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For everyone who prefers to shop from eCommerce platforms around the globe, Amazon is the first eCommerce marketplace that clicks their minds. Amazon had its feeble birth in the garage of Mr Jeff Bezos, and later it rose to its dominance by claiming a jewel in the eCommerce market in the last decade.

The only other company to attain a trillion dollars market share with the gigantic Apple Inc, Amazon is what it is today, following a sustained and smooth path of innovation, dedication, reimagining the eCommerce domain, and solid professional principles from its founder, CEO, and the world’s richest man to date, Jeff Bezos. For marketers, eCommerce start-ups, and e-retailers, Amazon is the perfect case study if they want to learn how to do things.

eCommerce Omnichannel Marketing - Amazon’s Success Story

To set itself as the top suggestion when it comes to buying any product online, Amazon Marketing sets the trend and culture within itself by utilizing every channel possible that keeps prospects as well as customers engaged, active, and keen on frequent purchases, i.e, Omnichannel Marketing. Amazon has remarkably adapted eCommerce omnichannel marketing for its mission to operate at a much higher frequency than its competitors. It is aggressive, customer-centric, and evolutionary.

Amazon is using only SEO for gaining popularity is an absurd statement. Amazon capitalizes on user-generated reviews to easily boost its product pages to the number one position. However, this was an idea they invented way back in the early 90s. There are a bunch of cultures and trends they set, which have now become SOPs for eCommerce marketing experts.Their primary reason to attract overwhelming fame is easy to access to products integrated with a service network that pays micro-grade attention to detail. Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos had the vision to make Amazon the most customer-friendly eCommerce platform in the world and has been able to accomplish this up to a remarkable extent and gave the bleeding edge to his competitors.

Renown eCommerce Practices Introduced or Improved by Amazon

Today, most eCommerce platforms adapt design and UX approaches that this eCommerce king has either pioneered or mastered. Below are the top 4 omnichannel marketing strategies that Amazon has utilized to become what it is today. Let’s discuss each of them in detail.

User experience

Amazon believes in the customer-first approach. It has triggered a massive transition in the entire eCommerce marketing domain, pushing entrepreneurs and marketers not to put themselves first and consider putting their customers on priority. They introduced the use of UX processes and design elements to make the online purchases of products or services an interactive and enjoyable experience. They dedicated a notable amount of time and investment into acknowledging customer pain points, prospects’ journey, and understanding what turns a visitor into a customer.

One of their most renowned patented technologies (ended in 2017) is ‘Amazon One-Click.’ It makes the overall process of online shopping smoother and more efficient. Once your account is set up with payment and shipment details, the next time is to just click on the ‘Buy Now’ button. It jumps the cart and directly finishes the payment, and ships your deliverables. This feature has been well embraced by customers who want to refrain from visiting different pages and carts and complete their purchase journey faster. The same methodology is incorporated by the Amazon Echo device, where you can make online purchases by giving voice commands to its speech recognition engine, Alexa.

Exceptional customer service

Amazon went through an exceptional roadmap to ensure that its customers were taken care of. Their supply chain and inventory management possess state-of-the-art technology and methodologies, most of which are industry-based. ‘Amazon Prime’ is an excellent example of their customer-first approach. The Customer-first approach is the key reason behind Amazon’s remarkable growth over the decade. Using Amazon Prime, users get to enjoy multiple perks for a yearly subscription, including same-day delivery, special discounted offers, major add-on utilities such as Prime Video, and much more.

Amazon is unbeatable on the pricing edge. Mostly, Amazon offers the most aggressive pricing models that limit its competitors. The most reasonable pricing structure is due to their highly optimized supply and logistics chain, decreasing unnecessary expenditure and cutting down the overall purchase cost. Using robots to increase efficiency in their inventories has drawn criticism from different segments who believe that it puts people out of work. Amidst this negative feedback, Amazon raised its minimum wage for warehouse workers to $15 per hour, which is considered one of the highest wage scales in the world. It stresses the fact that Amazon knows how to move with the flow and does what is needed to incorporate sustainability mixed with innovation and a futuristic approach.

Innovative advertising strategies

The most recent ad strategy they have implemented involves artificial intelligence and machine learning to gain insights into user preferences and send them samples of products they potentially like and the products they purchased. This perfect combo of advanced AI and user preference tracking ultimately allowed Amazon to serve its customers. Their giveaway campaign is also a top marketing strategy adopted by many eCommerce businesses now. Thousands of products are promoted using this practice by allowing you to win the product for free once you click on the giveaway button. If you fail to win, you have the option to buy that product at the least possible price, most of the time much lower than available anywhere. It's a win-win situation for both the customer as well as the company.

They are also trendsetters in enabling customer interactions via omnichannel marketing. Push notifications, email, SMS messaging, and digital omnichannel advertisement strategies have been used for a long time to enhance customer engagement and unlock cross and upselling opportunities. Their “Frequently bought together” and “people also purchased” options and sponsored product placement at strategic positions on the web store and mobile application are some of the most popular initiatives adapted by every eCommerce retailer in the market nowadays.

Diversification in eCommerce marketing is essential

Other than primary eCommerce operations, Amazon has diversified massively over the course of the decade. Echo, one of the most successful virtual assistant-based products, is a severe shocked by its well-known failure in the form of the Amazon Fire smartphone. It failed so badly that it had to stop production within a year of launch. This bold step company to try different ideas itself shows that they don’t refrain from experimenting and accepting failure as a part of the roadmap to utmost success. They have a notable presence in other businesses such as:

• OTP Amazon Prime Video
• Purchase of the Washington Post
• Purchase of video game streaming site Twitch
• Setting up brick and mortar retail stores
• Launch of the Amazon book stores, etc

Their thrust to change, evolve, and upgrade has made Amazon such an unbeatable eCommerce entity.

Conclusion

From being one of the first eCommerce platforms to one of the largest, Amazon has been able to mark success because of the time and effort invested in offering top-notch and premium customer services. They use data along with high-end Omni-personalization to turn their prospects into satisfied and loyal customers. By critically focusing on crucial data points and maximizing their interactions, offering programs that entrust loyalty, and improving their logistics and supply chain, they maintain to remain the dominant eCommerce platform in the tech-driven globe.

With the newly emerging B2B eCommerce market trends, a global B2B eCommerce market share is estimated to reach USD 25.65 Trillion, Expanding at a CAGR of 18.7% from 2022 to 2028. Despite having a sluggish trend of adapting eCommerce in the pre-COVID era eCommerce, B2B brands are now significantly shifting towards digital means to boost revenue streams through eCommerce channels. That is something accelerated after the COVID19 pandemic and another inspiration coming from the remarkable success of Amazon Business and the evolving B2B customer demographic.

B2B Ecommerce Statistics

Let's look at the numbers that reveal the significance of today's top B2B eCommerce trends. Almost half of B2B businesses prefer blogging as their prime marketing approach, while the rest look to sending emails and uploading engaging content on social and digital media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube. Digital approaches in content marketing have replaced conventional print advertisements and flyers, and B2B customers are exploring different brands across the said digital channels. Almost 30% of content demand is pushed by audiences in IT, followed by CEOs, HR departments, marketing, and the education sector. B2B customers expect a multitude of digital efforts from brands, like:

• 45% want personalized content in the form of blog posts or articles

• 44% are looking for interactive and user-friendly ROI calculators

• 38% seek support for augmented reality.

According to research, over 50% of B2B decision-makers claim that video was the most useful content to engage and convert prospects into customers, followed closely by comprehensive case studies. Once the sales funnel was almost linear, but now 90% of B2B customers enter and exit the funnel to reenter the at different layers. Around 80% of B2B purchase decisions are driven by customers’ direct or indirect CX, and only 20% are driven by the price structures or the discount offers.

Evolving B2B eCommerce Trends

In 2021, almost 50% of B2B customers were millennials, nearly 2x the number of millennials in the early 2010s.With the changing demographics of B2B customers, businesses are also witnessing significant changes in their revenue cycles. If Gen X customers prefer to have a brick and mortar store experience for their purchase journey, millennials prefer to have a more comfortable and personalised experience through streamlined, digital platforms. It leaves businesses to embrace the digital means of B2B customers’ preferences that are driven by:

1. Changing Audience

Before the COVID19 pandemic, the B2B customer segment was mainly baby boomers, and members of Generation X. Baby boomers used to follow a conventional practice of getting information from hard copies of documents, sales records, and product trials. On the contrary, Gen X intended to acquire information from trade shows, conferences, and social media marketing channels. Today, around 3/4th of millennials are involved in the B2B process. These newcomers have confused most merchants by revealing a sudden shift in preferences and buying habits. Still, they possess some distinguishing attributes that showcase how and why their mind functions while making a purchase. Millennials are brought up under the shadow of digital technology, and as many as over 30% of them admit to using the latest gadgets like tablets, laptops, smartphones, etc. More millennials hold at least a graduate degree compared to their preceding generation.

While this trend is interesting, it has cast a notable impact on how they are making their career choices. The student debt crisis in the US and other developed or developing countries is also a primary reason why millennials are protective of spending their money and seeking transparency from brands. Another notable reason is the growing trend of adopting a minimalist lifestyle among millennials that refrain them from buying too often. These factors translate into how this group of B2B customers perceives marketing campaigns.

2. Impact of Digital Marketing

Before 2014, conventional marketing practices included television advertisements and trade shows. Experts started accepting that these mainstream marketing practices are going to dilute soon, and digital marketing in terms of ebooks, email marketing, blogs, and social media, will occupy the main ground. According to the survey, in today’s time, B2B customers perform around 12 online searches before finalizing their purchase decision from a particular vendor. It made marketers shift their approach. Now, over 50% of B2B marketing budgets are directed toward digital marketing, ensuring a highly personalized CX by integrating recommendation engines and AI algorithms to help consumers enjoy their purchase journey.

