As a sales executive in the software industry, you understand the difficulties of finalizing complex B2B deals. The hint is in the word complex.  It can be a long and complicated process, stretching over several months or even a year. It requires ongoing exploration to identify potential business opportunities with your prospects. Managing complicated (POCs), navigating procurement processes and RFPs, and dealing with competition further add to the headaches.

Moreover, on the buyer’s side, numerous stakeholders and steps are involved. While B2B deals used to have an average of 5.4 individuals in 2015, it’s now risen to an average of 6 to 10 stakeholders, representing an insane 30% increase. And if that doesn’t have you reaching for the Tylenol, most of these steps and stakeholders are beyond your visibility. According to Gartner, approximately 90% of the sales process occurs without your direct involvement, as prospects engage in research, internal processes, and interactions with other vendors. This lack of insight contributes to longer and more intricate sales cycles.

And have you ever considered the complexity experienced by your prospects? (Hint: It’s often even more challenging.)

The buyer’s experience plays a crucial role. Gartner reports that 77% of buyers find their purchasing process complex or difficult. Additionally, they discovered that prospects who have a good buying experience are three times more likely to opt for larger deals. Prioritizing the customer experience, empowering buyers, and making the buying process more seamless can help you establish trust, differentiate yourself from competitors, shorten sales cycles, and improve conversion rates.

It’s never been more important for you to navigate the intricacies of the deal, gain a better understanding of your prospects, and deliver an exceptional buying experience.

Introducing Digital Sales Rooms
Digital Sales Rooms offer an ideal solution for managing complex B2B deals. These platforms simplify and enhance both the selling and buyer journeys. Picture yourself as an orchestra conductor, where each member represents a different step or stakeholder in the sales process. To ensure harmony and synchronization, Digital Sales Rooms provide unmatched convenience.

They enable you to create customized workspaces tailored to each deal. You can include relevant content, customize the appearance, facilitate communication, manage the next steps, analyze buyer interactions throughout their journey, and offer an engaging experience for buyers. This not only helps in building trust and confidence but also proves vital in successfully closing complex B2B deals.

Empower Buyers, Streamline Decision-Making
Digital Sales Rooms enable buying committees to make faster decisions by reducing obstacles, promoting transparency, and facilitating alignment throughout the sales process. Buying software can be time-consuming, and buyers often have to navigate complex procedures while shuttling between sellers and internal stakeholders. They struggle to find important information buried in emails, spreadsheets, and communication platforms like Slack. None of us are strangers to these difficulties.

Sellers face similar challenges. Just think about the amount of time spent daily searching through archives for past conversations, creating personalized presentations and documents, and responding to repetitive email requests for pricing sheets.

Sales interactions can swiftly become a tangled web.
Sales interactions can quickly become complicated. Digital Sales Rooms change how sellers and buyers work together. They bring together all shared content and communication in one place, making sure nothing gets lost, no matter how long the sales process takes. Instead of long email threads, you can leave comments in the Room to keep everyone updated.

Digital Sales Rooms are a reliable source for past conversations, tasks, and resources. They are a powerful tool for promoting your solution internally and providing a central hub for the entire buying committee to access information easily and quickly. Working with sellers through Digital Sales Rooms gives prospects a unique experience that builds trust and confidence in your partnership.

Work off buyer’s signals with analytics
Digital Sales Rooms offer a VIP experience for each deal and provide valuable insights and analytics to keep you informed. By understanding your buyer’s behavior, intentions, and preferences, you can better understand their needs and take appropriate actions.

The moments when you wonder about a prospect’s level of interest, their progress, the key stakeholders involved, or their responsiveness are no longer. Digital Sales Rooms remove these uncertainties. Since a significant part of the buying process happens in this digital space, you can see all the activities that occur outside of your direct interactions with the prospect.

You won’t let any deals slip through the cracks anymore. Digital Sales Rooms send real-time notifications, allowing you to track how buyers engage and interact within the room throughout their entire journey. When it’s time to review the deal, you’ll have a clear understanding of its status.

Take Control of Next Steps and Timelines
Digital Sales Rooms also simplify the creation of Mutual Action Plans, facilitating faster deal closures. Mutual Action Plans are known to be a key factor in the success of top-performing sales representatives. These plans track agreed-upon milestones and eliminate guesswork and wasted time for both buyers and sellers.

Don’t assume that buyers know how to navigate the buying process with you. Dealing with inexperienced and uncertain buyers is a major challenge for sellers. Instead of depending on internal meetings, constant email follow-ups, and non-collaborative spreadsheets for action plans, Digital Sales Rooms offer an excellent solution to keep everything organized.

Digital Sales Rooms help you establish a clear path to success, monitor progress, and close deals more efficiently. They foster a strong partnership with the buyer committee, promoting alignment and collaboration throughout the process.

Access and Engage with Stakeholders
Digital Sales Rooms facilitate access to all relevant stakeholders involved in the customer journey, both on the buying and selling sides. Remember, deals often require engagement with 6 to 10 decision-makers, each bringing unique perspectives, preferences, and challenges. Therefore, having access to the right stakeholders is crucial.

Collaborating with buyer committees is important, but working together as a team is everything. It’s essential to navigate internal peers and managers to succeed in business.

Digital Sales Rooms help you keep both sides aligned by providing a clear process, action items, and timeline. You don’t have to rely on forwarded email chains anymore. Instead, all members of the buying team can come together in one place: your Digital Sales Room. This central hub allows everyone to access information about your offerings. They can manage action items, have conversations at each step, share files, schedule meetings, and more. This unprecedented access to stakeholders makes it easier to build relationships with each of them.

Conclusion
It’s clear why Digital Sales Rooms are becoming the preferred choice for handling complex B2B deals. We invite you to experience Aligned’s Digital Sales Room. According to Gartner, by 2026, one-third of B2B sales cycles will be managed through Digital Sales Rooms, and by 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will occur in digital channels.

If you want to improve your complex B2B sales process, Digital Sales Rooms provide an ideal solution. Give them a try and see how they can greatly enhance your B2B selling strategy. It’s as simple as that.

[Gartner] “DSRs will be driving ⅓ of sales processes by 2026

1. [Gartner] “Create a virtual selling experience that enables buyers to drive their journey through the deployment of DSRs”
2. [Gartner] “Ensure that DSRs are comprehensive by evaluating vendors with capabilities that will allow for a completely digital sales process and, at a minimum, capabilities for bidirectional content sharing and collaboration through integration with collaboration and messaging tools.”
3. [Gartner] “Develop a better customer experience for your buyers/customers by understanding the relationship you have with them through the use of analytics such as engagement analysis, conversation intelligence, or emotion AI.”
4. [Gartner] “By 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will occur in digital channels.”
5. [Gartner] “By 2025, 60% of B2B sales organizations will transition from experience- and intuition-based selling to data-driven selling, merging their sales process, sales applications, sales data, and sales analytics into a single operational practice.”

