• To remain competitive in a changing landscape, every business must put the customer experience first.
• Buyer value is today based on the three pillars of trust, relevance and convenience.
• New technologies have conditioned us to learn about products wherever and whenever we want. They revolutionize product discovery, personalization, order management, payments and security.
• To future-proof their businesses, leaders must move past transactional interactions and prioritize holistic experiences.

Businesses of all kinds are under pressure to deliver on a series of seemingly incongruous goals: to drive revenue, decrease costs and move at an ever-increasing speed to meet consumer demand. Buyers, presented with an endless array of options, have thousands of opportunities to make a purchasing decision, while sellers are engaging with more third-party partnerships and technologies.

The pace of doing business has accelerated to take place nearly in real time. Two-thirds of consumers today say the speed of a company’s response is as important as the price of the offering. For Gen Y, also known as millennials, and Gen Z, quick responses from brands engender a feeling of “respect,” which converts to customer loyalty (and online sales) over the long term. And these dynamics impact the B2B environment as well, as a new generation of customers does not recall a disconnected world. 

Embracing these paradigms and reckoning with the future of ecommerce, more widely known today as digital commerce, requires business leaders to work with a vast range of new technologies. Leading CEOs increasingly view artificial intelligence as a crucial competitive tool. And, when combined with other advancements such as augmented reality and virtual reality, IoT, passive transactions and voice commerce, AI creates new ways of communicating with consumers. 

We see this transformation not just as an opportunity but as an imperative to remain competitive in a rapidly changing global landscape. To succeed, companies must harness the power of technology to drive revenue growth, reduce costs, improve conversion rates and enhance customer retention. All while positioning themselves as trusted, relevant and convenient partners for their customers.

This is true in all kinds of implementations, and across business structures. These pillars are critical for B2B businesses owners deploying AI to bolster security or optimize their mobile commerce experience, for example. They’re equally important when a B2C commerce platform uses an algorithm to deliver personalized experiences and drive growth.

To understand where buyers will see value in the future, it’s useful to look back at how consumers’ attitudes evolved in the past.

Before digital technologies transformed the retail landscape, a product’s availability largely dictated whether it would be sold through shelf placement and packaging in a brick-and-mortar location. In the early days, ecommerce was just a catalog online. It might be updated more regularly than a catalog that was mailed to your home or office.

With the proliferation of ecommerce platforms (most notably Amazon) context and perceived value played a central role in the online shopping experience. User-generated reviews and products trending on social media platforms like TikTok swayed ecommerce sales, as did a product’s specific details and delivery options.

Buyers’ perception of value shifted again in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a new reality. Digital commerce among B2C consumers has exploded. New horizons in online and mobile shopping, like real-time social commerce, grew in popularity. In 2020, according to a McKinsey survey, two-thirds of Chinese consumers said they'd purchased products over a livestream in the last year.¹  Consumers expected businesses to provide accessible omnichannel experiences, and they spent more time than ever researching ratings and product options to decide in a crowded landscape. The value of a product or service became inseparable from how relevant to a specific buyer it was. 

In both B2C and B2B, customers now have data available to help them make purchases. In B2C, a customer might use ratings, reviews and social media commentary to increase their confidence that a product will meet their needs. In B2B instances, customers might use "talk with my document" functions to ask a 250-page requirements document whether a product works with a widget before ordering USD 500 000 of them.

Over a relatively short period, technology has revolutionized buyer expectations. Truly offline or truly online businesses are increasingly rare as the paradigm of stand-alone ecommerce business operative in a discrete ecommerce market has given way to a more fluid and dynamic reality. Buyers demand accelerated fulfillment times and infinite choice in how and when they make a purchase. A single buyer’s journey takes place over multiple channels, in various venues, in close to real-time.

Digital commerce is the way business is done today, and the future of digital is commerce, regardless of whether the business model is B2B or B2C. Individual sales channels and discrete digital marketing departments have collapsed into a channel-less reality in which customer experience is key. In a sense, this means that every business is an ecommerce company. And it means that every business must put the customer first.

In the context of this reality, the pillars of trust, relevance and convenience will continue to shape the commerce landscape well into the future. Here are five central areas in which we expect to see these dynamics develop further over the next few years:  

Advanced technologies revolutionize the way buyers discover products and services, whether their experiences are digital, virtual or physical. Product discovery can happen anywhere, and data-driven insights are being used to increase the profitability of conversion. AI-powered recommendation and search engines analyze vast amounts of data about consumer behavior. This includes data from chatbot conversations, voice searches and smartphone locations—to present the most relevant options precisely when they are needed. 