More businesses are adopting AI to gain a competitive edge over their rivals by introducing chatbots, single-click purchase options, and recommendation engines. By the end of 2022, it's expected that over 25% of enterprise-grade organizations will launch augmented reality, and the rest of them will start experimenting.

3. Payment Gateways

Around 25% of B2B retailers with eCommerce platforms accept orders via fax.  That chunk is much less compared to the most preferred payment methods:

• eCommerce site: 80%.

• Email: 77%

With the sudden upsurge in mobile apps and eCommerce platforms like Amazon, B2B retailers quickly transition from isolated eCommerce platforms to full-scale omnichannel digital practices.Credit cards still share a notable share in eCommerce payment methods at 94%.In 2018, most B2B retailers, over 75%, were selling their products and services for at least 2-5 years or more.

Top B2B Ecommerce Trends for 2022

We've compiled the top B2B ecommerce trends for businesses to adapt to embrace digital transformation.

1. Aim on producing B2C-like experiences for their niche
2. Acceleration of eCommerce platforms
3. Businesses prefer B2B mobile commerce.
4. Increasing expectations of personalized B2B CX
5. Introducing a DTC medium
6. Integrating different platforms for omnichannel marketing
7. Demand for hassle-free B2B order fulfilment process
8. Refrain from jumping on the bandwagon

• Aim on producing B2C-like experiences for their niche

An increasing number of B2B customers prefer to purchase products digitally. In fact, B2B customers perform comprehensive research on a brand and its products before they even think about consulting a sales representative. According to the research, B2B customers go through around 12 online searches before finalizing their eCommerce vendor to buy a particular product. Additionally, 74% of B2B customers claim to explore at least half of their procurements online.

Also Read: 7 Benefits of Using Chatbots for B2B Lead Generation

So it requires your eCommerce site to provide a B2C experience. Considering business procurement individuals are the same people who visit online platforms for their personal purchases, offering them a B2C-like shopping experience can play a vital role in improving your engagement. And it remains vital to improving an overall user experience and user interface (UX/UI) that makes it interactive and user-friendly for the visitors to quickly find what they want to purchase, as most B2B customers already know exactly what they are looking for.

• Acceleration of eCommerce platforms

In 2018, eCommerce platforms like Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba claimed their dominance in the B2C eCommerce industry by holding more than 50% of online sales. Similarly, B2B ecommerce sales via eCommerce sites are growing significantly. Only 6% of B2B buyers are not using eCommerce platforms, and 75% of B2B procurement drives are expected to happen via eCommerce marketplaces within the next five years.

According to statistics by Gartner, the enterprise eCommerce platform is a new business model that will open a wider portal, offer new opportunities, and allow businesses to generate new revenue streams by targeting a vast majority of buyers. eCommerce marketplaces are more efficient in saving time and cost, as they serve as a one-stop solution for B2B customers. One of the primary benefits of B2B eCommerce platforms is their ability to attract and convert new audiences. It will boost revenue streams and offer an opportunity to attain a global reach and test new product niches.

• Businesses prefer B2B mobile commerce.

Following are some recent statistics about B2B eCommerce trends from Google and BCG that showcase the cruciality of a hassle-free mobile UX for the B2B segment.

• 50% of B2B queries today are performed via smartphones. Experts claim this number to grow significantly in upcoming years.

• The mobile-friendly interface of eCommerce platforms is responsible for around 40% of sales in leading B2B enterprises.

What should we interpret from this data? Apart from making your B2B business available online, it must be mobile-friendly as more B2B customers prefer to explore and purchase their products via smartphones. Let’s discuss this in detail. Overall, these emerging challenges contain B2B businesses from launching eCommerce platforms to initiate with, due to:

• Fear of lack of expertise in introducing and experimenting with a new channel or platform.

• The inability to break the threshold is based on fear of the unknown concerning a new channel or platform.

• Lack of revenue streams due to sluggish adaptability and reforms

It is difficult to embrace change. Adapting mobile-friendly platforms is undoubtedly the most important B2B eCommerce trend. Introducing such UX will allow B2B customers to log in and see their particular product and checkout instantly using a preferred payment gateway, all in minutes with comfort and without opening their laptops or desktop PCs. This is how you enjoy the perks of having B2B mobile commerce. Over 20% of B2B businesses reported having and using an interactive mobile application to facilitate their customer base as a mobile application allows faster-recurring orders based on the business account. The app can also board your sales team for instant sales that are currently waiting in your funnel for the final steps.

• Increasing expectations of personalized B2B CX

According to recent research, around 50% of B2B customers prefer improved personalization as a primary utility while searching for products or services on eCommerce platforms and turned out to be loyal customers. Consumers prefer to spend 50% more if they find their purchase drive is personalized. The CX management market is expected to be twice the existing one, attaining $14.9 billion by this decade. B2B customers expect the same engaging experience that B2C customers experience, and businesses must admit it. For completely personalized B2B customer experiences, businesses must leverage customer data, recommendation engines, artificial intelligence, and machine learning algorithms. For most B2B businesses, the experience of their IT teams is enough to embrace an emerging B2B eCommerce trend of better customer experience.

• Introducing a DTC medium

According to research, its member organizations of DSA UK had experienced around 50% growth in revenue, on average, through the direct channel until now. It makes DTC’s rivals one of the primary challenges many B2B businesses are experiencing. However, a DTC channel introduces a variety of opportunities, such as engaging new customers ready to buy from the business directly, introducing:

• New Revenue Streams

As brick-and-mortar stores face operational restrictions due to COVID19 containment measures, consumers prefer eCommerce stores to make purchases they used to purchase by physically visiting the stores. Brands are in an impactful position to help fulfil these consumer demands while making up lost sales due to COVID19 restrictions.

• Customers’ Data

Integrating first-hand data from customer behaviour with a transactional record from retail stores leads to a better understanding of your customer’s preferences and buying habits. You can make strategic business reforms in product placement packaging and price structures using this insightful data.

• Build Customer Loyalty

Introducing DTC gives you complete control over the sales funnel, from the moment a prospect visits your website and converts into a customer by finalizing a purchase up to delivery and beyond. More engaging customer experiences are easier to personalize for different segments offered to the visitors from the collected data.

• Integrating different platforms for omnichannel platforms

While the B2B ecommerce trends are evolving continuously with a growing number of B2B customers, businesses have a relatively small domain to choose their digital approaches from.B2B requirements are difficult to fulfil, and not every platform ensures 100% efficiency.B2B businesses can deploy comprehensive and expensive eCommerce platforms that demand expensive customizations and a whole team to handle different aspects of the site. Others will hire an outsourcing vendor to get the job done. Some B2B businesses choose third-party apps to work in parallel with their eCommerce platforms to process order fulfilment, inventory transparency, or payment gateways.

However, for the practical implementation of this omnichannel framework. An integration provider is needed to integrate multiple systems to efficiently produce fruitful outcomes for your business. Integration providers are intended to provide pre-built APIs or several connections to sync data and streamline critical functions between eCommerce platforms and back-end frameworks like an ERP, POS, or 3PL to boost operational capacity and curb resource-consuming hurdles. Around 60% of B2B businesses claim that eCommerce integration like omnichannel marketing and sales channels are another primary digital need. They perceive eCommerce integration as integrating backend frameworks for managing different aspects of the business, including warehouse, supply chain, and orders fulfilment with their eCommerce platform.

• Demand for hassle-free B2B order fulfilment process

As more and more B2B businesses overcome the digital barrier, the need for a fast and effective order fulfilment process has become a vital need for any business. Before Amazon changed the digital makeup of the eCommerce domain, millennials were still looking for this feature, and 75% of them are already involved in the B2B purchase drives today. Customer expectations are evolving rapidly, and this is another way B2B businesses can attract and engage potential customers. Businesses can automate their order fulfilment process by using order management programs. These types of software programs assist B2B businesses to manage and track orders across different stages of the sales funnel, ensure transparency, and eliminate inventory-related issues. Businesses can also opt for third-party extensions or tools to get the job done most budget-friendly manner. This is a great option if your business is growing rapidly, your current sales are escalating, or you waste too much time and effort on inventory management that you can utilize elsewhere.

• Refrain from jumping on the bandwagon

Do not jump irrationally on any bandwagon to follow masses and trends, as not every trend is worth following. If some B2B eCommerce trends provide significant advantages, others can be too expensive and irrational to adapt. Filtering the value-added B2B eCommerce trends will often come down to knowing your target market, your limits, and competitors in each domain. There are multiple practices you adapt to examine industry trends and make the right choice for your business.

Tips to Follow the eCommerce B2B Market Trends

• Identifying the evolution of the industry, backed by numbers and statistics

Every industry undergoes transition sooner or later, and staying up to date with all the latest trends by regularly consulting authentic reports and statistics from the relevant sources can prepare you for the launch. The data and stats in these reports often originate from comprehensive research you can rely on instead of just following the masses. Apart from this, when you keep yourself updated with what's happening in your niche, you'll get a rich idea of each trend, whether it’s worth following.

• Evaluate customers' behaviors

Use customer data to determine if a trend is fruitful for your businesses. Most trends might work for your competitors, but only you can know your customers better than anyone else. Refrain from relying on a single data-gathering source so that you can see customer needs and priorities from different perspectives. Use this data and stats to evaluate the overall trends in your niche. Would adopting a particular trend support your customers’ interest or contradict it?

• Ask for feedback

Please don't refrain from asking your existing customers what they need. Getting feedback and valuing constructive criticism from your customers can give you insight into the trends that best serve their expectations. You can also develop more targeted strategies for the future. You never know if your customer will suggest an idea you would never think about.

• Keep an eye on the competitors

Closely look at your competitors. Did they jump on a particular B2B eCommerce trend? If yes, how effective it would be for them? Of course, you don't have to adapt to everything your competition is up to (as we discussed earlier), but being familiar with their footsteps is another way to measure the cost and impact of any particular trend.

