eCommerce dawned on the retail world as an untamed frontier. Suddenly anything and everything could be put at the customer’s fingertips: huge volumes of inventory could be stored in out-of-town distribution centres and shipped to people’s doors. And it’s clearly fair to say that this shake-up transformed retail as we knew it – especially in light of the total upheaval that has been 2020.
But over time, the fundamental way shoppers search for products amongst those huge archives, and the way they interact with retailers, has become stretched to its limits. Every shoppers knows the frustration of trying to find a specific product on Amazon and having to wade through a hundred knock-offs, and we have all, from time to time, wished we could trade convenience back in for quality and customer service.
Similar frustrations are everywhere behind the scenes as well. Retailers are often left floundering, with little insight into how their products are performing online, limited tools to optimise the overall experience and conversion process for shoppers, and no clear route from digital product creation workflows to digital experiences.
Visit The Interline in December 2020 as we look into what it takes behind the scenes to deliver the level of eCommerce experience that shoppers are going to expect during the holidays and beyond. From machine learning inventory allocation models to smart, retailer-facing platforms, this month will focus on the tools and technologies that online retailers – whether they’re new to digital or eCommerce native – are going to rely on.