* [Gartner] “DSRs are not digital commerce platforms, but they do link to digital commerce to allow customers to complete the buying process digitally if desired.”

FAQs

What is a Digital Sales Room?
A Digital Sales Rooms is a digital platform that offers B2B businesses various tools and features, including document sharing, video conferencing, and collaboration tools.

What are the benefits of using Digital Sales Rooms for B2B deals?
Digital Sales Rooms provide a range of benefits for B2B deals, including:

• Enhanced collaboration and communication,
• Improved efficiency
• Increased security
• Deal insights
• Speeds up sales cycles
• Streamline complex deals

What kind of businesses can benefit from using Digital Sales Rooms?
Any B2B business that conducts sales meetings, negotiations, or deal-making can benefit from using Digital Sales Rooms. This includes businesses in industries such as technology, manufacturing, and more.

Are Digital Sales Rooms secure?
Yes, Digital Sales Rooms are designed with security in mind. They use encryption and other security measures to protect sensitive data and documents shared during the sales process.

Do I need special software to use Digital Sales Rooms?
Most Digital Sales Rooms are web-based, which means you don’t need any special software to use them. You will need an internet connection, a device (such as a laptop or tablet), and a web browser.

How much does it cost to use a Digital Sales Room?
The cost of using Digital Sales Rooms can vary depending on the provider and the features included. Aligned offers a free forever plan as well as some other pricing options, while others require a subscription or a one-time fee.

Can Digital Sales Rooms replace in-person meetings?
While Digital Sales Rooms can be a great alternative to in-person meetings, they may not completely replace them. In some cases, in-person meetings may still be necessary or preferred, depending on the nature of the deal or the preferences of the parties involved.

How do Digital Sales Rooms integrate with existing CRM and other business systems?
Many Digital Sales Rooms are designed to integrate with existing business systems, including CRMs, marketing automation platforms, and other tools. This integration allows for a more streamlined sales process and enables businesses to easily share data and insights across different teams and departments.

What role does AI play in Digital Sales Rooms?
Some Digital Sales Rooms are leveraging AI technology to enhance the sales process. For example, AI-powered chatbots can assist with customer inquiries and help guide prospects through the sales funnel. Additionally, AI can be used to analyze data and identify patterns that can inform sales strategies and improve the overall effectiveness of the sales process.

The post [Sponsored Content] The Next Thing In Sales: The Digital Sales Room appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

CCI Kenya is located Nairobi. It is the fastest growing professional Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) in Kenya. CCI Kenya provide a range of professional outsourcing services to international companies from the United States, Australia, and Europe. Additionally, BPO services are also provided to domestic African Companies.

Since launching in 2016, CCI Kenya has grown rapidly, with more than 3,000 employees in Nairobi working to deliver digital customer management services to clients around the world.

CCI Kenya offers outsourcing services from for all stages of the customer life-cycle covering sales, customer service, customer loyalty scheme management, omnichannel customer management, digital marketing and customer retention.

Rishi Jatania, Managing Director of CCI Kenya, explains why more and more medium-to-large sized companies are turning to outsourcing key parts of their business to the African BPO landscape.

CCI Kenya delivers bespoke digital customer management strategies

CCI Kenya is part of CCI Global which operates in 5 countries from 14 delivery locations including South Africa, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Ghana.

CCI Global began cultivating its specialist capabilities when it arrived in Africa in 2006. Since then, the business has gained a deep understanding of the African market. CCI Global is the largest leading business process outsourcing BPO (provider) in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Why is business process outsourcing increasingly popular?

Rishi Jatania, Managing Director of CCI Kenya, explains “Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), which is also sometimes known as Business Process Services (BPS) allows businesses across all kinds of sectors to gain the best possible solution for their needs via international outsourcing.

“Leading brands from all kinds of different sectors have discovered that BPO is a highly effective way to derive true value for their services. In general, companies find this more cost effective while retaining a highly skilled employee pool that is part of its wider operational design that can sustain specialist capabilities.’

Which locations attract BPO partners?

Mature BPO markets are in places like India and the Philippines, where the focus is predominantly on front-end customer services for financial businesses and telecommunications.

“More and more, businesses are recognising the potential of Africa for BPO outsourcing,” says Rishi Jatania MD of CCI Kenya. “The continent has enormous potential, a vast and highly educated youthful population all looking for ways to develop a lasting career and an increasingly sophisticated infrastructure underpinning all of this.

“Countries like Ethiopia, Rwanda and Kenya can offer cost effective service at lower costs to international clients than are available in their home or customer markets.

“At CCI Kenya, every call center agent is fully trained and supported to work in a fast-paced commercial environment, has excellent English-speaking abilities and a thorough understanding of how to find the ideal solution for every client. CCI Kenya works as a global delivery network.”

The rise of the African BPO sector

“CCI Global arrived on the continent in 2006, which was a key time for African countries placing themselves on the global outsourcing map, ” explains Rishi.

“During the late 2000s and early 2010s, an enormous amount of progress was made by African Governments and the private sector in countries like Kenya, South Africa and Ghana to improve Internet connectivity via subsea fibre optics.

“Once this was in place, it became a no brainer for businesses in countries like the UK, the US, Australia and Europe to consider Africa as an outsourcing partner.”

South Africa and beyond for BPO

“South Africa has been also strong in this sector since the 2010s, something that CCI South Africa has helped to shape,” says Rishi from CCI Kenya. “South Africa has everything necessary for a thriving sector, including development opportunities, cost capabilities and plenty of space to build contact centers if necessary.

“Africa’s BPO market is growing exponentially. The outsourcing industry matches exactly our continent’s future economic growth expectations.

“In Kenya, for example, we’re completely aligned with the Government’s Kenya Vision 2030, which aims to create a middle-income powerhouse with a safe environment for people to get on that career ladder and thrive as we know they can (including areas such as consumer sales).”

CCI Kenya moving into the future

“We’re now through the unprecedented challenges presented by the global COVID 19 pandemic and are in a position to reset, use everything we’ve learned and put it towards becoming the number one destination for outsourcing,” continues Rishi CCI Kenya.

“CCI Kenya has expanded into our new purpose-built contact center, set up for our employees, to help them learn, develop and thrive. Our work includes specialist partners working with us to ensure solutions are found for every client, whether they are within leisure sectors, mobile technology or any other key global sector.

“The African BPO landscape is growing all the time, and we have zero doubts that this will continue as we move towards 2030.”

For more on CCI Kenya, click here.

About The Author – Rishi Jatania

Rishi Jatania is the Managing Director of CCI Kenya. CCI Kenya has grown by 700+% under his leadership since 2016, after developing and implementing growth strategies. For the past 17 years, Rishi has worked in the contact center/BPO industry in East Africa and the UK to ensure outsourcing providers deliver excellent customer service and deliver consumer sales. He has worked for some of the leading captive centers in the UK, such as Carphone Warehouse and Telecom Plus.

