As eCommerce moves from desktop to smartphone, retailers are struggling to make the transition. Consumers today now expect an engaging shopping experience on every device, from mobile apps to the latest wearable. But online retailers often lack the right tools to repurpose their content for multiple channels and devices.
Product images, videos, and interactive media experiences are essential elements in eCommerce to drive sales, but many companies suffer from poor digital asset management (DAM) capabilities. That means a reduced ability to compete in terms of the customer experience, which has become a key differentiator for all brands in online retail.
Managing the integrations between content management systems and commerce platforms is daunting. Many integrations are custom builds, meaning that updates are a huge technical challenge and a major cost burden. And even then, there’s no guarantee that one-o integrations will remain robust and secure as the major platforms evolve.
eCommerce companies need to be nimble to compete, but standard commerce platforms make that challenging. Site structure and user navigation are often based around product catalog and therefore difficult to change. And major updates usually must go through agencies or IT, which is costly and time consuming.
To address market demand and improve the customer experience, retailers must constantly add new functionality to their stores. But rebuilding a major eCommerce site is no small matter, especially when there is existing infrastructure. Rip-and-replace solutions can be prohibitively expensive and often require extensive downtime — not an option for most online businesses.
The holy grail of online engagement is personalization — showing the right products and services to the right person at the right time. Being relevant to a customer is essential for driving more engagement and sales. But retailers, brands, and media companies struggle with the optimal way to create these experiences at scale and in ways that users appreciate.
For CoreMedia, March means Vegas. Specifically the two major trade shows that take place there: Shoptalk and IBM Think. For our impressions of Shoptalk, see the post here. For impressions of IBM Think, read on!
eCommerce may be global, but shoppers expect brands to provide a localized experience — a site in their own language, the option of paying with local currency, or text and images tailored to regional preferences. But coordinating this effort at scale is complicated, particularly when there are multiple teams or different CMS platforms involved.