E-COMMERCEREALIGNING FOR A DIGITAL-FIRST WORLD FOR HOLIDAY & BEYOND

Holiday 2020 - Benchmarks, Pivot Opportunities, Contingency Planning

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2021 - Strategy Realignment & Gap Assessment

Wrap-Up

Reprioritization of Technology Roadmap

ACTION FRAMEWORKTLC 9: PART A

CONVERTAVATRIA

E-COMMERCEPERSONAL LEADERSHIP, ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS, & TECHNOLOGY

Leading with an Agile Innovation Mindset

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Empower Advocates, Take Ownership & Rally Teams

Wrap-Up

Building Better Partnerships with Tech

ACTION FRAMEWORKTLC 9: PART B

CONVERTAVATRIA

PARTNER OVERVIEW & Q&A

Amazon Pay makes it simple for hundreds of millions of customers around the globe to pay for products and services using the information already stored in their Amazon accounts. It’s a familiar buying experience from a brand customers know and trust.

In your opinion, which recent trends in E-commerce and innovation are likely to stay relevant in the longer term?We are now entering the third era of commerce with voice, and businesses need to prepare to meet new consumer expectations. Last year, 44% of consumers indicated that they were likely to use voice services in at least some part of their shopping journey in the next three years.1 As customers’ preference for voice continues to grow, they are showing signs of adding voice as an incremental channel to physical stores and ecommerce.

We also believe multi-channel expectations will sustain. It will be more important than ever to address the connected consumer. That means seamlessly ensuring they are able to get what they want when they want it – whether through BOPIS, voice, or any other channel.

Businesses are already using Alexa as a way to engage customers and add value across those touch points, beyond the point of purchase. From helping customers search for products during the discovery phase to checking delivery status during post-purchase.

How will technology evolve over the next 6-36 months to make the fashion, retail, and consumer industry more resilient?In a post-COVID era, stores will leverage digital more than ever before to create the experiences that balance the customer’s needs of safety vs. empowerment. And, the implication of going fully digital is that the conversation between the buyer and the merchant can be carried across a succession of touch points.

We’re ready for an increasingly touchless future as digital becomes more integrated within in-store and multi-channel shopping. With behavior shifting as customers are less likely to touch things, voice will become a business advantage.

Alexa offers a great example. We recently launched Alexa Pay for Gas, as a way to integrate touchless into the experience at the pump. In general, the automotive industry will realize the intrinsic value of voice because people shouldn’t be looking at screens when they are driving.

What are the key product features you are rolling out in 2020-2021 and why? We’re viewing the seismic shift in consumer behavior as an opportunity to innovate, as we know from past research that merchants view working with Amazon Pay as a way to accelerate their path to innovation.

That is why we introduced Buyer Identity last year, a way to provide a seamless experience for your Amazon customers, no matter where they start, leave and come back, across voice, desktop and mobile.

Last year, 43% of global consumers expressed interest in using a voice service to check the delivery status of their order within the next three years.1 We’ve enabled Alexa Delivery Notifications to help merchants more easily extend their post-purchase experience to voice.

We’re also working on a modernized web checkout technology that significantly streamlines the customer experience and is easy on a business’s technical resources. We’re eager to help merchants to make the jump to digital or upgrade their existing experience to further improve a businesses’ conversion rate.

1 Amazon Pay, Doing Business in a Connected World, 2019

CONVERTAVATRIA

PARTNER OVERVIEW & Q&A

Avatria Convert takes the guesswork and effort out of merchandising, boosting conversion on your eCommerce site by improving product findability. Our machine learning technology uses your shopping data to predict the products your customers are most likely to purchase when searching or browsing, then moves those items to the top of the list.

In your opinion, which recent trend in e-commerce is likely to stay relevant in the longer term?

Personalization is here to stay. In many ways, most eCommerce sites are just starting to tap into the potential of personalization – it has evolved beyond greeting the customer by name or showing them a recommended products carousel. Not only can you now personalize down to the individual user level, but you can also personalize aspects of the site that were out of reach before like pricing, promotions, and product display.

How will technology evolve over the next 6-36 months to make the fashion, retail, and consumer industry more resilient?

Access to data will be a critical component for the industry to better understand the shopping behaviors and needs of their customers. The businesses that are effective at meeting the needs of their customers and resolving any pain points they face as part of the digital shopping experience will be able to stay relevant. Technology has already started to evolve to help make data-driven marketing decisions, and the pandemic is going to continue to accelerate that trend and increase adoption of these new tools.

