IDC Insights: 5 Trends for Digital Commerce in 2021 | Sales Layer

IDC Insights: 5 Trends for Digital Commerce in 2021

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During the PIM Experience Virtual Summit ‘21 event held by Sales Layer last April, one of the main guests was Jordan Jewell, Research Manager at IDC working on digital sales platforms for B2B and B2C.

IDC is a large market and trade analysis company that, for this special occasion, tackled the recent sales changes and the impact of PIM technology on the current landscape – a landscape that has brought about many challenges for all, but also a significant development.

In the United States alone, the growth of online retail in 2020 meant that 2 billion dollars went from offline channels to online ones. Meanwhile, in Europe, transactions via online channels grew by 7 billion dollars in just a few months.

The 5 big trends that are changing world trade

After meeting with more than 120 companies in the B2B and B2C world, IDC came to some interesting conclusions about how business and sales needs have evolved in just a few months of the pandemic, and how these are actually latent problems from the past that must be addressed for the future.

Jordan Jewell noted 5 major trends that began to change the sales fabric over the last year:

Explosion of sales channels: The average shopper has gone from interacting with one or two sales channels before making a purchase to doing so with more than 4 channels nowadays.
Customization: Digital sales have changed the rules of the game and how brands should present themselves on markets.
Fragmentation: The buying and selling journey is no longer linear in nature.
Experimentation: Companies are taking advantage of more and more business models.
Experience economy: Customers are more interested in the experience than the product itself and the price.

5 obstacles that manufacturers and retailers must face in 2021

Here are the 5 most common ecommerce issues IDC has identified:

Over-dependency on a single channel: A concentrated effort on a single channel.
Poor product content: Mistakes in information lower conversion.
Too much friction: Online shopping experiences should be easy to complete.
Static segmentation: Consumers expect different experiences.
Silos: Ecommerce software doesn't integrate well in general.

What are the strategies to overcome the challenges of digital commerce?

IDC recommends:

Adopt future-oriented shopping experiences and analyze customer behavior.
Have accurate and attractive product information to improve conversion.
Reduce friction by designing consumer-friendly buying journeys.
Be transparent and tell customers about product sustainability.
Ensure a multichannel presence with consistent product information across all channels.

PIM: The gateway to digital change for brands and retailers

The future of sales is online. Although this change has accelerated in recent months, the leap to ecommerce has been underway for some time. Brands that are prepared for today’s digital challenges will earn more and have a greater presence.

Do you want to see the full presentation by Jordan Jewell of IDC? The video is available here. If you are also interested in trying the PIM system endorsed by IDC, take advantage of a Free Trial here or ask us for a personal meetup.