In recent years we have seen tremendous change in the evolution of digital commerce. Forced to advance more rapidly by the pandemic, businesses have witnessed first-hand the importance of digital development. Leading with a fast and adaptable digital-first approach will be necessary to win for both B2B and B2C businesses.
To do this, composability and modularity will be key. The needs of commerce today are complex and sophisticated transactions so having a composable model built on modular architecture will ensure an enterprise’s commerce is set up for the future. Part of this is the ability to be agile. To stay ahead of the curve, businesses need to be able to be flexible and adapt to the changing landscape in hours and days, not months and years as it was with monolithic legacy systems. A composable commerce model allows businesses to coordinate various ecosystems including other services and vendors.
Brands are also learning that having control and direct access to consumers is the best way to impact their bottom line and this can’t be achieved by selling through third-party vendors such as Amazon. In previous years, businesses were focused on moving their traditional wholesale business model online. These same businesses will course correct and invest heavily, in 2022 and in the future, in direct-to-consumer business models.
To ensure success, businesses need to understand that becoming a marketplace company and changing from the keeper of the inventory to owning direct customer access is a massive transformation. If a new marketplace is on the horizon, it’s important to make commerce a core part of the business and not just an add-on. One issue is that the idea that moving from brick and mortar to eCommerce being a plug-and-play situation is obsolete. Companies need to consider their commerce experience from the perspective and journey of their customers. Too many new customer marketplaces will face challenges because they are developed from purely an internal perspective rather than prioritizing the customers.
In order to differentiate in the market, consider how commerce technology can be utilized to create business models beyond traditional retail. For instance, consider B2B companies such as those in the pharmaceutical/medtech industry. They’re utilizing commerce technology to create Unified Commerce-style experiences for their users where online experiences mirror those of in person consultations. Consider all the out of-the-box capabilities of commerce technology, beyond traditional online shops. For example, take multi-brand enterprises—they can utilize marketplace technology to bring together all their brands under one single roof to create a winning one-stop-shop in its vertical.
By dreaming big, prioritizing digital, and putting the customer perspective first, enterprises can create sophisticated transactional business models that ensure business success in 2022 and beyond.
Boris Lokschin is the co-founder and CEO of commerce software company Spryker Systems, the fastest-growing enterprise digital commerce platform for B2B, B2C, Enterprise Marketplaces and Unified Commerce. Boris is a serial (co-) Founder, CEO/CTO and entrepreneur, who has built, scaled and operated multiple companies, two of them with successful exits to US based global NASDAQ listed companies.
