e-commerce enabler

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Three key investments for e-commerce enablers

For successful ecommerce, businesses must consider several enablers. A common mistake when it comes to ecommerce is that businesses assume only certain products can be sold online. With the right tools, the reality is that ecommerce means anything can be sold virtually.

While technology is the key enabler for ecommerce, investing in the right type of technology also matters. Successful ecommerce businesses ensure they focus not only on making the product available for customers but also on the entire customer experience from the moment they open a product website or ecommerce app.

To understand more about the right technologies businesses should invest in to enable successful ecommerce sales, VTEX, a global enterprise digital commerce platform, has partnered with AWS for a new retail profitability research paper. Titled, “Three Investments to Drive E-commerce Growth”, the paper unveiled at NRF 2023 highlights important investment opportunities for retailers looking to earn profitable growth, despite the economic headwinds ahead.

The paper dives into ecommerce challenges, the new era of profitability, and how retailers can achieve that profitability in 2023: putting attention back on customers and their evolving needs.

In evaluating what will drive long-term growth, VTEX recommends businesses focus on three key investments:

  • Get more out of the customers you already have. The majority of a brand’s profits come from its most loyal customers, so investing in them can make a huge difference in profitability. Retailers investing in this sector should focus their initiatives on customer retention, collecting first-party data and cross-channel communication.
  • Make inventory and fulfillment your strength. VTEX research shows 55% of brands are still in the early stages of the omnichannel maturity curve. Investing in this strategy – specifically inventory management, order management and supply chain – can improve customer satisfaction. These initiatives should focus on treating fulfillment like a product, unifying inventory and harnessing marketplace models.
  • Engage with customers in new ways. The digital commerce market is fiercer and more competitive than ever before. Brands need to step outside their traditional customer experience tactics to better engage with consumers, through things like video commerce and immersive product pages, to boost conversion rates and differentiate themselves from the crowded space.

“The pandemic ignited the Era of Growth at All Costs, but now retailers are facing higher expectations while fighting a perfect storm of financial challenges and shifting consumer demands,” said Jordan Jewell, the report’s author, former IDC analyst and current director of Merchant Growth Strategy at VTEX.

“Retailers are feeling the pressure to generate profit, and they’re not quite sure which investments will help them move the needle and give them the ROI they need to see. Through our finds from this research, we give retailers the tools they need to make the right decisions for them and their business to do just that,” added Jewell.