eCommerce Experts Weigh In On Key Takeaways From Shoptalk 2023

Shoptalk 2023 was an unforgettable event filled with networking opportunities, partnership collaborations, and inspirational speaking engagements. During the flight home, several Logicbroker team members shared their key takeaways from the show for those who couldn’t attend the event. 

AI and Personalization Efforts Take Center Stage

During the event, Logicbroker’s Director of Global Partnership, Anthony Stames, said that numerous sessions focused heavily on the ways retailers can use AI and personalization technologies to create more tailored and engaging customer experiences. 

With economic headwinds still top of mindof the mind for many retailers and brands across the country, Shoptalk 2023 focused heavily on ways to leverage your current customers. At Logicbroker, we work closely with each client to provide visibility tools, eCommerce solutions, and onboarding profiles to ensure that the customer journey is the first consideration taken for those looking to explore the world of cloud-based headless commerce. 

In addition to AI and personalization topics, Stames highlighted the growing discussions about sustainability, social responsibility, and social commerce opportunities. As customers become more aware of how retailers and brands interact with their global supply chain (I.E. sourcing sustainable raw materials, treating foreign workers with respect, and exploring more sustainable production methods), Stames said ethical and environmentally conscious approaches to retail operations will become a necessity rather than a luxury. 

“Retaining your customer is paramount in today’s market,” Stames said. “If these direct-to-consumer brands and conscientious retailers want to make it beyond 2023, they must adopt more socially and environmentally friendly initiatives to make it happen. Social platforms are transforming the way consumers shop and interact with brands.” 

Data Remains the King of eCommerce

First-party data is one of the most vitally important resources organizations have in the modern era. Steve Norris, Logicbroker’s VP of Digital Commerce, said that retailers, brands, and even companies like McDonald’s are trying to figure out how to get more data to provide a deeper, more meaningful experience to their customers. Steve mentioned that during a very informative speaking session, Caleb Pearson, VP of Media & Digital at McDonald’s talked about the daunting journey ahead of McDonald’s to move from “billions and billions served” to “billions and billions served in the way they want to be served.” 

This transition is not unique to McDonalds, however, as almost every eCommerce organization is looking for ways to utilize their first party data (gathered from their eCommerce platforms) to better serve their customers. As new customer acquisition costs continue to rise, looking at ways to engage with already loyal customers will become the best way to drive new revenue opportunities. That’s why Logicbroker utilizes unique visibility tools for both B2B and D2C eCommerce solutions. When retailers and brands have every piece of data available to them on one API-driven, cloud-based platform, they can make the correct decisions about product movement and expanding their assortment. 

To reinforce the data discussions, Manju Thomas, SVP of Engineering & Data Science at Stitchfix, also talked about the importance of sharing data across the supply chain to help suppliers improve their products and performance. 

The Rise of Customer Experiences

“Nearly every session I attended talked about improving the customer experience,” Norris said. “Whether it was Stefanie Kruse Curley, Group VP of Digital Commerce at Walgreens talking about the Walgreens approach to driving customer convenience or a few other speakers recommending ‘working from the customer backward,’ customer experiences were at the forefront of everyone’s mind at Shoptalk.” 

To improve customer experiences, Norris said many organizations are expanding their offerings, not necessarily their assortment of SKUs. He said Chewy has begun offering telehealth services for pet parents while other retailers talked about expanding their drop shipping and marketplace solutions as a way to tell the complete customer story of their products and services. 

A Flexible Supply Chain

Tyler Bobbitt, Logicbroker’s Director of Commerce Revenue, said that as the show went on, and he discussed Logicbroker’s unique Supply Chain Experience Management (SCXM) platform to those looking for innovative drop shipping and marketplace solutions, he discovered that supply chain flexibility remains at the top of every retailer’s mind. 

“Every retailer needs a flexible supply chain. One that can easily adapt when suppliers run out of stock, or when goods get held up across various shipping channels. A lot of retailers spent the last few years making heavy investments in technology and are now seeing some of the scalability issues when rolling out programs to their supplier community,” Bobbitt said. “We had a lot of great conversations with leaders looking for ways to ‘do more with less’ and expand their product offerings to capture higher AOV. Firms are laser-focused on refining their eCommerce experience and removing friction from within their supplier networks.”

About Logicbroker

Logicbroker is the premier Supply Chain Experience Management (SCXM) eCommerce platform. Our unique B2B and D2C offerings give manufacturers and retailers a single source of truth for their supply chain, yielding real-time visibility and communications, higher compliance rates, lower transaction costs, and exceptional customer experiences. Through drop ship, marketplace, and supply chain visibility solutions, Logicbroker can help your organization achieve Supply Chain Excellence. 

Our integrated suite connects all participants of an organization’s supply chain regardless of the type of business model: owned inventory, drop ship, or marketplace. We work with mid-market and Enterprise manufacturers and retailers across a number of verticals including Health & Wellness, Home Improvement, Consumer Electronics, Toys & Babies, and Consumer Packaged Goods and service brands such as Samsung, The Vitamin Shoppe, Walgreens, OrangeTheory Fitness, and RiteAid.