With updates to and , partners now get a self-service purchasing experience that cuts out that complexity, with pricing transparency comparable to what partners get on AWS and Azure marketplaces.

Smarter path from opportunity to purchase

The updated experience connects the full purchasing journey in one place, 麻豆原创 for Me: from finding the right solution, to submitting a quote, to completing the transaction.

Start with the right catalog

Partners start with a personalized catalog for their specific opportunity. Partner authorization, customer eligibility, product prerequisites, and related products are shown upfront 鈥� searchable, sortable, and packaged in an intuitive way, so there is no need to cross-reference multiple systems or wait for someone else to confirm what can be sold.

Know your pricing before you ask

Price transparency is built into the experience. With shopping carts powered by 麻豆原创鈥檚 own commerce solutions, partners can see what features are included in the product and can explore options and simulate quotes with full pricing visibility from the start, without waiting on internal teams to pull numbers together. More than 70% of B2B buyers prefer to research and validate independently before talking to a sales rep, and this experience is built around that.

Guided selling: No guesswork and easier to learn

麻豆原创’s portfolio is broad, and pricing can get complex, especially for partners newer to selling 麻豆原创, that previously had to track price lists, prerequisites, and product relationships on their own before building a quote. The experience now surfaces eligibility requirements, dependencies, and configuration options as partners work, so nobody starts from scratch.

Test scenarios before you submit

Before requesting approval, partners can run simulations to validate pricing and test different quote configurations before quote approval. Fewer surprises going in means fewer revisions coming back.

Faster approvals, less waiting

Internal approvals and administrative complexity have , and for many deals, that friction sits in the quote and approval stage. Partners now submit pre-validated, perfectly priced quotes only when they have tried and tested different pricing possibilities in the cart, and even complex scenarios move through a streamlined approval process with fewer delays.

End-to-end, fully digital

Once a quote is approved, the purchase completes digitally from start to finish: no chasing signatures, no manual uploads, no last-mile handoffs. Self-service e-commerce has become the , and the move to 麻豆原创 for Me and 麻豆原创 Store reflects that shift.

See it in action

The experience looks different depending on your partner model. For CC Flex partners, the journey includes commission visibility at every step, from the configurator through to the approved quote. For VAR partners, the flow moves from cart configuration to fully automated quote generation and straight through to checkout, with a confirmation email from 麻豆原创 once the order is placed.

What’s next

Upcoming enhancements will introduce embedded AI assistance through Joule, guiding partners through the purchasing journey with in-context support at every step. We will also include full partner cloud pricelist coverage and the ability to manage post sales via this kind of guided digital buying journey soon.

Whether you are managing a straightforward opportunity or a complex deal, the updated experience in 麻豆原创 Store and 麻豆原创 for Me gives partners clearer pricing, fewer roadblocks, and more control over how they close.

Start your next quote: Visit .

Shreya Datta is senior director of 麻豆原创 Marketplace Direct Business at 麻豆原创.

Who owns the procurement motion? How does pricing get negotiated? Who handles the contract? What about tax, invoicing, and payment? Which team tracks approvals? And once it’s signed, how does it fit into existing contracts and renewal cycles?

Most of these previously mentioned challenges occur in e-mail chains, spreadsheets, and conversations that no one fully documents. actively avoid suppliers who send irrelevant outreach鈥攖hey’ve already done their research by the time they engage. But the internal process of actually completing a purchase remains as manual as it was a decade ago. Research, shortlist, evaluate, and then hand it off to a process that moves at a completely different speed.

This is especially true for organizations with existing 麻豆原创 investments. Expanding a software landscape that’s already complex鈥攁dding new capabilities, aligning contracts, managing co-term timing across multiple products鈥攁dds layers of coordination that can slow even straightforward decisions to a crawl. Every new solution that doesn’t co-term with an existing contract means another renewal date to track, another negotiation cycle to manage, and another piece of the landscape that runs on its own timeline.

麻豆原创 Store exists to help remove those layers and barriers. For 麻豆原创 customers, it’s the single place to discover, trial, and purchase both 麻豆原创 and partner solutions鈥攐ver 3,600 of them鈥攚ithin an environment that’s already connected to their existing 麻豆原创 landscape. When a customer modifies an existing contract through 麻豆原创 Store, new purchases automatically co-term with the original order. Pricing and discounts, if applicable, are inherited from the previous contract. There are no separate renewal cycles to manage, no renegotiations from scratch.

The buying process itself is also built to help remove the common points of friction. Automated entitlement checks confirm compatibility before a purchase is completed. Pre-verified product dependencies prevent deployment issues after the fact. For customers that want to move quickly, many solutions offer a 鈥淏uy Now鈥� path that goes from selection to provisioned access in under 15 minutes. No forms to fill out, no calls to schedule.

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

For deals that require more than a standard checkout鈥攏egotiated pricing, custom terms, specific payment methods鈥攑rivate offers on 麻豆原创 Store can keep the entire transaction inside the platform rather than pushing it back into offline coordination. on an e-commerce transaction has grown 83% in recent years; the appetite for completing complex deals digitally is there.

. For 麻豆原创 customers, the shift is already underway, inside a marketplace built specifically for their environment.

to discover 麻豆原创 and partner solutions, request quotes, start trials, and manage purchases through a more centralized experience.

Brent Eason is senior director for 麻豆原创 Marketplace Direct Business.

The numbers reflect the shift. , with direct digital channels and marketplaces seeing the strongest growth. , with many closing deals worth over $1 million in ACV through these platforms. 麻豆原创 Store is already part of this momentum, supporting more than 50,000 transactions, representing roughly 30%鈥�35% of 麻豆原创 sales volume, and giving partners access to more than 440,000 麻豆原创 customers across over 200 countries.

But here’s where the marketplace model runs into its limits: most enterprise deals aren’t straightforward enough for a standard checkout button.

Negotiated pricing. Custom contract terms. Procurement reviews. Regional tax requirements. Bank transfer requirements. Delayed start dates. would complete transactions of $500,000 or more without in-person interaction, but those same high-value deals involve complex approval workflows, payment terms, and stakeholder sign-offs that a flat “Buy Now” experience simply can’t handle. When a deal doesn’t fit the standard flow, it typically gets pushed outside the platform entirely鈥攂ack into e-mail threads, separate negotiations, and disconnected systems that no one has full visibility into.

That’s the problem private offers on help solve.

Instead of forcing complex deals out of the platform, customers can request a private offer directly through 麻豆原创 Store, negotiate terms with the partner, and close the transaction inside the same environment where they found the solution. The deal stays connected, trackable, and consistent鈥攆rom discovery to signature.

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

Private offers support negotiated pricing and terms, flexible start dates, payment terms, and bank transfers in USD and EUR. For eligible transactions鈥攃urrently available for customers and partners in the EEA and U.S.鈥斅槎乖� Store can also handle invoicing, indirect tax calculations, and payment reconciliation, while the partner remains the seller of record. Deals are created automatically within the platform, removing the manual steps that typically slow enterprise transactions down.

For partners, that last part is significant. One of the biggest constraints to scaling enterprise transactions across regions is the operational overhead of managing invoicing, tax compliance, and collections in markets where you don’t have established local infrastructure. Private offers can reduce that friction considerably, making geographic expansion more realistic without having to build the operational machinery first.

The workflow is already there. The question is how much of the purchasing process your team is still managing outside of it.

To learn more, download the for a quick overview of how partners can leverage private offers to deliver customized deals through 麻豆原创 Store.

Mike L. Fickenscher is 麻豆原创 marketplace partner business lead.

The technology to do this better has been around for a while, but the habits haven’t caught up. That version exists鈥攎any organizations just aren’t using it yet.

What still happens most of the time: the team finds the tool, sends an email to IT, copies procurement, waits for a vendor quote, chases someone for budget approval, gets the contract sent to legal, and follows up three weeks later to ask where things stand. Somewhere in that chain, someone is managing a spreadsheet no one else can find.

This is not a niche problem. Companies experience significantly higher error rates, longer processing times, and limited visibility into spending patterns, and those inefficiencies compound the longer they go unaddressed. Meanwhile, now say they prefer a rep-free buying experience. They want to research, evaluate, and buy on their own terms, not wait for someone to send them a PDF.

The gap between what buyers expect and what many procurement processes actually deliver is wide, and it’s getting harder to ignore as AI adoption accelerates. Business teams do not want to wait weeks to access a new capability. But the approval chain wasn’t built for that speed.

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

麻豆原创 Store was built for exactly this. More than 3,600 麻豆原创 and partner solutions鈥攁pplications, extensions, AI-powered tools, integrations鈥攁re all accessible through a single marketplace where 麻豆原创 customers can explore, trial, quote, and purchase within their existing 麻豆原创 environment.

Listings clearly outline integration requirements, pricing, and deployment options upfront. Many solutions offer free trials or demos with no sales call required. And when a customer is ready to buy, the platform handles automated entitlement checks, pre-verified product dependencies, and flexible payment options, so there are no handoffs to a procurement inbox that may or may not be monitored.

One of the less-discussed advantages is speed of access. Customers can go from purchase to provisioned access in less than an hour: no license delays stalling a project, no waiting on a quote that takes three business days to arrive. And because 麻豆原创 Store integrates directly into the customer’s existing 麻豆原创 environment, new solutions do not require a separate onboarding process to connect with the tools already in place.

