Digital Commerce involves buying and selling goods and services via digital channels like the Internet, mobile networks and commercial infrastructure. Digital Commerce involves marketing activities that enable transactions between people, processes, and technologies utilizing engaging content, analytics, promotion, pricing, customer acquisition, retention and experience at all buying touchpoints.
E-commerce involves the transaction of goods and services or sending and receiving of funds or data over the internet. The transactions are either business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) or as consumer-to-consumer (C2C or consumer-to-business C2B). E-commerce is run on the World Wide Web, where the customer’s access and browse through online stores. There is widespread confusion between e-commerce and Digital Commerce largely from an inability to distinguish the two.
Key Major Differences between Digital Commerce and E-commerce
1. While E-commerce is the nitty-gritty of online selling, digital commerce on the other hand is the technology and data-driven processes that highlight retail in a different way.
2. Digital commerce includes content management, data integration and analytics, UI and UX, customer engagement and retention, ability to adapt and bring new features and functions. It’s customer-centric, and about optimum customer experience.
3. E-commerce pertains to functions of product and service selling online e.g. supply chain management, online store establishment, website marketing, online transaction processes and online payments.
4. Digital commerce is customer-centric while meeting retailer objectives. D-commerce places products and services on several channels and touchpoints making brands visible, simplifying access and engagement, eliminates barriers between customers wish and the ability to make purchases.
5. D-commerce enables consumers to buy services and products online minus the fuss of speaking to or contacting anyone, which reflects enhanced customer experience. Modern commerce must cover all touchpoints and processes in the buying journey. The tools, processes, and technologies adopted in making online offers are critical to the overall definition.
6. E-commerce is now so common to all and easy to figure out even for the commons man on the street through it regular and common use on a daily basis to shop and buy and buy just about anything, from anywhere at ecommerce Service Provider any time and season.
7. Digital Commerce is still a hard and intricately woven web hard to navigate minus the knowledge, processes and tools fully activated. As a new concept, It will take some time to unravel and fully comprehend its powerful force for digital transformation in the 21st century. Digital commerce’ full possibilities and potentials are yet to be exhausted and explored by innovative technological businesses.
8. Digital commerce avails quadruple uninterrupted access to brands across multiple touchpoints. These include mobile apps, voice commands and websites optimized for several devices and screens. This means they are likely to do business with businesses as they can engage on the set metrics. Users or customers can find and interact with brands easily and conveniently on preferred mediums. They are far more likely to spend and be retained as loyal customers.
9. Digital commerce leverages new-age digital connectivity innovation and landscape to push business advantage forward. It pushes and determines the best and most engaging ways to engage users across all touchpoints in their buying journey.
10. Digital commerce is driven by the increased prevalence of digital technology and connectivity. An average customer uses more touchpoints today in a single day via mobile apps, smart speakers, live chat and messaging. That translates to superfast and hyper-connected, multi-platform commerce that avails engagement via customer interaction.
Statistical Growth Reports and Predictions for D-Commerce by 2025
Gartner statistical predictions for digital commerce by 2023-2025 spell gravity-defying business growth and expansion for D-commerce.
(a). 20% of large digital commerce start-ups will roll out customized marketplaces with higher engagement and reach of potential customers expanding their market influence and leadership.
(b). 80% of businesses that have adopted AI in digital commerce offerings are expected to reap high performance in KPIs including customer satisfaction, revenue and cost reduction
(c). By 2025, D-commerce vendors shall rule the market offering application platform-as-a-service (a-PaaS) innovation, extensive ecosystems, and rapid feature integrations and updates to stay relevant and competitive. In essence, innovation in digital commerce is the lifetime passport or key to sustained market relevance and competitiveness.
What Makes Digital Commerce Important and Indispensable?
(a). Digital Commerce is transforming the online marketing landscape. The Covid-19 global pandemic enhanced d-commerce in both B2B and B2C buyers with a more than 70% increase in the purchase. This is a significant growth figure to adapt and get used to even as more growth and success is predicted in the coming years of digital innovation.