The post [Sponsored Content] CCI Kenya | Why more countries are turning towards the African BPO landscape appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

EvolutionX found that the most successful ecommerce websites are using many of the same features and functionality.

It’s no secret by now that your business must have an online presence to keep up with modern consumer purchasing habits. While getting the website up and running is one part of the challenge, the real challenge begins as you try to grow your online presence.

We reviewed over 400 businesses in North America and Europe hosted by EvolutionX, ECI’s B2B ecommerce platform, and found that the top 20% of online earners are leveraging many of the same features in their B2B ecommerce strategy.

These businesses operate in the following industries:

• Business Supplies
• Gas and Welding
• Electrical, Plumbing, and HVAC
• Industrial, Safety, and MRO
• Medical Supplies

Key takeaways from the top 20% of online earners using EvolutionX:

Product Catalogs

• The more products your website has, the more sales you generate.
• 77% have enabled at least five active catalogs.
• Benefit: The more catalogs you have, the more SKUs you can offer, which can lead to more online revenue.

Procurement Controls

• Enabling procurement controls has been shown to increase the “stickiness” of customers.
• 87% have procurement controls enabled.
• Benefit: These controls resonate with CFOs and Procurement Directors working in larger companies whose goal is to control rogue spend.

ERP

• Having an ERP connected to an ecommerce website creates a full ecosystem of streamlined business systems.
• Nearly every EvolutionX-hosted business has its ERP connected to its ecommerce site.
• Benefit: No rekeying of information, accurate data, live pricing, and stock level availability.

Marketing

• Allotting resources to marketing and merchandising tools fuels a stronger ROI.
• 9.9 – the average number of active marketing promotions
• 43.2 – The average number of content pages
• Benefit: Running multiple promotions that target specific customer segments yields more online orders.

This data accounts for a small percentage of our total research. Discover even more strategies the most successful EvolutionX customers have deployed.

Click here to download the entire report for free.

The post [Sponsored Content] The Secret Recipe to B2B eCommerce Success appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

Onport, the UK-based multi-vendor dropshipping automation platform and part of The FARFETCH Group, continues to support the growth of online marketplaces using composable technology.

It is estimated that by 2025, online marketplaces will surpass the majority of retail outlets in terms of revenue, according to OC&C Strategy Consultants. The thriving growth of this segment has led to the necessary development of solutions designed to help facilitate their creation and management.

While the likes of Amazon and eBay still remain market leaders in the overall marketplace industry, there has been a growing trend in the concept of curated, multi vendor marketplaces. For instance, curated marketplaces outpaced the 3-year compound annual growth rate of generalist marketplaces by 8%.

These marketplaces opt for less for the mass market but to cater to a particular audience and market segment. For instance, sustainable fashion brands that address their customer’s concerns over the impact of Fast Fashion.

Founded in 2017 by developer Jon Bolt, Onport was designed to centralize curated marketplace operations, allowing companies to automate their backend workflows and devote more resources to scaling their businesses. Bolt, who previously worked in the e-commerce space, optimized the Onport Platform to eliminate the most common pain points incurred by marketplaces, such as operational oversight and manual processes.

Since 2017, Onport, formerly Jetti, has grown in scale and has a strong presence in markets such as the US, EU, and UK. As a result, it was acquired by The FARFETCH Group in 2021. Onport. Unlike other marketplace solutions, the Onport Platform was designed to accommodate backend workflows and align with MACH architecture, a developmental concept for building software that gives greater flexibility to e-commerce companies.

Standing for Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless, MACH is a concept based on composable commerce – using pre-existing infrastructure components to facilitate faster development without imposing limitations upon users.

One key advantage of the MACH approach is that it allows companies to strategically select which elements to incorporate into their software stack – allowing them to only choose components that aid them in achieving their particular business aims and objectives.

Turbulent macroeconomic conditions have only reinforced the need for greater flexibility and agile solutions within e-commerce as companies work to minimize the potential disruption of external market forces.  These requirements are particularly relevant at the Enterprise level, as they can often experience disruption to a greater degree.

Monolithic, legacy-based systems are still common throughout Enterprise e-commerce. These systems often lack the efficiency and agility for expansion or rapid responses to changing market conditions.  As a result, many of these companies are not future-proofing themselves adequately, likely resulting in disruptions and the eventual loss of market share.

By opting for a composable, API-first approach, Enterprises can future-proof their operations by selecting modular, best-of-breed solutions which help prevent vendor lock-in situations and allow for greater strategic experimentation. Such components can be replaced faster than in monolithic solutions, ensuring companies respond quickly to changing customer expectations and macroeconomic conditions.

A number of Onport’s customers have incorporated Onport’s composable technology into their systems, such as the sustainable and luxury fashion marketplaces – IVALO and Ad Hoc Atelier. Onport’s backend automation and MACH architecture enable these multi vendor marketplaces to create brand experiences that capture the attention of their desired audience.

Onport’s composable commerce architecture is designed to give its users the freedom of experimentation and agility, allowing them to build their systems per their individual requirements and respond effectively to changing customer expectations and needs.

The post [Sponsored Content] Future-Proof Composable Marketplaces With Onport appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

The ever-evolving technological landscape has left no stone unturned, and the retail industry is no exception to this transformative wave. One significant technological advancement in the industry is the emergence of self-service kiosks. With the introduction of these kiosks, customers can now purchase products and services without interacting with a salesperson. This shift from traditional sales approaches has led to the growth of unattended marketplaces. In this article, we will explore the emergence of self-service kiosks and how they have led to the growth of unattended marketplaces.

How self-service kiosks have revolutionized the retail industry?
Self-service kiosks have revolutionized the retail industry in several ways. Firstly, they have significantly reduced labor costs for retailers. With fewer salespeople needed, retailers can cut wages and channel the funds to other aspects of their business.

The deployment of self-service kiosks has led to an improvement in customer convenience by enabling faster checkouts. This has eliminated the need for customers to wait in long queues, significantly enhancing the overall shopping experience. Additionally, the self-service kiosks have empowered retailers to offer more personalized experiences to their customers. Using data, retailers can now analyze customer purchasing behaviors and provide tailored recommendations. This personalization has increased customer loyalty and improved the overall shopping experience.

The rise of self-service kiosks has led to the growth of unattended marketplaces. With the ability to purchase goods and services without the need for a salesperson, customers can now shop at their convenience. Unattended marketplaces are becoming increasingly popular, with many retailers embracing the concept. These marketplaces can be found in various locations such as airports, office buildings, and train stations.