Organizations using advanced procurement platforms report compared to traditional manual processes. The operational case is clear. The harder part is cultural: getting teams to actually stop managing approvals through email when that is what they’ve always done.

The companies moving fastest on software adoption right now are not necessarily using better tools. They’re spending less time managing the process around the tools.

To discover 麻豆原创 and partner solutions, request quotes, start trials, and manage purchases through a more centralized experience, .

Don Larcinese is global vice president of 麻豆原创 Marketplace Sales & Enablement.

Seismic shifts are not new for retailers鈥攂ack in 1999, e-commerce was still an afterthought. By 2000, everything changed as retailers went all-in on digital.

In聽2025,聽we are聽living in yet聽another pivotal year.聽This holiday season might feel familiar as you scroll through deals, compare brands, and race to beat shipping deadlines. But beneath the surface, something far more transformative is happening.聽The year 2025 will聽likely be聽the last consumers shop as they do now.听听

Agentic AI is reshaping commerce by making shopping faster, smarter, and effortless. Discovery is moving from people browsing their favorite brands to intelligent orchestration. Instead of opening 10 tabs to hunt for the right deal, shoppers will simply ask: 鈥淔ind me the highest rated black, puffy winter coat, size 10, under $200 that ships in two days.鈥�

The agent will handle the rest鈥攕canning thousands of options, validating reviews, confirming delivery timelines, even factoring in loyalty perks. That future isn鈥檛 tomorrow; it鈥檚 already here, and by next holiday season, most shopping journeys will begin, evolve, or end with AI agents.

While this type of shopping creates convenience for shoppers, it creates a challenge for retailers that have focused on brand campaigns and poured millions of dollars into advertising to be the 鈥渂rand of choice鈥� in the discovery process. Decades of investment into SEO, paid traffic, and brand recognition are losing their edge. While not abandoning these strategies entirely, they must evolve for the AI-first world.

However, there is something that hasn鈥檛 changed over the course of decades: the need to create loyal customers who make repeat purchases and give the greatest share of their wallets. This, too, is more challenging than ever. In fact, 72% of consumers report that this holiday season they will only that consistently meet their needs in the moment.

Creating customer loyalty in the age of agentic commerce means conquering two critical fronts:

• Optimizing for discoverability: Agents will favor retailers that make buying seamless.
• Creating customer loyalty post-purchase: With discovery being augmented by AI agents, humans will now give their ongoing loyalty based on post-purchase experiences. On-time delivery, easy returns, and rewards that feel personal are the new battleground for brand equity.聽 And with agents learning from human behavior, exceeding shopper expectations post-purchase can ultimately impact a brand鈥檚 likelihood of being recommended in the discovery phase.

The question remains: how do we move from esoteric AI conversations to practical strategies?

Discovery and loyalty: How to win in the age of agentic AI

• Make your catalog agent-ready: Treat AI as a new kind of shopper. Ensure product feeds are rich, structured, and machine-readable, complete with attributes, use-case-driven descriptions, real-time pricing, and accurate inventory. Clean, structured product data is now the foundation of intelligent discovery.
• Create solutions, not just SKUs: AI-driven traffic behaves differently. Design bundles, add-ons, and value stacks that solve specific problems and allow agents to match shoppers with outcomes, not just product lists.
• Build trustworthy, accessible information: Operationalize trust by surfacing verified reviews, transparent pricing, sustainability details, and clear return policies. Make this data accessible through well-structured APIs, not scraping, so agents and humans see the same reliable truth.
• Let prediction power personalization: Use unified data and AI to predict what customers want before they act, enabling real-time next-best-actions across email, SMS, push, in-app, and other emerging channels. This predictive intelligence turns fragmented campaigns into that deliver higher engagement and revenue.
• Make loyalty the thread that ties every experience together: Loyalty is no longer a program. It鈥檚 a relationship. Use every interaction to tailor meaningful, emotional moments that adapt, remember, and feel consistent across channels in order to help convert agent-driven traffic. Then, use personalized exclusives and perks to foster high-value relationships with those new customers.
• Deliver on your promises, every time: Eighty-eight percent of customers leave a brand after one bad experience. That鈥檚 why operational reliability is the new loyalty. Bring order, inventory, payments, and fulfillment into alignment, so customers receive what they were promised, when they were promised. Loyalty now begins at checkout.
• Prepare for the new return economy: Agent-driven buying makes it easy for consumers to purchase first and decide later. Set clear limits to protect margins and reduce friction in the returns journey because a seamless return can build more loyalty than the purchase itself.

麻豆原创 is already helping brands prepare for this future with AI-enabled technologies across , , , and .

A brand already building for the future

Global sports brand . Historically reliant on seasonal campaigns, Mizuno wanted a more sustainable way to engage its diverse customer base across 10 product categories and multiple channels. Mizuno unified its customer data and used AI to create personalized journeys, turning one-off interactions into long-term relationships.

The results speak for themselves:

• 52% year-over-year (YoY) increase in active customers
• 62% increase in revenue from premium customers
• 35% increase in customer win-backs
• 33% increase in the number of orders

麻豆原创: A partner built for scale, stability, and growth

As customer behavior evolves and AI reshapes what鈥檚 possible, one thing remains constant: 麻豆原创鈥檚 commitment to helping brands win their biggest commercial moments. This year鈥檚 holiday results make that clearer than ever. We鈥檙e not just helping brands plan for peak season鈥攚e鈥檙e helping them execute it with precision, intelligence, and confidence.

Nearly 20% YoY growth in total messages sent underscores the trust brands place in 麻豆原创 Emarsys to deliver at scale. Mobile and emerging channels surged鈥攊n-app (+61%), SMS (+32%), push (+27%), and inbox (+91%) all saw significant YoY gains鈥攁s brands met customers exactly where they were browsing and buying. Omnichannel maturity accelerated with brands using a richer mix of channels to create connected, high-value experiences across every stage of the shopping journey. And with 100% uptime and flawless reliability, teams executed independently and confidently, even during their highest-volume moments.

Paired with exceptional commerce performance, the story becomes even more compelling: brands used more intelligent engagement to guide shoppers toward higher-value purchases (+18% YoY average order value) and ultimately drove substantial YoY revenue growth (+40% gross merchandise value)鈥攁ll powered by a that delivered uninterrupted performance with 100% uptime through the holiday shopping rush, ensuring we鈥檙e here for our customers when it matters most.

This is what partnership looks like: scale, intelligence, reliability, and results so brands can focus on creating exceptional customer experiences, not managing technology.

Looking ahead

The year 2025 will be remembered as the last holiday season where brand mattered more than the overall experience.

This year, and 48% of shoppers would support brands bringing more AI into their buying experience. This sets the stage for growth in 2026 as AI agents deliver relevance, trust, and immediacy, making shopping simpler, smarter, and more satisfying for people everywhere.

The brands that win won鈥檛 be the ones shouting the loudest. They鈥檒l be the ones using 麻豆原创 to be most discoverable, dependable, and unforgettable.

By anticipating needs and creating better, personalized journeys, AI will enhance every stage of commerce. And 麻豆原创 is here to make that future happen.

Balaji Balasubramanian is president and chief product officer for 麻豆原创 Customer Experience.

From the customer鈥檚 side, this experience could affect the reliability of future purchases. It could make them think twice before shopping there again, especially if they already had concerns about the difficulties in completing transactions. From the company鈥檚 perspective, a website outage implies significant losses, such as direct revenue loss due to a main sales channel being shut down, and a loss of organizational trust, potentially driving customers to competitors.

In retail and e-commerce business, customer experience is paramount. A company whose e-commerce frequently experiences downtime could receive a negative market reaction from investors.

These experiences highlight the importance of robust support readiness programs, especially during holiday seasons when businesses strive for more sales and revenue through their digital platforms. With customer expectations at an all-time high, businesses need reliable, scalable, and innovative solutions to deliver exceptional shopping experiences. Proactive support measures can considerably reduce system failures during peak times, which not only reinforces customer satisfaction but also protects organizational trust and revenue. 麻豆原创’s holiday support readiness program is designed to address these needs. It offers a strategic, data-driven approach to help businesses thrive during peak periods.

The holiday support readiness program is a customer experience program by 麻豆原创 to help safeguard and establish strong support for digital commerce and retail customers during high shopping times. Key features of the program include:

• 鈥�Comprehensive coverage: It can cover events ranging from Singles Day in China and El Buen Fin in Mexico to Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and New Year鈥檚.鈥�
• Extensive participation: Last year, 143 customers with 200 tenants used 麻豆原创鈥檚 holiday support readiness program to navigate the holiday rush successfully.鈥�
• Early preparation: Preparation begins 4鈥�6 months in advance, involving collaboration among customer support, cloud operations, and product engineering teams.鈥�

The focus on customer experience has increased due to the expansion of interfaces through which customers interact with companies. , 70% of respondents bought products or ordered services electronically in the preceding 12 months. For corporations, this online influx depicts a figure of more than . To approach these complexities, companies have steadily turned to advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) to strengthen their support systems.

In 2024, 麻豆原创 introduced a preventative care model under the transformation blueprint, aimed at delivering predictive, proactive, bi-directional support integrated with AI-driven insights and automation, allowing teams to predict potential problems and address them before they impact customers鈥攁nd potentially millions of users. 麻豆原创鈥檚 proprietary AI tools are deployed to help streamline support processes, enhance operational insights, and enable predictive and proactive engagement.