(b). Digital commerce transcends sales channels as more than 65% of customers research a product or service online before going to the actual store. Customers discern are as curious but also information-driven to ensure their complete satisfaction.
(c). Digital commerce has marketing with transactions between people, processes and technologies that ensure the development of quality content, analytics, promotion, pricing, customer acquisition and retention, the customer experience at all touchpoints throughout the customer buying journey.
(d). Digital commerce in B2B and B2C has brought fast changes in customer behaviour and expectations. These include among others the way they research products or services, consider and complete purchases, brand loyalty and peer-peer communication
(e). D-commerce is more than integrated customized digital experiences, from customer acquisition via retention, to better or enhanced customer service experiences.
(f). Despite the hard-hitting after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic across the industry, digital commerce is the latest trending value proposition for customers and businesses in 2021 across niches and verticals
(g). D-commerce creates consistent customer experiences across all touchpoints and understands and remembers customer interactions across the touchpoints is vital to retailers. Several retailers still have gaps in their cross-touch point customer experiences. D-commerce avails the solutions to these challenges.
(h). Digital commerce presents new possibilities especially as customer expectations change instantly. Business ability to adapt to these new market realities can determine success, growth and competitiveness in the coming years.
What are the Current and Projected Digital Commerce Trends?
According to prominent statistics and projections, the future looks bright for digital commerce. But what are the overriding trends that will shape and influence its growth over the next decade? Let us find out.
a). Multi- Digital Platform Content & Commerce
Digital Commerce requires engaging and quality consumers on all platforms to have relevance and impact. Great content for the right audience, place and time enhances brand awareness and creates consistent customer experience across platforms.
Content is educative and illustrative and so helps maximize customer knowledge gathered in cross-channel analytics.
b). Advanced Customer Data Analytics
Big data brought significant perspectives and value to business data. From customer to business transactions data every item and detail completed and brought major implications. Today, big data practice and technology ensures better customer service and protects privacy.Customer experiences need marketers to analyze and study various data types. This helps know the best data and technology that gives users quality experiences they deserve and expect.
c). Digital Enterprise Marketplace
Growing convenience or fair prices or best bargains and discounts are normal and natural. But with varieties of tastes and preferences, it becomes a headache to monitor and track each one convincingly and satisfactorily. Digital vendors and Digital Marketing Consultants have to leverage customer data and analytics to perfect services and compete. A digital marketplace can aggregate several varied suppliers into logical bundles of services and products. These can be delivered to each customer based on analytics of preferences and priorities. This is the intelligent digital marketplace that delivers more value to both retailers and users.
d). Leverage of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI has grown and still is growing at a phenomenally fast pace and across several industrial usage or application. Being at the forefront of automation is influencing just about anything and everywhere. AI uses advanced analytics and logic like Machine Learning (ML) to interpret events, support and automate decisions, and take independent actions just like humans would. AI adoption in d-commerce includes site search optimization, product recommendations user journey personalization.
e). User Experience Personalization
Personalization of user experiences is a continuous process and effort across the industry. These efforts help evolve relevant and personal interactions that optimize the user experiences. User personalization must be built in the core of the overall customer experience and affect all touchpoints of the interaction process. Whether it is actions like surfing, data browsing, product recommendations, landing pages, and all interaction points must work together to enhance user experience.
f). Statistical and Analytical Estimates and Projections
There are several arguments, statistical projections and estimates that prove the resounding proof of digital commerce. Gartner further estimates and predicts 5% of medium-high-gross-merchandise-value digital commerce businesses will use customized marketplaces thus starting a fresh digital ecosystem by 2023-2025.
Conclusion
Despite the hard-hitting after-effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic across the industry, digital commerce is the latest trending value proposition for customers and businesses in 2021 across niches and verticals. Digital Commerce Trending Tips and its Benefits are too numerous to expound in a single with a projected fast and strong healthy growth rate into the nearby future.
