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White Glove Service Creating an impeccable, unified shopping experience
throughout the customer journey
mmerce Platform Discover How Advanced Site Search Contentsy, or Even Eliminate, the
Need to Replatform
FITFORCOMMERCE WHITEPAPER SERIES
July 2019
FITFORCOMMERCE WHITEPAPER SERIES
February 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
THE CHALLENGE: CAPTURING A 360° VIEW OF THE CUSTOMER 4
Fragmented Technology 5
Information Silos 5
Disjointed Business Units 5
Competing KPIs 6
Inconsistent Metrics and Reporting 6
B2B COMMERCE CHALLENGES FURTHER COMPLICATE MATTERS 7
Complex Business Models 7
Custom Product Catalogs and Price Lists 7
Tiered Pricing 8
Multi-Site Management 8
Authorization Rules 8
THE SOLUTION: UNIFIED COMMERCE 9
KEY CONSIDERATIONS WHEN ASSESSING UNIFIED COMMERCE PLATFORMS 10
UNIFIED COMMERCE DELIVERS TREMENDOUS OMNICHANNEL BENEFITS 11
UNIFIED COMMERCE: THE NEXT GENERATION OF OMNICHANNEL RETAIL 12
Contents –
Contents –
Contents –
Contents –
3 © 2019 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved.
Executive Summary –
Today’s customers have tremendous flexibility in ways to shop. They can purchase online from anywhere
using a number of devices – laptops, smartphones, tablets and even by voice with intelligent personal
assistants like Amazon Alexa. Each of these devices reaches a variety of sites including retailer and brand
commerce sites, marketplaces, and a number of social media outlets. Traditional brick-and-mortar stores
leverage new technologies, such as digital signage and smart mirrors, to enhance the in-store experience.
Some also host brand pop-up stores to attract loyal customers.
This shopping flexibility has spawned new omnichannel models such as Buy Online, Pick Up In Store
(BOPIS), Reserve Online, Pick Up In Store (ROPIS) and Buy Online, Return In Store (BORIS). A survey
revealed that 77% of customers use BOPIS on a weekly basis1. Leading retailers accommodate these
models by offering special lines at customer service desks and curbside pickup.
Retailers are also offering their online
customers the ability to “try before you buy.”
What started back in 2009 with Trunk Club
making shopping simpler for men who don’t
like to shop has evolved into a very desirable
business model. And with good reason. A
survey conducted by Researchscape
revealed that 71% of respondents would be
likely to choose a retailer offering this option
over retailers who do not2. Online companies
such as Stitch Fix, Zappos and ThirdLove
offer this popular option, as do omnichannel
retailers like Macy’s, where customers buy
online and try on in the store.
Clearly, the flexibility offered to today’s customers makes it more complex for retailers to manage customer
interactions and support internal business processes. Every customer touchpoint – from the front-end
commerce experience to back-end systems, such as order management, fulfillment and returns
management – must work in concert to ensure a delightful, “white glove” customer experience.
For retailers, white glove service means treating every customer as a VIP at every touchpoint. This requires
in-depth knowledge of a customer’s interactions so retailers can provide highly personalized product
selections and services. In today’s highly competitive retail environment, impeccable, white glove service
can be a key point of differentiation from competitors.
Figure 1: 77% of customers use BOPIS on a weekly basis.
1 “The Inherent value of identifiable store traffic,” RetailDive, May 2019 2 Researchscape Survey, May 2018
4 © 2019 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved.
The Challenge: Capturing a 360° View of the Customer –
Customers expect a seamless, frictionless
shopping experience that could span multiple
channels and devices. For example, they may
research purchases on their smartphone, then
finalize the transaction in the brick-and-mortar
store. Regardless of which channel(s) they
choose, capturing detailed behavioral and
transactional information creates a key
competitive advantage. Retailers armed with
this information can use it to create personalized
online interactions. Access to purchase history
via in-store apps that includes things like item,
size and color preferences enables in-store
sales associates to intelligently cross-sell and
upsell. Called Clienteling, these apps provide
rich information, allowing sales associates to
create personalized recommendations and
seamless digital checkouts. In other words, this
360° customer view allows retailers to ensure
continuity and consistency throughout each
retail touchpoint.