Conclusion

It is certain to say that global eCommerce sales are expected to break all the records by the end of 2022 with a 300% increase in market share compared to 2015.Payment gateways and website UX remain the two primary factors for converting your prospects into loyal customers. Your reputation in the market remains vital in brand awareness and the consideration phase.

FAQs about B2B eCommerce Trends

Are B2B eCommerce platforms using VR or AR?

‍Some B2B eCommerce platforms offer VR and AR utilities. The most common way B2Bs use this technology is to provide customers with the experience to see their products in a virtual environment. VR and AR can also provide B2B customers with the highly personalized UX they are looking for.

‍Is B2B eCommerce using video content?

‍Yes, many B2Bs use video content to establish and improve brand image. According to a survey, over 50% of B2B marketers stated that the video is the most impactful form of content, followed closely by case studies or white papers. For B2B customers in a tech niche, videos are considered the preferable content type.

‍Can B2B businesses integrate an omnichannel marketing approach?

‍Yes, B2B businesses can enjoy the perks of having an omnichannel marketing approach. In fact, B2B buyers expect a smooth and hassle-free purchase drive on any medium they are using, whether it's a mobile application or an eCommerce site.

Snowflake is a cloud-driven data warehouse service that made its debut in 2021. Its founding founders hold a rich history of working for Oracle Corporation. The organization is currently having 2500 employees and offering a warehouse-as-a-service platform, including storage and analytics solutions. Since its debut, Snowflake has scaled up its services with a variety of advanced features and extensions.It incorporates and supports the world’s top three cloud computing services, namely Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. [lwptoc skipHeadingLevel="h1,h4,h5,h6"]As per estimation, Snowflake’s revenues are expected to attain 75% growth by the end of 2022. The business estimates its total target market around $80 billion. Snowflake’s state-of-the-art features give tough competition to its rival services from Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.

Top 10 Snowflake Competitors in 2022

Snowflake has also experienced tough war from services like Cloudera, Oracle, Teradata, and IBM. We compiled a list of top 10 Snowflake competitors that you must consider in 2022 as potentially strong rivals to Snowflake. Let’s discuss this in detail.

1. Amazon Web Services (AWS)

AWS is a detailed and most renowned cloud platform that offers end-to-end services, including virtual databases & data warehouse services in 240+ countries globally.AWS incorporates Amazon Redshift and Amazon EMR, giving tough competition to Snowflake in many domains. Amazon Redshift offers a managed services platform for data warehouse needs to simplify the complex functionality of data analysis using mainstream SQL. Businesses leveraging Amazon Redshift can easily analyze their data by integrating it with their existing BI tools and utilities.Amazon EMR also rivals Snowflake’s data processing and distribution services. Amazon EMR is a web-based platform that resolves complex big data challenges seamlessly.

Related: Snowflake vs AWS Athena – Best Data Query Warehouse in 2022

Amazon Web Services holds a significant share of over 30% of the market value. These numbers are enough to give a rich idea about the scale of competition it gives to Snowflake. With AWS, Amazon Redshift, and Amazon EMR, Amazon is undoubtedly the primary threat to Snowflake in the cloud computing market, being a head-to-head rival of Snowflake for a variety of reasons.

2. Microsoft Azure

Microsoft doesn’t require any introduction being a leading IT company that offers hardware, software, and cloud computing service (Azure). The company’s SQL Server gives tough competition to Snowflake in the Relational Database Management Systems (DBMS) domain. SQL platform allows developers to develop effective database solutions and intelligent applications.Microsoft Azure also provides Data Lake services that compete against Snowflake in the big data and data warehousing domain. Microsoft’s robust tools and utilities helped it surpass or match steps with Snowflake in different aspects. However, Snowflake is a much cheaper solution, making it eye candy for most businesses.Whereas, organizations that use Microsoft’s Azure services are more likely to opt for Azure Data Lake services and Synapse Analytics instead of Snowflake, giving Snowflake a bleeding edge in the cloud and analytics domain.

3. Google Cloud

Google is known as a global leader as a search engine platform. Iy provides a multitude of highly scalable services that compete against Snowflake. For instance, Google BigQuery allows users to effectively analyze big data in the cloud environment and perform SQL-like operations against overwhelming datasets within no time. BigQuery offers a storage solution that is less expensive than Snowflake’s storage solution.

Also Read: Snowflake vs BigQuery: Best Cloud Data Warehouse in 2022

As far as the performance is concerned, Snowflake is significantly faster than BigQuery. It takes 8.2 seconds to run a single query. In comparison, BigQuery takes up to 12 seconds, and these differences can cast a great impact if used with gigantic data volumes, although both Snowflake and BigQuery 2.0 incorporate mainstream SQL.BigQuery is a service of the Google Cloud Platform, having 20x more annual revenue than Snowflake, making it one of the top rivals of Snowflake.

4. Cloudera

Cloudera is a cloud-driven data repository solution based on Hadoop. It offers enterprise-grade cloud services in terms of data storage, data processing, and extraction of different formats of data. By the mid of last year, Cloudera was purchased by equity firms for $5.3 billion, and later the company absorbed Datacoral and Cazena in its giant empire. This absorption plan is intended to boost the capability of Cloudera to target more markets in domains like data warehouses and data lakes.

5. Oracle

Oracle is a leading tech giant that provides enterprise-grade storage and cloud solutions via SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS approaches. Oracle Exadata Cloud Service enables a highly flexible, reliable, and budget-friendly solution for all enterprise-grade organization's data warehousing and business intelligence needs.The primary advantage of the Oracle Exadata Cloud platform over Snowflake is its integration with the Oracle Cloud framework, a leading enterprise-scale cloud computing service available in the global market.Renowned organizations including Zoom, McDonald’s, and famous automobile manufacturer Nissan enjoy the perks of having Oracle Cloud services. These giant businesses are likely to prefer the Oracle Exadata Cloud platform over Snowflake. All these services and platforms make Oracle one of the leading Snowflake competitors as the best alternate solutions for enterprise-scale business entities.

6. Teradata

Teradata is another software company that offers modern AI solutions, business intelligence, consulting services, and data warehousing solutions. It offers both on-premise and cloud-based data warehouse services that give tough competition to Snowflake in the storage domain.Teradata’s cloud-based data analytics services are compatible with a hybrid multi-cloud environment that enable its users to resolve the most complex data-related issues up to a remarkable extent.Teradata houses over 8500 personnel as its skilled workforce and operates internationally.

7. IBM

IBM Inc. is another tech giant that manufactures high-quality computer hardware products and software solutions. It operates in over 200 regions globally with a rich history of almost a century in the tech domain. IBM Db2 offers managed services and data warehouse solutions that make it a top performer among Snowflake competitors in data warehousing. IBM Db2 offers enterprise-scale solutions to deal with overwhelming workloads and is fundamentally designed to ensure utmost performance within a reasonable budget. However, due to its low RoI, IBM Db2 is growing at a very sluggish rate to beat Snowflake. IBM’s robust framework and financial indicators give IBM Db2 a cutting edge as a Snowflake competitor.

8. Databricks

Databricks is another software manufacturer that provides cloud services for streamlined data cluster management. With around 2,000 skilled personnel, it supports 5,000 organizations belonging to different niches globally. Databricks also offers open-source platforms like Delta Lake, MLflow, and Koalas, which pull entry-level data analysts before opting for the much more expensive Snowflake. Databricks made a significant move by collaborating with Google Cloud in 2021. Snowflake and Databricks developed compatibility for each other in 2020 after Databricks started supporting SQL Query for data management. This significant move allowed Databricks to be a potential Snowflake competitor in 2022.

9. Apache Druid

Apache Druid is a cloud-based database that supports stream data processing and helps develop intelligent analytical engines at a large scale. This platform is based on Java instead of a standalone data warehouse like Snowflake and other aforementioned Snowflake competitors. At the moment, several top-notch companies like Netflix, Alibaba, and Salesforce are using Druid.Apache Druid is an open-source platform but lacks a true warehouse solution like Snowflake. It’s ideal for fueling end-user analytical solutions. It performs ad-hoc queries faster than Snowflake. All these features make Druid a potential Snowflake competitor.

10. Dremio

Dremio is a startup platform that offers cloud and analytical solutions. This open-source software has the potential to turn data warehouses into outdated frameworks. The feature that gives Dremio such potential is its in-memory software that enables users to perform analytics periodically without having a data warehouse like Snowflake to deal with storage-related problems.The company is all set to invest funds in data lake infrastructure to boost SQL queries' operational capacity and performance. Dremio can help users cut costs by diluting the need for having a data warehouse. It makes Dremio a notable Snowflake competitor in terms of capturing market share up to a significant extent in the short run and threats the existence of Snowflake once users start embracing warehouse-free cloud and analytic solutions like Dremio.

Conclusion

All the above platforms and services we discussed in this article in descending order (as per their competitive nature) are absolute or potential Snowflake competitors in 2022. But the all-rounder nature of Snowflake has allowed Snowflake to secure its position as a leading cloud-based data warehouse platform until now. A future will decide if the competition will favor Snowflake competitors or otherwise.

Are you running a business and finding it difficult to manage your orders? An order management system is an answer to the problem. Some companies use an independent order management system while some integrate it with their already existing ERP systems. Sales, orders, inventory, and fulfillment are monitored by an order management system. This also helps the necessary people, systems, and alliances to make their way to the consumers who bought the goods. A successful OMS offers one unified location for all distribution channels to handle orders.

You can handle customer details and transactions through a single order management system, view your accounting data, configure your retail point-of-sale system, and upgrade your warehouse inventory — all from one platform. You can also use the data generated with the right tools to use business intelligence strategies to enhance your business processes — like controlling your supply chain. It was probably relatively simple handling orders in the early days of your company.

