WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation

WHY IT MATTERS: useful to see the growth of marketplaces in recent years. The list is interesting but the analysis provides insights into what's now become an essential component of eCommerce. And let me tell you from experience, building a marketplace is difficult... ;-)

WHY IT MATTERS: is reCommerce a things for real or is this just a fancy new marketing acronym? In any case, this study provides contact and background and data to explore the concept.

WHY IT MATTERS: wow! not often do I stumble upon a trend report that actually has valuable insights, trends and recommendations. And not too biased towards Shopify!

I pulled one chart on the importance of customer service but there are many more. Must read for anyone serious about eCommerce, big or small.

WHY IT MATTERS: this list of technology questions for 2022 feels like an answer to the question "what is digital disruption?".

We have reached a moment in time where old technologies - eCommerce or videoconferencing for example - are finally breaking into established industries. And the impact, at scale, cannot be found in technology but rather in every single industry it disrupts.

Very thoughtful piece, very good questions.

WHY IT MATTERS: grocery technology evolution is difficult so I take this journey as a guide for technologies that will enhance or improve the shopping experience, not replace it altogether - at least not in short term.

WHY IT MATTERS: eCommerce growth continues, especially regarding B2B (see market overview, as usual it contains good insights). I always question the tool selection (17 over 140 solution gartner says it tracks) so read with huge grain of salt. Legacy solutions with serious technical limitations show up in leader quadrant (sap, salesforce), and niche solutions are positioned because I assume they have market penetration. So use other sources when selecting eCommerce solution but questions vendors in the quadrant on the PROs and CONs gartner highlights.

WHY IT MATTERS: interesting to see that software solutions that reach maturity - such as ERPs - have a tendency to specialize. This quadrant highlights leaders in a specific market (product centric enterprises). I wonder when we will start to see the same with eCommerce... Not that specialized solutions don't exist but that the industry remains so immature that companies are in their first or second versions of eCommerce and thus gravitate to generalist solutions like shopify, magento, etc.

WHY IT MATTERS: warning! this article is not about your typical "robots will rule retail" or "everything has to be AI driven unless you die". Well, in some parts it is.

The reality check that retailers - and their technology vendors - must make is: retail is difficult, focused on the bottom line, with no appetite for innovation with short term results. Retail innovators must find a way to experiment while staying focussed on the bottom line.

Best quote: "‘I think the majority of the problems come from the unwillingness, perhaps the fear, of investing in something that
doesn’t automatically bring a load of cash onto your balance sheet."

WHY IT MATTERS: short eBook on trends and use cases for edge computing in retail. Useful to realize that cloud is not just about centralized computing mainframe-style, but must be paired with edge computing as we do with laptops and cell phones...

WHY IT MATTERS: no one knows how stores will change but this eBook brings some interesting store concept and retailTech examples. Don't expect too much from the title though...

WHY IT MATTERS: this short intro on selling in Amazon marketplace highlights a key concern for small retailers: customers are aggregating on marketplaces (Amazon being the largest for now) and you need to be able to dynamically decide what you sell, where, for how much and consolidate all the orders in a single. Where better than your existing ecommerce website - magento, shopify, hybris or other? Used to be this was done on your ERP (for large retailers) or POS (for single shop owners) or PIMs and OMS for those with more mature eCommerce architectures. Now it looks like you'll do everything to centralize in the Ecommerce store.

WHY IT MATTERS: je mets mon commentaire en français parce qu'il s'adresse spécifiquement aux amis du panier bleu. L'article de Ben Evans soulève une question importante et fait la démonstration que non, Amazon ne sait pas. Et que pour Amazon, pour l'instant, peu importe. Mais pour le panier bleu et sa place de marché, le marchandisage et la curation de contenu sera importante. Essentielle même. Et qu'elle sera peut-être le différentiateur et la clé du succès. Le panier bleu ne gagnera pas en créant une place de marché mais en réglant les enjeux des commerçants (coûts élevé des cartes de crédit, logistique, livraison, retours et publicité) et en offrant aux consommateurs une destination pour trouver des commerces et des produits québécois. 

En gros, il faut régler les problèmes du commerce de détail, et la technologie ne résoudra pas tous les problèmes à court terme...

WHY IT MATTERS: very interesting DOs and DONTs about dynamic pricing. I see few retailers yet doing this at scale but with the growth of eCommerce one can expect this to become table stakes in few years. The operational requirements may be daunting if not done properly, so beware. A few good links in there but especially this one: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/how-retailers-can-drive-profitable-growth-through-dynamic-pricing

WHY IT MATTERS: the scores and the ranking is not important. This list is meaningful because it shows just how broad and deep the automation has become in retail stores. Expect to see a lot of those in your local shopping destination.

WHY IT MATTERS: eCommerce evolution requires the equivalent of shopping malls, to draw customers into a single location. This list of top 100 solutions is very informative.

WHY IT MATTERS: the explosion of ecommerce due to covid lockdown will see impacts in years to come. This list sounds about right regarding what's coming in the foreseable future...

WHY IT MATTERS: this is a great example of the way small local businesses can survive - by creating marketplaces to sell and promote their wares. This is a vertical marketplace (focus on books). You also need horizontal marketplaces (focus on all stores on a street or region). And you need amazing search engines to let you discover merchants and their products.

WHY IT MATTERS: 5G telecom network promises to revolutionize many industries including retail. This report from Forrester presents use cases for 5G may bring but also puts those in context of what exists today and how fast the transformation will be.

WHY IT MATTERS: a review of 10 live streaming technologies - basically video conferencing for shopping. As we move into maturity of eCommerce solutions beyond the simple catalog-search-filter need to be considered. And in a world of massive store closure and covid fears, this may be an attractive solution for retailers.

Also this report on the 62B$ market in China: www.therobinreport.com/livestreaming-its-big-in-china-is-the-us-next 

WHY IT MATTERS: the covid pandemic will see a surge in "low touch" solutions (think doors that open automatically or paypass wireless payment). Here, MIT Sloan highlights that "high touch" businesses (think taxis and hotels) will have to look at technology to reduce the impact of their model in a social distancing world.

WHY IT MATTERS: it is important to consider infrastructure as part of digital transformation plans. POE is one example that should always be considered. True, wireless rules the world with WIFI and bluetooth but power remains an essential component until battery technology and wireless power become reality. With retail having to innovate, I assume stores will get a facelift - which should include things like POE.

WHY IT MATTERS: customer centric and omnichannel approaches are essential in today's retail & ecommerce. Tools have started to appear that help track path through the journey and provide consolidated metrics. This list is a great starting point and I am happy to see Quebec-based Coveo be part of the list this yer.

WHY IT MATTERS: interesting chart of the growth in RFPs for vending kiosks which we all assume has been fueled by covid low touch requirements. Not sure if it will hold or if kiosks are the solution but certainly worth considering this as a potential tech growth sector...

WHY IT MATTERS: recent survey provides good insights into priorities that retailers have. Spoiler: AR-VR not high on the list. Surprisingly facial recognition is not top priority: privacy concerns?

WHY IT MATTERS: once we get over the health crisis, we will need to address the economic crisis. Key supply chain technologies will offer retailers and manufacturers solutions to reduce cost and their dependency on global trade fluctuations.