How self-service kiosks are used in various industries
Self-service kiosks have found their way into numerous industries and have revolutionized the way businesses operate. With their versatility and user-friendly interfaces, kiosks have become an integral part of various industries, enhancing the customer experience and providing efficient solutions to meet their needs.

Retail
Self-service kiosks are commonly used in retail stores to allow customers to checkout and make purchases without needing the assistance of a cashier, enhancing the customer experience by reducing wait times and allowing customers to customize their orders. Sobeys, the second-largest food retailer in Canada, introduced smart carts with kiosks that can scan, weigh, and bill items as they’re added to the cart. Albertsons Companies introduced automated grocery pickup kiosks in Chicago, allowing customers to pick up their orders with ease. The combination of shopping from your phone while still having a real-life experience has been widely accepted and could become even more prevalent in the future.

Healthcare
Kiosks are an essential element of the patient journey, facilitating check-in for appointments, wayfinding, and payments, completing health questionnaires, and accessing medical information. CVS, the American pharmacy giant, has also implemented automatic retail kiosks in convenient locations like airports, hotels, and college campuses, providing customers with over-the-counter healthcare products. Self-service kiosks offer anonymity, making them a preferred option for purchasing certain medicines and personal products.

Hospitality
In the hospitality industry, self-service kiosks allow guests to check in and check out of hotels or resorts, access information on local attractions and events, and order room service. Many fast-food chains also use self-service kiosks to speed up ordering and reduce wait times.

Banking
The financial world is still the most popular place for kiosks. Banks use self-service kiosks to allow customers to perform transactions such as depositing cheques, withdrawing money, updating account information, and paying bills.

Digital signage
Kiosks are the perfect medium for advertising and interactive wayfinding in malls, museums, and other public spaces, making it a convenient and engaging solution for customers or visitors.

Benefits of an unattended marketplace
Unattended marketplaces offer numerous benefits for both customers and businesses. They provide a convenient and efficient shopping experience, reduce costs, improve customer engagement and loyalty, and can help businesses reach a wider audience. They provide numerous benefits to businesses, including improved customer engagement, increased reach, reduced cost, enhanced productivity, and improved brand image. As we move towards a more digitized world, the unattended marketplace is set to become an even more significant part of our lives, with businesses and customers alike embracing the many benefits it has to offer.

Reduced Cost
Kiosks offer a cost-effective solution for businesses, as they eliminate the need for additional staff and reduce operational costs. Additionally, businesses can use data analytics to optimize their operations and improve their sales, which can further reduce costs and increase revenue. Kiosks can perform various tasks such as order processing, payment collection, and information dissemination, allowing businesses to streamline their operations and increase efficiency.

Improved Customer Engagement
Kiosks offer an interactive and personalized experience for customers, allowing them to browse products, place orders, and make payments at their own pace. This enhances customer engagement and satisfaction, as they can access information and services quickly and conveniently. Unattended marketplaces can also offer personalized recommendations and promotions based on customers’ browsing and purchase history, which can further enhance customer engagement and loyalty.

Enhanced Productivity
Kiosks are designed to perform specific tasks efficiently and accurately, allowing businesses to increase productivity and reduce errors. With the help of kiosks, businesses can automate various processes such as inventory management, order fulfillment, and customer support, freeing up time for employees to focus on more complex tasks.

Improved Brand Image
Kiosks offer a modern and innovative way to deliver products and services, enhancing the brand image and reputation. By offering a convenient and accessible service, businesses can create a positive brand image that resonates with customers which will lead to improved customer loyalty and repeated business.

Challenges and risks of unattended marketplaces
Operating an unattended marketplace can come with its fair share of challenges and risks. Here are some of the potential pitfalls to consider:

• Security Risks – Unattended marketplaces are vulnerable to security threats such as theft, vandalism, and unauthorized access. Without proper security measures, valuable goods and equipment can be stolen, leading to financial losses and legal liabilities.
• Technical Failures – Unattended marketplaces rely heavily on technology such as self-service kiosks and vending machines. Technical failures such as power outages, network connectivity issues, and system malfunctions can result in service disruptions and customer dissatisfaction.
• Maintenance and Upkeep – Unattended marketplaces require regular maintenance to ensure availability and optimal performance. This can be challenging, especially for remote locations with limited accessibility. Failure to maintain equipment can result in downtime, lost revenue, and customer dissatisfaction.
• Regulatory Compliance – When operating an unattended marketplace, it is important to adhere to regulatory compliance standards that govern the industry. This includes following health and safety guidelines, protecting customer data in accordance with data privacy laws, and complying with payment processing regulations. Failure to comply with these regulations can lead to legal liabilities, fines, and damage to the reputation of the marketplace. Therefore, it is crucial to stay informed about these regulations and ensure that the marketplace operates in a compliant manner.
• Customer Service – Unattended marketplaces rely on self-service technologies, which can result in limited or no human interaction with customers. This can lead to reduced customer satisfaction, as customers may require assistance or have questions that cannot be answered by a machine.

To mitigate these challenges and risks, it’s important to have a comprehensive plan in place that addresses security, maintenance, regulatory compliance, and customer service. With the right strategies and tools, unattended marketplaces can provide a convenient and efficient service while minimizing risks and maximizing customer satisfaction.

Why AirDroid Business MDM-powered kiosks are better
Interactive kiosks have become an indispensable part of modern business, serving various purposes, from providing information to making transactions. However, managing multiple kiosks can be a daunting task, especially when it comes to updating software, monitoring usage, and ensuring security. That’s where AirDroid Business comes in – a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution that makes kiosk management easier and more efficient.

AirDroid Business is an MDM solution that enables businesses to manage and monitor their kiosks remotely. It offers a suite of features that streamline kiosk management and ensure optimal performance. With AirDroid Business, businesses can manage all their kiosks from a centralized dashboard, deploy apps and content, and monitor kiosk usage in real time.

Here are some reasons why AirDroid Business MDM-powered kiosks are better:

Centralized Manage All the Kiosks from a Dashboard
AirDroid Business allows businesses to manage all their kiosks from a single dashboard, providing a comprehensive overview of all the devices. From the dashboard, businesses can monitor device health, update software, deploy apps and content, and track usage statistics. This centralized approach saves time and effort, as businesses no longer need to manage each device individually.

Kiosk Mode
AirDroid Business offers a kiosk mode that locks down the device to a specific app or website, preventing users from accessing other applications or features. This mode ensures that the device is used only for its intended purpose, reducing the risk of unauthorized access or data breaches. Kiosk mode also provides a more streamlined user experience, making it easier for users to navigate the kiosk and complete transactions.

Remote Monitor & Control
With AirDroid Business, businesses can remotely monitor and control their kiosks, ensuring optimal performance and preventing downtime. The solution provides real-time monitoring of device health, network connectivity, and app usage, allowing businesses to identify and resolve issues before they become major problems. Businesses can also remotely control kiosks, such as restarting devices or updating software, without the need for physical access.