However, retailers face a number of potential obstacles in achieving this goal:
• Fragmented technology
• Information silos
• Disjointed business units
• Competing KPIs across the organization
• Inconsistent metrics and reporting
Figure 2: Creating a 360 view of the customer allows
retailers to ensure continuity and consistency throughout
each retail touchpoint.
5 © 2019 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved.
Fragmented Technology
Commerce Platforms (ECPs) come in a variety of flavors, offering different functional capabilities. They can
be cloud-based, on-premise software, or home-grown systems. From a functional point of view, most ECPs
provide an online store but differ in back-end functional capabilities, such as content, order management
and Point of Sale (POS) integrations.
Many rely on integrations with other third-party or home-grown systems to complete the omnichannel
shopping experience – but these systems don’t necessarily communicate well with each other. This creates
a fractured environment – of both systems and data – that cannot deliver the 360 customer view required
to provide a seamless, frictionless omnichannel shopping experience. This ideal shopping experience
requires that every system involved in attracting, acquiring, converting and retaining customers leverage
the same data source – a single source of truth.
Information Silos
Each system in the retail environment typically has its own database, thereby creating “islands of
information.” And in today’s omnichannel retail environment, there are many systems – Content
Management (CMS), Order Management (OMS), Warehouse Management (WMS) and Customer
Service, to name just a few. Behavioral and transactional data from all retail systems across the
enterprise must be aggregated and transformed to provide actionable information throughout the
customer journey.
Disjointed Business Units
Individual business units initiate ad-hoc actions and sometimes forget to consider al l the downstream
effects on other departments and, ultimately, the customer. For example, a product recall requires
merchandisers to remove the product from store shelves, commerce sites, marketplaces, and other
retail partner locations. The merchandising department, focused on the recall, may forget to inform
other areas of the business, such as marketing and customer service.
At best, this could be a minor oversight. At worst, marketing could have launched a campaign promoting
this unavailable product, leading to a surge in customer service inquiries. Customer service, unaware of
the recall, finds itself unprepared for the increase in call center volume due to recall returns and
promotions of a no-longer-available product. This type of situation negatively impacts the customer
experience.
6 © 2019 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved.
Competing KPIs
Different departments often have competing KPIs. Merchandising may be tasked with discounting and
pushing slow-moving products while the commerce team may be focused on huge revenue and average
order value (AOV) goals. Marketing may be tasked with increasing inbound site traffic by 50%. At the same
time, the finance department slashes marketing budgets.
Situations such as these negatively impact the customer experience. For example, the merchandising
team may prioritize a special collection of less desirable, discounted products while the commerce team
offers free shipping on orders that meet a high AOV threshold. The customer receives offers for
discounted products that he/she may not want or need yet sees an incentive to purchase more to receive
free shipping. These disconnected offers may frustrate the customer to the extent he/she decides to shop
elsewhere.
Inconsistent Metrics and Reporting
Each department typically has its own set of metrics and reporting to gauge performance to KPIs. The
systems supporting these departments each produce their own reports. Often, these reports are
inconsistent with one another due to differences in update processes and the data attributes used to create
the reports.
Combined, these challenges complicate efforts to capture a 360 view of the customer. Retailers can
overcome these obstacles by taking a unified commerce approach.
7 © 2019 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved.
B2B Commerce Challenges Further Complicate Matters –
B2B customers expect the same - or higher - levels of personalization and service as they experience in
their personal lives as B2C customers. Delivering a seamless and meaningful B2B experience introduces
additional challenges to the mix, namely the need to accommodate:
• Complex business models
• Custom product catalogs and price lists
• Tiered pricing
• Multi-site management
• Authorization rules
Complex Business Models
B2B customers represent a variety of business models beyond brand/wholesaler/distributor to retailer.
Examples include B2B2C (e.g., business to reseller to consumer) and B2B2B (e.g., supplier to distributor
who is also a supplier to purchasing consortiums). Models such as these increase the number of business
rules and workflows that the retailer must manage. In some situations, a B2B retailer must manage multiple
business models associated with a single customer.
