Leaders Integrate New Technologies Into Existing Production and Supply Systems but are Also More Likely to Face Challenges Due to the Complexity of Multiple Integrations
Jitterbit, the API transformation company, revealed the results of its State of E-Commerce Integration 2020 report, which looks at the top drivers of investments in digital commerce and how e-commerce success often has to do with integrating the growing number and complexity of systems. The survey found that the fastest-growing companies share a number of key characteristics, among them being able to keep up with technology change, shipping orders in a timely manner, and provide real-time insights on the status of an order. The survey also offers insights into the areas of focus for companies such as integrating the new technologies into existing production and supply systems, and leveraging API-based e-commerce to interlink all digital channels to provide consistent cross-channel customer 360 experiences.
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U.S. consumers will spend nearly $710 billion on e-commerce this year, according to eMarketer, up 18% over last year. In addition, e-commerce is expected to reach 14.5% of total U.S. sales in 2020, an all-time high and the largest share increase in a single year, due to the global pandemic. To help companies succeed in their e-commerce efforts, the report highlights the best practices used by companies that are leading the pack.
“With consumers staying home as much as possible, their purchases have shifted from in-store to online, benefiting retailers that have embraced modern e-commerce technology,” said Shekar Hariharan, Vice President of Marketing at Jitterbit. “This report uncovers the characteristics of fast-growing companies, including which e-commerce platforms they use, which payment gateways they rely on, which types of applications and backend systems they integrate, and how they integrate those systems.”
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Nearly Half of Businesses Require Double-Digit Integrations
The Jitterbit study found that 48% of respondents report the challenge of connecting more than 10 applications, while 16% said that they need to integrate between 16 and 20 applications and 5% said that they need to integrate more than 20 applications. Meanwhile, just 28% of respondents said they integrate between one and five applications.
As these businesses and their needs become more sophisticated, they cannot do it alone. The study showed that as the number of applications requiring integration and the number of integration challenges rose, so did businesses’ reliance on integration vendors. The study found that fast-growing companies are more likely to have integration challenges, and also 50% more likely to use an integration vendor to design and/or implement integration projects.
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