You can probably also recall the first one, from details about the consumer to the product you sold, and even how you handled it. With every new sale, however, you tend to find it harder to manage your orders and will lose the magic to be on top of every order manually. It is critical at this point to find the perfect order management system designed specifically, otherwise, you’ll scare away customers, harm your credibility, or set up an order management system that doesn’t support the process of your company.

In this article, we will discuss order management solutions, tips that you should follow to choose the right order management program, and the benefits of enhancing your order management.

What is an Order Management System (OMS)?

An Order Management System is a tool that allows you to keep track of your order process from the customer’s first interactions with your company to the delivery, thus improving the order management efficiency. In between owning a physical store, social media sales, and managing e-commerce, you need your order management system to help you track:

• Customers
• Multi-channel selling
• Multi-location inventory management
• Purchase order and receiving management
• Customer service
• Order processing
• Make-to-order or make-to-stock business model.

Benefits of Integrating an Order Management System

Let’s have a quick look at the benefits of integrating an Order Management System for your business;

Automation

You may be the master of spreadsheets, but sadly you will not be able to outperform automation of the manufacturing process. Good order management will affect manual labor efficiency, reducing the likelihood of human errors, and freeing up resources so that you can concentrate on growing your company and improving customer service.

24/7 Accessibility

If you wake up unexpectedly in a nervous sweat and want to check your orders quickly for peace of mind, without a cloud-based order management app, it would be a sleepless night for you. By setting up an order management system, you can manage orders, you can check your orders anytime from anywhere. Aside from calming any worrying thoughts about your out-of-whack order management, this immediate, 24/7 access allows for enhanced data monitoring, better customer satisfaction, and more effective order processing.

Growth

Your order management system automates the delivery of your order. Most specifically, all of the distribution platforms are taken into a single forum. This smooth automated process allows you to leave it to run in the background, allowing you to free up time to collect and analyze data. Invaluable free time to collect this information helps you to prepare smartly to expand your company further and recognize any problems that can occur during your manufacturing process.

Management of Inventory

Solutions for order management will significantly enhance your inventory management by providing you with real-time information about current stock rates, products delivered, returned, traded, or in production. This helps suppliers from making inventory over-selling or not producing enough. However, for retailers most order management software was developed in mind, or drop shippers hoping to gain more control over their company. Be sure to find something that can help you out with your inventory management of raw materials when looking into an order management tool.

Business Centralization

Using an order management system, as mentioned earlier, enables manufacturers not only to manage their sales channels in one place but also to manage their entire business from one dashboard. An order management tool can break down complicated details to simplify your orders into one location, protecting you from order mistakes, customer frustration with delays, or loss of low inventory revenue and incorrect invoicing. Yet once again you want to centralize your sales as a distributor, but still consider a tool that can help you handle your production planning and scheduling too.

Real-Time Information Feed

Ultimately, and commented on again in the earlier sections, providing real-time knowledge about the success of your company with an order management system is a critical component to the growth of your company. Even if you use small business order management software, having live inventory and sales updates will help you react to any issues with your automated order management immediately, rather than allowing problems to develop and leave the customer unhappy.

How to choose the right Order Management System?

It is essential to choose the right OMS for your business and you must do your research for the final selection because the wrong system can hurt your business; so, consider the following points while making the decision.

System Integrations

Does the OMS fit easily into your platform, or do you have to create a whole new structure around it? Most leading software systems for order management are designed to be integrated with the major eCommerce platforms. Our list of the best OMSs below will provide examples that can be conveniently installed directly at your eCommerce store or manufacturing management systems.

Consider Your Suppliers

Will this system make it harder for you to get your suppliers to buy and process orders? That should not be the case, at all. The right OMS will simplify complicated concerns about the supply chain and make communication with suppliers simple.

Fulfillment Process Integrations

Not only does your OMS need to integrate with your site, but it also needs to work with those who are packaging and shipping your orders (assuming you are using a partner for fulfillment). A program that has already been tested within the industry will have the framework in place to combine delivery and adequate resources, making fulfillment management easier.

Scalability

When you undergo rapid growth, would your order management system be able to scale with you? Most systems have their drawbacks, and learning what those are is well worth the time. Make sure the system will comply with the growth goals and beyond.

Ability to Generate Reports

Order management systems are not only designed to check the order process, but they are also perfect for monitoring demonstrated results. Revenue, distribution, and demographic reporting are top features and the program should also help you stay within regulatory requirements with ease.

Customer Handling

Can they manage your sales — even multi-channel orders — regardless of where your customer is and what currency they use in the world? eCommerce opens the door to the whole planet, so differences in language, currency, and taxation can cause headaches. When your order management system is equipped with a single interface to automate much of this, it gives you more time to concentrate on the expansion of your company, rather than dealing with order management issues.

Order Management System for eCommerce Business

Although some businesses prefer to use their eCommerce platform as their order management system, it is not commonly advised — especially if you are already taking in revenue in millions. But, if you are a small business (and plan to remain that way), all orders are put on your website, and your website is closely connected to your delivery and inventory (allowing customers to check their order history), this could be a reasonable choice for the current state of your business.Using your order management e-commerce platform may not be the best choice if you have multiple outlets, expecting growth in the long-term, you get orders from multiple warehouses or different locations, i.e websites, point-of-sale, etc. The separation of the distribution channels from the background management processes helps you to separate and concentrate on each specific role.

Few Order Management Systems (OMSs) To Consider

I’ve compiled a list of a few order management systems for you to consider based on the reviews and user experience. Note that the following are not recommended by shopdev or any person associated with the company except for the Omni Channel Engine built by shopdev.

Microsoft Dynamics 365

Microsoft Dynamics 365 provides integrated solutions that enable companies to automate field service, drive sales, and track leads, and improve operations using cloud-based mobile business apps that are ready for the enterprise.

OE (Omni-Channel Engine)

A cloud-based omnichannel commerce platform with multichannel inventory management and distributed order management. A single interface to manage your products, orders, and customers seamless integration with POS, ERPs, eCommerce, Shipping, and Accounting platforms. The Omni Channel Engine adds in the capabilities of Order Management, Inventory Management, and Logistics & Supply Chain management.

ShippingEasy

ShippingEasy is a cloud-based system for shipping and inventory management, suitable for small to medium-sized e-commerce companies. Main features include order control, product customization, multi-seller channel integration.

Odoo

All in one software solution, Odoo is a customizable open-source and fully integrated suite of business applications including sales, CRM, project management, manufacturing, inventory, accounting, and other business needs.

Shippo

Shippo is a cloud-based shipping management solution that supports order management and label printing for eCommerce businesses of all sizes. Its main features include mapping customer experience, cost comparison, monitoring of shipments, and more.

Zoho Inventory

Zoho Inventory is a cloud-based inventory management system designed for businesses of small to medium scale. This provides modules for inventory management including monitoring and analysis, inventory handled by the manufacturer, and traceability by the lot.

Conclusion

As eCommerce continues to expand and break down barriers globally, it’s even more important to employ the right system to manage purchase orders. As you’re searching for the right one for your business, make sure you first Identify your business processes, goals, and objectives, then assess the benefits, costs, and features that align with your business, and at the end do proper research of OMSs to find the one that works best for your business needs. Order management is an inherently complex process.Selecting the right order management system is not only vital to business longevity and quality, it’s an often-overlooked area where you can get some easy wins. You can always opt for custom software development to get an order management system developed that is completely customized for your business but that has its perks and downsides, which I’ll try to cover in another article. A dedicated OMS presents a complete view throughout the lifecycle of all orders across all channels, giving business owners the extra time to focus on what they should be focusing on; the growth. Businesses will save money by increasing business processes faster without compromising on quality while increasing customer satisfaction and retention.Fee free to get in touch if you have any queries or need assistance with order management systems.

Businesses use Chatbots to ease the user experience and automate manual work, resulting in better customer engagement and ultimately increased lead generation.Although chatbots help enterprises get improved results, there remains room for improvement which can be filled by a revolutionary technology called RPA. The Robotic Process Automation or RPA, when integrated with chatbots, maximizes the user experience resulting in more leads. Who doesn't want more leads in this competitive era?[lwptoc skipHeadingLevel="h1,h5,h6"]Growing enterprises are already embracing this revolutionary technological solution. Do you want to know how you can elevate your business by combining RPA and chatbots and simplifying customer service more than ever before? Keep reading this blog to learn more.Before diving into the benefits of integrating chatbots with RPA, let's learn a bit about the future of customer service.

What Is the Future of Customer Service?

Companies are increasingly using chatbots as the facing agents to deal with their website visitors to provide them with a positive customer service experience. Additionally, the demand for all-rounder customer service is increasing as the world transforms and accepts technological improvements.Chatbots' deep learning can interpret customers' speech and text responses, allowing them to tackle common customer care issues efficiently. Customers are only referred to a live agent if the chatbot cannot handle their queries and resolve the problem instantly.Furthermore, human agents can now devote their time and energy to more challenging things or have a higher reward potential, such as solving complex cases.Simply put, virtual assistants enhance the general customer experience while reducing response times to a bare minimum. This makes contact centers more efficient while also giving customers access to these virtual assistants.As a result of the data collected by chatbots, businesses may better serve their customers by tailoring their offerings to their individual needs. Chatbots have the ability to be a game-changer for enterprises and be as effective as possible while also increasing customer and employee satisfaction rates.

