Ecommerce & Marketplaces Newsletter – Oct 27th, 2023

Oct 27, 2023 | Newsletter

Our lead story from Bloomreach focuses on implementing AI with practical tips for merchandisers. AI is crucial in helping merchandisers find the right balance between art and science and automating the right tasks. With some helpful tips to help you get started, it explains the bigger picture of your merchandising strategy. Per the newly published 2023 B2B Marketplace 500 report from Digital Commerce 360. Amazon Business already claims 6 million customers and $35 billion in annualized gross merchandise sales, launched just eight years ago. But market analysts figure it needs to reach a sales plateau. Read more about it in the story from DC 360. Cencora is the latest entrant to the B2B marketplace landscape, known primarily for its work in pharmaceuticals. Its B2B marketplace strategy has enabled it to make inroads in new product categories and provide more value to customers in every interaction. Cencora announced its newly launched AB Marketplace powered by Mirakl, a one-stop shop for independent pharmacies to source front-of-store and prescription orders efficiently. Mirakl’s blog has more details about the new marketplace launch. In today’s cutthroat ecommerce world, staying competitive needs meticulous attention to every aspect of the product delivery and return experience. From the initial purchase to the return process, e-retailers, D2C (Direct-to-Consumer), and e-commerce brands must meticulously orchestrate each step. ShipLilly blog looks at how efficient reverse logistics in ecommerce maximizes profitability and sustainability. Organizations today collect and store vast amounts of sensitive customer information, such as personal details, financial data, and transaction history. commercetools blog sheds light on the security challenges facing the digital commerce industry. PriceSpider blog explains how to integrate ChatGPT and Generative AI in ecommerce. Read this and other great stories in this week’s edition.

Notable news from the past week


Put AI Into Action With These Practical Tips for Merchandisers

Merchandisers need to embrace AI to succeed in the modern e-commerce landscape. That’s because AI is crucial in helping merchandisers find the right balance between art and science, and automating the right tasks so they can focus on the much more valuable “20%.” But just because you know AI is important doesn’t mean you know how to put it into practice. What does that mean for your day-to-day tasks, as well as the bigger picture of your merchandising strategy? Here are some practical tips to help you get started. The best place to start is by knowing what you want to get out of AI. What metrics do you want to grow? It could be as simple as revenue growth, or maybe you want to focus on boosting average order value (AOV) or customer lifetime value (CLV). Setting your goals will help everything else fall into place. You’ll have a better idea of which tasks you need to prioritize to achieve these goals, as well as which AI tools to use to drive the biggest impact for your team.

Amazon Business Is All Business About Its B2B Marketplace

A rising tide lifts all boats, and in the B2B marketplace industry, that vessel is Amazon Business. No single B2B marketplace dominates the B2B marketplace as much as Amazon Business, according to data and analysis contained in the newly published 2023 B2B Marketplace 500 report from Digital Commerce 360. Amazon Business already claims 6 million customers and $35 billion in annualized gross merchandise sales — and it launched just eight years ago. But market analysts figure it is far from reaching a sales plateau. Colin Sebastian, an R.W. Baird & Co. investment analyst who has accurately forecasted Amazon Business’s sales growth in recent years, has projected $80 billion in gross sales, including many by third-party sellers, before the end of this decade.

With AB Marketplace, Cencora Provides More Value to Customers and Partners

Cencora, formerly known as AmerisourceBergen, is one of America’s biggest companies: consistently in the top 15 of the annual Fortune 500 list, and the leading distributor of pharmaceuticals and other relevant products to pharmacies and medical businesses in the U.S. While Cencora is known primarily for its work in pharmaceuticals, the company’s B2B marketplace strategy has enabled it to make inroads in new product categories and provide more value to customers in every interaction. This week Cencora announced its newly-launched AB Marketplace powered by Mirakl, a one-stop shop for independent pharmacies to efficiently source front of store and prescription orders. Built and launched in just six months with the Mirakl Marketplace Platform and Mirakl Payout, AB Marketplace expands the company’s existing ABC Order eCommerce platform, adding thousands of new products to an eCommerce experience already used and loved by the company’s B2B buyers. Jay Dombi, Cencora’s SVP of Strategic Solutions, shared.

Maximizing Profitability and Sustainability: The Power of Efficient Reverse Logistics in E-commerce

In today’s hyper-competitive world of e-commerce, staying ahead requires meticulous attention to every aspect of the product delivery and return experience. From the initial purchase to the return process, e-retailers, D2C (Direct-to-Consumer), and e-commerce brands must meticulously orchestrate each step. One critical aspect that is increasingly gaining prominence in this process is reverse logistics. Customers now scrutinize return policies before purchases, making seamless reverse logistics a pivotal element for e-commerce brands. Reverse logistics, a previously overlooked part of the supply chain process, is now under the spotlight due to the growing demands of the online retail sector and evolving customer expectations. Companies, including independent D2C businesses, must innovate and adapt to these changes in reverse logistics to remain competitive.

Navigating The Security Challenges of Digital Commerce

We live In an era where digital transactions and online interactions are deeply ingrained in our everyday lives, both on a personal and business level. Organizations today collect and store vast amounts of sensitive customer information, such as personal details, financial data and transaction history. While commerce-driven businesses seek to leverage the data they collect to enhance customer experiences and improve operations, the private information of individuals and businesses is an incredibly valuable asset to cybercriminals who seek to exploit vulnerabilities and leverage stolen data for profit and illegal activities. As the data of millions of people a day runs through commercetools’ systems, our customers trust us to protect their privacy and confidentiality. This responsibility falls on Denis Werner, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of commercetools.

Integrating ChatGPT And Generative AI In Ecommerce

Over the past several months, your LinkedIn feed has probably been flooded with posts about ChatGPT and generative AI—and considering that the topic has been addressed in popular media from local news networks to South Park, it’s safe to say this trend has gone mainstream. Generative artificial intelligence creates nearly instant content: it receives input from the user, references an immense database, and in a matter of seconds or minutes (depending on the complexity of the prompt) returns text or images based on the relevant information it referenced. Marketers can direct these tools to create content in several formats, and you can even prescribe word counts, communication objective and tone. The result is a human-like (albeit generic) rehash of aggregate available content.

How to Create an Online Marketplace Website in 2023 With OpenCart

We You will get all the answers related to the OpenCart Marketplace because this will explain the whole process & help you in the Online Marketplace with OpenCart. To create a Marketplace website in 2023 you should be aware of the latest and upcoming technologies so let’s start with the Marketplace. A Marketplace is a digital store where buyers/sellers are available. It is a single platform where buyers will get different types of products/services. It provides you with different shipping as per the seller’s choice even payment methods.

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