Channel shift: Prioritizing digital commerce

Three imperatives to take on the Now and the Next

The COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly accelerating the digital commerce pivot globally, forcing business to revisit and even reimagine their strategy in the interest of capturing new marketplace opportunities and their fair share of new digital customer segments.

Reassure your customers and employees

There is unprecedented confusion on what, where and how to buy things—customers are concerned about who to buy from, if they’re paying a fair price or even if they’ll be able to find the essentials they need.

As a result, they are gravitating towards companies that are truthful, transparent and driven by a clear purpose.

These principles extend through customer channels and their engagement with retailers, as well as into Business-to-Business relationships and how companies work with their distributors, wholesalers, or manufacturing direct suppliers.

Companies who can demonstrate these attributes will deliver a differentiated level of customer service and make themselves more relevant and connected to their customers—old and new—on an ongoing basis.

What’s going on

• New consumers digitally engaging with your brand will bring about a different set of expectations and new opportunities to build trust and relevance.
• Beyond unpredictable sales through unpredictable channels, direct-to-consumer companies must contend with other unknowns, like new buyers in a household.
• In B2B, with the unpredictability in the product supply chain and distribution channels, manufacturers are looking to expand their strategy to move closer to end consumers.
• Many organizations have offered crisis-related accommodations to their customers that show true empathy about the hardships faced by so many.
• And companies are also looking at how they can help broader communities.
• Some companies are straying outside of their core business models and repurposing their assets to assist the greater human cause.

Stabilize your digital channels, platforms and infrastructure

Imagine the accelerated demand of Cyber Monday, every day for the foreseeable future. The latest figures from the USDA’s Economic Research Service found that in 2018, food purchased away from home in the US accounted for 54 percent of total food expenditure.

With the closure of cafes, restaurants, bars and hotels and the grounding of airlines, much of this demand will need to be met by the grocery sector, online. That’s the new reality as mass quarantines and unpredictable retail stock availability cause online commerce to skyrocket. While this represents an opportunity to grow revenue, attract new customers and drive channel shift, it depends on digital channels and capabilities having appropriate scale and stability to handle the crush. Businesses must flex quickly to capture the opportunity, and systems must be prepared to withstand the increased loads.

What’s going on

• New consumers digitally engaging with your brand will bring about a different set of expectations and new opportunities to build trust and relevance.
• Beyond unpredictable sales through unpredictable channels, direct-to-consumer companies must contend with other unknowns, like new buyers in a household.
• Many organizations have offered crisis-related accommodations to their customers that show true empathy about the hardships faced by so many.
• Companies are also looking at how they can help broader communities.
• Some companies are straying outside of their core business models and repurposing their assets to assist the greater human cause.
• In B2B, with the unpredictability in the product supply chain and distribution channels, manufacturers are looking to expand their strategy to move closer to end consumers.

Reconfigure and extend your products, services, merchandise, partnerships and ecosystems

With the closure of retail establishments, and the disruption of supply chains, the rules for merchandise and inventory have fundamentally shifted. Historical data on what sells online vs. offline is out the window. Companies now have a lot of inventory that they are sitting on in retail outlets that they need to figure out how to get online.

Businesses that have historically invested in digital commerce sales tools will likely have an easier time adjusting to this new, digital first economy, while those that have only made moderate strides will be more greatly disrupted. For example, traditional auto auction houses are shutting down, while on-line auctions are fast becoming the norm—even in a reduced volume business, those that are digital-prepared are seeing increases.

What’s going on

• Hoarding and low inventory levels.
• New markets and ecosystems are opening up.
• Businesses will be forced to revisit their customer engagement strategy.
• Companies are rebalancing their merchandising.
• Groceries, restaurants and other food outlets.
• Workforces are being redeployed.
• Brands are getting closer to the new demand cycle to rebalance inventory.
• Manufacturing is also stabilizing operations amid big demand shifts.
• Within B2B, social distancing and travel restrictions that limit traditional high-touch sales processes have accelerated a need for “low or no-touch” purchasing.