Benefits of Integrating Chatbots with RPA

Why should one integrate chatbots with RPA? In this section, we will be disclosing the eye-opening benefits of chatbots and RPA integration that are beneficial for providing outstanding customer service.While there are a plethora of benefits of this trailblazing combination, we will only cover the major ones here:

Lethal Combination of RPA and Conversational AI

Conversational AI is a type of Artificial Intelligence that uses the NLP algorithm to enable bots to interpret and mimic human conversations. In the digital world, both conversational AI and RPA can assist in automating repetitive operations.RPA and Conversational AI enable chatbots to interpret consumers' responses and take appropriate automated action to fix their complaints rapidly.Chatbots can utilize both of these technologies to provide a more advanced level of service to customers. As a result, adopting chatbots can help firms streamline their digital transformation process.The human agent will only be needed when a chatbot is unable to handle a scenario by itself. Other than that, all the support will be handled by the chatbot itself. This automation will considerably enhance customer service, resulting in better customer experiences.

Easy Deployment & Improved Services

RPA is a pioneering technology in bridging the gap between customer service and operations. Robotic automation is essential for companies with a high volume of customer interaction.An RPA solution adds a new layer of usefulness to your current infrastructure by automating repetitive tasks. RPA can be implemented quickly and easily, and organizations don't have to mobilize resources for its implementation. Furthermore, the existing assets do not need to be removed or replaced.When RPA is used to automate customer service, it saves time by eliminating the need to identify and track down several customers. This automation will help your customer support agents to have quicker access to information, which will save your customers' time.

Stronger Business-Customer Relationship

If you are serious about growing your business, then you have to ditch the regular chatbots as they can only give you limited personalized conversations with your website visitors. Strengthen your relationship with your customers by taking your chatbots to the next level, i.e., smartness, which can be achieved by integrating them with RPA.Auto-replies can get repetitive and boring, and it can cause your customers to find out that they are just asking a coded bot their questions which exposes the limitations.When integrated with RPA, Chatbots uses the wonders of Artificial Intelligence and NLP to respond to the user's queries and does it so naturally that your customers feel as if they are conversing with a human.The combination of RPA and chatbots removes all the conversational limitations and offers your customers a more personalized and improved experience resulting in their satisfaction and trust.

Lead Generation

You can integrate a variety of RPA providers with chatbots as per your use case. RPA integrates with a chatbot in order to automate numerous business processes, retrieve data, and save information in legacy systems without APIs.RPA bots have the ability to generate leads and drive conversions with ease. RPA bots can help any company's staff or customers. They can handle anything from partner onboarding to supplying them with information or documents they require.

Also Read: Use Cases of Artificial Intelligence – AI in Digital Marketing

RPA bots can engage with your website visitors and record their data for subsequent use by the marketing department.Additionally, RPA bots can improve conversion rates by determining the quality of a prospective customer's lead. Cross-selling and up-selling can be aided by integrating smart recommendation systems with these tools.

Improved User Experience

The combination of RPA and chatbot is capable of handling complicated and real-time inquiries of your customers in a smooth way, giving them an improved customer experience on your website.Polls, questionnaires, and other traditional methods of collecting user data for use by RPA bots have all resulted in significantly lower levels of user participation. Users get tired of exhausting waiting times to get their feedback, which gives them a bad user experience.Combining both chatbots and RPA helps make things easier for your visitors, and it also increases their engagement and improves the experience.The chatbot gives your visitors an authentic experience by simulating a human conversation, while the RPA bot records the user's activities and interactions. RPA helps the chatbot by working undercover to ensure that the chatbot rightly understands the user's queries and intent.

Final Thoughts - Should You Integrate Chatbots with RPA?

Businesses looking for a balance between low costs and high-quality service should integrate their chatbots with RPA without a second thought. They can utilize RPA's creativity by automating workflows and freeing up their workforce's time so they can concentrate on more time-consuming but essential tasks.AI chatbots, like RPA, are transforming many industries, especially marketing, sales, and customer service. Conversing with customers via conversational AI technology, chatbots provide answers to common questions, gather information, generate notifications, and acquire the customer's request to pass them through the sales funnel.Contrastingly, conversational AI bots allow companies to automate customer conversations through the insight, processing, and response to human language inputs through conversation.Any automated process can benefit from RPA and AI integration if it is done correctly. The RPA and AI alliance can provide more efficiency and productivity, save time, and boost cost savings and earnings by improving the automation capabilities of RPA with AI chatbots' cognitive intelligence.Providing meaningful customer and employee experiences increases the value of a company's brand and benefits all stakeholders. So, all in all, you will be missing a string of benefits if you don't integrate chatbots with RPA for simplified and improved customer service.

A B2B sales funnel does more than just bring in new customers. It's also essential to maintain existing customer relationships and determine where your sales process falls short of getting the maximum number of leads. You can boost your conversion rates and respond to your clients' changing demands and desires by creating a robust sales funnel. In spite of the numerous benefits of identifying and developing your B2B sales funnel, many businesses fail to follow their buyers' journey, putting most of their leads unmanaged and unconverted.

This blog will guide you through all the B2B sales funnel stages and the easy steps to build a B2B sales funnel quickly. Keep reading to find out all you need to know about a B2B funnel.

What Is a B2B Sales Funnel?

The sales funnel is one of the most significant concepts in today's businesses. It depicts the sales process as a multi-stage process with various stages and steps within each level. The goal is to inform your potential lead of the worth of your business and convert them into a sale.

Sales funnels are an essential marketing strategy for B2B and B2C businesses. A well-designed sales funnel allows a business to steer a consumer from a low-cost product or service to a higher-cost product.

Why You Need a B2B Sales Funnel?

B2B sales funnels complete your sales and marketing strategies. Without them, you will lose out on myriad possibilities of engaging and converting your website visitors. Think of it this way; a random visitor browses your website without the wish to make a purchase. If you don't get their information and leave your website, you'll lose a selling opportunity. However, if you have an effective sales funnel, you can capture them and influence their decisions. The sales process might take weeks or months, depending on your organization. Your sales staff can divide and conquer to convert more customers if they know their leads' position in the purchasing process and pipeline. In short, B2B sales funnels are critical since they allow you to capture, nurture, and convert leads. They enable salespeople to sell to existing customers more effectively. Also, these sales funnels assist businesses in determining where they should spend their time and resources and provide information on where prospects are succeeding or failing.

5 Stages of a B2B Sales Funnel

To create a successful sales funnel, you must first comprehend the steps that your customer goes through before making a purchasing choice.  Because if you begin selling too soon, you risk upsetting your consumer and losing on the opportunity of getting a sale. In contrast, if you don't use your experience to steer the sales process and show prospects how your solution addresses their problem, they won't comprehend the value proposition and leave. The goal is to establish a human connection at every touchpoint by delivering tailored information and support.

1)   Awareness

A good marketing plan should incorporate everything to reach new prospects on appropriate channels to raise awareness. You can attract all potential clients into the funnel at this stage by raising awareness of your company's products and solutions. You may use sponsored promotions on social media and search engines for rapid results. However, one should combine paid and organic marketing for the best results. PPC advertisements combined with proper SEO may help you generate visitors to your website and increase brand recognition and trust by ranking high on the search results pages.

2)   Interest

When your prospects express an interest in your product, it's critical to provide them with tools to help them make a decision. They may want to research more about your brand at this point to see if your product is suitable for them or not. The sales representative may also initiate contact here.  This involves taking the time to customize the interaction in order to establish a rapport with the potential consumer. Representatives may adopt these embryonic touchpoints to match buyers' requirements, such as addressing particular industry developments, thanks to quick access to buyers' information.

3)   Evaluation

While the marketing team is responsible for the first few B2B stages, the evaluation phase is when cooperation between your product and sales teams comes into the equation. Your marketing efforts have brought your lead to the point where they are ready to try your product or service; now, it's time to start the sales process. Whether or not the lead proceeds to buy is determined by what you have to offer works well and is a good match. If you see that a large number of leads sign up for your trial but never utilize it, it's time to talk to your product team about why the customer experience isn't up to par. It's possible that a specific interface or function isn't as user-friendly as it may be and that it needs to be fixed. Likewise, if a large number of customers sign up for a live demo, your sales staff should inquire about their experience.

4)   Engagement

When your lead reaches the engagement stage, they'll start communicating with your sales team. This might involve product demos, sales pitches, and effective communication that you already know the buyer's problems and need to help them find a solution. The level of relationship and trust you establish at this point will be extremely crucial to the lead progressing to the next step.

5)   Action

The B2B funnel's last stage is the action stage focusing on the bottom of the funnel. It denotes the stage at which your prospects take action and purchase your product. However, reaching this point does not imply that the B2B sales funnel has finished. To accomplish so, you must guarantee that your leads turn into recurring clients who return for more purchases. To put it another way, you must focus on client retention. To ensure a better client retention rate, you must show gratitude for opting for your services. Other than that, your team should always be available to help them and provide them personalized support.

How to Build a Sales Funnel [Easy Steps]

Now that you understand the importance and stages of a B2B sales funnel, it's time for you to learn the steps to build a B2B sales funnel.

Understand Your Audience

Customers today are flooded with information and have an infinite number of alternatives from which to choose. First and foremost, understand that you will only advertise to individuals who are the best fit for what you're selling. Before you proceed any further, do some research on your target audience. Find out what your visitors interact with your site, such as where they click, what they look at, and how long they spend on each page. These metrics will help you find numerous demographics you may target using the site monitoring and analytics tools. Aside from site data, you might want to pay attention to requests for proposals, conversion rates, mailing lists, and other ways clients connect with your business.

Capture Their Attention

Your sales funnel will only succeed if you get individuals to enter it. This entails getting your material in front of the right people. Use the organic method and publish a lot of content on all of your channels. Use infographics, videos, and other sorts of material to diversify your content. Run a few adverts if you're ready to spend a bit of money. It would be best to run the adverts on the platforms where your target demographic frequents.

Foster Relationships

Buyers of all sorts are becoming increasingly comfortable making selections without connecting with the marketers. Before making a purchase, the average B2B buyer will look go through a few pieces of content. To put it another way, prospects are unlikely to request (or anticipate) a call or an email from you. Many businesses struggle to sustain momentum after an excellent initial interaction. So it's upon you to figure out when to contact a buyer and when to leave them alone to avoid frightening them away or losing their interest.