This represents a pioneering shift in the industry, positioning 麻豆原创 as a front-runner in AI-driven, predictive, and proactive support solutions.鈥疶he model provides a comprehensive, 360-degree customer support profile, helping to accelerate issue detection and anticipate potential problems, with AI-integrated features like a virtual support assistant, resource and鈥痺eb traffic predictions, a鈥痳ecommendation engine, case history analysis, issue correlation, and pattern recognition.

To operationalize this model, 麻豆原创 leverages collaboration approaches among product engineering teams, cloud operations鈥攄atabase administrators and technical operations managers鈥攖echnical support, and mission-critical teams to convey comprehensive case analysis reports and detailed recommendations and action plans for each customer. This can allow 麻豆原创 to identify and resolve future issues before customers are affected, helping to reinforce system stability during peak sales periods. For example, the proactive support process for the 2024 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales events involved holistic health checks for over 143 customers鈥痑nd 200 production environments, setting a new standard in holiday readiness.

When aligned with the organizational strategy, a support program can foster a more positive customer journey, resulting in improved customer loyalty. “The holiday support readiness program isn’t just about managing the current peak; it’s about preparing for the next one. Our focus on preventative, AI-driven support means that our customers can focus on their business, not on system stability,” says Stefan Steinle, executive vice president and head of Customer Support & CLM at 麻豆原创.

For enterprises, joining the holiday support readiness program can also offer the following advantages:

• Minimize downtime: It helps ensure e-commerce platforms are ready when it matters most.鈥�
• Optimize performance: It uses AI and automation to help maintain peak system health and customer satisfaction.鈥�
• Stay ahead: Proactive monitoring and predictive support help keep organizations one step ahead of potential outcomes.鈥�

Looking forward, preparing for upcoming retail peak seasons cannot be overstated. 麻豆原创 Sapphire in 2025 will hold dedicated sessions to help ensure customers are well-equipped for these challenging periods. From live demos to expert interactions, attendees will be able to witness firsthand how 麻豆原创’s tools help keep businesses running smoothly and engage directly with solution experts.

Our commitment at 麻豆原创 Sapphire in 2025 is to equip customers with the knowledge and tools needed for uninterrupted success during every peak period. The holiday support readiness program is about turning challenges into opportunities for growth. With these resources, businesses will be better prepared to face uncertainties and use favorable circumstances in demanding times, ensuring sustained development and customer satisfaction.

Don’t wait until the next holiday season to find last-minute solutions. Be a part of the holiday support readiness program now and secure your business’s performance for future peak sales periods.

Through Cyber Week, 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud powered US$12.2B in gross merchandising value (GMV) for our customers, with a 23.42% year-over-year (YoY) increase in number of orders processed through the solution and 100% uptime. This level of success requires personalized customer engagement, and, for Cyber Week 2024, 麻豆原创 Emarsys Customer Engagement delivered a 10% YoY increase of overall engagement across all channels, with mobile channels seeing a 200% growth YoY.

But more than just numbers, we鈥檙e drawing insights and learnings from some of the largest brands we serve around the world.

Imitation Is a Form of Flattery for B2B Companies

Many industries have looked at how B2C retail companies reach their customers historically and used it as a model. This year, we saw our wholesale distribution customers running Black Friday and Cyber Week promotions to their customers 鈥� B2B buyers 鈥� with outstanding results. In fact, customers in the wholesale distribution industry saw a 125.2% increase YoY in GMV.

Holiday Shopping Continues to Start Earlier Each Year

E-mails, SMS, social ads, and more for Black Friday sales have been circulating since well before November 29^th. Understandably so, as retailers compete for market share. , retail sales saw an increase of 2.3% in October, which beat analyst predictions and is a good early indicator for the holiday shopping season. For 麻豆原创 customers in electronics, appliances, and personal care and beauty, we saw spikes in sales in mid- to late-October, which supports the U.S. Commerce Department鈥檚 findings.

However, getting started early doesn鈥檛 mean that retailers are simply shifting their sales and then finished. Instead, getting started early allows retailers to do both 鈥� lean into a first round of promotions earlier than the 鈥渟hopping season鈥� and a second round during peak Cyber Week shopping, leading to a higher total year-end volume. In addition, by providing two rounds of promotions, companies were able to capture customers who may have missed the initial offering. 麻豆原创 customers, particularly in the home improvement and personal care industries, were able to achieve this success with a 鈥渢wo-hit鈥� strategy.

Consumers Perceive Deals May Get Sweeter If They Wait

It鈥檚 been the belief for years that the best deals happen on Black Friday, but we鈥檝e seen a shift this year. Our data shows that on Cyber Monday the GMV values were significantly more than Black Friday, with an explosive 71.8% increase YoY. Was this trend due to shoppers rushing to take advantage of sales on the last day of the sales event? Or have shoppers been re-conditioned to wait for the best deals on Cyber Monday? We鈥檒l see if this shift has a stronghold in the upcoming years.

Cyber Week Isn鈥檛 About the American Thanksgiving Holiday Anymore

With the adoption of e-commerce and the desire to seek out deals, this major sale event has become a global phenomenon, and 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud data shows it. Last year, we reported that the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region was comparable to North American sales, with the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region showing explosive growth 鈥� and now it is official!聽Our data shows EMEA with 139.6% and APJ with 49.7% Cyber Week GMV growth. Customers in countries like Germany (+314.3% GMV), the United Kingdom (+106.1% GMV), and South Korea (+12.3% GMV), continue to adopt this sales event, and it鈥檚 looking like a mainstay for the future.聽

A Village Is Key to Success

To achieve this kind of success takes months of work from entire teams 鈥� both from our customers鈥� side and from 麻豆原创. By infusing artificial intelligence (AI) and automation tools to predict, prevent, and address issues proactively, our team of dedicated engineers created 360-degree action plans for our customers and created recommendations to help achieve peak holiday success. With 24×7 control room support, real-time monitoring, and risk mitigation, 麻豆原创 helped ensure seamless performance and availability during peak traffic periods like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with 100% uptime, setting a new benchmark for holiday readiness.

To learn how 麻豆原创 Customer Experience solutions can help your organization drive transformational innovation, .

Balaji Balasubramanian is senior vice president and global head of Commerce & Industry Cloud at 麻豆原创.

麻豆原创 supports businesses globally with a powerful commerce solution fit for the future. At a time when commerce trends are evolving faster than ever and customer demands continue to rise, remains a reliable foundation for agility, speed, and stability.

Businesses across industries are using the solution to boost profitability and achieve sustainable growth. Carhartt, an iconic brand crafting durable, premium workwear since 1889, uses 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud to create an omnichannel e-commerce presence that matches the brand鈥檚 legacy of quality and accessibility. As Carhartt continues to expand its reach and transforms from workwear leader to fashion icon, the brand can exceed customer expectations.

鈥淐arhartt鈥檚 job is to get products into the hands of hardworking folks, when and how they want them. 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud helps us do just that. We needed a solution that could stand up to task during the busiest times of the year,鈥� said Donavan Marchywka, director of Digital Solutions for Carhartt Inc. 鈥溌槎乖� Commerce Cloud holds up from an infrastructure and performance standpoint. The solution reacts to traffic so customers can connect with our products. When we transformed our e-commerce experience on 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud, not only did we get the benefits of this new technology, but we also got the chance to rethink the design of our site鈥攁nd do it right.鈥�

In addition to Carhartt, notable B2C brands and household names from Nestl茅 to use 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud to stay ahead of the competition in increasingly saturated and competitive markets. B2B leaders such as and HORSCH keep industries moving by using the solution to stabilize and scale their e-commerce marketplaces.

Startups and innovators setting out to create a more sustainable future 鈥� like MVV Enamic and 鈥� are using it to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) and new technologies as they emerge.

Even public sector and government organizations, including , are creating standout experiences with 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud.

These brands join others, such as  , , , and , that rely on 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud to drive profitable growth for their businesses.

麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud is part of the portfolio. The combination of integrated solutions spanning commerce, marketing, sales, and service empowers businesses to connect with their customers in the moments that matter most. The 麻豆原创 Customer Experience portfolio also turns AI innovations into real business outcomes with intelligent tools that employees, customers, and other users are using every day.

To learn more about 麻豆原创鈥檚 position as a Leader and see in-depth analysis of the digital commerce landscape from Gartner, read the .

Ritu Bhargava is president and chief product officer for 麻豆原创 Customer Experience.

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce, Mike Lowndes, Sandy Shen, Jason Daigler, Aditya Vasudevan, 6 November, 2024.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
麻豆原创 was recognized as 麻豆原创 Hybris in 2014, 2016, and 2017.

Through Cyber Week, customers achieved over a 35% year-over-year (YoY) increase in the number of orders processed, an astounding amount of $110 million in peak gross merchandising value (GMV) per minute, and a 9.3% YoY increase in overall site traffic. Essential for driving site traffic and increasing conversions is customer engagement, and on Cyber Weekend, supported customers with a nine percent YoY increase of overall send volume across all channels. What鈥檚 more, 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud customers achieved a 5.04% higher conversion rate versus 2022, and retailers saw a 5.2% higher conversion rate during Cyber Week.

This success was possible due to the reliability, scalability, and intelligence of for individually curated shopping journeys across the globe.

But at 麻豆原创, it is not just about the numbers. Deriving insights from data is at the heart of 麻豆原创 and the start to the holiday shopping season provided a treasure trove of learnings and understanding about how people are shopping and how retailers can optimize their experiences.