Apps Management Service
AirDroid Business provides an app management service that simplifies the deployment and management of applications across multiple kiosks. Businesses can deploy apps remotely, update them in real-time, and track their usage across different devices. This service reduces the time and effort required to deploy and manage applications, ensuring that the kiosks are always up-to-date and running smoothly.

Device Encryption and Remote Wiping
AirDroid Business provides device encryption and remote wiping capabilities, ensuring that sensitive data is protected in case of theft or loss. Device encryption secures data on the device, preventing unauthorized access or data breaches. Remote wiping enables businesses to wipe the device remotely, erasing all data on the device, in case of loss or theft. These features provide an extra layer of security, ensuring that businesses can protect their sensitive data.

Timely Alerts & Notification
AirDroid Business provides timely alerts and notifications, ensuring that businesses are informed of any issues or anomalies. Businesses can set up alerts for various events, such as low battery levels, device disconnection, or network connectivity issues. This feature enables businesses to respond quickly to any issues, reducing downtime and improving overall performance.

CONCLUSION

The emergence of self-service kiosks has led to the growth of an unattended marketplace, transforming the way customers interact with businesses. The unattended marketplace is no longer just a convenience but a necessity in today’s world. Customers want quick and easy solutions that are available 24/7, and self-service kiosks deliver precisely that. The benefits of unattended marketplaces are numerous, including cost-effectiveness, improved customer experience, increased revenue, and scalability. With the right technology in place, businesses can easily implement and manage self-service kiosks, offering their customers the convenience they desire while reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

AirDroid Business MDM-powered kiosks offer a comprehensive and efficient solution for businesses of all sizes. By investing in AirDroid Business MDM-powered kiosks, businesses can increase their productivity, streamline their operations, and enhance their overall customer experience.

FAQ

Q: What is an unattended marketplace?
A: An unattended marketplace is a concept where consumers can purchase goods and services without the need for human interaction, typically through the use of self-service kiosks or vending machines.

Q: How do self-service kiosks benefit businesses?
A: Self-service kiosks can provide several benefits to businesses, including increased efficiency, reduced labor costs, and improved customer experience.

Q: What regulations do unattended marketplaces need to comply with?
A: Unattended marketplaces must comply with various regulations and standards, such as health and safety guidelines, data privacy laws, and payment processing regulations, to avoid legal liabilities, fines, and reputational damage.

Q: How can AirDroid Business MDM-powered kiosks help businesses manage their unattended marketplaces?
A: AirDroid Business MDM-powered kiosks can help businesses by providing centralized management through a dashboard, kiosk mode, remote monitoring and control, app management service, device encryption, remote wiping, and timely alerts and notifications. This can help businesses streamline operations and ensure the security and reliability of their kiosk network.

The post [Sponsored Article] The emergence of self-service kiosks leading to the growth of an unattended marketplace appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

Looking to boost your e-commerce retention and keep your customers coming back for more? Check out these four powerful strategies, backed by web analytics tips and statistics. Learn how to personalize your customer experience, incentivize loyalty with programs and rewards, leverage the power of email marketing, and target lost visitors with remarketing ads.

While customer acquisition is essential, retaining customers is equally important, as it costs less to retain existing customers than to attract new ones.

In fact, according to a study by Bain & Company, increasing customer retention rates by 5% can increase profits by 25% to 95%. This demonstrates the importance of retention for e-commerce businesses.

Strategy 1: Personalization
One of the most effective ways to increase e-commerce retention is through personalization. According to a study by Experian Marketing Services, personalized emails have an open rate of 29% higher and a click-through rate of 41% higher than non-personalized ones. This demonstrates the power of personalization in engaging customers and building relationships.

Personalization involves tailoring the shopping experience to each customer’s individual preferences and needs. This can be achieved through various tactics, such as recommending products based on browsing and purchase history, sending personalized emails and offers, and customizing website content and design.

To start personalizing your e-commerce business, you can use web analytics to gather customer data and insights, such as demographics, browsing behavior, and purchase history. This information can then be used to create personalized content, such as product recommendations and targeted offers.

Finteza is an advanced web analytics platform that can help e-commerce businesses enhance their personalization strategies. By tracking user behavior and engagement on your website, Finteza can provide you with valuable insights into your customers’ interests, preferences, and buying patterns. You can use this data to segment your audience into different groups based on their behavior, location, device, or other criteria, and create personalized offers, recommendations, or messages that resonate with each group.

Strategy 2: Loyalty Programs
Another powerful strategy for increasing e-commerce retention is loyalty programs. According to a study by CapGemini, 70% of emotionally engaged consumers spend up to two times or more on brands they are loyal to, compared to less than half (49%) of consumers with low emotional engagement.

Loyalty programs involve rewarding customers for their loyalty and engagement, typically through a points-based system or exclusive offers and perks. This can incentivize customers to make repeat purchases and increase their overall lifetime value.

To create an effective loyalty program, you should first define your goals and target audience, and design a program that aligns with your brand values and customer preferences. For example, you could offer points for every purchase or engagement, and reward customers with discounts, free shipping, or exclusive products.

Use web analytics to track customer behavior and engagement with your loyalty program, and use this data to optimize and personalize the program over time. For example, you could offer personalized rewards based on customer preferences and purchase history.

With Finteza, you can analyze your loyalty program data in real time, create custom reports and funnels, and identify trends and patterns that can inform your loyalty strategy. For example, you could use Finteza to segment your loyalty program members based on their activity level and offer additional rewards or incentives to each group.

One effective tactic is to use gamification elements to make the loyalty program more engaging and fun for customers. For example, you could create challenges or competitions that encourage customers to earn more points or rewards or offer surprise and delight rewards for special occasions or milestones.

Strategy 3: Email Marketing
Email marketing is another effective strategy for increasing e-commerce retention. As mentioned in Forbes, email marketing has an average ROI of $42 for every $1 spent, and 80% of retail professionals say that email is their primary channel for customer retention. This demonstrates the effectiveness of email marketing in engaging customers and driving revenue growth.

Design emails that are personalized, relevant, and engaging. You can use web analytics to gather customer data and insights, such as demographics, browsing behavior, and purchase history, and use this information to create segmented and targeted email campaigns.

Some effective email marketing tactics for e-commerce businesses include abandoned cart emails, post-purchase emails, personalized recommendations, and exclusive offers and promotions. Abandoned cart emails, for example, can recover up to 29% of abandoned carts, by reminding customers of their unfinished purchases and offering incentives to complete them.

Post-purchase emails, on the other hand, can help build customer loyalty and increase retention, by thanking customers for their purchases and offering personalized recommendations for future purchases. Personalized recommendations can also be used in regular promotional emails, to highlight products that customers are likely to be interested in based on their browsing and purchase history.

