Digital Commerce Transformation in 2024: A Complete Guide

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in Dec 2022 and was updated in Jan 2024 for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Digital commerce transformation is the process of transforming a company’s business model to be more digital. This process includes the use of digital technologies and data analytics to improve customer experience, increase revenue, and reduce costs.

Digital transformation has gained considerable attention and popularity in recent years. Since the pandemic, how we shop has been the most prominent digital transformation. Online shopping and brick-and-mortar shopping are two very different experiences. A wide variety of products and better prices are now available to the user when they compare them online with those in the store. The customer browses through the eCommerce website even when visiting a physical store to see which products are available, what varieties are available, and what prices are available.

In this guide, we will discuss how retailers can prepare for digital transformation in commerce and the future of retail in 2024.
 

Key Trends in Digital Commerce Transformation

1. Automation

In all sectors of business, automation is one of the most widely used technologies. Digital commerce is also rapidly expanding, covering every department from marketing to warehouse to supply chain management. As an example, supply chain management can be automated to ensure that there is never a shortage of products at any given time. By automating your marketing strategy, you will be able to generate more leads and convert them into customers. The use of automation in marketing has resulted in 77% of marketers generating more leads and 56% experiencing higher conversion rates.

2. Big Data

As online shopping becomes more popular, consumers are becoming more aware that their personal information is being collected through e-commerce sites. As a result, experts have mixed opinions regarding the benefits of big data and how it affects personalised shopping. Marketing and sales can be driven by Big Data if it is used in a way that allows rapid growth from the roots and then it can soar within the mountains of data and accomplish its objectives. The most common use of big data is to improve product recommendations and personalise websites and services. Often, there are too many options to choose from when it comes to online offers. Some of the most important advancements in recommendation and personalization systems have been driven by big data, which allows users to receive hyper-personalised recommendations that are tailored to their specific needs.

3. Emerging Markets

Retailers must tailor their digital strategies to meet the cultural expectations of their international customers – even if that means developing products, services, and content tailored to their needs. In emerging markets, consumers are adopting the latest technologies at a rapid pace, which means brands and retailers will need to adjust their localisation strategies accordingly. Sekel Tech will provide product information to shoppers in-store, including stock availability in real time. Customer journeys can be optimised with AI-powered live chat support and personalised recommendations online.

4. Customers Data Platforms (CDPs)

Customers data platforms compile first-party customer data from multiple sources into a single, coherent, and comprehensive view of every customer. The software is bundled with services that create an extensive customer database that other systems can access to analyse, track, and manage customer interactions. Providing a great customer experience is one of the main goals of digital commerce transformation. As a result, companies must follow this trend and value their customers in order to succeed in the modern age. Making decisions based on accurate data is one way to accomplish that.

5. Default Security

Organizations are increasingly realising the importance of default security as they realise that applications and automated systems are only as secure as their building blocks. Digital initiatives have always been hindered by security concerns. Security concerns have slowed innovation, according to most IT and business leaders. As their systems have become more integrated, security and governance issues have become more complex. API attacks will probably be the most common attack vector leading to data breaches from enterprise web applications in 2022-2024. Therefore, security decision makers plan to prioritise security in their development processes. The era of business technologists will continue to grow as many others follow suit in the coming years.

Bring Digital Transformation to Your Brand in 2024

Digital commerce transformation is a process of adapting to the new digital era. It is a process of changing the way we do business and how we interact with customers.

It is not just about technology, it’s about people, processes, and culture. It’s about understanding what your customers want and need in order to provide them with an experience that will keep them coming back for more. The following are five steps to digital transformation in commerce –

1. Define Business Goals

Business strategies are frequently redesigned so that they contribute to profitability and competitiveness. When defining business goals, there are a few simple and widely accepted focus areas:

- Enhancing the end-user experience to increase productivity and customer loyalty.

- Speeding up operations, reducing costs, and differentiating services with smart digital processes.

- Gain actionable insights and gain a competitive advantage by controlling analytics.

- Making your services stand out and increase process efficiency while keeping costs low requires you to select the right technologies.

2. Enhance the Customer Experience with Virtual Reality

By using Virtual Reality (VR), customers can experience all aspects of physical shopping virtually. To provide that tailored shopping experience anywhere and anytime, online customers are able to get a complete understanding of the product. Top eCommerce brands invest heavily in tools. Further, virtual reality aids customer service by speeding up the process. In addition, business leaders do not need to reinvent their entire business model to implement digital transformation initiatives – all they need is the right VR/AR tools. These technologies can be easily integrated with the existing infrastructure saving you from creating the experience from scratch.

3. Embrace Digital Transformation

As a whole, digital commerce transformation is a broad concept, and each organisation must choose emerging technologies based on their individual business requirements. As an example, a strong digital customer experience requires tools that support omnichannel capabilities, customer experience management, and data analytics. It is imperative to have a solid understanding of the critical attributes of the eCommerce business in question in order to select the appropriate tools. As a result of such an understanding, the business will be able to make appropriate investments and chart a successful course for future innovations.