By serving some of the largest brands in the world through this holiday season, here is what we learned.

Insight One: The Definition of 鈥淗oliday Season鈥� Is Expanding

Traditionally, Black Friday is considered as a starting point for the holiday shopping season. However, recent research has revealed the holiday shopping is starting sooner and extending over the course of several weeks.

According to , an 麻豆原创 commerce media partner,  the longest path to purchase during the holidays is . This includes Singles Day, originated in China, on November 11 and El Buen Fin, Mexico鈥檚 version of Cyber Weekend from November 17 to November 20.

In 2023, 麻豆原创 Emarsys Customer Engagement saw a spike on Singles Day, nearly surpassing 1 billion customer engagements — for example, email, SMS, mobile push, and web push — two weeks ahead of Black Friday. This figure was then eclipsed not once but twice during El Buen Fin, which saw overall an approximate 30% YoY increase in messages delivered.

When looking at just email growth during this season, the growth of volume for the entire month of November was nearly twice what it was for Cyber Weekend. This not only underscores that holiday shopping is starting earlier, but how brands are scaling up sooner and avoiding sharp peaks, which is a win for deliverability too.

Newly emerging celebrations and extended shopping seasons also mean a higher and longer strain on e-commerce sites. However, 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud prepared the customers to combat this challenge during these peak sales times leading up to Cyber Week, and delivered 100% uptime. In fact, customers that ran holiday sales events during El Buen Fin achieved 112% growth in conversion rate, with 10% higher traffic volume compared to the regular daily average of 2023.

Insight Two: Email Still Reigns, But Omnichannel Engagement Is Rapidly Growing

While overall 2023 holiday sales are expected to , online sales are expected to double and . More digitally advanced customer journeys and increasingly tech-savvy buyers present an exciting opportunity for businesses to engage with shoppers more often and on their preferred channels.

Aiming to capitalize on this opportunity and remain top of mind with shoppers, 麻豆原创 Emarsys customers sent a record number of omnichannel messages, resulting in a nine percent YoY increase in customer engagements from 2022. Email remained the top promotional channel in terms of volume and saw a respectable 10% YoY increase.

In addition to email, brands are also now investing heavily in omnichannel engagement strategies to meet customers where they prefer to shop. Mobile messages like SMS (35% YoY increase) and in-app (15% YoY increase) were utilized effectively alongside email, as were Web channel engagements, like Web push, which saw a whopping 74% increase in usage in 2023.

Insight Three: Personalization Proves Less is More

It is important to acknowledge that success does not equate to the quantity of messages, but also the quality. Bucking the notion that more is simply better, marketers using 麻豆原创 Emarsys increased utilization of data-driven segmentation by 20% compared to Cyber Weekend 2022, enabling more targeted offers and personalized messages. While conversion rates would naturally be expected to dip given the extra volume, this targeted and personalized approach contributed to minimal or no change compared to baseline conversion rates during a typical weekend.

Similarly, AI-powered product recommendations, delivered across channels, and also helped consumers find the right product or best deal  among the seemingly limitless choices — with confidence and ease. 

With consumers shopping for an extended period on more channels, brands have both an obligation to meet them where they are in their journey and an opportunity to earn their business and loyalty by investing in data-driven, omnichannel strategies that better match them with personalized offers on the items they wish to buy.

Insight Four: B2B Shoppers Share the Holiday Fever During Cyber Week

Black Friday is usually seen as an influential opportunity to create a revenue boost for retailers. However, 麻豆原创 has the privilege of working with many B2B commerce companies in addition to a large number of retailers.

According to our data, other industries outside of retail also experience the benefits of Black Friday and Cyber Monday pushes. While the retail industry had the highest volume of orders, consumer products and wholesale distribution came in close behind. Additionally, the chemicals industry saw a huge spike in AOV over the weekend and achieved a GMV increase of 51% YoY, while life sciences industry saw more than 120% YoY GMV growth.

These data points indicate that Cyber Week trends are no longer limited to retailers, as various industries now achieve bigger sales volume and revenue during this period. Moving forward, organizations across all industries must put their best foot forward during Cyber Weekend activities to support profitable growth.

Insight Five: Black Friday Isn鈥檛 Just About the U.S. Thanksgiving Holiday Anymore

The data from 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud also reflects the globalization trend. While North America led the biggest GMV number on Black Friday, the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region is comparable. In fact, the highest number of orders, about 800,000, was placed in EMEA. Additionally, the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region on Cyber Monday achieved over 130% growth in conversion rate compared to last year.

麻豆原创 Emarsys customers were also ready to leverage this trend and engage with customers around the world. On Cyber Monday, total send volumes saw significant YoY increases in multiple regions: by 20% in EMEA, over 27% in Middle and Eastern Europe (MEE), and over 15% in Asia.

The data also highlighted differences in how consumers shop and buy in different regions. Unsurprisingly email continued to be the most used channel across the board, though EMEA proved to be the only region, outside of the Americas, that saw high growth in email volume year-on-year with a 13% increase.

The MEE region saw a slight decrease in the use of email (-12% YoY) in favor of SMS, mobile push, and in-app messages. In APJ, where a mobile-first mindset is often the norm, usage of in-app (58% YoY growth) and mobile push (176% YoY growth) went up significantly compared to email growth (two percent YoY). Even in EMEA, SMS (53% YoY growth) and in-app (388% YoY growth) mobile messages outpaced email growth, underscoring the importance of an omnichannel strategy.

This data illustrates the global influence of Black Friday, what used to be considered an U.S.-specific sales event. For businesses across the globe, it is crucial to recognize this shift and consider customer behaviors, so they can adapt and evolve their commerce and channel engagement strategies to gain customer loyalty and boost profitability.

Next Step

As market trends evolve, organizations must proactively adopt strategies for profitable and sustainable growth. With the right blend of modern technologies, agile business processes, and customer centric strategies, businesses significantly benefit from extended shopping season, through personalized omnichannel engagements, increased conversions, and lifelong customer loyalty. 

Moreover, with the right choice of cloud technologies, organizations can remain secure and compliant, while delivering reliable, scalable, and personalized experiences that are optimized for their industries.

To learn more about how 麻豆原创 Customer Experience solutions can help, please .

Balaji Balasubramanian is senior vice president and global head of Commerce and Industry Cloud at 麻豆原创.

*All data presented here is approximate and is based on various assumptions. All data is unaudited and is subject to adjustment. All financial figures are in USD. Data represents online and offline sales made by 麻豆原创 global merchants.

鈥淚f you have your consumers 鈥� in our case 鈥榝ans鈥� 鈥� benefit at the heart of everything that you do, everyone is going to win,鈥� Josh Ehren, Gibson Brands global head of Direct-to-Consumer, told 麻豆原创 at NRF 2023. 鈥淚t is not just a technology that goes into it; it is an understanding of how you communicate.鈥�

communications strategy is playing lead, informing how tech enables its fan engagement, Ehren stated after a fireside chat with , now part of 麻豆原创, at 麻豆原创鈥檚 booth. And the Nashville-based guitar manufacturer鈥檚 fanbase extends beyond its legendary Les Paul collab and into its family of brands that include amps, pedals, , and more.

鈥淲e have the most amazing, loyal, obsessed fans for our instruments and for our brands,鈥� Ehren said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 our job to make sure that we connect with them in the ways that they want to connect with us 鈥� and [in] an easy way for them.鈥�

This is where technology joins the band.

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

When Tech Plays Rhythm

Technology helps Gibson understand what each fan wants, what makes an individual鈥檚 journey unique, and how fans interact with the brand, according to Ehren. And fan journeys can range from a noob who has never touched catgut all the way to an artist who makes her living strumming six strings.

鈥淭hat is a massive span of different individualized types of fans that we connect with,鈥� Ehren said in an . 鈥淲e take that information, and that鈥檚 how we can actually craft how we stay connected with them.鈥�

This might mean inviting the aforementioned novice to a try a lesson via or to watch a video on , according to Ehren. Or it could include recommending select accessories to an artist for a specific guitar in his quiver.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 really how we are utilizing that [tech] to connect,鈥� Ehren said. 鈥淲e go through all the way to the end of that spectrum.鈥�

Gibson wasn鈥檛 the only brand at NRF singing the praises of a strategy/tech duet. Other retailers also see tech-driven engagement as essential for growth.

Everything from A to G

Before the pandemic, American home improvement retailer Lowe鈥檚 Companies Inc. updated its legacy e-commerce platform, according to Chairman and CEO Marvin Ellison. Similar to Gibson鈥檚 broad customer spectrum, Mooresville, North Carolina-based Lowe鈥檚 serves everyone from full-time contractors to a new homeowner鈥檚 first do-it-yourself (DIY) project.

鈥淚f we had not made those investments in retail fundamentals, it would have been a catastrophically bad environment for our customers and for us as a company,鈥� Ellison said during . 鈥淲e put the investments in place…continuing to grow our online and omnichannel capabilities, merchandising, selection 鈥� making sure we serve our pro and DIY customers at the highest possible level.鈥�

Such savvy use of tech and data can help organizations ensure they鈥檙e serving all segments of their customer base, as Gibson鈥檚 Ehren noted. He advocates for both internal stakeholders and those across Gibson鈥檚 vast dealer network to let the data tell them what is and isn鈥檛 working.

