WHITE PAPER Universal Commerce: Strategy for Seamless Customer Experience Engagement
Abstract Existing paradigms of channels and how organizations transact in commerce with their customers are defunct and no longer relevant. Today, the channel is yet another touch-point and should be recognized as a step in the customer experience journey to eventually drive positive brand reinforcement and conversion as it relates to commerce. As digital becomes more mainstream, organizations have no choice but to tear down their internal barriers of marketing, merchandising and supply chains and build universal commerce capabilities that help orchestrate and deliver a seamless customer experience across all touchpoints in the journey. This white paper introduces these game changing opportunities for organizations to stay relevant in the future.
What‟s Universal Commerce & why it matters?
Building blocks for tomorrow‟s ecommerce
Ecommerce provided an opportunity for organizations to engage their customers with a wider set of product and service offerings and not be adversely impacted by physical constraints of space and inventory.
Omni-channel experience
Universal commerce is the ability of
Taking commerce to the customer
Going global
an organization to holistically view the customer experience engagement lifecycle and seek ways to optimize through
perspective, organizations are currently
Emerging markets and other untapped
seamless execution of the marketing,
deriving customer insights from comments
geographies present a ready avenue of
merchandising and supply chain processes.
on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter
sustainable growth for any organization
The net effect is an integrated and
etc. using sentiment analysis. It may be
that is willing to move beyond its existing,
consistent experience for customers across
more beneficial to be a participant in the
highly competitive landscape.
all touch-points of interaction with the
social media conversations with customers
enterprise.
and strive towards building a positive
As customers browse multiple digital sites, it‟s imperative for organizations to develop a digital presence to engage customers
brand sentiment which will eventually translate to conversion at some point in time.
To be able to achieve such growth while diligently following the mantra of customer first, one needs to take a universal look at their ecommerce which is beyond channels, digital properties and
where they spend their time rather
With the growth of emerging markets and
geographies. In times to come this will
than attempt to drive traffic to a single
increase in purchasing power of customers
allow organizations to stay ahead of the
destination site. From a digital marketing
in such markets, organizations have found
curve and drive both top and bottom lines
another avenue to grow.
in a sustained manner.
Commerce beyond Channels While it can be difficult for an enterprise to organize its operations and systems to cope with the proliferation of channels, this challenge is not the customer‟s problem. The customer should see consistent brand experience through a consistent presentation of the products and offers that she wants, with a supply chain optimized to get the products delivered where she wants them. From a technology perspective, omni-channel commerce requires a single view of products (SKU identifier, product catalog hierarchy), inventory, orders and customers across channels. Our experience leads us to believe Master Data Management (MDM) is a necessary, but not a sufficient pre-requisite towards developing an omni-channel experience. We need to build upon the above foundation and provide additional capabilities as mentioned below for a seamless customer experience across channels.
Sales Channels
Ful llment Channels WebSite
Order Creation
Distribution Centers
Catalog
Single View of Orders, Customers, Vendors, Inventory & Products
Returns Stores Order Status
Order Modi cation
3PL
360°
Mobile Phones
IP TV
DSV Distribution Methods Sourcing Channels Product O erings
Suppliers
Mobile Channel and Smartphones Mobility plays a crucial role in the
technology and help customers find out
for items picked in store and returns into
development of omni-channel capabilities.
of stock, extended catalog items in other
a single transaction with smartphone
Today‟s smartphones are the veritable
stores or source them from the direct
equipped store personnel .This will help
Swiss Army knives of the digital era and
channels like online Distribution Center
reduce wait times for customers as well
can be used by customers to create, modify
(DC). This helps improve the order fill
as shorten the queues to be processed at
and track orders, make payments and
rate, drive conversion and help introduce
the Point of Sale (POS) counter by store
initiate returns in addition to performing
customers to yet another channel (and
personnel. Smartphones can also be used
location-based and image-based shopping
potentially drive greater share of wallet.
by store associates to pick items for in-store
activities. Some retailers have enabled their
From a customer perspective it will be ideal
pickup orders as well as process deliveries
store associates to leverage smartphone
that ordering for out of stock items can be
to customer designated locations.
combined with payment processing
Store Channel and other Fulfillment Node related capabilities The store should enable real-time
these stores with respect to pick up in store
Retailers should also plan for additional
inventory visibility, and allow in-store
orders. Warehouse Management System
collection points that may be beneficial
fulfilment of direct or online end customer
(WMS) functionalities such as pick, pack
to the customer, such as post offices
orders for both pick up in store and ship
and ship should be built into such stores,
or partner retailers‟ stores. DCs need
to home scenarios. In fact, at times, larger
reducing the time and effort required to
to be made more flexible, with store
stores can act as fulfilment centers for
fulfil direct orders and eventually enabling
replenishment DCs being able to ship out
smaller store formats in the vicinity and can
same-day home delivery within the vicinity
individual end customer online orders in
help provide an “endless aisle” for
of the store.
addition to pallets if required.
