Platforms. Really? Yes really. A buzzword, especially in e-commerce, that really isn’t losing any importance. But… Everyone wants to build a platform. Brands, retailers, and manufacturers kept asking themselves: Platforms, yes or no? But now they’re asking themselves which platform they want to integrate with. The answer is pretty simple. Go where your customers are.
And where are your customers? They are where the widest range of products and service are available. They’re where they can choose from this offer. Whatever is the easiest, fastest, and best priced. They’re shopping where it’s an experience. After all, those are the added values that go into creating an outstanding user experience – the sacred customer experience. And through platforms, brands, retailers, and manufacturers are able to fulfil that customer promise.
What the platforms of this time promise and why they’re so successful, will be brought to you today.
A few days ago we all looked into the sky. There was a partial lunar eclipse on 16 June, then a strawberry moon in July. The moon landing was just 50 years ago! That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap… Well you know the rest.
Since then, the internet has been bubbling with moon content. We’re taking this as an opportunity to use the reading tips today to make content recs and, just this once, to refer to videos and podcasts. We also want to draw connections between space travel and digitisation.
It was supposedly Goethe’s last word. It is one of the first in the Bible. And as soon as it is put together with other words it indications smart progression. What are we talking about? Light.
The International Day of Light is on the 16th of May every year. It’s celebrated mainly in professional circles: from physicists, who research the world of optics and photonics, and those interested in physics, who take part in special events, in museums, or participants in sightseeing tours of scientific sites.
The date was proclaimed by UNESCO and commemorates the birth of the laser on 16 May 1960. At that time, American physicist Theodore Maiman had developed the first working laser, still puzzled about what his invention of extremely focused light would be good for. But since then it has had numerous uses. The International Day of Light is not just about lasers, or about microscopy and nano-optics, but also about the latest technologies. It’s about transmitting, storing and processing information via light. And so the Day of Light is also a day of the future of digitisation.
Digital business is people business. And if you want to be successful in digital business, you need people around you who share the spirit, who (gladly) do a good job, who are open to ideas and new ways. These people, who develop and design for other people, include not only a company’s employees but also strong and trustworthy partners, without whom the sustainable creation of digital customer relations wouldn’t be possible. We feel this every day and are all the more pleased that we have not just been able to expand our partner network in recent years, but also that our partners appreciate the cooperation with us. Just like the MDM solutions specialist StiboSystems, which distinguished us as the »Rising Star of the Year«. Thank you, StiboSystems. We’re still blown away.
Digitisation and consumption are inseparable. Every technological advance responds to the rising expectations of consumers. If a need is fulfilled, routines change and more is expected. So the innovation and consumption cycle starts over again. Things are expected to get faster, have a greater impact on our habits AND our environment. More and more consumers are taking protecting the planet seriously – even with regard to companies they do and don’t trust.
Brands, dealers and manufacturers face several challenges. They need to keep up with the pace of the digital age and rising customer expectations, but also with their growing desire to consume them consciously and sustainably.
In 2013 Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany said that the Internet was »new territory for all of us«. After that, concepts emerged that should’ve advanced digitisation in Germany. In 2016, this request from the Federal Chancellor followed: »I believe that the ability to code is becoming one of the basic skills for young people, alongside reading, writing, and arithmetic.«
But not much has changed for German students. But is it even necessary to put coding on a par with reading, writing, and arithmetic? Or will this »new« skill soon no longer as necessary as many currently believe?
Being able to buy a product any time, anywhere is a reality in many countries today. This is ensured by constant technological progress and improving infrastructure. 71 per cent of European online shoppers are now shopping across borders. But there are still regions where cross-border e-commerce is a huge challenge.
Africa is a good example. Although the region is still struggling with many obstacles, it holds great potential for online retail. We all know: »First come, first serve.« So does DHL and it’s recognised such potential and taken on this niche market early on.
When it comes to trends, you usually expect the latest and coolest developments. The fact that many of the trends that are driving digital business, but have been around for quite some time, was clear in the first part of this retrospective series. Even after three decades of World Wide Web, nothing is changing the maxims for successful business. Customer satisfaction and long-term customer relationships.
In order to make them successful, retailers, manufacturers and publishers have to create their own digital DNA and that also means recognising trends with long-term viability for their business goals AND their target group, reviving them, (re)thinking, and creating innovation from them. One of these classic trends is platforms. Since this topic still has, well actually since 2019, been booming, we’ll discuss it in the second part of this article series: Top-5 commerce trends, revisited.
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