鈥淭hat data is really going to help us understand: Are we connecting with our fans? To what extent are we connecting with our fans? Is it working?鈥� Ehren said. 鈥淭hat will inform our road map. That will inform how we optimize…Data is absolutely imperative in everything that we do.鈥�

This includes how Gibson meets customer experience challenges, especially those that are even bigger than competing for share-of-wallet.

Putting Customers First Ensures That Everybody Wins

鈥淚t starts with the share-of-time,鈥� Ehren said. 鈥淭o me, that鈥檚 the biggest hurdle.鈥�

The point of sale can鈥檛 be the end of a customer鈥檚 journey, according to Ehren. Gibson wants its fans to rock on 鈥� and on, and on.

鈥淚 care way more about getting over the hurdles of getting a share of their time because that means that I鈥檓 telling the right stories [and] connecting with them,鈥� Ehren said. 鈥淚f we can keep people playing…they鈥檙e happier, they鈥檙e engaged, and it works for us as well.鈥�

All of this engagement supports the entire business 鈥� regardless of where they buy, according to Ehren. His job as global head of D2C is to help them decide on the right products for their individual needs.

鈥淚f they want to understand a little bit more about this guitar, a little bit about more about this amp, etc., and then go to gibson.com or to the , or to one of our dealers 鈥� wherever they want to make that purchase 鈥� they are absolutely able to,鈥� Ehren said. 鈥淎nd I encourage it because, again, everyone wins.鈥�

Derek Klobucher is a video producer at 麻豆原创.

鈥淢ore and more of our users are coming online…[and] they still want to have the similar guidance and the systems they had in-store,鈥� Ganna Lobachevska, the touchpoint owner of Product Finder and Product Guidance at , told 麻豆原创 at NRF 2023 for a new video. 鈥淥ur overall goal is to make it easier for our users to find the right accessory for their job.鈥�

Of course, making something easy to do on the front end is seldom easy to build on the back end. And that was Bosch鈥檚 challenge when helping online shoppers narrow their search for the perfect jigsaw blade, drill bit, or abrasive wheel from a truly massive accessory portfolio.

鈥淎ny company with a wide range of products has to think how they can simplify the user journey…and how they can make it easier for the customers to find the right product,鈥� Lobachevska said. 鈥淲ith the Bosch , we provide a solution that makes it easier and faster.鈥�

Building that easier, faster solution meant finding a high-tech way to satisfy a peculiar demand by online shoppers.

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

When Brick-and-Mortar Set the Bar (Almost) Too High

Selecting a specific power tool accessory for a specific job 鈥� and ensuring it鈥檚 compatible with your specific power tool 鈥� are big reasons that people historically shopped at brick-and-mortar stores, according to Lobachevska. It makes sense, right? You can consult with a knowledgeable human sales associate.

But Bosch鈥檚 e-commerce customers expect the same in-store-style expertise via a quick and painless online exchange, according to Lobachevska. And she doesn鈥檛 seem worried.

鈥淭he Accessory Advisor guides the user through a series of very simple questions,鈥� Lobachevska said. 鈥淚n the end, they have three perfect recommendations for the work they want to do.鈥�

It鈥檚 pretty much an online conversation that yields the right product, according to Lobachevska. And Bosch found the right tech 鈥� and partners 鈥� to make these virtual dialogues happen.

Tech to the Rescue

鈥淲e realized that there is a need for a better user guidance,鈥� Lobachevska said of Bosch鈥檚 decision to go with , a Boston-based digital commerce search platform and partner solution in 麻豆原创鈥檚 industry cloud. 鈥淚t offered us the best.鈥�

Zoovu鈥檚 Semantic Studio translates technical jargon into e-commerce-friendly prose, which saves time for both Bosch data managers and shoppers. A few artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted questions later, and these accessory hunters have enjoyed a smooth, seamless customer experience.

鈥淭his means that our customers spend less time searching for a product,鈥� Lobachevska said. 鈥淎nd when they purchase the product, it鈥檚 the right one and they are more satisfied.鈥�

This increases efficiency, according to Lobachevska. It also cuts down on returns and poor online reviews.

Powering Forward

Whether in-store or online, Bosch digital assistants and 麻豆原创 Marketing Cloud connect to improve Bosch鈥檚 data analytics, business insights, and customer experience, . Those digital assistants have already helped enhance the customer experience for more than 1 million Bosch shoppers across more than 35 global markets, boosting engagement up to 65% as well as increasing customer loyalty and satisfaction.

And still more can be done by connecting all of that to the Accessory Advisor, according to Lobachevska.

鈥淲e would like to connect the Bosch Accessory Advisor with our CRM system, which is basically 麻豆原创 Marketing Cloud,鈥� Lobachevska said. 鈥淭his will allow us to gain business insights, to build better personas, and to make the user experience even better because it鈥檒l be more personalized.鈥�

Enter Replacements Ltd., which offers to help customers identify, restore, or repair damaged pieces of history. Since its founding in 1981, the Greensboro, North Carolina-based retailer has preserved and archived more than 450,000 patterns; these represent about 11 million pieces of china, crystal, silverware, and other collectibles.

鈥淲e want our customers to continue their traditions, to gather with their family and friends, to give that gift to their family member, to help them start their own collection,鈥� Replacements Chief Marketing Officer Lihn Calhoun told 麻豆原创 for a new at NRF 2023. 鈥淪o we want to find the customers, understand what they鈥檙e looking for, and match that together.鈥�

Data and analytics are vital in Replacements鈥� efforts to connect customers with the right piece, according to Calhoun. This includes how Replacements stores and archives each item; how the company presents products and services to the customer; and how 鈥� and how often 鈥� to send personalized, meaningful communications.

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

How To Better Understand Your Customers

Replacements puts a premium on learning about its customers鈥� interests and collections, according to Calhoun. Doing so is crucial to helping each shopper find exactly the right item among the aforementioned 450,000 patterns and 11 million pieces.

鈥淗aving that information in our technology platform 鈥� and being able to aggregate that in a useful way 鈥� allows us to better connect each piece to that new person to create that new story,鈥� Calhoun said . 鈥淲e鈥檝e been doing that right from the start, in terms of collecting that customer information, understanding the patterns of interest, and making that connection.鈥�

The COVID-19 pandemic hastened Replacements鈥� transition to ecommerce and, therefore, smoother, more relevant connection with customers, according to Calhoun. is now a big part of the company鈥檚 tech-driven effort to share the highly specific product information it has painstakingly archived 鈥� and to empower its customers.

Innovating to Empower Your Customers

Three types of customers visit Replacements online, according to Calhoun. There are generally shoppers who are looking to buy, people looking to sell their vintage pieces to Replacements, and others who are simply browsing or researching.

鈥淥ne of the things that they鈥檙e looking to do is to identify a pattern…[Before the pandemic] you would call us, you would describe it, you would send us a picture,鈥� Calhoun said of the process, which was time-intensive for both customers and Replacements. Today, the company鈥檚 Web site features a camera icon that handles the photography and speedy pattern recognition for china and crystal. 鈥淚t went from potentially days to minutes.鈥�

Benefits of the rollout include helping sellers and researchers identify patterns faster as well as freeing up time for employees to accomplish other tasks, according to Calhoun. And a pleasant surprise was that customers looking to buy were exploring pieces that they might not have otherwise discovered 鈥� which has positively impacted revenue.

鈥淲e have improved efficiency internally,鈥� Calhoun said, 鈥渁nd we鈥檝e given that power to the user on our Web site.鈥�

How Data Informs Decisions

鈥�Replacements uses technology to improve people鈥檚 lives by making it easier for them to gather with their family and friends, create that memorable experience, and pass along traditions,鈥� Calhoun told 麻豆原创 during the video interview. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what differentiates us, really…We do that so that we can preserve all these amazing pieces.鈥�

Just the sight of a long-forgotten pattern can evoke strong memories, according to Calhoun. Walking through Replacements鈥� 500,000-square-foot warehouse, she noticed someone unpack the same pattern that her great-grandmother used.

鈥淚mmediately I saw my grandmother鈥檚 dining room table 鈥� how she pre-set it every evening in preparation for breakfast 鈥� and the memory was that strong, that visual,鈥� Calhoun said. 鈥淭hose memories help us; they feed our heart and our soul.鈥�

That鈥檚 why data is crucial to Replacements for both finding vintage items for shoppers 鈥� nurturing core customers and collectors 鈥� and simultaneously introducing its massive inventory to new audiences, according to Calhoun. These are different demographics who all desire to own pieces of history.

鈥淵ou should still have your stories, your brand connections, your human connections, the emotional connections,鈥� Calhoun said. 鈥淏ut the data helps you better target and provide the communication to your customer at the right time, the right way.鈥�

Swarovski says it wants to offer high-quality experiences that draw on the its long heritage in luxury. Particularly, the company wants to make its presence felt in the top cities of this world. After all, that is where trends are created and culture is shaped.

Swarovski is due to open a new flagship store on New York鈥檚 Fifth Avenue this year, and with U.S. model Bella Hadid as the current brand ambassador and rapper Doja Cat, Swarovski is very much a part of the cultural conversation. Swarovski wants to enchant customers with unique savoir-faire in creativity, craftsmanship, and quality, which have been perfected in the company’s 128-year history.

Digital as a Key Resource for LUXignite

Digital plays a key role in the implementation of the new LUXignite strategy. Innovation has been in the company’s DNA since it was founded by Daniel Swarovski in 1895. Dr. Lea Sonderegger is responsible for the digital heart of Swarovski today. She started making money programming Web sites while still in school 鈭� back then in the Plain Text Editor. Sonderegger has been with Swarovski for 13 years and has held several leading global positions in digital new business development and e-commerce.