Order creation
Order Management capabilities
The customer should be able to create orders irrespective of channels, con rm inventory availability across di erent channels and also have the ability to access a saved shopping cart and complete the transaction across any channel.
Modi cations as self-service
Value-added services
Here, a customer should be able to access her orders online, on mobile or in-store and modify or cancel orders with minimal customer service involvement. The customer should also be able to initiate return, refunds and exchange processes from any channel.
In order to improve customer experience add-ons like delivery slot booking (where a customer books a day and time for order delivery), installation, warranty management etc. should to be made available for both order ful lment and returns, and synchronized with order delivery and pickup.
Purchase Orders and B2B Integration capabilities
www.socialnetwork.com
Purchase Orders (POs) pertaining to direct orders need to be consolidated www.RETAILER.com
and managed to completion by a single
DELIVERED
Order Placed with Retailer
system, just like customer orders. Visibility on purchase orders, both in-transit and planned, can be used to take orders with www.soccerworldcup.com
future dates. PO management requires seamless B2B integration between various suppliers including Drop Ship Vendors (DSVs) and the retailer. Another aspect of B2B capabilities required is the
sites. While increased traffic to the website
In order to enable these capabilities,
coordination between the Third Party
contributes in higher revenues, we believe
services need to be built for sharing
Logistics providers (3PLs) and the retailer
that redirection will not be sufficient in
catalog products, pricing information,
for the POs, as well as direct customer
future. Studies indicate that consumers
and user authentication. Orders may need
orders.
spend more time on non-retail websites on
to be split into sub orders for different
the internet such as facebook, Pinterest etc.
retailers and then sent to the each
Other Considerations
Hence what retailers require for the As retailers work their way through the omni-channel journey, it must be noted that there are many more considerations than just enabling technology, e.g. •
•
•
future is to establish presence where their customers are by sharing product information, collating feedback, providing promotion codes as well as enabling
Migrating from a „channel/silo‟ organization structure to a matrix
commerce transactions at the sites visited
organization
to the retailer‟s parent website. This is akin
Training the omni-channel workforce (store personnel and customer service
to a kiosk at an exhibition, or a store within
executives among others)
relevant examples are as follows:
Defining & implementing omnichannel KPIs and metrics .This also
•
by customers without having to come back
a store setup in the physical world. Some
financials mechanisms across channels
A
Consistency in pricing, promotion and customer service policies across
updates to the order origin site. This not only provides mechanisms to
demand planning and
garner additional revenue but get
forecasting for all channels
through search engine marketing, display advertising and hyperlink-based redirection from commissioned affiliate
beyond digital properties is the creation of advanced and flexible models for sales attribution and payment of commission. As retailers are increasingly able to monitor the customer‟s journey across multiple
across channels.
order line and provides regular status
specific modifications
by redirecting customers to the site
A further requirement for commerce
match items from various designers,
retailer, who then fulfils the individual
channels with provision for channel
Retailers drive traffic to their websites
(Representational state transfer) services.
can more accurately distribute credit for
site in turn forwards the order to the
Commerce beyond digital properties
development of platform-agnostic REST
fashion savvy site that allows/ facilitates end customers to mix-n-
them from that site (e.g. Polyvore). The
and attribution
Aggregate
functionality can be enabled through
sales and evaluate the customer‟s journey
retailers, private brands and order
such cross channel revenue recognition
•
updates travelling to originating site. This
channels, sites and affiliate networks, they
includes redefining accounting and
•
platform to be executed, with fulfilment
feedback on new and test launches as well. •
A
sports and accessories retailer provides services to an event site like the Soccer World Cup page that enable the shopper to complete her purchase at that specific site for event based catalog of items e.g. football kits jerseys etc.
There are also some interesting pilots underway in the market where the leading online payment engine, Paypal, is partnering with Discover to provide payment solutions for customers to pay for their purchases within the offline world. This opens up opportunities where the POS terminals can operate as thin clients and explore ways to queue up the payment transactions and process them via the online payment gateway engine. This will help with greater integration of the offline and online world for customers which eventually contributes to a seamless brand experience.