What are the key product features you are rolling out in 2020-2021 and why?

Personalization has been a big focal point for us in 2020. We have already built very advanced machine learning models, coupling that with targeted personalization will unlock extremely relevant results for each individual that visits a site using Convert.

Next year, our focus will be to help unlock the potential of machine learning across other areas of the eCommerce customer journey. We have just started to scratch the surface of the insights we can obtain from shopping behavior trends, and we will be revealing some novel ways in which to make this data actionable.

PARTNER OVERVIEW & Q&A

Gladly is a Radically Personal Customer Service Platform. Unlike legacy customer service platforms that are case and ticket centric, only Gladly is designed with people at the center and uniquely enables a single lifelong customer conversation from voice to modern messaging. Gladly powers some of the most innovative consumer companies like JetBlue, JOANN, and TUMI to deliver exceptional customer experiences and makes customer service a competitive advantage.

In your opinion, which recent trend in e-commerce is likely to stay relevant in the longer term?

The biggest trend that we see continuing are brands providing concierge-level support to customers in every facet of customer experience, not just in-person. Customers want to be heard by their favorite brands and are willing to go out of their way to spend money with companies that put in extra effort to make them feel like a person, rather than a transaction number. Much like a sales associate would do in-person at a brick and mortar retail location, customers want to be able to speak to knowledgeable customer experience associates online that can answer specific product questions and make product recommendations that match the customer themselves. Customers are responding more positively to brands who are willing to provide that same level of personalized service in all facets of the customer experience, whether the customer is browsing in-store or shopping online.

How will technology evolve over the next 6-36 months to make the fashion, retail, and consumer industry more resilient?

The companies that will succeed in the 2020s are the ones that realize that brand loyalty is driven by customers feeling connected to the brand on a personal level. As a result, technologies that focus on bringing a more “human” approach to customer service will be the places where the fashion, retail, and consumer industries will make most of their investments. Consumers want to be heard and expect more than ever that they will be understood as an individual, not just another customer. To be resilient, these industries should prioritize investing in technologies that make associates more informed on the customer, their history, and their personal preferences and focus less on technologies that are inherently designed to move away from providing that person-to-person connection.

What are the key product features you are rolling out in 2020-2021 and why?

Gladly is rolling out a number of key product features that are designed to help increase brand loyalty and drive additional revenue generation. First, our “Chat Payments” feature allows customer service agents to securely take credit card payments from customers through chat, thereby reducing the likelihood of cart abandonments and helping to turn the contact center into a system of revenue. Additionally, “Proactive Chat” will allow agents to dynamically reach out to customers based upon the context of a customer’s activity online. For example, if a customer is looking online at a high-value item, Gladly can proactively offer help from an agent in an effort to help drive a similar personalized sale experience that consumers expect when in a brick and mortar retail environment.

PARTNER OVERVIEW & Q&A

Magento Commerce, an Adobe Company, is a flexible, scalable commerce solution with integrated tools for managing, measuring, and optimizing every aspect of the commerce experience.

In your opinion, which recent trends in e-commerce are likely to stay relevant in the longer term?Although most stores will remain open during the 2020 holiday season, consumers will be wary about spending extended time browsing. Trips to physical locations will be more orchestrated with customers researching information and availability online for curbside pickup which will continue into the long term. Digitally native vertical brands will likely be very lucrative this holiday, providing yet another opportunity to grow and take market share from incumbent retail brands. Virtual engagements with associates through video/chat tools will continue. Online shoppers are increasingly comfortable with conversation tools to discover new products, answer questions, or help find gifts.

How will technology evolve over the next 6-36 months to make the fashion, retail, and consumer industry more resilient?One of the biggest areas of technology investment by online retailers will be in fulfillment automation and AI-driven fulfillment optimization. Merchants and their 3PL partners will look to invest in robotics to drive new levels of automation in their fulfillment centers, reducing costs, increasing pick/pack speeds, and reducing the dependency on humans in the fulfillment process.

AI will be increasingly used to optimize inventory and shipping times. As every online retailer looks to offer free 1/2 day shipping, there will be increased focus on sourcing inventory from the most cost-effective location and ensuring that every order is profitable.

What are the key product features you are rolling out in 2020-2021 and why? Adobe is investing significantly in AI / ML-driven merchandising features that speed up tedious parts of our merchant’s day-to-day merchandising tactics allowing them to spend more time on storytelling and creating unique experiences. These new capabilities drive real-time, personalized merchandising to ensure the right experience is delivered, to the right person, at the right time. Exciting new features that are powered by Adobe’s Sensei AI engine are:• Product Recommendations powered by Adobe Sensei, allows merchants to deploy automated

recommendations helping customers discover new, relevant products while creating engagement, increasing conversion, and helping drive revenue.