Sonderegger first suggested opening a mobile store at Swarovski in 2010. At the time, however, her ideas were met with skepticism. “Today, 70% of visits come via mobile devices, 70% of digital sales are mobile, and in China it’s almost 100%. That was not considered possible at the time,” she comments.

Since early 2022, Sonderegger holds the title of chief digital officer/chief information officer (CDO/CIO) and, as a member of the international Executive Committee, she is responsible for the global digital business, global IT, and data and analytics.

New Way of Leading and Teamwork

“Today, we live in a time of digital Darwinism,” she says. “A time when technology and society are evolving faster than companies are able to adapt.鈥� As a result, she says, it is crucial to respond quickly, strategically, and pragmatically to innovations. 鈥淭he new era also requires a new kind of leadership and teamwork,鈥� she adds.

In her CDO/CIO role, it is important to Sonderegger that IT no longer thinks in terms of modules and software solutions as it used to, but in terms of creating value. “IT is no longer just an enabler, and technology no longer a pure means to an end. IT must optimally support the core company processes 鈥� create, make, and sell 鈥� and generate value itself. Only in this way can digital become a competitive advantage,” says Sonderegger.

At Swarovski, the digital leaders plan their strategies together with the functional heads. “So that we all row in the same direction,” says Sonderegger. After all, the technologies are only as good as the people behind them. That is why their ability to use data and technologies to create value 鈥� the human “digital dexterity” 鈥� is a pivotal pillar of Swarovski’s digital strategy.

“Entrepreneurial thinking in every little action is the key to success,” Sonderegger claims. The fact that she is also responsible for the profit and loss of the global e-commerce business in her CDO/CIO role ignites the digital transformation strategy with entrepreneurial spirit.

40 Years of Partnership with 麻豆原创

Swarovski has embarked on the path of cloud transformation to remain competitive. In doing so, Sonderegger is building on a long-standing relationship with 麻豆原创. In fact, the family-owned company from Wattens in Tyrol, Austria still has an old contract it signed with 麻豆原创 40 years ago. “The signature of 麻豆原创 Founder Hasso Plattner is under the contract,” says Sonderegger. At that time, Swarovski bought “RF – Real-Time Financial Accounting.” It was the beginning of a long and successful partnership.

“This journey, which began 40 years ago, connects us,” says Sonderegger. In the next chapter, 麻豆原创 will work with the heritage brand on the next stage of its digital transformation, supporting its global expansion and diversification with technological innovation in terms of products and customer experience.

To achieve this goal, Swarovski chose and . “We want to move our entire 麻豆原创 software-based digital backbone and e-commerce landscape to the cloud,” says Sonderegger. Figures that illustrate the scope of the RISE with 麻豆原创 project include 15 terabytes of productive systems and 17 system landscapes including e-commerce.

“The strategic partnership with 麻豆原创 is fully aligned with Swarovski’s LUXignite strategy. We need a scalable platform to develop and operate competitive business processes,” says Sonderegger.

Technical Innovation as a Competitive Advantage

RISE with 麻豆原创 offers Swarovski the future-proof digital basis for the implementation of its own cloud strategy and the flexible and secure support of innovations in the cloud. “With our cloud transformation, we are able to not only support the LUXignite strategy; we are also able to increase our efficiency, reduce costs, and become much more flexible through the model agreed with 麻豆原创,” says Sonderegger.

麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud will also help support unique customer experiences across all channels. This is because omnichannel sales are important for Swarovski. Many customers shop online but pick up their purchases in the store or use the “endless aisle.” This way, customers have the option to buy in store what is not available on-site. Ordered immediately online, the products are delivered to the customer’s home in few days.

“We want to bring the latest customer experiences and features through the cloud. Because our customers are our queens, we must ensure they receive the best possible service,” says Sonderegger. “Their experience with the brand and the products must be perfect in all respects. For this, we need the right technology and, of course, the right people behind it 鈥� people who understand how to create value for our customers and our company.”

Photo courtesy of Swarovski

But clever use of the right data can help you deliver that improved customer experience 鈥� so your customers don鈥檛 find it elsewhere, according to David Witts, senior CRM manager for PUMA. And the global apparel company has enjoyed great success with referral data.

鈥淭hat adds a whole new level to who is not just buying 鈥� but who is referring 鈥� and who are our real brand advocates,鈥� Witts told 麻豆原创 on the NRF 2023 show floor. 鈥淲e need to rethink how we define loyalty.鈥�

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

Redefining Customer Loyalty

鈥淲e might have a customer who, in our original segmentation, is a lapsed customer, but we see that they鈥檙e referring all of their friends who are then buying from us,鈥� Witts said in . 鈥淭hat changes the way we perceive the value of that customer 鈥� and changes the way that we want to communicate with them.鈥�

Customer segmentation is the grouping together of people with similar characteristics, making it easier for organizations to personalize communications, products, and more. First-party referral data is especially useful to PUMA for segmentation and communication, according to Witts.

鈥淚t changes the way we think about who a customer is,鈥� Witts said. 鈥淚f we see customers who are referring people regularly, that makes them much more of a brand advocate.鈥�

Enter PUMA鈥檚 referral program, which influences how the company communicates and rewards brand advocates, according to Witts. The referral program was inspired by two company goals: increase customer lifetime value and cultivate relationships with customers.

鈥淎dding a referral program just seemed to fit with both of those goals,鈥� Witts said. 鈥淚f we see that they鈥檙e not showing any interest in buying from us but they鈥檙e still referring their friends, that changes the way we think about them, so that they鈥檙e much more valuable to us.鈥�

Creating Opportunities

Beyond e-commerce, the right data can offer insights that reinvigorate brick-and-mortar locations, too, as Macy鈥檚 Inc. Chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette noted. Data can reveal where you鈥檙e succeeding and what needs attention.

鈥淐ustomers are looking for ideas about the way that they can take a work look and translate it into a night look. They鈥檙e looking for opportunities,鈥� Gannette said during . 鈥淐reating opportunities for them, from a merchandising perspective, has given our stores a center of gravity that they didn鈥檛 have a year ago…We鈥檙e always working on it; we鈥檙e never done.鈥�

And pandemic-driven changes in the economy offered a chance for Saks OFF 5th 鈥渢o make bold new changes鈥� and adjust its thinking, according to President and CEO Paige Thomas. The department store chain dug into its data to discover who was engaging with the brand, what they were looking for, and more about their lifestyles 鈥� all to better understand relevant demographics.

鈥淲e had this kind of wonderful discovery of a really fast-growing segment within our customer base, and this segment was a high earner, very fashion-driven, and shopped everywhere,鈥� Thomas said during . 鈥淚t really gave us a bull鈥檚-eye as an organization to say, 鈥楬ow do we think about our merchandising strategy? How do we think about our marketing strategy? How do we think about our customer experience?鈥欌��

The Right Message at the Right Time

Data, analytics, and other tech are helping PUMA discover who is interested in buying and what they鈥檙e interested in buying, according to Witts. It also helps them hyper-personalize communication.

鈥淲e want to talk to the right customer with the right message at the right time through the right channel…That鈥檚 what we can do with ,鈥� Witts said, noting that PUMA can see which e-mails a customer opens, ignores, and clicks through. 鈥淭hrough all that, we can start to build that picture of each individual customer and then tailor our communications to send them things that they want to see.鈥�

Providing a differentiated customer experience has always been vital for PUMA, according to Witts. And making everything more personalized and relevant will be crucial to PUMA鈥檚 future success.

鈥淭here鈥檚 some really exciting things that we鈥檝e seen through 麻豆原创 Emarsys Customer Engagement and through 麻豆原创 at that predictive analytics [and] AI level. I think it鈥檚 just going to make it all so much easier,鈥� Witts said. 鈥淎nd as we move into more of a loyalty space, that鈥檚 absolutely going to be key for us.鈥�

Derek Klobucher is a video producer at 麻豆原创.

In today’s complex and multi-channel marketplace, organizations must constantly optimize to deal with emerging channels and new competitors while serving their customers best-in-class experiences to earn their trust and loyalty. Commerce systems that are not built for this design principle cannot help organizations adapt quickly or cost effectively.

Compose on Your Own Terms, Not Your Vendor鈥檚

At , 麻豆原创 is pre-announcing its new 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud composable offering, a different approach to composability than what has been available in the market thus far. This offering is predicated on the recognition that every industry and enterprise is unique and that existing one-size-fits-all approaches to composability are not ideal for most businesses. Through this 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud composable offering, merchants will be able to compose commerce experiences that best suit their individual needs today, wherever they are in their digital maturity journey, without jeopardizing flexibility down the line.

For example, some businesses may want a more traditional, 鈥渁ll-in-one鈥� approach across areas such as order management, product information management, content management, personalization, and marketing engagement. Meanwhile, more digitally mature enterprises may want to compose best-of-breed digital commerce experiences and can now do so on a single platform. 麻豆原创鈥檚 unique approach to composable commerce can give our merchants that level of flexibility as well as anything in between, enabling them to future proof their investment without sacrificing agility. By adopting best-of-breed 麻豆原创 and partner solutions on top of a highly flexible and proven platform, 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud customers can extend the solution鈥檚 capabilities and create an offering that fits their own unique business strategy, today and tomorrow.