Custom Product Catalogs and Price Lists
B2B requires a highly personalized approach to product catalogs because customers may have exclusive
rights to certain products or may be merchandising under white label agreements. Strong catalog-
management capabilities support custom assortments, proprietary SKUs and account-specific pricing.
Merchandising may assign products to multiple categories and sub-categories depending on their
taxonomies. In addition to supporting product governance rules, catalog management helps manage
negotiated pricing.
Administering these product relationships requires a central repository of information that enables
merchandising to assign and maintain groups of products as kits: hard bundles or soft bundles, for example.
8 © 2019 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved.
Product relationships maintained by this central repository ensures the digital commerce platform and sales
associates can access them.
Tiered Pricing
In addition to managing negotiated pricing, B2B retailers must often manage tiered pricing. Tiered pricing
occurs when items are priced according to volume sold. The higher the volume, the lower the price per
item. Changes in order volume may trigger new pricing. Tiered pricing presents another pricing table to
manage.
Multi-Site Management
Many B2B omnichannel retailers must manage multiple websites. This typically occurs when multiple
brands are involved, or multiple business models must be accommodated. Merchandisers must ensure the
correct product and pricing catalogs appear on each site.
Authorization Rules
Managing authorization rules is another complicating factor. Some B2B transactions occur using a
corporate credit card. As opposed to a B2C transaction, there may be spending limits depending on the
person making the purchase. Frequently, B2B retail involves Purchase Orders (POs) that require special
workflows to accommodate approval cycles. Still others may involve various types of billing or electronic
payment transactions.
Combined, these common B2B commerce-related issues further complicate the ability to deliver a
personalized, seamless and frictionless omnichannel experience.
9 © 2019 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved.
The Solution: Unified Commerce –
Unified commerce focuses on the customer experience. It unites all the omnichannel elements – such as
commerce, mobile commerce, order management (OMS), inventory management, customer relationship
management (CRM), Point of Sale (POS), Customer Service, etc. – into a single platform. In doing so,
unified commerce breaks down operational and informational silos to create a unified, consistent customer
experience. It also delivers a true 360° view of the customer. A survey conducted by Boston Retail Partners
revealed that 81% of retailers plan to have a unified commerce platform by 2020.
Unified commerce platforms capture and manage all operational and customer data in one central
database. In doing so, all departments have access to the same data, with the ability to take appropriate
action. In the previous product recall example, each department would proactively proceed in a manner
that would benefit both the customer experience and internal teams. Armed with the product recall
information, marketing would replace the original campaign, perhaps to offer an alternative product.
Customer service would staff up to accommodate increases in call volume and returns. And merchandising
would work with the commerce and retail teams to offer a similar product that has sufficient inventory.
The central database creates a single source of truth and a 360° view of the customer. With visibility into
all customer interactions, marketing analytics can better identify personas, better understand Customer
Lifetime Value (CLTV), and create advanced marketing segments.
“81% of Retailers Plan to Have a Unified Commerce Platform by 2020.”
“2018 POS/Customer Engagement Survey,” Boston Retail Partners
10 © 2019 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved.
This data can also be used to personalize interactions with the customer at all levels and across all
channels. Examples include:
• Product recommendations, upsells and cross-sells
• Personalized campaign, remarketing and transactional emails
• Content targeting with personalized offers, coupons, images, etc.
• Advanced search and product discovery such as visual and voice search
• Personalized category and landing pages, and navigational elements, etc.
Key Considerations When Assessing Unified Commerce Platforms –
Omnichannel retail now encompasses purchases from many devices including personal digital assistants
like Amazon Alexa and Google Home, smartwatches and a myriad of other devices. As technologies
continue to evolve, prudent retailers should consider a “headless” approach to their unified commerce
initiatives. Headless platforms provide all the back-end content and functionality through a RESTful API
layer but eliminate the front-end presentation layer (sometimes known as a template or theme). This gives
retailers a great deal of flexibility to support these new methods of shopping.