Be Presentable

Your ad or other material should lead your prospects to a specific destination. Try sending them to a landing page with an irresistible offer. The goal of a landing page is to direct the user to the next step. Focus on acquiring leads rather than pushing the sale because these folks are still at the bottom of the sales funnel. You'll need a solid call to action that informs people precisely what to do, whether it's to download a free e-book or watch a tutorial video. Target your market for the sale by educating them first. What is it that they wish to learn? What hurdles and objections must you overcome in order to persuade them to buy? Make a fantastic offer at the end to motivate your prospects to take action.

Take Follow-Ups

Your business' goal should be to figure out what worked and what didn't during your lead's buying process. Using surveys, analyzing sales, and customer reviews may provide a wealth of information. Take what you've learned so far and make adjustments to your sales funnel as needed. Customized content may also be used to ensure that your sales and marketing teams are in harmony.

Closing Thoughts

A sales funnel is an essential aspect of any B2B business, and marketing and sales professionals should focus on creating one that works for them. It aids in the generation of sales and the optimization of your sales process. Using a sales funnel, you can discover where the trouble areas are at every funnel level to fully comprehend your customers' problems and demands, resulting in an in-depth customer journey. Monitoring of the process is also beneficial to the company's employees.+

AI Consultancy in a Nutshell

AI consultancy is the domain that is intended to provide services to help businesses deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML) methodologies across different departments to improve their functional efficiency and operational tendency. Different consulting firms estimate differently about AI’s economic share and future growth, but companies like McKinsey, PwC all rightly claim that AI is a multi-trillion dollar economic opportunity for the world that will be unleashed by the mid of the 21st century.

However, as determined in a report by BCG and MIT Sloan Management Review, think tanks state these 3 factors as the leading cause of slower transition and adaptation towards AI.

• Absence of an effective AI strategy
• lack of awareness about AI and its true potential
• Talent Deficit with regards to AI or ML professionals in the organizations

This is where the role of AI Consultancy came into play as they help organizations in coping up with such issues.

• Strategy & Planning is their primary tool.
• They have trained & motivated professionals doing research on different AI models and identifying AI use cases for businesses.
• They can assist businesses in improving their approach regarding the AI talent hunt and help develop intelligent solutions.

Why is AI consultancy becoming important?

Integration of AI consultancy services and applications is becoming a new norm. Currently, there is a huge demand for AI-based products, but the supply line is sluggish. Either the technology produced by immature personnel isn’t mature enough, or the businesses don’t know which firm to outsource from. Hence, AI consulting will be in overwhelming demand in the near future.

Courtesy: Capgemini Consulting

This illustration by Capgemini Consulting showcase this problem. Many firms fail to crack the opportunity to implement less complex and highly beneficial AI use cases. This case falls inside the “must do quadrant”. According to the survey, 54% of the firms in this quadrant failed to implement the recommended use cases. Another survey conducted by Boston Consulting Group and MIT Sloan Management Review reveals the expectations of business entities. Many industries possess the potential to adapt to the new technology, and the rest projected a 5 years span to attain the same potential.

The aforementioned evaluations reveal that while businesses have high expectations from AI, they are not experiencing all the perks and advantages of AI due to a lack of understanding and underwhelmed strategies.

What are the typical AI consultancy activities?

In general, AI services providers assist businesses in adapting to AI transformation seamlessly and effortlessly. Every consulting practice can be segmented into 4 primary aspects and AI consultancy is no exception.

1- Strategy formulation

How should the client use AI? It’s crucial to acknowledge the challenges and opportunities experienced by the company by analyzing the client’s data & capabilities. Integrating all these factors with an understanding of high-end AI methodology, a consultant can outline and suggest the most important AI initiatives for the client’s organization. By following the suggested initiatives, companies’ overall existing strategy also needs to be revised. For instance, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies produce a notable amount of revenue by handling invoices for other companies. These services revenues are vulnerable to a high extent since invoice automation can be handled by AI technology. Vendors like Hypatos can utilize ML and deep learning models to fetch data from semi-structured documents and process them to generate invoices.

Another example is translation services providers. Such facilities are bound to make revolutionary changes to their operational structure to ensure that it survives and thrives upto the next decade when Google Translator attains human-level perfection and accuracy. It is helpful to have planning sessions to foresee and plan 5-10 years into the future, helping decision-makers understand the true potential of AI so they can identify how their business needs to start evolving rapidly.AI consulting services develop the strategy in the following steps:

• Understanding your company’s contemporary status: Using methodologies like process mining and analyzing the company’s strategy to get a deeper understanding of the company’s contemporary status and standing.
• Developing a portfolio of potential AI initiatives: This step involves identifying pain points and understanding how AI can solve the potential issues and clear unseen roadblocks.
• Predicting the value of a project: Most AI projects fail to produce promised value.  AI consulting vendors assist businesses in foreseeing the value of the project so that businesses refrain from investing more than the expected outcome making a perfect balance between price and value.
• Choosing AI methodologies and data sets to train machine learning models: AI consultants should be familiar with the capabilities and boundaries of each technology in a certain domain. According to business requirements, consultants opt for the right AI solution and appropriate data training sets for implementation. If the organization does not have the necessary data that can be used as an effective train set, consultants can help find or label data with their rich market expertise. To acquire clean and relevant data, businesses depend on data collectors such as Bright Data. Bright Data’s data collector provides real-time public data belonging to different market domains or eCommerce entities that can be used by businesses in designated formats.
• Launching pilot projects: Consultants help initiate initial small to medium-scale projects to ensure the quality of the data and methodology as well.
• Identification of scaling challenges and coming up with a solution: After analyzing the results of supplementary projects, AI consultants provide businesses with a strategy and planning regarding a comprehensive approach.

2- Commercial due diligence

Though due diligence is deemed a strategy project, a rich how-know of the AI market is necessary to conduct effective due diligence because success factors in AI vary greatly compared to other fields. Consulting firms having a rich history of conducting due diligence drives such as Solon are pushing their limits to establish their presence in this trending domain. Due diligence demands a consulting team to prepare the inputs to a valuation in a short span of time, typically in 20 to 30 days. Based on the commercial and other due diligence variables, the buyer that might be private equity, corporate, or any investor offers a bid. It involves 1 or 2 steps. As we have mentioned earlier, evaluating the corporate success of an AI solution is different than other software projects primarily due to:

• The superiority of deep-learning-based ML methodologies requires an enormous amount of perfectly labeled data than competitors. Any software improves as product owners outline key patterns from usage trends. However, in the case of AI or ML, the accuracy of the model predictions improve as more and more unique data entities are made available.
• Evaluating data science teams is different from evaluating mainstream software project management teams. For instance, the academic record can be more helpful for data science experts compared to typical software developers.

Therefore, companies are pushing their limits and expanding budgets to spend on AI-specific due diligence capabilities. These include understanding and evaluating data sources that can be beneficial for AI or ML models, suggesting fast approaches to benchmarking different AI vendors’ solutions, and embracing AI-oriented academic and work credentials.

3- Implementation

The strategy will result in a number of initiatives. Implementation should also be considered as multiple activities such as planning, vendor selection if needed, project management, development, improvement of business processes impacted by the project, change management, and so on. As with any consulting service, some or all services can be completed by consultants. Or implementation can be in-house and in most cases it is in-house. However, for example, if the client lacks the tech know-how to implement urgent initiatives, starting with consultants can help the client progress faster. However, please bear in mind that, in the long run relying on consultants completely for implementation will likely be more expensive than completing those activities in-house.

4- Training

Ideally, consulting projects should improve the culture and skills of the client. This is especially relevant in the field of AI where talent is scarce. AI consulting projects need to ensure that client teams are capable and knowledgeable about the technologies they will be working on.

How to choose your AI consultancy firm?

Of course, deciding on which firm to hire depends on many factors; but here are three major questions you need to ask;

• Is it really necessary? That should be the question you need to start with. There are many publications indicating the potential gains from implementing the solution, but is it going to be a positive return in the short run? You should ask your consulting about her projections for the short-run, medium-run, and the long-run. Maybe it would be wiser to implement some other technology for the short run if the firm is in the early growth stage or there are much more important opportunities to invest in.
• Do you have the necessary human capital? After the solution scheme is provided it would also be important to decide on doing the project in-house or outsourcing it. You should always make sure that the people with rights skills deal with the issue so that your employees would have a greater likelihood to learn something from the process and, can help you in later stages. Thus your team’s skill level will make it easier or harder to evaluate the performance of the consultant. So that, there would be constant sharing of information to ensure that state of an art solution is implemented.
• Does the consultant have the necessary experience? Right now, there are many small size artificial intelligence consulting firms. Depending on your industry you need to make sure you selected the right vendor. Different industries need different types of skill sets. Vendors’ past projects would be the greatest source of information. The profile of the team also matters. It is quite likely that people with advanced degrees have the capability to ensure the highest quality of work. The different consulting firms have different expertise, one can have the best team to do text classification and the other can be good at object detection.

What is the future of AI Consultancy?

We see two trends shaping the industry:

Rise of AI Consultancy Firms

AI is consuming the world just like the software domain did once. The largest consultancy of the internet era, for having the higher number of consultants, is Accenture which is based on software consultancy & deployment. The largest AI consultancy in the next 2 decades, will likely focus on Artificial Intelligence. Renowned consulting companies may have similar opportunities. As we have witnessed that facilities like Quantum Black and initiatives like BCG Gamma, established sibling firms centric around AI. However, we experienced a paradox here:

• Established companies in general and consultancies refrain from compromising on their pricing structure as it would threaten their existing products and services.
• When you have a hammer, everything appears like a nail. Consultancies have a great number of market experts and resources skilled in performing manual data analysis. It is difficult for such organizations to make the transition towards machine learning to fetch valuable insights from data and automate their analytical practices.

