Surviving Amazon and Whole Foods: Focus on the customer
The seismic announcement of the acquisition between Amazon and Whole Foods for $13.4 billion in cash left the world of grocery retail reeling. As the dust has begun to settle, we’re sharing what it...
View ArticleHow e-commerce makes B2B sales teams more effective
Some people think that launching a B2B e-commerce initiative is a surefire way to draw the ire of the sales team. After all, doesn’t an investment in e-commerce signify the beginning of a competition...
View ArticleOmnichannel: The prize jewel in the customer experience
In a digital world where the swift and often brutal evaluation of retailers is continuous and transparent, consumer experience matters – a lot. Not just because it’s good for sales or brand image, but...
View ArticleTop 4 challenges the banking industry is facing
How is the traditional banking industry keeping up with today’s constantly changing technology landscape? Not very well it seems, according to the video, “Addressing Start-up Competition,” by SAP and...
View ArticleKeeping the customer romance alive protects your business from extinction
A study from the John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University estimates that 40 percent of today’s F500 companies on the S&P 500 will no longer exist in ten years. The study was...
View ArticleThe future is now: Machine learning, IoT, VR and microservices are here to stay
If you’re still thinking about machine learning, IoT, VR and microservices as far-away concepts, I’ve got some news for you: they are here, now, and they are absolutely the paving stones for the future...
View ArticleBusiness in the digital age: Four imperatives
Retailing used to be so simple – open a store, source products, buy one, sell one and repeat. However, things look rather different today as the rise in digital has revolutionized the way retailers...
View ArticleCustomer journey: How to hit the road running
Do you really think the customer journey is necessary to reach your future customers? Of course it is. But attracting prospective customers and ensuring conversion takes a lot more than simply...
View ArticleHow to bring your customer service into the digital era
In this digital economy, customer service is a core component of the customer experience. But how do you bring this ‘up to speed’ for the decade to come? For a long time, personal aftercare simply...
View Article6 pitfalls to avoid when using English marketing content in Europe
With today’s profusion of digital channels, even local, smaller businesses can promote their products anywhere on the globe. Often though, they cannot rely on a budget for localization and are forced...
View ArticleMachine learning and predictive analytics in B2B
A little over three years ago, I wrote a series of posts about the pressures online retail was placing on traditional brick-and-mortar stores. From behemoths of the past, like Borders, to those at risk...
View ArticleThe nimble win the race: How to stay dynamic beyond pricing
By now you’ve heard about dynamic pricing and you’ve probably even tried it yourself. There’s an underlying principle about this pricing strategy that can be applied to other parts of your company to...
View ArticleYour secret weapon for B2B e-commerce success
What’s the secret to B2B e-commerce success? Hint: It’s not technology! While we normally think of B2C marketplaces like Amazon when we think about e-commerce, there’s a revolution starting to take...
View ArticleBuilding the case for the B2B commerce cloud
SAP Hybris recently commissioned a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study from Forrester® to study the potential financial impact of their Commerce Cloud for B2B – the potential costs and benefits...
View ArticleWhy digital transformation may require getting phygital
Have any plans to get phygital this weekend? If so, you won’t be alone. An increasing number of consumers today are shopping at the intersection of physical and digital. Phygital is a virtual bazaar...
View ArticleThe heart of evolution: Twenty years of customer experience
I’ve been in a pretty reflective mood of late. I don’t know if that’s just an age thing or not, but I’ve been reflecting on my career path, in particular, the journey, the choices, and the constants....
View ArticleTomorrow may be too late: The importance of real-time in sales
Raise your hand if you’ve crooned the lyrics of Amanda by Boston, “and tomorrow may be too late.” If you haven’t, no worries. You don’t need to have amazing taste in music, or name that tune in 60...
View ArticleGame theory: The Nobel Prize-winning idea that’s changing marketing (and what...
It’s not immediately obvious what three people sitting around a card table has to do with getting a better understanding of how effective your marketing tactics are. Or how it can help you speak to the...
View ArticleRelationship status? Complicated: 5 ways to simplify customer service and...
We live in a day and age of instant gratification, where customer relationships are more complex than ever. If you’re not exceeding your customers’ expectations of customer service, chances are, your...
View ArticleSecure scalability for cloud and on-premise infrastructure
This post was co-authored by Sam Cinquegrani of Objectwave Corporation and Charles McKinnis of Rackspace. Key considerations for rapidly growing e-commerce companies Every fledgling e-commerce...
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