Supporting Commerce Trends with the Product Ecosystem

From online retailers like Amazon and Etsy lowering the barrier to entry for entrepreneurs to sell products, to social media platforms like Instagram and Tik Tok entering the retail space, the eCommerce landscape has just exploded over the past few years and advancements in technology, increased competition, and the growth of available channels have made it easier than ever to buy and sell online.

eCommerce: Steadily growing, and showing no signs of stopping

As businesses came online during the COVID-19 pandemic, the global trend toward digitization surged ahead. Even with the recent rise in inflation, as regions began to reopen and consumers could shop in-person, eCommerce growth continues to climb. Merchants continue to follow consumer demand online, and this growth means more brands competing for customers.

Due to this increase in competition, the digital advertising dollar is not going as far as it used to. A recent study by Adobe saw that the rising cost of digital advertising was moving five times faster than inflation in the United States.

As the barrier to entry thins and the digital space becomes more crowded, brand identity and brand awareness will only become more crucial to draw more organic acquisition and retain more customers.

Not only are new competitors emerging, but new channel opportunities are as well. Brands and retailers need to be where their consumers are online to be top of mind, make an impact, and capture the sale. The typical social media user now spends about 15% of their waking life using social platforms; people around the globe are spending even more time scrolling through social feeds which leads to spending their money online.

Implementing an omnichannel product activation strategy is essential, and successful brands are the ones that are meeting customers where they already spend their time. The omnichannel opportunity is all about giving consumers choice and options around where, what, and how they engage with retailers and their products to make a purchase.

Utilizing the Product Ecosystem to Support Commerce Trends

Staying on top of commerce trends is not an option — it's a necessity. For commerce business owners, keeping up-to-date on industry trends is particularly important to stay competitive and identify new opportunities. Partnering insight into commerce trends with a comprehensive, scalable, and well-functioning commerce ecosystem is the key to staying competitive and supporting your commerce business.

You’ve heard all of the ecosystem acronyms - ERP, PIM, MDM, and PLM, just to name a few, but why are they important? Whether you are B2C, B2B, a distributor or retailer, the end goal is the same - get your products to your consumers.

Most commerce brands have similar ecosystem components. However, the type, number, and scale of the tools or software they use for their online businesses will differ.

Identifying your desired business outcomes, key processes you want to improve, and what metrics you’ll use to measure impact will help guide your decisions on what systems within your commerce ecosystem will be most beneficial to your business.

Your commerce ecosystem can help you with marketing, sales, customer relations, inventory management, and product data and enrichment. Strong product data and the right commerce ecosystem can massively improve the customer experience, improve your time-to-market, and increase sales conversion.

That’s why the team here at Akeneo will spend the next few weeks diving into all the different areas of the product ecosystem, detailing what they are, how they interact with each other, and how to best utilize each piece of technology to create the most compelling omnichannel experiences. From the basics to the best practices, we’ll be providing you with everything you need to better understand the product ecosystem and how to build a scalable technology stack that supports the future of eCommerce.