• AI-powered Site Search will deliver lightning-fast and hyper-relevant search results supporting modern, intuitive search experiences .

• Visual Recommendations, an extension of our AI-powered product recommendations adds mer-chandising recommendations that find similar products based on AI analysis.

PARTNER OVERVIEW & Q&A

Metapack is the leading provider of eCommerce delivery management technology to global retailers and brands. We help retailers and brands expand into new markets at a global scale, generate brand loyalty and increase website conversion by providing an exceptional experience at every stage of the delivery journey. We offer a wide range of dynamic delivery services, from global order tracking to simplified return procedures, through the largest library of 500 carriers and 5,500 services.

In your opinion, which recent trend in e-commerce is likely to stay relevant in the longer term?The Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 has essentially accelerated the adoption of eCommerce by up to five years in just a few months. This sudden change in consumer behavior has put extraordinary pressure on retailers as well as their suppliers (manufacturers, supply chain providers and parcel carriers). The impact of this surge in demand has gone beyond already stretched supply chains. Contact centers have also seen a significant increase in customer queries. One Metapack partner saw an increase of 300% almost overnight with nearly 40% of customer calls regarding order status. Retailers and brands have had to move quickly to improve their inventory sourcing, warehousing capacity, carrier parcel contracts and contact centers. We have also seen a marked acceleration in introducing the ability to ship from stores, where there is often excess inventory.

How will technology evolve over the next 6-36 months to make the fashion, retail, and consumer industry more resilient?• Flexible delivery options: Making an accurate delivery promise on the product page and at checkout

is an essential way of driving conversion and reducing basket abandonment and customer calls into the contact center.

• Flexible return policies: During lock down many retailers loosened their returns policies. This, combined with a surge in return volumes has compelled many to actively manage the returns experience. We have seen increased interest in our Returns Portal product, which allows self-service returns that enforce retailer return policies,encourage exchanges and make returns labels available on demand.

• Improved Tracking: Creating a compelling post-ship experience starts with tracking and notifications. Giving customers the capability to control their deliveries means fewer customer contacts and allows retailers to market to engaged consumers and drive repeat sales.

What are the key product features you are rolling out in 2020-2021 and why? One of the most powerful product enhancements we’re making to our suite of delivery management solutions is our direct External Parcel Integration (EPI) with Manhattan Associates, a leader in supply chain and omnichannel commerce technology. The new EPI directly connects Manhattan Associates’ warehouse management system (WMS) with our delivery management platform, providing retailers with seamless access to both services. In today’s retail environment, which has seen an accelerated shift from physical to online, retailers need to ensure they’re implementing scalable technology solutions as they adapt to the new landscape and future-proof their business. From access to Metapack’s label library to the optimization of warehouse operations, not only does the partnership allow retailers to meet their consumer delivery promise, it also provides retailers with the stability and confidence they need to grow their eCommerce operations.

THANK YOU TO OUR FOUNDING PARTNERS & FRIENDS

Foley Hoag provides innovative, strategic legal services to public, private and government clients across the globe. We have premier capabilities in the life sciences, healthcare, technology, energy, professional services and private funds fields, and in cross-border disputes. The diverse backgrounds, perspectives and experiences of the lawyers and staff contribute to the exceptional senior level service delivered to clients ranging from startups to multinational companies to sovereign states.

Rosenthal & Rosenthal (www.rosenthalinc.com) is the leading factoring, asset based lending and purchase order financing firm in the United States. Founded in 1938 by Imre J. Rosenthal, the firm is now led by the second and third generations of the Rosenthal family. As a privately held company, Rosenthal is committed to providing personalized service and flexible lending to clients across a broad range of industries. Rosenthal has offices in New York, California, Georgia and North Carolina.

Zenni pioneered the online eyewear industry in 2003 with a mission to make prescription eyewear affordable and accessible to everyone. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Zenni offers men, women, and children the freedom to express their personal style and individuality through high-quality prescription and protective eyewear curated with a sense for fashion and incredible selection. With over 33 million frames sold worldwide, a pair of Zennis is owned in every country across the globe. Zenni is proud to be the Official Eyewear of the San Francisco 49ers, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Bulls. For more information, visit www.zenni.com or connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.