The current coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19) has had a massive impact on all areas of business, particularly eCommerce. Two eCommerce providers have decided to launch new initiatives and platforms to support retailers coping with COVID-19.
commercetools, a next-generation commerce software provider has launched the commercetools Accelerator. The Accelerator is built on commercetools’ API-based enterprise commerce platform. The solution is aimed to help retailers and brands launch enterprise commerce initiatives in weeks versus months. It allows enterprises to connect to their back-end systems such as CRM, ERP and OMS and integrate complex product catalogues. Commercetools plans to support businesses get up and running with commerce initiatives right away. The platform can add any other channels such as POS, voice, chat and IoT when they’re ready.
Getting businesses up and running in weeks
The commercetools Accelerator includes an advanced progressive web application (PWA) store front ends from Vue. The new Accelerator helps solve current retail pain points including.
- How existing commerce platforms are not designed to scale to meet high demand and handle peak performances.
- Time-to-market delays with adding critical business functionality such as click-and-collect solutions.
- Product data importing challenges that make it harder to import data fast enough and make it available to any sales channel.
“Many of our customers are seeing surges in online sales. We are working to help them be as fast, flexible and responsive as this challenging situation requires,” says Dirk Hoerig, Co-Founder and CEO, commercetools. “This is the time find new ways of working and to prepare businesses for the months ahead,” Hoerig added.
According to a study from Digital Commerce 360, 30% of retailers suspect COVID-19 will cause their e-commerce business to increase. Only 36% of retailers are taking a “wait-and-see” approach to action they are taking relative to COVID-19, while the rest are being proactive.
Rapid Response
Digital Goodie, the Finnish creator of a digital platform for headless connected commerce has launched its “Rapid Response Project.” The project plans to help retailers struggling with demand in the face of uncertainty and bulk-buying. Digital Goodie will enable food retailers to drive efficiencies in fulfilment, picking and delivery. The company plans to offer an eCommerce offering for those not yet online in as little as two weeks. According to Digital Goodie, some retailers are struggling to cope with online sales volumes. They have seen sales tripled in a matter of days for several clients.
The aim of this initiative is to help retailers better serve their customers. It also plans to support retailers deal with the strain of the current global climate. Some retailers have struggled to cope with the sheer volume of traffic they are experiencing. The initiative offers businesses without an online offering a new sales channel to distribute through. The company believe this is important as consumers begin to favour eCommerce more than ever. Digital Goodie’s end-to-end connected commerce platform can help grocers fulfil online orders in record time. Combined with optimised in-store picking every store can rapidly become a fulfilment point. This means retailers are able to rely on a more comprehensive and durable solution.
By streamlining its existing offering, Digital Goodie has developed a rapid response initiative that helps retailers without an online presence.
- Get online in as little as two weeks
- Provide reference storefronts with the retailer’s look and feel
- Utilise software for fulfilment logistics. This includes store picking, click and collect, and home delivery.
Grocers struggling with fulfilment
According to Tomas Granö, Director, Sales & Marketing at Digital Goodie, “Multiple grocery retailers are struggling with fulfilment capacity. An area we have seen demand surge tenfold with existing customers. As a result, retailers need to optimise all sales channels to help deliver a reliable service in these uncertain times. That’s why we’re offering grocery retailers the ability to fast-track their business online and optimise fulfilment processes. They can scale-up fulfilment capacity, keep providing excellent service to customers and also protect staff during this time of crisis.”
“Retailers can’t afford to take the ‘make-do’ approach. They need to solidify their systems and bolster them. This pandemic will likely have a long-term effect on fulfilment. Now is the time to ensure processes are equipped to handle demand to help each customer procure what is needed.”
Enterprise Times: What this means for business?
COVID-19 has dominated the news over the past few weeks and is disturbing lives throughout the world. The call for social distancing and the avoidance of public places has seen consumers turn to eCommerce. For many, this is to enable grocery shopping from the safety of their homes. However, many consumers struggle to get hold of essential items during this exceptional time, both in physical and online stores.
Customers are also experiencing long virtual queues or no online delivery slots, exacerbating their frustration. Grocery retailers are struggling with fulfilment capacity, an area both commercetools and Digital Goodies have seen surges with existing customers. As a result, retailers need to optimise their sales channels to help deliver a reliable service in these uncertain times. That’s why these platform providers are offering retailers the ability to fast-track their business online and optimise fulfilment processes. Both companies can rapidly scale up fulfilment capacity. The challenge will be providing excellent service to customers and also protecting their staff during this time of crisis.
