For many companies, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the business landscape. Revenues are down and the Ecommerce channel has become even more critical than usual. We have yet to see how long these changes will last, but there is reason to believe that consumer trends may stay swayed toward online and no-contact shopping for a long time to come.
The Ecommerce landscape has also changed due to the impact of COVID-19. Many companies have seen daily online traffic volumes exceed their Black Friday and Cyber Monday numbers, which can cause availability and performance issues.
New features, such as BOPIS (Buy Online, Pickup In Store), local store based fulfillment and returns, contactless purchasing, and more are needed to provide what today’s consumers need. Delivering those things often means more than just implementing new features on the website, but can also require improvements to inventory management systems, ERP, and much more.
Many companies were planning major Ecommerce projects in 2020, such as upgrades and re-platforming. In light of the current reality though, it makes sense to postpone those type of projects for a year or two or three.
The focus for Ecommerce strategy in 2020 should be on:
- Getting the most ROI on the current platform investment
- Adding critical competitive features like BOPIS
- Tightening up messy or sloppy systems if you have them (ERP, PIM, Inventory, etc…)
- Optimizing hosting costs with right-sizing and auto-scaling (if you aren’t on a SaaS platform)
- Setting the platform up for the next bigger step as best as possible (Cloud, Headless, etc..)
You can read a little about extending the runway for retailers using the ATG Oracle Commerce platform here. Many of those points apply to any non-SaaS Ecommerce solution, not just ATG Oracle Commerce.
What do you think? What are your Ecommerce priorities for 2020?
If you would like advice or assistance, please reach out! [email protected]