4. Improve Your Customer Experience Strategy

Customer experience (CX) is the result of your efforts to make customers happy. Customer experience encompasses product quality, social connections, customer service, the whole customer lifecycle, in other words, the entire customer experience process. Integrated with other software solutions such as A/B testing tools, content management systems, customer data platforms, usability testing tools, etc. Sekel Tech’s Customer Experience Management (CEM) tools help track and organise all consumer interactions.

5. Invest in Digital Commerce Platform

Businesses require a dedicated and experienced team of experts, along with a large amount of time and capital. Your retail business can benefit from the expertise and experience of a digital commerce company. It’s time for businesses to think beyond their old toolkits and implement the latest technologies if they want to make it big with their digital transformation.

Both businesses and customers need Sekel Tech’s cloud-based infrastructure solutions to stream, protect and utilise their data. Similarly, data storage is moving away from traditional physical locations into the cloud – which is becoming the norm faster. Check out Sekel Tech’s cloud storage platform rankings for more information.

In the digital era, these technologies serve as the foundation of an ecosystem of on-demand services and are crucial to every business.

How Digital Transformation will Impact Digital Commerce in the Future

Digital transformation will impact digital commerce in the future by changing the way we buy and sell. It will increase the ease of doing business and make it more convenient for customers to purchase goods and services. It will also help retailers to understand their shoppers better, which means that they can tailor products and services to customer needs. Listed below are some of the ways that will change the future of the digital commerce industry.

1. Increase In Direct-To-Consumer (D2C) Sales

Businesses can now reach direct customers more easily thanks to digital commerce, bypassing wholesalers. By selling direct-to-consumer (D2C), online sellers are able to better understand their customers and increase revenue. D2C will enable brands to customise and personalise their products based on consumer demands. A better customer experience and brand loyalty can also be achieved by interacting directly with customers. Better customer experience will lead to a larger customer base among brand campaigners created as a result of better CX.

2. Optimising will be More Important for Businesses

A website’s conversion rate optimization, or CRO, is just as crucial as its search engine optimization. Search engine optimization drives visitors to your site, but conversion rate optimization converts them into customers. The focus of CRO is on iterative optimization, in which admins make incremental changes to their websites and then measure the results to determine whether they are successful. It only takes a few small changes to make the buying journey simpler and increase the likelihood of purchases. These changes might include tweaking the design of the page, adding more innovative product descriptions, improving navigation options, and simplifying the checkout process. Consequently, eCommerce retailers benefit from good conversion rates almost always.

3. Personalization will be Greatly Enhanced by Big Data

Consumers benefit from deeply personalised shopping experiences provided by digital commerce solutions like Sekel Tech. The process of offering tailored recommendations is achieved through machine learning, which is capable of modifying site algorithms based on previous consumer activity. The fact that many customers view such activity tracking as an invasion of their privacy may lead them to opt out of personalization. For now, Internet of Things (IoT) devices still hold enough fascination, and you can add a touch of that to your brand by integrating product recommendation functionality.
 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is B2B Digital Transformation?

B2B digital transformation uses digital technologies to improve how businesses interact and conduct transactions with other businesses, leading to increased efficiency and revenue.

2. What is Digital Transformation in Commerce?

Digital transformation in commerce involves using digital technologies to gain real-time insights into core business processes and improve overall performance.

3. What Are the 4 Main Areas of Digital Transformation?

The four main areas of digital transformation are process, business model, domain, and cultural transformation.

4. What is the End Goal Of Digital Transformation?

The end goal of digital transformation is to improve business performance and competitiveness through the use of digital technologies.

5. What are the Three 3 Main Components of Digital Transformation?

The three main components of digital transformation are technology, people, and processes.
 

Conclusion

The digital commerce transformation is a process that will take time and effort. It will require a lot of planning, research, and execution. It is about how we work together to create a better customer experience. The future of digital commerce is bright and full of possibilities. It will be the future of all businesses in the coming years. This transformation has been happening for a while now, and it will continue to happen in the future.
 

Take Advantage of Sekel Tech’s Platform for Digital Transformation in Commerce

We at Sekel Tech take a strategic approach to designing a digital transformation path for your eCommerce business based on profits and outcomes. We are primarily focused on Increasing customer retention by providing a better customer experience, Improving data insight that simplifies business operations, Delivering cost-effective and distinctive services through digital processes, and Providing actionable insights through robust analytics.

We can integrate customer acquisition and retention processes with the help of a dynamic engagement platform to re-create and reinvent the customer experience journey.

In our role as a leading digital commerce solution, we have provided solutions for high-profile brands like Bridgestone, Blackberry, Schneider, Gulf Oil, VLCC, BBLunt, Grohe, etc.

Sekel Tech’s solutions can help retailers, wholesalers, and consumer products companies meet today’s and tomorrow’s market opportunities. The foundation for your future e-commerce ecosystem and supply chain begins with the customer promise. We can tailor our digital commerce transformation services to meet your needs.