Collaborative Commerce Imperative: Why digital-first collaboration is at the core of today’s business success
If today’s current health and economic crisis have taught us anything, it’s the value of teamwork, assistance, and collaboration. And that doesn’t stop with our medical heroes at the frontline – we all have to work together more efficiently if we’re going to succeed in the new norms of life and work.
Any resistance to technology or hesitation of going digital is now a thing of the past. We’ve all seen individuals and businesses being thrust into a digital-first mindset to ensure there is as little disruption to their day-to-day operations as possible. That’s where collaboration is key.
But what does that have to do with commerce?
Today’s buying experience, regardless of purchase or industry, typically takes place within six touchpoints. Yet, 55% of businesses today have no cross-channel strategy in place; and we know that buyers have a 30% higher lifetime value when provided with a seamless unified buying experience.
To answer this need, your digital-commerce strategy calls for full integration of all channels, expanding market reach and optimizing operations. This is where collaborative commerce comes into play.
From VTEX’s point of view, collaborative commerce is all about digital collaboration with your customers and suppliers to create a digital ecosystem that delivers unrivaled value to the buyer and time-to-revenue for the business. It means:
- Connecting with new customers and sellers across a network of 2000+ VTEX merchants in more than 30 countries.
- Expanding product assortment by adding third-party partners (suppliers, brands, etc) to create your own digital marketplace.
- Expanding reach, accessing new markets by selling on third-party marketplace sites.
- Taming channel complexity for seamless and unified selling across your entire network of business and supply chain partners.
This approach creates a collaborative commerce effect that drives rapid growth for marketplace operators and sellers alike.
For example:
- In Colombia, hypermarket giant Grupo Exito is using VTEX’s marketplace platform capabilities to allow more than 1,000 retailers to connect and sell their products, extending their reach and easing customer access to an extensive variety of products in a single place.
- Photo and video equipment retailer F64 and Dacris, a B2B office supplies company decided to use VTEX’s marketplace solution to answer new customer demand for remote working. F64 is now selling office equipment on their site, fulfilled by Dacris, while Dacris is in the process of integrating into F64’s inventory to sell cameras, mics and home studio equipment for video conferencing.
- Romanian fashion brand Miniprix attributed three-quarters of their turnover from physical stores. After seeing a huge drop in sales due to the pandemic, they reacted fast by leveraging the marketplace solution from VTEX to refocus their online operations by opening new product lines to include non-perishable food. They called it Minimarket and launched in less than two weeks. Miniprix now buys and manages the food supplies for Bucharest residents with sources directly from local farmers. Customer feedback plays a huge role in the buying process, as Miniprix buyers decide which products to source. Miniprix is now planning to roll out Minimarket as a stand-alone business unit.
Why this matters most for business leaders like you
According to VTEX’s own data, market-place-first businesses saw 58% growth in 2019 vs 35% for those with a traditional approach to commerce.
Collaborative commerce empowers you to grow sales and reduce overhead by expanding product assortment, reaching new customers and eliminating the inventory and supply chain costs of adding new brands and product categories to your portfolio. You are able to:
- Join with your suppliers and brand partners to create a marketplace and offer a one-stop-shop for everything your customers need.
- Connect with sellers across the marketplace ecosystem to reach new customers and co-sell your products and services.
- Expand your market reach by syndicating products and services to third-party marketplace operators, such as Amazon, Alibaba, and others.
Now that you have a better understanding about the collaborative commerce effect, talk to us to see what it can do for your business in a matter of weeks.
Be well. Stay safe.
