Microbrands have been producing more and more B2C brands for years. They are incessantly taking market share from traditional companies, putting some of them in distress.
But what do these small companies have that the big players don’t? And what can market leaders still learn from small companies?
Parts for cars and aeroplanes and even implants for humans… All could be manufactured on demand with 3D printing. 3D printing/manufacturing is getting trendy again. According to market research firm IDC, four out of ten manufacturers will utilise it in the next three to five years. Factors contributing to the boom include advances in hardware and software as well as an increasing variety of materials that can be used in such processes.
3D printing or additive manufacturing is becoming a major pillar of the fourth industrial revolution. More and more manufacturing companies are discovering 3D printing technology for themselves. Which sectors are using it more and more today? And more importantly, what are its strengths compared to traditional manufacturing approaches?
Future shopping experiences blend the offline and online worlds. A study by EHI proves that omnichannel retailers are fast among the top 1000 online stores.
The combination of all distribution channels climbs to the second position of the most widely used digital business models and will determine the future of retail in addition to an online-only approach. »A classic multichannel strategy seems to be unpopular«, says e-commerce expert Christoph Langenberg from EHI.
Channel linking, however, requires a technical masterpiece. This keeps many small retailers from implementing appropriate services, so it’s mainly the top-selling retailers who rely on omnichannel strategies. Marketplace Otto.de has just announced a cooperation with the shopping centre operator ECE, in which online and offline shopping should be more closely linked.
However, integration isn’t the only growing pain companies suffer from in omnichannel scenarios. Measuring online-to-offline campaigns isn’t always possible. But Google is increasingly stepping up its efforts recently to capture the impact of digital campaigns on in-store purchases.
People keep saying stationary retail is dead. But that’s not really the case. True to the motto »Transform or die!«, The role of branch locations is being redefined and promoted through innovative store concepts. Stationary businesses are no longer seen as just a sales instrument, but they are increasingly developing into service points.
The focus is therefore no longer solely on selling at any price, but to quench the thirst for information typical of the discovery phase and to arouse curiosity. For this, new branch concepts rely on a lot of technology and a small, frequently changing product range.
It is even desirable that customers come to the store, look at products there and try things out before they finally go back without having bought anything. The thought behind this? If the experience remains positive, the purchase will eventually be made through any channel.
All of this promises and enables a new concept, which is becoming more and more prevalent, especially in the United States: Retail as a service. What’s behind it, which success stories are paving the way, and why this approach for manufacturers and brands can be so attractive, will be clarified for you in this article.
Amazon wants to be more than the preferred middleman and is continuing to expand its dominance in online retail. A favourable position in the search results and the large amount of information about consumer behaviour, high-performance categories and products enable the tech giant to open up new opportunities on its own. So Amazon has recently added another private label to its portfolio.
According to TJI Research Amazon already has 141 brands of its own but the most famous is AmazonBasics. And now the online giant from Seattle is launching a new private label aimed at business customers: AmazonCommercial.
Has Amazon’s strategy changed with this step? What’s this new brand all about? Should retailers, manufacturers, and brands worry about this trend, or is this going to open up new opportunities? This is what our article is focusing on.
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.
Influencers aren’t always pets. Or models. Even disheveled craftsmen in guild clothing or corporate bosses with critical opinions can have a great effect as brand ambassadors as long as their appearance on Facebook, Instagram or Youtube is embedded in a clever B2B marketing strategy.
B2B (business-to-business) is a huge area because it’s about nothing less than that manufacturers aren’t selling a product directly to an end customer, but first to a retailer or service provider who then processes it or markets it. How can successful B2B Influencer Marketing look?
How has B2B digitally matured? Are the days when digitising a business was understood as an online copy of the physical business or product catalogue now behind the industry? After all, to be successful in online reatil over the long term and to stand out from the competition requires far more than just a good shop system.
The growth potential for the B2B sector is undoubtedly enormous, but the same is true for its challenges. This is also confirmed by current studies »B2B E-Commerce Sector Report« by IFH Köln and »B2B E-Commerce Economic Index« by ECC Köln and Intellishop. The results paint a complicated picture.
Over the past few years, companies have steadily subjected themselves to digitalisation. Internal processes have been automated, collaboration tools have optimised workflows, and sales channels have been expanded by online shops and mobile apps. SEO, SEA, and social media have strengthened the brand image.
Digitalisation has become something common, even standard, among many businesses. This also implies that being digital is no distinguishing feature any more. Inevitably, the question is: What comes next? Accenture CTIO Paul Daugherty refers to this scenario as the »post-digital world«:
» A post-digital world doesn’t mean that digital is over. On the contrary, we’re posing a new question: as all organizations develop their digital competency, what will set YOU apart? «
Customisation through configurators, but also by means of cutting-edge technology like AI, AR, or 3-D printing is gathering pace.
Which companies manage to personalise their products and services, and which approaches are promising in this context?
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