So, consider designing an email marketing campaign that aligns with your brand and customer preferences, and use web analytics to measure and optimize its effectiveness over time.

Strategy 4: Remarketing
Did you know that the average website conversion rate is only 2.35%? That means that 97.65% of website visitors leave without making a purchase or taking any action. But don’t despair! With the power of remarketing, you can bring back some of those lost visitors and increase e-commerce retention.

Remarketing involves targeting ads to people who have previously interacted with your website or products, such as by visiting your site, adding items to their cart, or abandoning their cart. By showing them relevant and personalized ads across different channels, such as search engines, social media, or display networks, you can remind them of their interest in your brand and products, and incentivize them to complete their purchase or take another action.

You should create ads that are relevant, appealing, and memorable. Use web analytics to track customer behavior and engagement with your website, and create remarketing lists based on specific actions or behaviors, such as cart abandoners, product viewers, or high-value customers.

Finteza also offers a range of retargeting ad features, such as advanced targeting options, automated bidding, and real-time optimization, that can help you create effective and cost-efficient ad campaigns.

You can also use dynamic remarketing to show customers personalized ads that feature the specific products or services they viewed or added to their cart and offer them incentives or discounts to complete their purchases. Another effective tactic is to use cross-channel remarketing, by showing consistent and coordinated ads across multiple channels, such as search ads, display ads, and social media ads. This can increase brand awareness and reinforce the message and offer to potential customers.

Conclusion
I hope you’ve found these four strategies for increasing e-commerce retention helpful and actionable. Whether you’re a small business owner or a marketing professional, there are plenty of ways to apply these tactics to your own e-commerce website and boost customer loyalty and revenue.

Remember, personalization, loyalty programs, email marketing, and remarketing are not just buzzwords, but powerful tools that can make a real difference in your e-commerce success.

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Fortnite, the online battle royale game that has taken the gaming world by storm, has not only revolutionized the gaming industry but also brought unprecedented business opportunities to the media world. Developed by Epic Games and released in 2017, the game has quickly become a cultural phenomenon, with millions of players worldwide and a lucrative competitive scene. I will explore how Fortnite has brought business to the gaming and media world, from its influence on esports and marketing to its impact on music and film. Fortnite is a revolutionary entity, no matter what competitor tries to take its market space. The impact it has made on the gaming and media world is beyond comparison to any other battle royales, being the king amongst kings.

The originally beloved Travis Scott Fortnite concert, garnishing major attention for the game.

Fortnite’s impact on esports is one of the main ways it has boosted commerce in the gaming industry. With professional teams, leagues, and competitions all around the world, esports, or competitive video gaming, has developed into a multi-billion dollar business in recent years. Epic Games has hosted significant competitions with big prize pools, like the Fortnite World Cup, which have helped Fortnite swiftly establish itself as one of the most popular esports games. These tournaments not only bring in a sizable amount of money for Epic Games, but they also give sponsors and advertising a chance to advertise to a huge global audience. Fortnite has also created new marketing and advertising opportunities, particularly for companies aiming to appeal to younger consumers. Popular brands like Marvel, Nike, and Travis Scott have collaborated with the game on a number of in-game projects that not only offer gamers special skins and goodies but also help the brands spread the word about their goods and services to millions of other players. For instance, more than 12 million players joined Travis Scott for a virtual concert in the game, which gave the rapper and his label a huge marketing opportunity. Due to the popularity and reach of the game, non-local firms like Coca-Cola and McDonald’s have agreed to sponsor in-game competitions and events, significantly increasing Fortnite’s marketing potential.

Fortnite has had an impact on the music industry in addition to marketing, giving artists a platform to share their songs and interact with fans. Millions of players have attended the game’s numerous virtual concerts, which have featured performances by well-known singers including Marshmello, Travis Scott, and Ariana Grande.  I actually recall multiple friends of mine getting themselves back into Fortnite because of these marketing events, allowing them to joke around and have fun in a non-competitive environment. These events create a new method of music marketing and distribution by not only promoting the artists’ music but also giving fans a distinctive and immersive experience. In-game item sales and streaming service royalties are two new sources of income for the music business that have been made possible by virtual performances.

Fortnite’s promotional material for players to unlock Spider-man in one of their battle passes.

Outside games and music, Fortnite has impacted a variety of mediums. The game has advanced in the film business as well, with Epic Games establishing a new company named Epic Games Films with the goal of creating original content as well as adaptations of well-known properties and games. The business has previously disclosed a number of ongoing projects, including an animated series based on the well-known comic book series “Hexagon” and a movie version of the game’s story mode. Given Fortnite’s sizable user base and popularity, there is a tremendous opportunity for these projects to expand their reach and make a sizable profit.

The emergence of virtual worlds and the metaverse is another part of Fortnite’s business influence. Neal Stephenson, a science fiction novelist, created the word “metaverse” to describe a virtual shared environment where users can interact with each other and digital items in a three-dimensional setting. Players can explore, interact with one another, and play in a sizable virtual world in Fortnite, which has been dubbed a proto-metaverse. The addition of additional game modes and virtual events will increase the game’s metaverse features, as Epic Games has already announced. With chances for immersive marketing, virtual stores, and even virtual real estate, the metaverse has huge financial potential. Fortnite has opened up previously unheard-of financial prospects in the gaming and media industries. This is true of its influence on everything from esports and marketing to music and cinema. Due to the game’s immense success and widespread distribution, these industries now have new opportunities for generating cash. Fortnite is probably going to keep changing the business landscape in these sectors and beyond as it develops and grows.

Fortnite World Cup remains one of the most prestigious competitive competitions out there.

The emergence of the battle royale genre is one of the significant ways that Fortnite has had an impact on the gaming industry. The success of the game prompted the creation of a number of other battle royale games, including Apex Legends and Call of Duty: Warzone, both of which have gained enormous popularity among players. With players and teams striving for attention and prizes, these games’ success has changed the competitive environment in the gaming business. As a result, professional gaming teams and leagues have expanded, opening up new commercial prospects for sponsors and advertising. Fortnite’s cutting-edge commercial strategy has had an impact on the gaming industry as well. Although the game is free to play, players can buy in-game goods and skins, which brings in money for Epic Games. In the gaming industry, the freemium model has grown in popularity, and many other games are using similar strategies. Due to the fact that players are frequently prepared to pay for specialized goods and content, this business model has the potential to bring in large profits for game producers. The freemium business model also enables creators to update and enhance their games frequently, giving players access to fresh information and experiences while increasing player interest and revenue.

