Why Retailers And Consumers Are Embracing The Buy Now, Pay Later Trend

Posted on December 7, 2021December 7, 2021 by Jennifer Ryan

Why Retailers And Consumers Are Embracing The Buy Now, Pay Later Trend

As the popularity of online shopping continues, buy now, pay later (BNPL) platforms are becoming a popular way for businesses to offer their customers flexible payment options. Though larger companies traditionally used this service, BNPL is becoming increasingly popular with companies of all sizes.¹ Providers like Klarna, Affirm, and Afterpay enable shoppers to purchase products online from participating merchants and pay for them through a series of installments, often interest-free.² This app-based hybrid version of layaway and credit is growing in popularity with retailers and consumers alike as brands like Amazon, Walmart, and Target offer installment plans to increase sales.

Buy Now, Pay Later is Gaining Momentum

The continued growth of online shopping resulting from the pandemic has catapulted BNPL into the mainstream. While BNPL was gaining popularity leading up to the pandemic, BNPL deals exploded when retailers were forced to close brick and mortar stores. Covid-19 produced a shift in consumer spending habits as an increased number of consumers spent more time at home and embraced e-commerce.³ BNPL generated almost $100 billion in transactions in 2020 as millions of shoppers financed their purchases.⁴ The pandemic left millions of consumers out of work and in need of greater flexibility with their purchases, which increased the demand for easy online financing options. Unlike credit cards which were intended to be used multiple times, BNPL solutions are applied to individual transactions, which appeals to consumers wanting to make less of a financial commitment.

Advantages for Consumers

Consumers are more likely to make significant purchases if they can pay for them in installments rather than the total price upfront. Popular among people under thirty with tight finances and less available credit, consumers welcomed the ability to delay payment for goods and access financing.⁵ Many consumers see BNPL as an appealing alternative to racking up another high credit card balance. BNPL services claim they are a better alternative to traditional banking and credit cards because it is easy for consumers to get approved for this type of loan, even with a low credit score.⁶ Provided consumers stick to the payment terms, BNPL offers the chance to pay in interest-free installments. Though BNLP offers many advantages to all parties involved, consumers should ensure they understand the repayment terms. Late payments have the potential to affect an individual’s credit score, and customers who default on their payments may be banned from future purchases.⁷ BNPL is a loan, and consumers should plan their purchases with their income and expected expenditure in mind.

Advantages to eCommerce

Just as BNPL is a preferred payment method for many consumers, it can also be useful for businesses. By integrating BNPL, companies can attract new shoppers, improve customer relations, and increase sales. It is important to provide many different payment options to give customers their preferred choices and appeal to as many potential first-time shoppers as possible.⁸ Consumers increasingly utilize BNPL platforms, which means companies willing to work with BNPL providers will appeal to a new set of customers. Millennials and Gen Z are more likely to use BNPL platforms when shopping online than any other age group, so if a business is interested in attracting these age groups, they should strongly consider using a BNPL platform.⁹ Additionally, customers are more likely to return to a business that offers BNPL options, and with so many companies providing this service, it is essential to remain competitive.

BNPL delivers a quick and straightforward payment process and is a viable alternative to traditional payment methods. BNPL platforms allow a business to get paid in full immediately, while the consumer has the instant gratification of receiving the product directly at a low upfront cost. In exchange for providing interest-free loans to customers, these platforms take only around 5%-6% of the purchase cost from retailers.¹⁰ If the customer does not make the payment on time or the payment is not collected, businesses do not have to worry about lost revenue.

Why Buy now, pay later platforms can be a valuable tool for both businesses and consumers. The potential for BNPL platforms to drive sales and increase income with no risk to the company is an appealing prospect, and customer demand for this payment method is high. While consumers must be mindful of their purchases and not spend beyond their means, BNPL can be a great way to finance items if used responsibly. With research from Kaleido Intelligence estimating that online consumers will double the amount of money they spend using BNPL to $680 billion by 2025, there is a massive opportunity for businesses to profit.¹¹ BNPL is here to stay for the foreseeable future.