Digital Commerce Composability Done Right

With 麻豆原创鈥檚 unique approach to composable commerce, 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud customers can drive profitability through agility by leveraging a feature-rich, extensible 鈥渄igital anchor鈥� solution, coupled with a vast pre-integrated and certified partner ecosystem. With its continuous innovation delivery model, 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud enables merchants to focus on delighting customers instead of investing in table-stakes capabilities that require stitching together disjointed solutions not designed to be interoperable at scale. 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud, composable storefront, the solution鈥檚 full API-coverage, 鈥渉eadless with-a-head鈥� software, in conjunction with 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform (麻豆原创 BTP) and Kyma Runtime, enables developers to extend 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud functionality with containerized microservices and serverless functions while keeping pace with their customers鈥� expectations.

Highly Curated and Strategic Partner Solutions

A rich and vibrant partner ecosystem is a key aspect of digital commerce success, so 麻豆原创 is also introducing strategic relationships with the following curated, best-of-breed vendors from its existing extensive partner ecosystem:

• helps businesses connect, create, and extend content more efficiently so they can build faster and deliver at scale, no matter the channel or touchpoint.
• provides artificial intelligence (AI)-powered search and discovery, recommendations, and personalization to improve merchant profitability through higher conversion, increased average order value, and customer lifetime value.
• provides an easy-to-use product experience management solution for retailers, distributors, manufacturers, and brands to organize and enrich product content, delivering impactful product experiences across all owned and third-party channels on a modern cloud-native platform.
• powers one-click checkout, identity, accounts, payments, and post-purchase infrastructure, helping to reduce friction for the customer by turning every checkout moment into an opportunity and driving higher conversion for the business.
• enables businesses to capitalize on the platform economy by bringing their digital marketplace to life, expanding their business vertically to deepen customer and channel partner relationships and drive profitability while simultaneously reducing inventory risk.
• supports the entire pricing journey, from setting optimal prices and managing the rebate process to maximizing your organization鈥檚 pricing power.

Benefit from an Industry-First Approach to Digital Commerce

麻豆原创鈥檚 long and rich history of helping organizations from more than 25 industries grow and transform enables us to tap into our deep industry knowledge and expertise to deliver industry-specific digital commerce capabilities.

Unlike other commerce vendors that emphasize strength of technology alone, 麻豆原创 is taking a more customer-centric approach by also pre-announcing the availability of our headless composable storefronts for financial services, travel, telecommunications, utilities, and public sector, on top of our currently available B2C and B2B composable storefronts for retail, consumer products, wholesale distribution, and industrial manufacturing. Industry add-ons can provide unique business workflows with pre-configured tools, capabilities, and storefronts that help shorten time-to-market, increase operational efficiency, and drive sustainably profitable growth through digital commerce.

Hear from our partners and customers:

“With 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud’s approach to composability, we’ve been able to create our own commerce platform with solutions we need, such as Contentful, to deliver the best commerce experience to customers. 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud is the essential power to implement business agility and flexibility, and ultimately to generate increased profitability for us.”聽

鈥� Matthieu Houle, CIO, ALDO Group

“麻豆原创’s approach to composable commerce provides agility, flexibility, and extensibility with its feature-rich commerce platform. As our customers focus on profitability in this uncertain economic climate, we’re excited to support their digital commerce growth via 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud.”

鈥� Deepak Sobhani, Principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP

鈥溌槎乖粹�檚 composable commerce approach allows us to work with customers in a way that offers significant extensibility on top of a proven, robust feature set.聽We’re excited to create the most flexible, scalable, and customer-centric solutions with these world-class ISV partners while maximizing the business value of our customer’s investments.鈥�

鈥� Ryan Heusinkveld, Chief Technology Officer, Smith

鈥淲e are thrilled to join with 麻豆原创 as the content partner for 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud, composable storefront. The Contentful Composable Content Platform meets the unique demands of digital teams by making it easy to orchestrate content from multiple sources and publish to any digital channel. This helps companies reach new customers faster, maximize their 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud investment, and drive revenue.鈥�

鈥� 鈥疭teve Sloan, CEO, Contentful

鈥淲e are thrilled to have Coveo certified as an 麻豆原创 endorsed app. 麻豆原创 has been a natural partner for Coveo in B2B and B2C commerce. Together, we extend digital commerce capabilities to unlock profitable commerce growth with AI. Our enterprise-class AI platform complements the 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud portfolio by helping companies power online buying experiences we believe today鈥檚 shoppers expect 鈥� fast, dynamic, effective product discovery and relevant recommendations 鈥� and also provide the AI platform merchandisers need to maximize business outcomes versus managing manual rules.”鈥�

鈥� Louis T锚tu, CEO and Chairman at Coveo

Drive Digital Commerce Excellence across the Entire Value Chain

By seamlessly and comprehensively connecting demand signals with the supply chain, 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud enables enterprises to drive profitable growth, regardless of their industry, business model, or level of digital maturity. 麻豆原创 is consistently recognized as a leading digital commerce solution vendor by Gartner, IDC, Paradigm B2B, and other industry analysts. 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud can provide a highly scalable, fully featured, and flexible commerce platform for B2B, B2C, or B2B2C use cases.

麻豆原创 reaffirms its commitment to the digital commerce and customer experience categories and is taking a bold step into the future with a unique, industry-led approach to composability that puts merchants鈥� digital commerce needs front and center.

To learn more,聽 .

Riad Hijal is global head of Marketing and Solutions for 麻豆原创 Commerce.

Whether it鈥檚 streaming services, cell phones, or robotic lawn mowers, today鈥檚 consumers are more than happy to enjoy the convenience of buying high-tech products and services online. In a matter of mouse-clicks, they can configure a product and select whether to buy, lease, or subscribe 鈥� depending on their personal preferences.

But things are very different when it comes to buying a new car. A found that three out of four consumers still prefer to purchase from an authorized vehicle dealership. Yet it also revealed that there was a growing appreciation of the benefits of virtual purchase processes. Consumers would like to see buying a new car become like buying a new cell phone.

鈥淥ur assumption is that there will always be people who visit physical dealerships to 鈥渇eel鈥� a car and test-drive it,鈥� explains Bj枚rn Schick, CXO and member of the executive board of smart聽Europe. 鈥淏ut it won鈥檛 be long before they become the minority and more people start configuring and ordering their cars online 鈥� in just a few quick steps.鈥�

Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) Vehicle Sales Are Booming

How soon that happens, Schick says, will depend hugely on whether suitably attractive offers are available. Increasingly, customers are willing to sign contracts online if they can obtain a favorable short-term lease or subscription deal on transparent terms. They then have a tendency to be more adventurous in their choice of car model and color.

鈥淭hey鈥檒l quite deliberately opt for a sportier model, maybe, or bright yellow paintwork,鈥� says Schick. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 because the focus is not on the vehicle鈥檚 resale value when the contract ends, but on the customer鈥檚 preferences.鈥�

Many of today鈥檚 market players 鈥� both established and new 鈥� are well aware of the business opportunities behind this change in consumer habits. They are muscling their way into online channels to claim their share of the rapidly growing D2C vehicle market. Alongside electric car pioneer Tesla, brands including NIO and Polestar are showing the way 鈥� and automakers across the world are following their lead.

Direct Sales on a Single E-Commerce Platform

smart Europe also sees strong prospects for its own new-vehicle business here and is aligning its entire company infrastructure accordingly. smart Europe is a wholly owned subsidiary of smart Automobile Co., Ltd., a joint venture established in 2019 between iconic German vehicle manufacturer Mercedes-Benz, which transferred its smart brand to the partnership, and Chinese automaker Geely. The aim of the joint venture is to offer all-electric smart models on a new e-commerce platform for climate-conscious, city-dwelling consumers for whom the online world is second nature.

鈥淥ur business model is based on direct business with consumers, whom we address through an omnichannel approach so that we can sell our cars virtually and physically on a single platform,鈥� explains Schick.

Car dealerships play their part in this business model too. 鈥淲e see them as a key element in our sales strategy,鈥� says Schick. 鈥淭heir role is changing, but it鈥檚 just as important as before. As a newly formed company, we鈥檝e got the chance to reinvent and recalibrate our dealership model.鈥� Dealers will no longer own vehicles themselves and sell them, but will serve as brand ambassadors for (joint) customers at the physical retail touchpoint and as sales and service partners. They will arrange test drives, hand vehicles over to their new owners, and invite customers to events targeted at particular client segments. In short: car dealerships as we know them today will no longer function chiefly as sales outlets, but as agencies that showcase the brand.

麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud as the Process Backbone for smart Europe

The foundation for this innovative style of cooperation is smart鈥檚 new e-commerce platform, which can be accessed not only by smart Europe employees and dealers but, for example, by repair shops as well. They can each see the data the customer has given its consent for them to access. The new platform will become operational at the end of 2022, coinciding with the launch of the first new smart #1.

Central to the platform is , on which all of smart Europe鈥檚 e-commerce transactions will run, from product configuration to payment. 鈥溌槎乖� Commerce Cloud lets us map all the country-specific tax and legal requirements so that we can manage all the processes for our business across Europe on a single platform,鈥� explains Schick.

