Traditional retailers face unique challenges evolving their digital strategy
By Alyssa Hanson It’s been more than 22 years since Amazon was founded. That year, 1994, was also the debut of the first secure online transaction. Wait, 22 years? If it doesn’t feel like eCommerce has...
View ArticleEmployees as social advocates: It’s a two-way street
For years companies have been trying to find ways of using social media to promote their businesses, but have been tamping down on the social asset that’s right under their noses: their employees. You...
View ArticleWhat is customer engagement and where is it going?
Customer engagement is about making a connection. It’s what gets people not just to come to you or your brand but to keep coming back – and in so doing, bring your business to life. There will always...
View Article3 things to do before choosing a B2B e-commerce platform
You know the future of e-commerce is here, and you need a strategy, but you’re in analysis paralysis. Your first and perhaps greatest hurdle is selecting the right platform (or re-platform). It’s a...
View ArticleHow can marketers fix the personalization paradox?
Customers are signaling that they want more personalized treatment from companies. In fact, a recent Accenture survey revealed that nearly 60 percent of respondents prefer real-time promotions and...
View Article3 essentials for a high-performance sales team
Today’s B2B sales leaders are challenged with how to accelerate the performance of their sales teams. And, as sales productivity is on the decline, what support is in place to ensure salespeople aren’t...
View ArticleInfographic: How the Industrial Internet of Things could change the world
We’re all aware of the Internet of Things and its likely effect on our homes, but what about its potential impact on industry? Electronics supplier RS Components has together an interactive graphic...
View ArticleServing today’s technologically-empowered insurance customer
By Stefan Müller Director for Insurance in the Financial Services Industries, SAP Hybris Insurance customers increasingly expect to be rewarded for risk-averse behavior that fosters the prevention of...
View ArticleRetail, augmented reality combine to take top honors at TechCrunch 2016...
The winners of the TechCrunch Disrupt 2016 Hackathon offered a glimpse into the future of mobile-based sales by creating an augmented reality application that gives shoppers the opportunity to...
View ArticleThe new rules of customer engagement and the role of communities
Disruptor. It’s a digital-era buzzword that usually applies to companies leveraging new technology and introducing new business models that are leaving incumbents in the dust. But armed with the power...
View ArticleProduct-as-service: A necessary evolution
I recently had an interesting conversation with a customer of a large tire retail chain in Brazil. He told me, “You know, all the time I ask my colleagues, ‘what do we sell?’ And they always reply,...
View ArticleWhat do B2B customers really want in the digital age?
In the digital age customer focus and service orientation are key to remain competitive. As is the case with B2C, contact with business customers is all about convenience. From a B2B customer...
View ArticleDeliver exceptional experiences and customers will always ‘swipe right’
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou In the digital era, relationships still...
View ArticleHow top brands are harnessing the data firehose to crush their competition
By Jeff BoothCo-founder and CEO of BuildDirect If we needed another example of how the old business models are failing, Aeropostale recently. They announced the closing of almost 200 stores in North...
View ArticleEven in the digital era, when it comes to insurance it’s all about relationships
Insurance has been with us for over 2000 years, but until quite recently it has always been a business of people. But times change, and these days it’s a business of technology. Started by insurers and...
View ArticleHow to increase engagement, sales with customer communities
Merging content and commerce in a customer community can be a real game-changer for a business. And thanks to emerging social collaboration tools, creating a community network for your company’s...
View Article5 mistakes that can kill your B2B e-commerce project
According to a recent study, the B2B e-commerce market is on the precipice of serious growth. The market hauled in $780 billion in 2014. By 2020, that number is projected to eclipse $1.13 trillion....
View ArticleCustomer communities provide essential analytics for your business
In the past, an online interaction with a customer was over as soon as they received their order. They would click “buy,” a generic confirmation e-mail would arrive in their inbox, and a few days...
View ArticleWhat B2B marketers can learn from B2C retail strategy
The divide between Business to Consumer (B2C) Retail and Business to Business (B2B) digital marketing techniques has narrowed so much that they’re overlapping. Some of the tried and true methods used...
View Article3 ways to simplify the B2B customer journey
The customer journey is made up of many “moments” and each customer goes in and out of each stage multiple times depending on the problem or issue they are trying to solve. As we know this is not a...
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