Commerce beyond Borders As mentioned earlier, emerging markets
sell online locally. The risks and costs
This method may be ideal in a scenario
have huge potential for growth. For some
in this case are lower and insights into
where a retailer‟s domestic ecommerce
retailers, domestic digital commerce
local consumer behaviour and product
platform is close to retirement and
investments may be largely defensive,
preferences for the specific country can
hence not suitable for extensibility.
while international markets represent
be gained. Sunk costs in case of an exit are
true growth potential. Moreover, due to
significantly lower.
increased travel and the internet, brand recall is increasingly becoming more global and consumers are eager to try
fourth digital option to establish a full ecommerce presence in the new country. This takes longer than
non-store/online method achieved in variety of ways:
the first three options and has higher
can
be
setup costs. This option reduces the
•
entering international markets in terms
via an international marketplace in the model of Amazon or eBay etc.
of Investment, time to market, brand
Here, the investment required is low,
experience and risk.
however, brand dilution is high and
Selling
customer experience risk and brand dilution. Further, the capital investment in the global ecommerce platform and organizational learning can be leveraged to make repeated new
control is low. The traditional entry strategy has been a physical presence either as a solely owned
The
This format of selling internationally via a
international products locally. Enterprises need to evaluate various options for
•
market entry projects continually less •
Offering international
shipping from
expensive. With this model, retailers
subsidiary or as an alliance with an existing
domestic site, with customs managed
can support aspects of the site using
retailer. However, physical presence
by the retailer or a third party service
their existing domestic or offshore
requires a long lead time and significant
provider.
teams, and those who enter multiple
Outsource internationalization of the website, checkout and/or fulfilment to
international markets can also establish
arrangements provide quicker market access and sharing of expertise and risks,
a local ecommerce provider. Logistics
investments amongst countries.
but control over the brand experience
as well as commercials like customs
Regardless of the option chosen, retailers
can diminish as a trade-off. An alternative
processing, taxation, fraud check,
will encounter variations as they move
approach to circumvent the high financial
multicurrency and multi-language, can
into different market in terms of customer
and asset commitment requirements of the
all be taken care of by service providers.
behaviour, end consumer related policies,
traditional brick-and-mortar entry strategy
This approach reduces time-to-market
payment and delivery methods. One other
is to enter first with an online or non-store
and upfront investment, however
important enabler required across all the
front. With faster time to market and lower
the on-going costs may be high and
models is high-quality local language
upfront capital investments, an enterprise
control of the customer experience is
based customer service to enhance
can establish the infrastructure required to
lower.
customer experience.
capital. Joint Ventures or Franchisee
Level of Investment
•
Logistics Complexity
Rollout Time
Brand Dilution
regional support teams to share
Lack of Control
Partner Pro t Sharing
Sell via international market place International shipping from domestic site
Outsource internationalization
Setup Local presence via non-store model
Low
Medium
High
is
Conclusion: Universal Commerce Platform Retailers need to leverage continuously evolving digital technologies to define new customer centric retailing constructs. Universal Commerce is one such platform which will not only have omni-channel commerce capabilities domestically but can also be rolled out as a template rapidly across multiple geographies.. Further, services supported by this platform will enable transactions on partner and social channels. Key components of this platform are: •
An
order capture platform with strong personalization capabilities to capture orders across different channels
•
Common order
and
inventory
management system enabling selfservice features e.g. order modifications ,returns for the customers •
Integrated
contact center alleviate and resolve customers‟ concerns
to
Business Intelligence and Analytical Layer
regardless of the channel(s) used by
Services to enable Commerce anywhere
them to transact with the retailer •
•
REST
Services for „commerce anywhere‟ on the internet
enabling
Business analytics layer on of universal commerce platform which
WebSite
top Catalog
Omni Channel Commerce Platform Global Template Distribution Centers
will provide actionable insights about customer behaviour ,enable attribution and improve conversion
Stores
3PL
Universal Commerce Platform with Omnichannel capabilities, global templates and provision for localization and services will
Mobile Phones
DSV
IP TV
Suppliers
thus lay the foundation for seamless & effective commerce and thus help retailer grow beyond channels, borders and urls.
About the Authors Anirudh Goel is the Principal leading the Infosys Omni Channel Order Management Solution.
Vikas Rao is a Consultant with the Supply Chain Management practice at Infosys Limited.
Chantrelle Nielsen is a Principal specializing in international ecommerce, analytics and customer experience design.
Ashish Jandial is Management Consulting Services Practice Head for the Retail, CPG, Life Sciences and Logistics vertical and also leads the Digital Transformation Consulting practice globally.
About Infosys Infosys is a global leader in business consulting and technology solutions. As a proven partner focused on building tomorrow‟s enterprise, Infosys enables clients in more than 30 countries to outperform the competition and stay ahead of the innovation curve. Ranked in the top tier of Forbes‟ 100 most innovative companies, Infosys – with $7.4B in annual revenues and 150,000+ employees – provides enterprises with strategic insights on what lies ahead. We help enterprises transform and thrive in a changing world through strategic consulting, operational leadership and the co-creation of breakthrough solutions, including those in mobility, sustainability, big data and cloud computing. Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) is Building Tomorrow‟s Enterprise® today.
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