Based on these factors, we expect specialized, machine learning-oriented consultancies like Palantir to surpass the potential competitors and tech giants. Whereas, established consultancies remain at the bottleneck of providing expensive AI-based solutions that only the most profitable companies with enormous budget expenditure can leverage from.

The continued influence of entrepreneurship driving consultancy projects

In the report by Gartner, it was revealed that by the end of 2021 startups will be dominating the artificial intelligence domain and it is happening right now. Although being a typical industry analyst, it is difficult for think tanks like Gartner to make predictions, but the startups have an overwhelming influence in emerging tech domains areas like AI and ML. It comes amidst more workload for consultants as startups tend to partner with consultants to promote and incorporate their solutions. Sooner or later, tech giants like Google and Facebook will have less presence in AI methodologies unless some revolutionary measures are put into place. We indeed see that AI vendors are becoming highly specialized and offer market-based solutions. But it is too soon to make accurate predictions as tech giants have all the required resources and tendencies to dominate the AI domain by absorbing AI startups and hiring researchers as they have been doing historically.

Traditional Consultancy in a Post AI World

We have discussed how AI consulting works. It is also worth noticing what will happen to mainstream consultancy mediums as AI becomes more instrumental in every key area. In this blog post, we have pondered over some critical aspects including the USPs of consultancies that are likely to be strangled by skyrocketing trends in AI and why it is normal to expect that consulting, especially the business of conventional management consultants is likely to shrink in the near future. As more AI projects fail due to a poor understanding of problem statements and possible solutions, choosing the best AI consulting partner is crucial to mark the 100% success of any AI project or transformation drive. It involves a wide array of services from data wrangling to deep learning to assisting organizations in cryptocurrency, finance, healthcare, eCommerce, aerospace, and digital marketing.

Although the term ‘Customer is King’ was coined many years ago, it is still true although the medium of interaction and sales has largely evolved since. Now, businesses are actively seeking the help of information technology companies to meet customer expectations based on the unintentional trends they are setting online. With the help of big data and artificial intelligence, organizations are making decisions that are much more informed and closer to current consumer behavior trends. The more accurate the data collection, sifting, and analysis, the more precise will be the strategies, annual plans, and campaign KPIs. In short, a clearer picture of the future is possible with the help of careful data handling with the help of new IT systems in the market.[lwptoc skipHeadingLevel="h1,h5,h6"]

Introduction - The Global Tech Market

The challenge for businesses lies in understanding how to bridge the gap between organizational goals and customer prospects. Providing a top-notch customer experience can be as simple as it can be complex, as long as you know the direction to steer your car in. For instance, your customers might be looking for something completely different from what you have in mind in terms of a new product launch. What do you do in such a case? Abandon your new product line idea? Or ignore the needs of the customer? In the former case, you might lose an opportunity to create a differentiating edge among competition while the latter will noticeably cause you a loss in sales and maybe even market share.Managers are trying to prioritize customer experience (CX) as a key metric to gauge the success of their businesses. There is no second-guessing that the best way to attract and attain customers is to sell a quality product. However, the process does not end there. The customer journey must be flawless – or low in faults – from the beginning to the end of the shopping experience. Because the main growth in sales for businesses is coming out of a customer’s wallet, it is important to make them willingly do so. A satisfied customer is likely to spend more with your brand. In fact, a study shows that happy customers will pay anywhere from 13% to an 18% premium in exchange for a great customer experience. Another study found that a good customer experience, where a business delivers on customer expectations will surpass price and product quality as key brand differentiators.

Also Read: How Dynamic Pricing Can Help Brands Capture New Markets

Brands must go the extra mile to get to know their customers if they want to get ahead of the competition. Companies are planning on greater budgets for CX and investing in other strategies to maintain long-term relationships with their audience. This new concept is called relationship management where you are expected to manage customer experience, ensuring they get their money’s worth if you want them to keep coming back. The customer journey is key to master for repeat customers to have their expectations met every time. Collecting customer data – also called Voice of Customer Data – to gain valuable insights from raw data quickly and precisely.The good news for organizations is that it does not matter the industry you are in. As long as you work to gain consumer insights, you are bound to increase retention, sales, and year-on-year revenue for the businesses. Over the coming year, brands are expected to take lessons from their failures and apply them with the help of technology-driven results to build deeper customer relationships. Customer expectations being met is a goal all brands and big organizations are working toward, and it is high time this be one of the main KPIs to measure growth as well.

Tech Sales: Global Customer Expectations in 2022

An always-online world meshed with artificial intelligence and the internet of things (IoT) have been adopted by marketing managers, applying the latest techniques to new product development, customer service, and even re-branding. These techniques have enabled businesses to improve services and meet customer expectations, increasing brand loyalty and hence, retaining consumers.

Need Help Meeting Customer Expectations?

As a business, your core clientele should be your customers, whether it be a B2B or B2C business model. One bad customer experience can seem not too big but soon enough, this might have a snowball effect. Just as when good customer experiences are advocates for the brand, so are bad customer experiences. A study found that over 91% of customers leave a brand they are unhappy with without any complaints. This really leaves managers and marketeers with no chance to gauge their true potential. Often, such brands are washed over when a slightly better business comes into the picture, washing them out, at least temporarily. There are a few reasons that result in bad customer experiences. These instances are most certainly workable and experts advise managers to ensure that any unnecessary bottlenecks are cleared the first instance they come about. Some difficulties in the excellent customer experience process include:

• Negative experiences with customer support cause customers to have a bad perception of the brand. While this may or may not be accurate, the last bite of your food can be distasteful enough to ruin the entire experience. Hence, it is important to keep in mind the customer journey when designing the customer support service bit. The people you hire and the level of training you give them will reflect in the way they handle your customers.
• When the purchasing process is difficult at any step of the way, it is likely that the customer will ricochet from the entire process. For instance, if your website loads slow, or the customer has difficulty adding a product to the cart, they are likely to abandon their shopping experience due to inconvenience, costing you an opportunity to make money.
• As a business, your priority must be the security and safety of your customer’s personal data. When you do not invest enough in security systems to protect your customer base, you are eventually bound to burnout as a business because you are compromising on the needs of the people who are fuelling your business in the first place.
• A bad customer experience can still be salvaged if your support team is efficient enough to pacify the customer when they provide feedback. More often than not, when a customer spends money with you, they will wait for as long as their patience allows for you to make adjustments for them. However, if their patience is tested for too long, they will simply give up and this can have damaging effects on the business. For instance, a bad review on an online closed group can cause thousands of people to boycott the product or service provided by your company. In an era where technology is evolving every day, it is important to keep abreast with changing customer expectations and provide them with stellar services.

Improving Customer Experience

Although it sounds straightforward when a manager says, “To provide excellent customer service, we need to meet customer expectations of the brand,” there is a vast amount of work that goes into making the brand a go-to option for its customer base. It is not easy to get inside the consumer black box to comprehend what they are looking for, but with the help of artificial intelligence and various other information technology systems, managers and marketers are now making forecasts and projections quite accurately.Getting yourself up and digital is not as easy as it sounds if you are starting fresh. You have plenty of work to put in behind the scenes to make every effort successful and effective. Slowly, brands need to realize that as they take more and more control of the customer’s buying and spending decisions, they will be able to employ better ‘pull strategies’ of marketing where the consumer becomes utterly loyal. Once the trustworthiness is locked, your brand will have the top-of-the-mind recall and a personal brand advocate for your business. According to expert advice, investing in the right resources at the right time can make or break business deals for you. Below are a few tips for businesses looking to grow in terms of their sales and customer bases.

• Artificial intelligence is crucial for sales

No matter how good your business was doing a few years, keeping up with technology and innovation is what is going to get you forward. Today, artificial intelligence has evolved from being used by huge companies in the entertainment industry to being an integral part of IT, marketing, and even finance firms, to name a few examples. It is nearly impossible to think where we would be without the collection of real-time data, processing it into understandable chunks, and having business managers make valuable decisions for their customers. For instance, your local modern trade store would not know the stock of coffee to restock if they did not have basic, yet integral smart systems to inform them what sells well and is in demand.

You Might be Interested in: Use Cases of Artificial Intelligence – AI in Digital Marketing

Another great brainchild of AI specialists and technologists is chatbots that are present across nearly every social media platform, website, and even mobile application. They work in two ways; instant customer query settlement and cost reduction for companies. Chatbots have been highly successful as they are known to process and solve many queries at one time. Siri, voice-enabled note-taking, and automatic appointment settings are all great examples of how artificial intelligence in action.

• An increase in multi-channel servicing

Companies are everywhere because their customers are everywhere. The Facebook network, the Google network, and many other various apps all run ads for brands where their customers most likely visit, ensuring a repeated sense of interaction with the brand. The fact that brands even know what websites their audience is visiting is artificial intelligence in play. Experts suggest businesses invest in many different channels, so they can make the most out of their sales and campaigns. Although customers are open to different service levels through different online channels, they expect the quality of communication and customer support to stay the same.A good example to consider is the standard of Ikea across the world. No matter what country or part of the world you go to, if you see an Ikea, you know what you will see there. The point is much more than coming across perfect furniture items that instantly look different when you take them home. It is about how the brand understands what its audience wants, and the edge they have over competitors is understanding customer expectations. Although lifestyle and standard of living differ everywhere in the world, the standard Ikea has set is such that everyone takes away with some sort of inspiration by the time they have made their way to the end of the store. In a nutshell, when your customer identifies with you, you gain the privilege to tell them what they need. Similarly, experts are advising companies to brace themselves for 2022 and focus on providing an omnichannel experience so customers do not miss a second of their favorite brand.

• Go Mobile!