Footnotes

1) https://www.paymentsjournal.com/buy-now-pay-later-what-businesses-need-to-know/

2)https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-to-buy-now-pay-later-and-when-to-just-pay-now-11631957401

3)https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/21/how-buy-now-pay-later-became-a-100-billion-industry.html?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=Tech&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1636972847

4)https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2021/09/07/buy-now-pay-later-the-new-payments-trend-generating-100-billion-in-sales/

5) https://www.paymentsjournal.com/buy-now-pay-later-what-businesses-need-to-know/

6) https://www.investopedia.com/buy-now-pay-later-5182291

7)https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-to-buy-now-pay-later-and-when-to-just-pay-now-11631957401

8)https://www.paymentsjournal.com/buy-now-pay-later-what-businesses-need-to-know/

9)https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/07/why-millennials-and-gen-zs-are-jumping-on-the-buy-now-pay-later-trend.html

10)https://gocardless.com/en-au/guides/posts/how-does-buy-now-pay-later-affect-your-business/

11)https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200922005066/en/Buy-Now-Pay-Later-Digital-Spend-Led-by-Klarna-PayPal-Afterpay-to-Double-by-2025-Reaching-680-Billion—Kaleido-Intelligence

Exploring The World Of Online Payments

Posted on October 13, 2021October 13, 2021 by Antony

Exploring The World Of Online Payments

The saying “cash is king” is still true today. However, the use of physical currency is declining as more online payment options become available. The physical dollar, euro, pound, yen, and others are being used less in transactions. Instead, businesses are enabling customers to pay through digital payment processors. Why are businesses making the shift from accepting physical currency to digital payments? In the past, it was commonplace to see a sign on many storefronts reading “cash only.” During the COVID-19 lockdown, most storefronts shut down and converted their business online, eCommerce was booming. Now, with most storefronts opened back up to the public, many are opting to stick with digital payments. It makes sense to use online payment options because we live in a global economy, and digital transactions can help businesses reach consumers worldwide. However, online transactions don’t come without concerns, and some skeptics believe they could pose security risks. Luckily, different payment options are available that can help mitigate the overall risks.

Digital Wallets

According to Investopedia, a digital wallet securely stores users’ financial information through a software-based system. Digital wallets can be adapted by financial institutions and payment processors, such as PayPal.¹ Banks can use digital wallets through mobile applications that allow users to deposit checks, transfer funds and pay bills. Payment processors make it easy and secure to pay and get paid through online digital wallets. For consumers, many payment processors offer buyer protection to help combat fraud, and businesses can invoice customers worldwide in all currencies with a click of a button. Most smartphones also have a digital wallet feature that allows users to store their credit and debit card information securely, so there’s no need to carry a physical card.

Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide, and many countries are considering ways to include them within local economies. An article from the Atlantis Press discusses how cryptocurrency uses technology that secures transactions making it difficult to falsify. This is accomplished through online transactions that include unique encrypted algorithms. Many countries, including Indonesia, are searching for ways to replace conventional money with cryptocurrency. Unlike traditional money, cryptocurrency is not created by a central bank or government, which prevents interference from the state.² This is particularly useful for the developing world or unstable governments. For eCommerce, cryptocurrencies provide a secure way for consumers to purchase goods worldwide. The true potential of cryptocurrency has yet to be seen, but with online payments increasing, it’s bound to be a top contender.

Blockchain

Often blockchain is referred to when talking about cryptocurrency, but this digital transaction system can be used for so much more. So, what is blockchain? According to Forbes, blockchain can help prevent hacking and cheating because it uses identical copies of its database with each transaction. The blockchain digital ledger can store data from online payments, NFT ownership and smart contracts. Unlike traditional databases, blockchain is entirely decentralized.³ Blockchain can be used in many digital transactions, including cryptocurrency, traditional currency (dollar, euro, etc.) and asset transfer (inheritance, real estate, etc.).

Online payments aren’t going anywhere. The growing global eCommerce industry depends on having reliable and secure digital transactions for consumers. This is the time for businesses to expand their online payment options. Whether primarily brick and mortar or exclusively eCommerce, adding the ability to pay with cryptocurrency or through a digital wallet and blockchain will provide opportunities to attract new customers.

