Forrester is a specialist in identifying key trends. Get insights on Forrester's predictions regarding ecommerce in this blog post and join us for a deeper dive in our recent webinar with a guest speaker from Forrester and Jason Nyhus from Shopware. In connection with this, we also offer an insightful Q&A whitepaper with the analysts.
Ecommerce has been on a rollercoaster ride over the past three years. The pandemic meant shoppers often had no alternative but to purchase goods online, so orders soared. This rapid growth curve was going to flatten eventually, and now macroeconomic forces, including supply chain disruption, inflation, and the war in Ukraine, are having an impact both on business costs and customer spend.
How to maintain growth in the face of economic uncertainty will be the challenge for all merchants in 2023. Understanding the ecommerce trends set to impact the sector this year can be immensely useful in guiding decisions on the kinds of technology that will help merchants to navigate a fast-changing ecommerce environment.
Forrester’s Predictions 2023: Commerce report sets out five major trends that should be on your radar.
These are:
1: Repealing promises
Driving purchase intent will remain paramount for merchants but it can be no longer ‘at any cost’. Instead of breaking down barriers to purchase, merchants will focus on needle-movers like free shipping while consolidating shipments and creatively managing fulfillment through cloud-based optimization technology.
Jason Nyhus, President and General Manager of Shopware US, says that brands are really feeling a world where untenable cost pressures are making them change their journey. The destination hasn't changed, but the path must. Progressive merchants will seek out new vendors who can help them embrace the David vs. Goliath moment, and become both: effective and efficient.
Watch our webinar "The 'grow at all costs' era is over" which took place on March 9, 2023, to learn more about which services and functions consumers expect from merchants – and which they don’t. We uncovered the largest costs of commerce and revealed which cost pools you should consider to dial down. In addition to that, our white paper offers valuable insights on this topic, too.
2: B2B Commerce cooperation
The fragility of modern supply chains and the need for contingency plans made big news headlines when the Suez Canal became blocked for six days by the container ship Ever Given. All players within the ecommerce eco-system will be working hard to minimize the impact of disrupted supply chains and tackle stock availability issues.
Closer collaboration, especially in B2B, is becoming evident. Mega-distributors are predicted to work together to fulfil orders by accessing multiple seller’s inventories.
3: Rethinking the software landscape
Orchestrating and maintaining every aspect of their own tech ecosystem will become too complex, which is why software decision-makers are rethinking their commerce platforms. Some of the digital businesses will regret playing “software company”. In Jason’s eyes, this mainly affects companies that sold their soul and shifted away from their core competencies.
Merchants will be looking for solutions that provide a balance between simplicity, agility, and responsiveness. Cloud-based tech, such as that provided by Shopware, will be one option that provides merchants with easier system management thanks to the flexibility to add new features as businesses start scaling up. Check out the webinar right away! Jason Nyhus and guest speaker Emily Pfeiffer from Forrester will reveal the best solutions and technologies to optimize your business for cost-effectiveness and future-readiness.
4: Take-up of third-party communication tools
Consumers want a frictionless customer experience with convenient, simpler customer journeys, which is why integrating third-party messaging apps into operations will become more important.
Smart brands will be broadening their horizons and harnessing the potential of social media platforms like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, and Telegram to unlock more meaningful interactions with consumers and subsequently improve purchase potential.
5: D2C marketing will lean on entertainment
Getting marketing cut-through in a crowded D2C space requires fresh thinking. We believe entertainment will become more of a lever to attract and retain customer loyalty this year. Innovative examples last year include Walmart’ s pioneering deal to bundle streaming service Paramount+ into its Walmart+ membership package and the National Football League and Amazon also announced a streaming partnership.
Overall, this year will see merchants pull back spend on touchpoints that are failing to deliver customers and invest more in the critical operational areas of CX, inventory, and fulfilment. There are huge opportunities to reduce costs and create the right offering for your business with an ‘out of the box’ platform that can help you straightaway but which is also adaptive and scaleable without being overly-complex.
More insights in the free webinar and Q&A whitepaper
We from Shopware hosted a deep-dive webinar into the ecommerce predictions and what this means for your tech investments on March 9, 2023, with a guest speaker from Forrester.
Watch the full recording of the webinar
Read the Q&A white paper
After the webinar, we sought valuable insights from our speakers by posing five practical questions to find out how to best navigate the shift from expansion to efficiency. Find the analyst’s insightful answers in the free Q&A white paper below.
