Traditional Brands Must Be Less Afraid to Fail (w/ Bob Meixner, Oracle)
Future Commerce · with Bob Meixner · September 23, 2019 · 45 min
Summary
This episode explores how traditional brands can overcome their fear of failure to innovate in the rapidly evolving e-commerce landscape. Drawing on Oracle's research, Bob Meixner discusses investment trends, the rise of API-first and headless commerce, and the critical need for speed and experimentation in digital commerce to meet increasingly demanding customer expectations.
Key takeaways
Traditional retailers are increasing their e-commerce budgets, with DTC brands showing an even higher rate of investment, primarily focused on frictionless transactions rather than buzzword technologies like AR or voice (yet).
The major barriers to e-commerce success for brands include managing disparate solutions, slow execution of initiatives, lack of a unified customer view, and outdated technology systems.
Brands must adopt API-first, cloud-native platforms to enable rapid experimentation and 'fail fast' strategies, leveraging open APIs to build differentiated customer experiences.
Headless commerce offers creative control and extensibility but should be implemented strategically to avoid losing out on powerful automation and upgradeability inherent in modern SaaS platforms.
To scale, DTC startups need to prioritize scalability, while enterprise retailers must emulate digitally native brands' agility. Luxury brands must continuously invest in superior customer experiences beyond just the product.
With retail customers like Dollar Tree and White House Black Market, Oracle knows a thing or two about commerce. Their recent report, published in conjunction with CommerceNext, dives into how brands of all sizes - from DTC to Enterprise and Luxury, are investing in 2019 and beyond.
What does this episode say about retail & omnichannel?
Traditional retailers are increasing their e-commerce budgets, with DTC brands showing an even higher rate of investment, primarily focused on frictionless transactions rather than buzzword technologies like AR or voice (yet).
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
The major barriers to e-commerce success for brands include managing disparate solutions, slow execution of initiatives, lack of a unified customer view, and outdated technology systems.
What does this episode say about shopify & ecommerce platforms?
Brands must adopt API-first, cloud-native platforms to enable rapid experimentation and 'fail fast' strategies, leveraging open APIs to build differentiated customer experiences.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Headless commerce offers creative control and extensibility but should be implemented strategically to avoid losing out on powerful automation and upgradeability inherent in modern SaaS platforms.
What does this episode say about retail & omnichannel?
To scale, DTC startups need to prioritize scalability, while enterprise retailers must emulate digitally native brands' agility. Luxury brands must continuously invest in superior customer experiences beyond just the product.
