Businesses of all kinds are under pressure to deliver on a series of seemingly incongruous goals: to drive revenue, decrease costs and move at an ever-increasing speed to meet consumer demand. Buyers, presented with an endless array of options, have thousands of opportunities to make a purchasing decision, while sellers are engaging with more third-party partnerships and technologies.
The pace of doing business has accelerated to take place nearly in real time. Two-thirds of consumers today say the speed of a company’s response is as important as the price of the offering. For Gen Y, also known as millennials, and Gen Z, quick responses from brands engender a feeling of “respect,” which converts to customer loyalty (and online sales) over the long term. And these dynamics impact the B2B environment as well, as a new generation of customers does not recall a disconnected world.
Embracing these paradigms and reckoning with the future of ecommerce, more widely known today as digital commerce, requires business leaders to work with a vast range of new technologies. Leading CEOs increasingly view artificial intelligence as a crucial competitive tool. And, when combined with other advancements such as augmented reality and virtual reality, IoT, passive transactions and voice commerce, AI creates new ways of communicating with consumers.
We see this transformation not just as an opportunity but as an imperative to remain competitive in a rapidly changing global landscape. To succeed, companies must harness the power of technology to drive revenue growth, reduce costs, improve conversion rates and enhance customer retention. All while positioning themselves as trusted, relevant and convenient partners for their customers.
This is true in all kinds of implementations, and across business structures. These pillars are critical for B2B businesses owners deploying AI to bolster security or optimize their mobile commerce experience, for example. They’re equally important when a B2C commerce platform uses an algorithm to deliver personalized experiences and drive growth.
