Welcome
How Mature Is Your E-Commerce Strategy?
COVID-19 has amplified buyer's online behaviors and created new ones. To keep up, businesses require a robust e-commerce strategy that delivers great digital experiences. We know that organizations which have invested ahead of the curve in advanced digital capabilities are growing faster than their peers.
How mature is your organization’s digital e-commerce strategy? Take our short self-assessment to find out.
The assessment will yield customized results and recommendations based on your responses, and it should take no more than 2 minutes to complete.
Questions
Which of the following capabilities are part of your e-commerce strategy? (Select all that apply.)
Search and navigation.
Questions
Which of the following capabilities are part of your e-commerce strategy? (Select all that apply.)
Personalization and data management.
Questions
Which of the following capabilities are part of your e-commerce strategy? (Select all that apply.)
Product information and features.
Questions
Which of the following capabilities are part of your e-commerce strategy? (Select all that apply.)
Supporting tools.
Questions
Which of the following capabilities are part of your e-commerce strategy? (Select all that apply.)
Purchase and support.
Questions
Which of the following capabilities are part of your e-commerce strategy? (Select all that apply.)
General.
Questions
For each area below, what prevents you from creating the ideal customer experience? (Select all that apply per row.)
Providing good search capabilities (e.g., providing easy website navigation and advanced search capabilities)
Returning helpful product or pricing information
Providing helpful supporting content (e.g., customer reviews, how-to guides, installation videos, and product comparison tools such as 360-degree view of product or product configurator)
Being agile/responsive to market changes
Providing a consistent experience across touchpoints
Using customer data from a central location to better serve customers
Testing changes to the website quickly and efficiently
Identifying key customer segments that require different experiences
Questions
Questions
Results Overview
With physical stores closed for much of last year, digital commerce has become paramount to ensure business continuity and survival. Our study of 156 US, UK, and German decision-makers of digital campaigns, online experiences, and/or e-commerce programs and technology purchases found that 83% of firms have experienced double-digit growth in digital revenue in 2020 compared to only 9% in 2019. Branded direct websites are playing a key role in this growth.
However, customers are disappointed with their online experiences. In surveying 625 US, UK, and German B2C consumers and B2B customers that make online purchases, we found that three-quarters or more face challenges across the buyer journey. This is because firms don’t meet buyers’ basic requirements and lack rudimentary digital commerce capabilities. Don’t ignore your own issues: 79% of buyers say they would change suppliers/retailers if they have a poor experience.
This is a call to action for your business: Optimize and orchestrate experiences to guide customers on their paths to purchase.
Where is your firm today? And what can you do to deliver improved digital commerce experiences in the future? Continue to see your personal results and recommendations.
Your maturity result:
Recommendations
Beginner: Digital Commerce Newcomer
Like 33% of companies, your digital business is behind, and you must act fast. Now is the time to embrace digital transformation. The pandemic has changed customer behavior forever and more customers expect to be serviced online. Digital commerce has grown in virtually every category and companies with less mature digital presences are sure to be left behind.
The good news is that you can get up and running quickly, with the right tools. Don’t reinvent the wheel! Meet as many experienced practitioners as possible who have already done what you are trying to do. Go to conferences, meet people through virtual events and professional social networks like LinkedIn and Clubhouse, figure out what works and incorporate those elements into your roadmap. You can leverage resources from studies like this to see what is commonplace already. The steps to accelerating your digital transformation are to:
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Get executive buy-in, pronto. Senior-level sponsors are imperative in driving digital transformation. Gather data on ROI and budget requests and present a compelling plan to get the support you need as quickly as possible.
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Advocate for both technology solutions and headcount. One of the key reasons that companies do not execute at the level customers expect is that they tend to be under-resourced. Gather spending and headcount benchmarks to formulate your requests for funding. Outsource as much as you can afford.
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Create a plan. Scrutinize table stakes in commerce and ensure that your digital touchpoints have them. Gather feedback from customers who have either abandoned transactions or left negative reviews in order to support your case for change and urgency.
Intermediate: Digital Commerce Warrior
Like 61% of companies, you have many of the fundamentals in place and it is now time to push your sophistication even further. You have key features that customers want and that are broadly expected, but you are not differentiating yourselves and are leaving money on the table by not tackling all of the low hanging fruit within your reach. It is also time to do more than the basics. It’s time to imagine being a great digital player. Start by:
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Investing in digital experiences. You have some executive alignment and now is the time to get more budget. Make a case for reallocation to your channel if there isn’t new budget. Digital is likely growing faster than other channels; funding for technology and headcount needs to be aligned to adjust to that change. Focus on the commerce experience fundamentals and invest in the capabilities that deliver on customers’ expectations and create an inspiring and efficient shopping and buying experience.
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Auditing all your touchpoints. Ensure that the features and functionality that you already have invested in are accessible to all customers in the myriad of ways they may engage with you. Recognize that customers switch channels, and they convert more when their experiences are consistent and frictionless.
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Improving skills and tools. As budgets may get shifted around in your organization, job descriptions will likely change too. Prepare teams for those shifts by encouraging them to take on continuing education and technology courses that expand the digital expertise of traditional functions like design or other shared services. Ensure their success with best-in-class technology tools that enable them to easily impact the buyer experience or the business.
Advanced: Digital Commerce Leader
You are among the elite 6% of companies that are at the head of the pack. You have a more sophisticated strategy than most, as well as the budget and buy-in to experiment and shape the landscape of how customers buy. To continue being ahead of your peers, you must:
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Continue experimenting. You need to continue being curious about the latest technologies and new approaches, but you must also realize when it is appropriate to “cut bait” and move on to other initiatives. Failing fast is a hallmark of the most sophisticated digital companies but so is embracing variety and speed in experiments. Push your capabilities to different channels, to different segments, and to different regions.
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Evangelize what works for others. Leaders influence others, within their industry and across other sectors. Industry standards do not develop by keeping successes a secret. If there are benefits that eventually come to you by promoting success (e.g., network effects say with a feature like new payments), share those insights publicly and encourage others to embrace the same. Ensure that your whole company understands the digital business and its success. Upskill where relevant. Ensure that you have the strategics and tactics to make digital commerce a true differentiator. Establish metrics and dashboards so everyone in your organization is constantly apprised of performance.
View your detailed results
Next Steps
Watch The Commerce Experience Summit '21 on-demand
The Commerce Experience Summit ‘21 is for e-commerce evangelists, rapid adapters, and digital enthusiasts. It’s available on-demand now if you want to discover the secret to double-digit revenue growth.
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