Companies have seen how much money major products like Fortnite’s battle passes bring in. Battle passes were not directly inspired by Fortnite, but I do believe that Fortnite helped make them mainstream in many aspects for the gaming community. Without the constant updates from Fortnite developers, perhaps battle passes would not be as popular of a choice for most major games with multiplayer. Multiplayer games like Call of Duty and Apex: Legends, have adopted the strategy and turned their investment into big bucks. The inspiration derives deep at the heart of Fortnite, as the game has done so well with including other media properties in their core title such as Marvel characters. As far as I know, whenever a new Marvel character skin appeared on the item shop, my friends immediately purchased them. It is genius marketing and a win-win for all properties involved, sporting their favorite skins in the world of Fortnite. They have even gone on to create Fortnite Crew, which includes exclusive skins that will never return, changing monthly. This entices players to buy into the subscription service, generating great value for Epic. If you never got the chance to get any of your favorite skins, check out Eldorado to buy loaded Fortnite accounts with skins!

Additionally, Fortnite’s streaming and content creation communities have ushered in a brand-new genre of gaming entertainment. With the ability to stream gaming and interact with fans, websites like Twitch and YouTube have grown incredibly popular among gamers. Fortnite has a sizable and vibrant streaming community, with a number of well-known streamers and content producers that have amassed sizable fan bases and successful careers as a result of their work. A new sector of gaming influencers and content producers has risen as a result, who may use their notoriety to earn money through sponsorships, alliances, and other forms of cooperation.

The influence of Fortnite on the media industry extends beyond gaming, music, and movies. The game has also had an impact on how businesses approach marketing and advertising, with many businesses attempting to imitate Fortnite’s success in providing consumers with immersive and interactive experiences. Particularly in the digital age, where customers are increasingly looking for more engaging and individualized experiences, the game’s utilization of virtual events, in-game partnerships, and social media marketing has become a model for other firms to emulate.

The gaming and media industries have benefited greatly from Fortnite’s effect on everything from competitions and marketing to music, movies, and the metaverse. The game’s success has opened up new money streams for its creators, sponsors, and advertising while also giving musicians, influencers, and content creators a platform to expand their fan bases and further their careers. Fortnite’s influence on business is likely to continue, reshaping the face of these businesses for years to come as the gaming industry develops and the metaverse gains prominence. However, we know that without Fortnite, the gaming industry and its large number of battle royales would not be the same product it is today.

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When it comes to the eCommerce industry, many production managers and logistics-related decision makers do their day-to-day work in a jumble of spreadsheets. They rely on an ever expanding team to manage relationships, ops, and quality in the network of suppliers that bring their products to life. Conventional wisdom dictates that brands should adopt an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system as a milestone in moving from startup to scale-up. These systems are designed to provide a centralized view of an organization’s data, to provide increased efficiency and data accuracy.

While an ERP system can be extremely helpful, it is not a requirement for obtaining growth and in some cases, can even delay progress! Despite the benefits of using a single integrated system, there are many considerations to review before purchasing an ERP system. These systems do not come without their obstacles in cost, time to implement, and ability to manage processes for fabless brands.

If you are looking to purchase an ERP system to scale your business, you should first consider these five reasons for alternative solutions:

1 – Cost: Moving from the world of small business software into the enterprise software realm can be shocking for the uninitiated. Enterprise software costs start an order of magnitude above startup tools and go up from there. There are also whole new buckets of cost to be aware of: Consulting, Implementation, SaaS, Maintenance, and Support.

1. • Consulting: Expect to pay a consulting firm handsomely to conduct strategic business analysis, recommend and spec out your ERP and then support change management in your organization to have it work.
   • Implementation: No ERP is plug and play off the shelf. Developers will need to take the consulting firm’s spec to and build customized solutions to fit your businesses’ needs. It is not uncommon for at least one of these developers to end up on your payroll in the long term.
   • SaaS (up front and ongoing): Expect a big ticket bill up front plus monthly license costs running into the many thousands of dollars. An average Netsuite deployment runs $4000+ per month
   • Maintenance: As software updates roll out and your business needs evolve, your ERP will need to be updated and maintained either by an in house development team or by the consultant that sold you the ERP.
   • Support: Having access to expert help running your shiny new ERP is not included in your SaaS bill and will be negotiated separately.

2 – Time Commitment: Implementing ERP is akin to open heart surgery on a business. Every data structure and process needs to be mapped out and programmed in. Change management to train and bring an entire organization up to speed on them takes months to years. The cutover process can be likened to trying to move your business from one train to another train while they are both moving. Costs when the transition fails can be enough to bankrupt entire companies (see Target’s disastrous SAP transition and its leading to their $3 Billion failure in the Canadian Market)

3 – Limited ROI: The ROI of an enterprise resource planning system can vary dramatically depending on the industry and size of the business. Much of the resulting ROI also depends on how much initial time and money is invested in the initial launch of the system. In some cases, money can be lost due to poor planning or over-customizing a system. It is best to work with either an experienced team or an expert vendor to reduce poor implementation and reduce the initial costs to better support future ROI. If a system is not integrated effectively, it will be visible in future income and costs.

4 – Rigidity:  Because ERP systems are designed to support internal business processes and workflows, many of them adhere to strict inputs and data systems. The value creation processes the ERP is to manage must be fully defined and coded in. This results in a less-than-flexible system without the ability to accommodate specific organizational needs and requirements. While they are useful for inputting exact data and requests, ERPs can suffer in industries that require a more dynamic approach.

5 – External Value Creation: When it comes to eCommerce, the processes that allow your businesses to be agile and bring new concepts to market quickly are both highly dynamic and rely on a network of external partners. They fall outside of your ERP umbrella: not under your roof, and not on your balance sheet. This leaves the most strategically important processes of your business in the spreadsheet domain even after the ERP is up and running.

There is a path to scaling up eCommerce brands without ERP. For truely or mostly fabless brands, a tailored stack of best in breed tools for critical business functions is a cost effective, dynamic, easy to implement path to growth. This stack will include the right accounting package (eg Quickbooks Online Advanced), eCommerce platform (eg Shopify), multi-channel inventory management system (eg SkuVault), and a multiplayer ops automation solution to wire them all together and connect them to the supply network that creates your products.

Supply operations automation platforms such as Omnae, provide the data structures and process controls to build and manage the supply networks that create your products and automate the interaction between your internal systems and that network. This paves the way for complete end-to-end value chain management from factory to consumer without the need to move to ERP.

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Gamification has become a buzzword in the digital world, and with good reason. By integrating game-like elements, mechanics, and designs into non-game activities, gamification has the potential to turn mundane tasks into enjoyable experiences, driving motivation and engagement and producing measurable results. As the world moves towards a new era of media with a focus on interactivity and innovation, gamification offers a unique opportunity for businesses to add fun to the everyday.

The integration of game-like elements into the customer experience is not a new concept and has long been used in marketing, but with digital advancements, the opportunities for gamification have become nearly limitless. The practice leverages the brain’s reward mechanism, which releases dopamine – a feel-good hormone – when customers engage in activities that are fun and engaging. This increased pleasure and satisfaction can lead to increased brand loyalty, repeat purchases, and positive word-of-mouth marketing.

