ca. 30 Minuten
nach Wunsch auch mit VideocallLet me introduce Karlotta: She's a young fashion lover (or addict, as her closer friends would say) who likes to discover new styles and fashion trends. She usually starts her journey sitting at home, browsing her favorite web stores in a relaxed atmosphere. If the retailer of her choice also happens to have a local store in the neighborhood, she enjoys paying him a visit and experiencing the products in real life. Or she might decide to use her mobile device to create digital bookmarks for products she encounters on the go and likes to get back to later on. Like Karlotta, most of today's customers like to use multiple channels before making the buying decision.
The entirety of these scenarios is usually referred to as omni-channel commerce: Customers pass various touchpoints via various devices to interact with the retailer and enjoy a seamless user experience. The benefits of this omni-channel approach have long been recognized (see our recent whitepaper for statistics and practical examples) and various studies show that businesses already increase revenue and improve customer loyalty by putting such strategies into practice.
Technology Choices
The software market as well as implementation partners are keeping pace with this development: They offer a huge range of products and services to support retailers in achieving their omni-channel goals. As a result, it becomes increasingly harder for retailers to make the right decisions and really move their businesses forward. They learn that “commerce platform x integrates well with ERP solution y”, they read about “turnkey omni-channel solutions that do everything out-of-the-box” and they listen to experts talking about the virtues of creating fully individualized solutions. While this may or may not be helpful, there’s this one question that retailers should always ask themselves and the technologists around them. And this brings us back to Karlotta.
It’s all About User Experience
Karlotta doesn’t care about which technology is running in the background while she’s hunting for bargains and sharing her discoveries. She likes to use a fast, nice-looking interface helping her do the things she likes to do on her favorite device. If she forwards a link, she wants to be sure that her friends see the things she sees, regardless of whether they open it on their notebooks, their PCs or their smartphones. And if she decides to buy a new tablet two years from now, she doesn’t want to worry about whether she can access her favorite web store with it.
For Karlotta, this is a no-brainer. For retailers, it should be, too. They need to see a frontend interface as an entity with a rather short lifespan – something that serves a purpose for a while and is then exchanged for something new; like a dress which is only fashionable this year and will be thrown out in the next one.
So the million dollar question that you as the retailer need to ask your software suppliers is this one: “How do you support me, if I need to dispose of my frontend – how tightly connected are your frontend and backend processes?” If you only receive a blank stare, you should probably continue your technology search. If not, the person you’re talking to has just passed a very important omni-channel litmus test.
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Visit the commercetools website to learn how our platform gives retailers the ultimative freedom to use (and get rid of) the user interfaces they require.
The Author
Roman Zenner – Industry Analyst & Content Writer at commercetools
Dr. Roman Zenner works as an Industry Analyst & Content Writer for commercetools. He watches the commerce solutions market and writes white papers and articles about current retail topics.
