Does Your Tech Stack Stack Up? Unified Commerce is the Answer
**UPDATE**
Unified eCommerce: You have options
Unified Commerce: Defined
Unified commerce is the practice of connecting your backend systems with your customer-facing channels via a single platform. It’s the setup companies require in order to support omnichannel journeys and create a unified view of shopper interactions, products, and management systems.
Unified Commerce is all about delivering a consistent customer experience across all customer interactions and channels (including offline / in-store).
This includes:
- Inventory management
- Order management and fulfillment
- Customer management
- Data-leveraged customer loyalty programs and pricing & promotions
All this points back to what we’ve been saying about how it is time to #expectmore from your eCommerce.
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You may not have heard the term “technology stack” – or tech stack for short – before, but the fact is it is the engine that drives your online selling. Simply put, it is the sum total of software and applications a B2B organization uses for sales.
Historically, B2B sales came through outdated methods such as fax, PO, phone, email, etc. As B2B customer expectations evolved, more organizations started migrating selling to online to meet those expectations. Today, if your organization doesn’t achieve at least 30 percent of its annual revenue from online sales then it’s time to evolve and fast.
Your tech stack plays a critical role in how efficient your online selling is, and also how much it is costing your company. Take a good, long look at your current tech stack and ask yourself:
“Am I paying more for my eCommerce platform than I’m making off of it?”
Your tech stack likely includes a front-end CMS, back-end OMS and perhaps even a PIM or Marketplace add-on. Chances are these are separate applications run on separate licenses with separate fees and contract terms, making your tech stack a significant cost to your organization. If your business is not selling online to justify that cost then it may be time for a change.
What does a fully integrated tech stack/eCommerce platform look like? All modules connected with the same technology, on the same platform, under the same license. The benefits include:
- Reduced operational costs. Two-fold: A fully integrated digital commerce platform will optimize what you pay for your tech stack, making it an efficient and simple (one license) manage. It will also increase internal efficiency by eliminating tedious manual tasks, freeing up employee bandwidth.
- Improved customer experience. B2B customers now have the same expectations as consumers when it comes to user experience in buying online. A fully integrated tech stack creates seamless end-to-end experiences a disparate tech stack cannot.
- Future growth. One platform, one license, one technology partner for your organization today and in the future. Never pay more than what you use to keep overhead low and profit margins wide.
We want to learn more about your challenges around online selling. Let’s chat. Drop us a line.
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