately make their purchase, and it takes seconds for them to decide against a certain retailer or brand based on their experience,” said Marcel Hollerbach, chief innovation officer of Productsup. “Organisations need to have a holistic, consistent presence no matter where their end users are shopping, but commerce anarchy makes this an impossible feat. Without the right support, businesses risk significant loss in revenue or even worse bankruptcy.” Forrester’s research surveyed organisation leaders who are directly responsible for commerce technology and strategy implementation within their companies. The data reveals that improving the experience for consumers is not only an important (44 per cent) but a critical initiative (25 per cent) over the next 12 months. Considering consumers are attracted to a more personalised shopping experience and increasingly looking to digital channels, 66 per cent of organisations are personalising their customer-facing web and mobile experiences. Other key takeaways from the study include:
“Although selling a product to a consumer is becoming more complex every day, the process of buying a product from a retailer still needs to be a seamless transaction for end-users,” Hollerbach said. “Brands, retailers and service providers need to rely on strong partners to provide the expertise in new technologies that help them adapt to market changes, provide customer value and survive in this highly competitive market.” |
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