In a study carried out to understand the need to perfect mobile websites and interfaces, over 50% of the audience agreed that they would be disappointed by the company for providing poor channel interaction even if they like the brand. 57% reportedly said that they would not recommend such a brand to their friends, considering a poorly designed mobile interface. When managers cheap out to save up on a few dollars, they are really costing themselves a couple thousand in the future for when customers do not come back to digitally interact with the brand. On average, over half the website traffic for most companies comes through mobile devices, especially since desktop usage is declining. Currently, most global industries still have to fully exploit this aspect of marketing, and hence, experts encourage managers to focus on developing and implementing a stellar system through which customers can connect with the brand that they love so much!There is still a huge gap in the market that needs to be considered seriously and instantly. When customers find it difficult to navigate between web pages, you can be sure that they will abandon the website and you will lose potential sales and clients, maybe even for long periods. Once again, the customer is still king, and keeping them happy is up to the company interacting with them.

• Focus on strength in numbers

When customers are upset, they will make more noise than they will when they are satisfied. This is not really shocking, because we all do the same, do we not? A study showed that out of the total number of satisfied customers, only 72% of them will spread the word and only to about six close people they know. However, a bad experience is more likely to be reported to about 15 people 13% of the time. The same study also highlights that the problem is not only a bad experience but also the fact that only 1 in 26 unhappy customers will come forward to address the issue they are facing.Customer expectations and experience enhancement are at an all-time high, making it crucial to cater to customers. Even though sometimes bad experiences are inevitable, companies can salvage their reputation and stand in the market by employing damage control because each bad experience with a brand will lead to 1 in 3 people quitting the brand. Certainly not a favorable outcome, a brand must keep their eyes on the prize and work their strategies backward sometimes.

Final Thoughts

No matter the era we live in, it is crucial to stay abreast of what is going on around you to succeed in a highly competitive, shark tank market. Nearly all businesses out there are competing on attracting and retaining consumers by meeting customer expectations in a world that is full of ads, content, and purchase requests. The ‘push marketing’ strategy is one that never works, at least in the long term, and that is probably why brands are unable to focus on long-term strategies. Experts suggest that knowing your customer’s wants, needs, background, likes and dislikes, socioeconomic class, age group, and even geographical location, can sometimes help brands highlight and design strategies that will hit the nail right in the coffin in terms of identifying the wavering customer black box.Focusing on excellent customer experience, putting the client’s needs first, ensuring their queries are answered, and acknowledging their individuality as people is extremely important for brands to thrive in an increasingly saturated market. Ensuring a positive, smooth interaction with customers, positively delivering 100/% satisfaction at each customer touchpoint, and creating consumer profiles are all important ways in which companies can understand what way to head in for marketing strategy and future prospects of the brand to function fully.The power that the customers hold today is much more than that was explored many years ago. The typical consumer is well-informed, put together, and even conscious about the choices they want to make. A clear understanding of the brand, smooth interaction through multiple social media outlets, and a pleasant experience with the brand are all ways in which you can have loyal customers that will stick with you through the long haul!

With the rapidly-evolving era of technology, businesses are experiencing a rapid transition in their digital makeup and IT infrastructure as organizations around the globe – specifically those linked with eCommerce – must acknowledge, embrace and effectively deploy modern digital technology across their entire infrastructure to improve functional efficiency, productivity, and customer experience.

This is where top-notch eCommerce business Consulting Services join the stage to be instrumental in more ways than you can think of. All renowned organizations and enterprises are based on a proven system that is constant, consistent, efficient, and productive without any deadlocks and irrelevant distractions or hurdles! This applies to any successful, viable, and effective small to mid-sized business – be it on a local or global scale.

How to Evaluate the Need eCommerce Business Consulting Services

The question is, how can you effectively utilize the E-commerce Consulting Services for proven outcomes, customer satisfaction, goal-oriented business operations, and initiatives that take your business to the new summits.

This blog post will cover all the relevant aspects and reasons to hire eCommerce consultancy services. Let's discuss this in detail.

‍When does your business need an e-commerce consultant?

• During the phase of creating and launching an eCommerce store.
• For your poorly performing eCommerce store that needs an overhaul and evaluation
• To boost productivity and ROI

In simple words, you need consultancy at every scale or phase so that your eCommerce business becomes viable and provides value at all times.

‍What are the main problems that consultancies detect?

‍Lack of transparency, poorly structured framework, lacks in optimization, services & products that do not address the contemporary market needs, supply-demand gaps, lack of differentiation or specialization.

‍To simplify the concept, let's break down the whole scenario into 1 simple question: What can a consultant do for your eCommerce business.

‍eCommerce consultants tend to add a solid, sustainable, and differential value to your business and make it capable enough to show rapid improvements and growth. To achieve this goal, consultancy experts try to:

• Gain a competitive edge over rivals.
• Defend against competitors.
• Attract the convertible and long-term customer base
• Evaluate a price policy that is profitable as well as aggressive
• Maintain profitability levels that have been initially projected.
• Monitor and handle the growth of ongoing projects
• Cut unnecessary costs and burdens
• Evaluate and study market and niche to gain opportunities for expansion.

How does a consulting company work?

1. Collects information to conduct an audit
2. Evaluate the different areas and departments of business
3. Investigates the targeted market in order to offer them what they actually want
4. Introduce the 4 key areas related to the customer-facing sales process that are:
5. Discovery
6. Consideration
7. Conversion
8. Loyalty.
9. Study competitors, their patterns and strategies deeply
10. Suggest proposals from an impartial perspective
11. Suggest ideas and innovative methodologies or alternatives
12. Identify hidden opportunities and potential
13. Outline key stakeholders in the business and solid suppliers
14. Suggest strategies and solutions
15. Provides guidance and assist in the process of the application and implementation of the action plans and strategies

How does a consulting company accomplish this?

What tools do they use?

What actions do they take?

‍Here we have some examples.

• Usability and in-depth analysis of the digital architecture.
• Analysis of the product catalog and campaigns
• Evaluation of metrics and implementation of the sales target control.
• Analysis of the traffic and the patterns, interest, attention time, and preferences of the website visitors
• Search engine optimization
• Generating lead funnels
• Optimization of the payment gateways, shipping and refund policies, etc.
• Reviewing the legal and tax framework of all digital activities and the services or products
• Crosscheck and evaluate price structures and compare them with that of competitors
• Suggesting online and offline marketing strategies

Benefits of Choosing eCommerce Business Consulting Services

1 – Lowering Business Costs

The revenue your business makes is needed to be increased. On the other hand, your business's budget needs to be downsized. This dual impact causes your Return on Investment (RoI) to boom and helps your eCommerce to thrive at a rapid pace.

Undoubtedly, an eCommerce Consultancy is a great way to cut operating costs and keep your business running. The reason is operating costs contribute to the fact that small business owners always worry about. As compared to a regular or full-time employee, an eCommerce Consultant charges cast less burden on your budget. Suppose you compare the cost of outsourcing an eCommerce Consultant against a full-time employee. In that case, you'll be amazed to see the expenditure gap, as well as other benefits like You, will not have to give paid leaves or any other retirement benefit to your eCommerce Consultant. You can also free yourself from acquiring an in-house HR department to deal with employee-related liabilities and management. You just have to pay at the time you hire an E-commerce Consultant, and no work means no money.

2 – Higher Productivity

As a small or mid-sized business owner or entrepreneur, you are expected to keep yourself engaged in carrying out challenging and core business tasks rather than non-essential and mundane tasks, such as making bookings for travel, managing meeting schedules, etc.

Outsourcing a dedicated resource to handle these tasks is highly recommended as a good eCommerce Consultant can draw a line between core and non-essential(but urgent) and energy and time-consuming tasks. By outsourcing a dedicated role for administrative and non-core business processes, small businesses free up their time and commitments to maximize productive tasks like decision-making, strategy building, etc.Successful SMB owners fully acknowledge the perks of having an eCommerce Consultant, and it allows them to spend their time only on growth-centric and productive activities.

3 – Turn Weaknesses into Strengths

All businesses used to face a set of challenges pushed by a particular area of weakness (both digital and structural)In this situation, virtual assistants can help you fill the void in the skill domain of any SMB. eCommerce Consultants are no longer remain remote workers. Instead, they are skilled experts and can perform various duties with utmost efficiency.

For instance, if you want any resource that can well manage your social media or someone who can carry out product research for Amazon, Shopify, or eBay, you can easily rely upon a virtual assistant for the said purposes.

4 - Growing Your Business

What's an obvious priority and long-term goal for any business – online or offline, small or big? All businesses want to grow, flourish, bolster, and scale to new summits like never before. A company that doesn't scale is like a plant that stops growing and only consumes resources.

It is easy to scale up by collaborating with virtual assistants that manage your business's concerned aspects well. And if you outsource an eCommerce consultant from a different demographic background, you can enjoy the perks of having a flexible schedule and 24/7 functionality. As consultants are skilled professionals, you don't have to invest time in spoon-feeding and training them for each and everything. They will start working as soon as they join you, and it allows you to scale up easily without dealing with any irrelevant hurdles and roadblocks.

5 - Pay as You Go

eCommerce business consulting frees your company from managing any Legal contracts or Human Resources compliances like you do when hiring an in-house employee.

For instance, you cannot instantly cut ties with an in-house employee when he fails to meet KPIs with significant margins. However, on the contrary, you can end the agreement with your eCommerce Consultants whenever you want without any legal limitations. Simply, you can hire a consultant on a pay-as-you-go basis, allowing yourself to have more flexibility and authority.

End Words

An expert, professional, and experienced eCommerce Consultant under your authority is practically a secret sauce that any eCommerce or online business owner requires to boost RoI & productivity and experience instant growth and sustainability. So regardless of the size of your business, you can never overlook the importance of getting an extra set of hands to take the burden off you! Get in touch with us to discuss the future opportunities and expansion plan of your e-commerce business.