Coupled with 麻豆原创 Customer Data Cloud, 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud also plays a key role in delivering hyper-personalized content on the front end because, when the two solutions are integrated, they push relevant data for a given set of parameters by country and customer segment. This means that, on the new e-commerce platform, someone who is sporty, adventurous, and has an eye for design will see different content and journeys than, say, someone with a different psychographic profile, such as an 鈥渋nformation seeker.鈥�

Accurate and Secure Consent Management Built In

麻豆原创 Customer Data Cloud and 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud form the backbone for authenticating and verifying customers and for managing customer consent. The 麻豆原创 Customer Identity and Access Management solutions help ensure that all customer consent statements relating to being contacted or to personal data being processed are handled accurately and securely and 鈥� most importantly 鈥� in compliance with GDPR (the EU General Data Protection Regulation).

The major advantage of 麻豆原创 Customer Data Cloud is that it records all customer data centrally, including conventional data like the personal 鈥渟mart ID鈥� that identifies any smart customer at any touchpoint and relevant product data as well. The digital key is an example of how this data can be used: owners of an all-electric smart can opt for a digital key to operate their car and can even share the key with friends via an app. The vehicle-locking mechanism, consent to the transfer of data, and so on are managed on the central platform.

鈥淭his shows that the new platform is much more than a marketing and sales tool,鈥� says Schick. 鈥淚t is practically part of the product.鈥�

Enhanced 360-Degree View Supports New Business Models

More product data comes from the 麻豆原创 Digital Vehicle Hub application, which serves as the digital twin of any smart car. The application contains not only technical data about a vehicle, but also provides insight into wearing parts that need replacing and about driver behavior. Connecting these two layers, customer data and product data 鈥� each of which allows a panoramic view of their object 鈥� creates 360-degree visibility into both the customer and their vehicle. This in turn opens the door to scores of new digital services, product enhancements, and personalized customer offerings.

鈥淗aving opportunities like this on the horizon makes working with 麻豆原创 particularly compelling,鈥� says Schick. 鈥淲e鈥檙e on an innovation journey, interacting closely with 麻豆原创 on what else the solutions might be able to do in the future.鈥� smart Europe鈥檚 aim is to deliver on its vision of becoming an urban companion for its target market 鈥� for all of their vehicle-related service needs.

鈥淥ur motto is 鈥榯ry, learn, adjust, repeat!鈥欌�� says Schick. 鈥淲ith that in mind, we鈥檒l keep moving steadily along the road to our destination 鈥� but always be ready to change lanes if we need to.鈥�

Top image courtesy of smart Europe.

But the fun of my conversation with Lamees Butt, SVP Global Alliances & Channels at Zoovu, was more about the sheer inventiveness of the offering itself than the name. You know how everybody loves to tell you about their 鈥渞evolutionary鈥� new products? Well, Butt quickly convinced me that the Zoovu app, one of the hottest sellers on 麻豆原创 Store, really is. As for the name 鈥� I鈥檒l get to that later.

Transforming Discovery

Product discovery: that鈥檚 what Zoovu is revolutionizing. While online search does keep improving, the truth is that you still have to know what you鈥檙e looking for. Zoovu 鈥渉umanizes鈥� product discovery, Butt told me, making products easier to find, evaluate, and buy by bringing context to your search.

鈥淢ost e-commerce sites are not much more than indexes or digital catalogs,鈥� she commented, 鈥渘ot well organized or structured. Say you need a new laptop and go online to do some research. Where do you start? You鈥檒l probably be asked to specify, for instance, how much RAM you need, how much CPU. What does that mean?鈥� She added a shocking statistic: 80% of organizations believe they are offering a good user experience. Only 8% of buyers agree.

Imagine instead being guided through the process with relevant questions and interactive buying advice. With Zoovu integrated into your commerce experience, Butt explained, you are asked the questions the knowledgeable sales assistant would pose in-store. For example, what do you typically do with your laptop? Say you run a lot of spreadsheets, meet colleagues virtually online, travel on business, design flyers for community events, and construct crossword puzzles. Voil脿! With five questions, the digital assistant translates your needs and recommends you a laptop. Essentially, it uses artificial intelligence (AI) and semantics to personalize your search.

That鈥檚 a simple example for a B2C use case. Now imagine a complex purchase for a B2B buyer 鈥� a hospital upgrading X-ray equipment, for example, or a contractor building aircraft components. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so easy to make a mistake in specifications or choose the wrong product,鈥� Butt said, 鈥渁nd there typically are no tools on commerce for cross-checking product compliance. With our solution, by connecting the back-office product content and exposing it to the front-office commerce experience, there is zero error.鈥�

Converting Prospects

Since 麻豆原创 Store is such a valuable resource for 麻豆原创 account executives, who can learn about and recommend partner offerings, I broached concern about the app eliminating sales people鈥檚 jobs. On the contrary, she replied, it can serve as an assistant for them, too. Customers can get answers to simpler questions on their own and free up the experts for transactions that require their know-how. Account executives can work with customers to better understand what they need and adapt their sales approach in real time 鈥� and dramatically improve conversion rates. Another Zoovu app on 麻豆原创 Store, , enables your end customer to virtually set, build, bundle, and configure complex products online while reducing manual intervention.

Innovating Through Integration

The Zoovu discovery experiences are integrated with 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud, 麻豆原创 Sales Cloud, and 麻豆原创 CPQ to work securely with any IT landscape. The Zoovu platform enriches product content automatically with industry-specific taxonomies and work across all industries. 鈥淭he qualifying questions,鈥� Butt remarked, 鈥渁re gold dust for companies that are building complex mechanics for their customers.鈥� Because of that tight integration, the apps scale across channels and regions and can easily be embedded at distribution partners via web, chat, and in-store kiosks.

I was intrigued about Butt鈥檚 role, since she is such an enthusiastic evangelist. She鈥檚 been a member of the Zoovu team as one of the first employees, coming in with a background in the digital transformation space. She noted that the company expanded quickly after it was established in 2017 by several young computer scientists, who surrounded themselves with smart people from diverse fields with different skill sets. Her responsibility is to help the company scale through partnerships, and 麻豆原创 is an ideal match, she observed, because of the product-customer fit. Let me add that she is 100% correct in that respect. The Zoovu apps set a record on 麻豆原创 Store with the speed of uptake from our customers.

It seems that an intern came up with 鈥淶oovu鈥� in the process of building a product subset, and it caught on. That intern, Butt added, is now part of the Zoovu leadership team.

Is your organization ready for a revolution in product discovery? Why not find out how on ?

Rajiv Nema is part of Marketplace Group for Digital Experiences at 麻豆原创.

But Cyber Week still reigns supreme for shoppers as the year鈥檚 most important shopping weekend. This year, 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud powered over US$8.3 billion in digital commerce gross merchandise value (GMV) for Cyber Week. Specifically, our retail customers saw a 22.3% increase in average order value (AOV) year over year.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) is predicting compared with the same period last year, which is significantly lower than the 13% growth the year prior. We believe some of that growth can be attributed to as of late October.

Inflation 鈥� coupled with a looming recession 鈥� has affected shopper spending habits, but not in the ways most people would expect. Many insiders and analysts predicted that shoppers would be buying less and paying more, but with this season, deals and promotions have been plentiful. In addition, shoppers aren鈥檛 necessarily shopping less, but instead . To help with cash flow, many shoppers are dipping into savings, relying on credit cards, or taking advantage of buy-now-pay-later options at checkout to be sure that they can still make the holidays work for themselves and their loved ones.

Shoppers Are Looking for Deals and Promotions

These spending trends are reflected in shoppers鈥� online behaviors as well, evidenced by movement in site traffic. For Black Friday, overall site traffic for 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud customers increased 23% versus last year. For these same customers on Cyber Monday, overall site traffic increased 53%.

In addition to site traffic, retail customers leveraging 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud saw Black Friday conversion rates of 3.4 times more versus last year, as well as Cyber Monday conversion rates 2.9 times more versus last year.

What鈥檚 more impressive are the site traffic metrics and conversion rates when we zoom in on our business-to-consumer (B2C) retail customers running sales events, which show that shoppers are actively looking for deals and will buy if the deals are attractive enough. Black Friday traffic for retailers running 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud that executed sales events was 33% higher year over year, versus a 16% increase for the total data set. Conversion rates during these events were even more impressive, with an explosive 209% higher year over year for those that ran them, compared to a 4% increase for the total data set. On Cyber Monday, traffic for retailers running sales events using 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud was 58% higher year over year, versus a 40% increase for the total data set. Conversion rates were similarly great, coming in at 382% higher year over year for those that ran sales events, compared to 5% less year over year for the whole data set.

What to Expect and Key Recommendations for Brands

EMarketer鈥檚 Insider Intelligence , and with the current , it鈥檚 hard to say if spending will persist throughout the rest of the holiday shopping season into the new year.

Despite the current uncertainty, retailers can stay agile to cater to shoppers鈥� needs, meeting and exceeding their expectations while responding to dynamic market conditions. Having the right levers to pull at any time is key to successful holiday sales growth, so they should leverage their technology to monitor changing shopping behaviors and identify and convert on growth opportunities by quickly adding new touchpoints and experiences. Finally, they can ensure the last-mile journey for shoppers is frictionless by ensuring inventory levels will meet demand and fulfillment is not backlogged, ultimately avoiding the dreaded post-holiday returns that can eat into the growth they worked so hard for.

To learn more about 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud, .

All data presented here is approximate and is based on various assumptions. All data is unaudited and is subject to adjustment. All financial figures are in USD. Data represents online and offline sales made by 麻豆原创 global merchants.