The ideal buying experience depends on context. If a user spends more than 10 minutes finding the right screw to fix a bookshelf, they leave the experience frustrated. If it takes more than 10 minutes to find the perfect piece of jewelry as a gift, there might be a chance to upsell the same customer. B2B buyers want to spend as little time as possible searching a portal to feel confident in their purchase.

According to recent research from Commercetools, for example, three-quarters of B2B buyers say they prefer to make purchases through digital self-service. But often, the information these buyers need isn't accessible without speaking to a representative, so 43% leave these experiences with regret.²

AI streamlines the discovery process, making it more efficient and closely aligned with customer needs. This is a crucial strategy for sellers when every buyer is looking to feel confident with their purchase in the shortest period of time. For businesses, this means higher conversion rates, as customers can find what they need more quickly and with less effort across platforms. By optimizing the discovery phase, companies will not only enhance the customer experience but also drive significant revenue growth through more effective engagement.

In an increasingly crowded marketplace, commerce personalization is a key differentiator for brands. The practice of tailoring content, offers, recommendations and experiences across channels become even more ubiquitous. And the complexity of these practices increase, as buyers demand personalized experiences that are simultaneously intuitive and permissioned. This task has historically been more difficult when targeted toward B2B buyers in a fundamentally contractual relationship. 

Generative AI enables businesses to deliver highly individualized journeys for B2B buyers, and personalized shopping experiences catering to the unique needs and preferences of each B2C customer. This personalization extends beyond product recommendations to encompass tailored pricing and promotions. Using machine learning, businesses will create custom tools that learn from individual consumers over time, creating a series of unique experiences with cohesive messaging to drive sales. 

By offering a truly personalized experience, companies can boost customer satisfaction and retention, ultimately increasing lifetime value and driving repeat purchases. Personalization also mitigates the risk of customer churn by helping ensure that every interaction feels relevant and meaningful.  

Efficient order management is crucial in maintaining profitability as customer expectations for rapid and accurate fulfillment continue to rise.

AI-fueled order management systems optimize every facet of the order management workflow, from intelligent inventory management to on-time delivery. By forecasting demand more accurately and reducing waste, these systems help ensure that orders are fulfilled in the most cost-effective manner. Intelligent order management processes also help businesses reach their sustainability goals by optimizing delivery routes and maximizing order orchestration. 

Using automation in order management will not only lower operational costs but also enhance the customer experience by minimizing delays and errors, leading to higher levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty. In today's landscape, speed is increasingly valued, and automation is a critical order-time accelerator.

According to research from the IBM Institute of Business Value, organizations can see a 31% reduction in cost per sales order with the integration of intelligent sales and inventory management systems. The additional power of generative AI helps ensure no delivery is missed and costly order mistakes are vastly reduced.

Emerging and evolving payment technologies offer new options for security, flexibility and convenience. AI and blockchain technologies are instrumental in enhancing payment security and facilitating compliance with regulatory standards. By providing a broad range of ways to purchase products and enabling transactions that are seamless and secure, companies can reduce cart abandonment rates, thereby increasing conversion and revenue.

Offering versatile payment options, such as buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) or partnerships with digital wallet providers, will attract more customers and improve cash flow for businesses. Subscription models and software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings continue to increase in popularity, providing businesses with more revenue streams and giving consumers more flexibility.

For B2B payments, the digitalization and automation of payments will continue to accelerate. Innovations such as real-time payments, virtual and commercial cards, embedded finance and cross-border payment solutions enhance speed, security and user experience for B2B buyers. 

In a world that is increasingly digital, security is a critical component in building and maintaining trust with customers, ranging from online retailers to government vendors. Businesses must invest in robust security measures and functions, including AI-driven fraud detection and blockchain-based transaction verification, to protect customer data and help ensure the integrity of financial transactions.

By prioritizing security, whether over a personal mobile device or a piece of enterprise procurement software, companies can position themselves as trustworthy partners. This sense of trust is essential for long-term customer retention and loyalty. A strong security posture also reduces the risk of costly breaches and compliance penalties, contributing to overall cost savings.

To thrive in the future of commerce, businesses must go beyond transactional interactions and focus on creating holistic experiences that build trust, demonstrate relevance and offer unparalleled convenience. This involves not only meeting but anticipating customer needs through the intelligent use of data and AI across customer touchpoints. By consistently delivering on these three pillars, companies can establish themselves as the preferred choice for customers, driving higher conversion rates along with increased customer loyalty and, ultimately, revenue growth.

In today's marketplace, there is no longer a fundamental difference between B2B and B2C expectations. Consumers in both areas crave intuitive, informative experiences. Creating these experiences requires the use of both existing technologies and new ones, supercharged with traditional and generative AI and made more efficient with automation.