According to Snipp, 87% of North American retailers plan to incorporate gamification into their marketing strategies in the next five years, and the global gamification market is projected to reach a value of $30.7 billion by 2026.

While implementing gamification may pose technical challenges, such as software integration, personalization, and game engineering complexity, the benefits often outweigh these challenges. To maximize the benefits, businesses must choose a versatile platform that effectively interconnects various promotional features and achieves their goals.

Gamification can be used to drive customer engagement and improve a range of business objectives. For instance, loyalty programs that reward customers for their engagement and purchases are a simple but effective way to encourage repeat visits and increase brand loyalty. Target-based rewards, such as discounts for reaching specific spending milestones, offer customers a clear goal to work towards and drive sales. Collectible badges and stamps can also be incorporated into the shopping experience, as seen in Southeast Asia, where both luxury and mainstream brands are using gamification to make customer interactions more exciting.

Loyalty gamification around the world
Gamified loyalty programs have especially emerged as a key factor for customers across Southeast Asia, with 86% to 94% of respondents saying they are more likely to shop where a loyalty program is part of the deal. In Korea and Japan, mobile-based loyalty programs that allow customers to collect and redeem points and receive real-time updates on their loyalty status are gaining popularity.

China is home to some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated loyalty programs, with firms leveraging technology to drive customer engagement and loyalty. One innovative approach has been the integration of loyalty programs with social media and messaging platforms such as WeChat. Through the WeChat applets feature, firms can offer their customers access to loyalty programs directly within the WeChat platform, enabling customers to easily collect and redeem points, access offers, and receive real-time updates on their loyalty status.

The WeChat Red Packet campaign, which offered customers the opportunity to earn rewards and discounts through the use of WeChat Pay, was a game-changer in China. It allows users to send virtual monetary gifts in the form of “credits” to other users on the app, which can then be deposited into their WeChat Pay account for purchases. The concept of giving digital money as gifts, inspired by the Chinese tradition of ‘hongbao’, has been adopted by Tencent’s market competitors, such as Alibaba and Baidu. This campaign was successful in driving customer engagement and increasing sales for participating merchants.

And to put the scale of Chinese loyalty programs into context, GreenTree Hospitality Group, a leading player in the hospitality industry in China, has a robust and extensive loyalty program. As of December 31, 2021, the company’s loyalty program had an impressive membership of over 69 million individual members and 1,850,000 corporate members.

How Flash Coffee gamifies loyalty with Talon.One
Flash Coffee, a tech-enabled coffee chain in the APAC region, is expanding quickly due to its use of gamification. To build its successful loyalty program it uses Talon.One to set up and manage loyalty features. The program allows customers to earn loyalty points with every checkout and level up to bronze, silver, and gold tiers, each unlocking new benefits and increasing the rate of point earning.

Talon.One’s Campaign Manager allows Flash Coffee to set up challenges to incentivize specific actions, making the customer experience more fun and rewarding. For example, a user who buys a medium latte on three consecutive days can earn a free latte and loyalty points. The platform also enables Flash Coffee to track customer behaviors across multiple visits, store progress in the form of points, and constantly evaluate the progress against possible rewards. By incentivizing certain behaviors, Flash Coffee can increase customer engagement, encourage repeat business, and measure the success of its loyalty program.

Whether it is through loyalty programs, digital marketing campaigns, language learning apps or in the workplace, gamification has the ability to tap into our innate desire for competition, reward and recognition. As technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see more and more innovative applications of gamification across a wide range of industries. The potential of gamification is huge, and those organizations that are quick to adopt and implement these strategies will be well-positioned for success in the years to come.

For more insights on how gamification can level up your promotion marketing efforts, you can find the Talon.One Guide To Gamification here.

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In today’s digital world, consumers expect companies to communicate with them in a personal and relevant way.

The rise of mobile and the digital transformation that followed has led to a shift in consumer expectations, who now expect personalized interactions.

A key concept is that personalization should not be limited to marketing and sales efforts, but should also be integrated into customer service, product development, and other areas of the business.

By taking a holistic approach, businesses can ensure that personalization is consistent and relevant across all touchpoints of the customer journey. But having personalization touch every aspect of the customer journey, from pre-purchase through to after-sales, requires a tech stack that can support it.

Braze and Talon.One have collaborated to create “Creating Loyalty Through Personalized Experiences,” an ebook that helps digital commerce professionals unlock the power of personalization to build loyalty and boost their business.

The ebook explores what modern consumers expect from brands, the problems caused by broken experiences, and how to drive loyalty with end-to-end personalized experiences.

We explore how Braze and Talon.One can be used together to drive customer engagement and personalization.

The most important thing to remember is that in modern commerce, personalization is not a one-time event. It would be a fairly jarring experience to get a personalized coupon for something you had previously added to your cart, but to arrive on the site and have trouble finding the relevant product, or no other mention of the reward.

In the best case, personalization is a continuous process that evolves as customers interact with your brand.

In the ebook, we argue that to be effective, personalization must be integrated into every touchpoint of the customer journey, from the first time they interact with your brand to the moment they become a loyal customer. This requires a deep understanding of your customers, their behavior, and their preferences. And it’s something that can quickly become a virtuous circle if executed correctly.

A recent McKinsey study found that 71 percent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions and 76 percent get frustrated when this doesn’t happen.

We know that a majority of brands dedicate 25-75% of their budgets to retaining existing customers, but only 33% of these brands are using real-time data segments within their marketing efforts.

In addition, brands that use real-time data segments have a 27% higher retention rate. This shows that the customer journey is more than just a marketing funnel. Brands need to be able to connect with their customers at every touch point throughout their journey to ensure they’re not leaving money on the table.

Businesses that make personalization a priority can provide their customers with seamless, consistent experiences across all touchpoints. This includes personalized copy, content from third-party sources, and promotions tailored to each individual recipient.

Consider the example from earlier — where a user is sent a coupon for an item they added to cart but never purchased, let’s say a golf club. Imagine they log back in, add the coupon, and are immediately told they can get double loyalty points on related accessories, such as golf gloves or shoes. Once they convert, they’re given a referral code offering their friend $5 off and a free box of golf balls for the referrer. Then the following month they get an offer for one of the clubs they haven’t purchased yet. At every touchpoint, we learn more about what the customer wants, and use incentives and rewards to push them toward conversion, and repeat business.

Braze and Talon.One make this possible by combining to provide a comprehensive customer engagement platform and personalization engine that allows businesses to ingest and process customer data in real time, build multi-step messaging flows and create personalized experiences that drive loyalty and boost revenue.

Don’t let your business fall behind in the race for customer loyalty. Download Creating Loyalty Through Personalized Experiences and learn how Braze and Talon.One can help you achieve true loyalty and drive growth for your business.

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