Rise of eCommerce, marketplaces & delivered
Rise of eCommerce, marketplaces & delivered
2020 has been a transformational year… for all the wrong reasons. Phenomenal growth in Internet of Things (IoT) technology, which normally takes years, has happened overnight.
Marketplaces have been major winners – Amazon sales have nearly doubled. Online shopping, delivered demand has grown over 500%, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
Wholesale has also transformed, with rapid development and deployment of Omni-channel, customer centric commerce solutions. Many of the most progressive wholesalers have invested in operational automation, advanced personalisation and improved customer service centricity.
But the majority of wholesale are well behind the leading marketplaces when it comes to leveraging customer added value technologies.
Transformational & technological change is not simply a pandemic response. It’s simply a response to ever-increasing business and consumer innovation and disruption.
It’s not a blip – it’s just business evolution, and the wholesale channel must mature its approach to creating ever more customer-centric experiences in order to grow sustainably.
Decades ago, the idea of eCommerce and delivered was inconceivable and not even a consideration for many Wholesale business models. Many saw disruptions as something that was just happening to other businesses. eCommerce - the buying, selling and trading goods or services via the IOT has transformed everything, everyone, everywhere, primarily because it connects with human needs of utility, convenience, entertainment & instant gratification.
The last 25 years has involved rapid changes:
1995 Amazon launched, first online retailers to add product user reviews and rating.
1998 PayPal launches. PayPal manages 244 million accounts.
2005 Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council formed.
2007 Track, trace and delivered becomes the IoT norm*.
2020 Amazon launches ‘Dash Cart’ in its LA grocery megastore.
2020 The number of smart devices that can be controlled by Amazon’s Alexa reaches 100,000.
Transformational forces are evolving in faster waves; each wave being profoundly more disruptive. In 2020 a tsunami of Digital Darwinism drove ever more utility and convenience in our online experiences. Your business eCommerce experience is the single biggest business growth differentiator.
77% of B2B companies indicate that their eCommerce experience is the key differentiator.
82% of B2B companies have continuous eCommerce transformation projects underway.
71% of B2B companies acknowledge that customer centricity gaps will be closed through IoT.
62% of B2B company leaders see Marketplaces (e.g. Amazon, eBay) as an opportunity.
61% of B2B companies acknowledge AI will automate their operational models in the next 2 years.
27% of B2B leaders say increased customer digital expectations is their top threat, outside “Global pandemic”.
eCommerce - the drivers
Consumers and businesses are more reliant on the IoT than ever before. They have high expectations of eConsumerism. 50% of Gen Z shoppers and 48% of Millennials purchase because of influencers’ product posts or endorsements. Influencers have become mission critical to digital marketing strategies. Meaningful and contextual personalisation is also essential: creating, curating and distributing compelling, relevant and timely content.
eCommerce - the opportunity?
There is a need for the wholesale channel to challenge the rise of marketplaces by:
- Delivering meaningfulness, trust, convenience and utility
- Humanising product storytelling and value
- Optimising customer experience & customer satisfaction
- Leveraging more 360° immersive experiences (augmentation)
- Sharing data to increase omni-channel personalisation
eCommerce - trends
ReCommerce (“secondhanding”) will dominate eConsumerism over the next 24 months. It’s simple recessionary economics.
Everyone will be an influencer - Word of Web consumerism will be highly valued (referral, ratings, likes, follows).
Environment & sustainability will drive electric, autonomous logistics automation.
Voice controlled devices will double over the next 12 months.
Augmented reality use will increase across marketplaces.
People & brand culture will be important, but business technology model transformation will be vital to success.
It does not matter what your present business model is or does (B2B, B2C, C2C, C2B)
You need to put you brightest minds to work reimagining how to transform it.
The DCS Insight team can help support that transformation – just ask your DCS account manager for more information
*Episerver digital experience report 2020