It’s no secret that a superior commerce experience is a competitive advantage in today’s digital-driven landscape. But competition for your customers’ attention, purchase commitments, and brand loyalty is tougher than ever.
We learned that every time your customer has an improved digital customer experience – no matter the industry or context – it raises the bar for all their future digital experiences. While customers today want that 1:1 connection when they interact with a brand, just one single factor could be the difference between a customer gained or a customer lost.
Brands that will find success in 2020 and beyond will be those companies that realize commerce and personalized content go hand-in-hand. Which means having the right system to tackle the complexities of delivering the relevant personalized experience, so you can differentiate yourself in the market and win customers. Here are the insights on how to set up your brand for what’s in store for the future of commerce.
Connected commerce experience
Creating more content seems to be the logical next step for brands looking to level up their content marketing strategy. Content repurposing, however, is often the easier and more cost-effective path toward content marketing efficiency.
Can you list all of the emerging technology on the market today? Better yet, can you simply identify how your brand is staying on top of new channels and the customer data that’s being generated as a result? A lot can be said as to why products like smart display home hubs by Google and Amazon are successfully establishing themselves as all-in-one entertainment and communication solutions for consumers. Likewise, brands need to adopt this all-in-one mindset in how they deliver digital experiences to their customers.
As a leader in helping brands provide digital customer experiences, we’ve been working with many of them on simplifying the complexities of trying to deliver an effective 1:1 commerce experience across channels – knowing the diversity of channels beyond web and mobile, including voice, kiosk, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), etc.
Just like we see consumers pulling together all their devices into a single place, brands need a single platform to manage all the facets of commerce experience strategies — content management, omnichannel delivery, and the pulling together of customer data for enabling the evolution of the 1:1 experience. This is why we’ve designed our commerce offering, Sitecore Experience Commerce, to work as this foundational enterprise-level solution. As an extension of Sitecore Experience Platform, Sitecore XC centralizes your data, content, and commerce tools. Ultimately, the key is to meet your commerce demands while also enabling your company to evolve and grow with your customers.
Predictive personalization
A great point to mention, in the Reinventing Commerce Report we did with Econsultancy, 80% of respondents said their success depends on the ability to create compelling customer experiences. How do we define success going forward in 2020? With companies including Amazon and Netflix reporting a notable percentage of consumer behavior driven by their recommendation engines, it’s important for brands to realize that they’re competing with this level of customer experience, even if the products offered aren’t the same.
If you’re not already, you need to be looking at how to invest in ways of anticipating your customers’ needs. This is important whether it’s a returning customer or a first-time, anonymous visitor to your website. Again, this ties back to your data, the content you have to offer, and your connected channels.
As my colleague explains in his recent blog about the future of personalized content, we know that perfecting personalization from an organizational standpoint is a crawl/walk/run journey. And predictive personalization is on the side of the run phase. I invite you to read 10 tactics for optimizing the commerce experience so you can get started or advance your journey.
How to move your commerce strategies ahead in 2020
There is no one-size-fits all strategy, but I hope you’ve gained insights on a path forward with creating a connected commerce experience, and you’re looking to adopt predictive personalization. Here are some simple ways to continue moving your commerce digital experiences ahead.
Take the Commerce self-assessment – There is no better way to know how to move forward in your commerce strategy than by looking at where you are now. Find out your key areas of strength and where there is still work to do, plus get expert help. Connect with experts at a Sitecore event – In 2020, there is a Sitecore event for every level of digital marketer. Join us for networking, insights, and connecting with us.
- Sitecore Experience Europe | March 4, 2020 – A complimentary 1-day conference for senior-level marketers looking for high-level networking, strategic insights from analysts and customer successes, and exclusive access to product demos.
- Sitecore World Tour | January to April 2020 – Stopping through 20+ cities, World Tour events are complimentary, accelerated conferences for all levels of digital marketers, featuring top takeaways from Symposium 2019, customer successes, and access to experts.
- Sitecore Symposium 2020 | October 26-29, 2020 – Sitecore’s flagship event held in Chicago this year. We’ll be opening early bird registration this summer.
Get key learnings from Symposium Online – Recap key learnings from Sitecore Symposium 2019 that took place in November. Get helpful insights from analysts, customers, partners, and long-time Sitecore users.
The original article was published here.