Retailers should also consider a
microservices architecture when moving to
unified commerce. Traditional commerce
platforms offer tightly integrated applications
that are sold in bundles, much like cable
channel packages. Companies can end up
with features and services they do not intend
to use. In contrast, microservices are
individual applications enabling retailers to
implement only those services that are
currently needed with the ability to quickly and
easily adopt new features.
11 © 2019 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved.
Unified Commerce Delivers Tremendous Omnichannel Benefits –
Regardless of business model, unified commerce enables a delightful customer experience with benefits
to both the retailer and customer, including:
• Increased sales
• Personalized merchandising
• Improved forecasting and demand planning
• Streamlined operations
• Increased customer loyalty
Unified commerce helps increase sales by creating a highly personalized, “white glove” experience. By
including an intelligent personalization engine, this platform helps new customers easily find the items they
seek and offers a seamless path to purchase. This capability can increase conversions and likely result in
repeat purchases. The ability to understand purchase history and purchase propensity gives marketers the
ability to cross-sell and upsell with highly relevant offers. From a B2B perspective, unified commerce can
track attributes such as “sell through” rates to trigger automated reorder notifications or to replenish
inventory through autoship agreements. It can also administer negotiated product and shipping prices and
spending approvals that vary by business customer.
Insights into customer preferences
results in better merchandising.
Merchants have the ability to
personalize offers, search returns
and collection pages. Unified
commerce also simplifies managing
the custom product catalogs, and
multiple sites required by B2B. Both
B2C and B2B customers receive a
highly relevant shopping experience.
Accurate and actionable information
extracted from the central database
enables improved forecasting and
12 © 2019 FitForCommerce, All Rights Reserved.
demand planning. Merchandisers and buyers now have visibility across the omnichannel environment to
see real-time sales volume and inventory levels. This is especially important for B2B as multiple bulk orders
received in a short time frame could quickly trigger a backorder or out-of-stock situation.
Unified commerce streamlines operations across the omnichannel environment. By delivering an
infrastructure where all systems communicate with one another and leverage a “single source of the truth,”
it enables retailers to automate workflows and processes. These include processes that enhance the
customer experience such as order fulfilment from warehouses and stores or simplified returns
management. It also includes managing the complex business rules and workflows for the multiple B2B
business models. Retailers with both B2B and B2C models can service both customer sets efficiently from
one platform.
By providing an excellent experience throughout the customer journey, unified commerce helps increase
customer loyalty. Leveraging consistent data throughout every customer interaction results in better-
informed sales associates and customer service representatives. Whether transacting online, in store,
through the call center, or any combination of channels, customers receive a unified experience.
Unified Commerce: The Next Generation of Omnichannel Retail –
Unified commerce offers a single, highly integrated solution to meet the demands of the ever-evolving
omnichannel retail environment. It delivers end-to-end functionality with a high degree of flexibility
through a headless, microservices architecture. This single commerce platform captures every customer
touchpoint in a centralized database, creating invaluable information and insights. Leveraging this
information enables both retail systems and personnel to deliver a highly personalized and unified “white
glove” shopping experience.
This white paper is made possible by the support of:
About Kibo
At Kibo, we provide cloud commerce solutions inspired by your needs and designed to empower your teams.
We’re at your side, committed to your financial success in an unpredictable world. Together, we can see
further, think bigger, and climb higher.
Our Solutions
Our software and services include commerce, Order Management, Certona Personalization, and Mobile Point
of Service for retailers, manufacturers, and brands. Whether you’re a commerce veteran or just getting started,
B2C or B2B, our solutions are designed to power the shopping experience – from first click to doorstep – and
to scale with you as your business grows.
For more information, visit kibocommerce.com
FitForCommerce is a leading consulting firm, helping ecommerce and multichannel retailers and
manufacturers grow their online retail operations. Our consultants bring decades of practical, hands-on
experience to guide merchants in defining ecommerce strategy, selecting the right technologies, and building
online marketing, merchandising and best-in-class website experiences — all using a rigorous ecommerce
Diligence process and a vast knowledge base built on our work with hundreds of leading retailers.
To learn more, visit fitforcommerce.com
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