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Footnotes

NFT Artworks Find Their Place in the Metaverse

Posted on October 6, 2021October 6, 2021 by Antony

NFT Artworks Find Their Place in the Metaverse

In March of 2021, American digital artist Mike Winkelmann, otherwise known as Beeple, made history. His artwork, Everydays: the first 5000 days, was the first non-fungible token (NFT) ever to be auctioned by a major auction house¹. Sold by Christie’s for a head-spinning $69,346,250, it became, to date, the fourth most expensive artwork by a living artist². Numerous platforms such as Opensea and Rarible provide places to buy and sell NFTs costing anything from the equivalent of a few dollars to millions.

NFTs are a revolutionary new art form for artists, musicians, and makers. For the benefit of those who haven’t already fallen down the crypto-art rabbit hole, an NFT is a unique digital asset or token, a ‘proof of ownership’ on a piece of digital art. They can be bought, sold, collected, and displayed in virtual or physical galleries. Because they are recorded and stored on the blockchain, there is a permanent record of authenticity, ownership and transactions related to the asset. Just one NFT, or several, might be ‘minted’ (created) for a digital artwork, an analogy in the physical world might be a one-off painting, vs a print in a limited number of editions. NFT owners can also action fractionalized ownership, allowing a multitude of people to each own a ‘piece’ of perhaps a very valuable artwork. Art, photography, animation, video, music, cartoon cats, tweets, any of these can become the basis of an NFT, and some rapidly become highly valued. This very new market is awash with possibilities but has numerous challenges too.

A new world of opportunities for artists and creators

Creating NFTs give artists and musicians a chance to connect with a new audience, selling their work directly with no need for agents or dealers. It’s an opportunity not just for those who don’t yet have industry connections, but also for many whose lifestyles are marginalized in their own countries, allowing a freedom of expression that may not be possible or even legal at home. Artists can always see the latest value of their work, as each NFT has a public ledger of its creation and ownership history, whereas in the physical world it’s easy to lose track as art is bought and sold. Even better, creators can opt to automate a royalty paid on their work, so that every time it is sold on, a percentage of the price will come back to them.

Barriers to entry are low to moderate, though not non-existent. A digital artist won’t need to rent a studio to work in (unless their NFTs are based on physical paintings or sculpture that require space). Instead, they’ll need access to the internet and some cryptocurrency, most likely Ethereum as this is the blockchain the majority of NFTs are stored on. This is necessary to cover the costs involved in verifying and processing transactions and might work out to between $50-400 per asset or collection of them. Once armed with cryptocurrency, a would-be NFT artist just chooses which platform they want to use to mint and sell their wares.

A new means of support for museums, galleries, and charities

As well as providing a new revenue stream for artists, NFTs are raising funds for museums around the world and other non-profit organizations.

In Russia, St Petersburg’s State Heritage Museum is creating a limited edition of NFTs created from masterpieces in its own art collection, including works by Leonardo Da Vinci, Monet and Van Gogh. The project, titled ‘Your token is kept in the Hermitage’ is intended not only to raise funds but also to provide a new kind of accessibility to the museum’s collection and lend gravitas to the idea of collecting digital art³. In Italy, after months of revenue loss due to the pandemic, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence created a one-off edition of Doni Tondo by Michelangelo, selling it in May 2021 for $170,000. Hot on the heels of that success, the gallery is now minting NFTs for works including Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus⁴.

Meanwhile, reference book publisher Merriam-Webster minted ‘The Definition of NFT’ and raised around $48,000 for children’s education charity Teach for All⁵, while NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden worked with photographer Platon Antoniou on a portrait that raised $5.4 million for the Freedom of the Press Foundation⁶.

NFTs are not only making headlines and raising funds, in the future they may also make museum collections more accessible. Even large museums often only have the space to keep a small percentage of their works on show. Creating NFTs can open up the wider collection to people all around the world.

NFTs and their place in the Metaverse

But one of the most fascinating things about NFTs based on art and collectables is their status as elements in the ‘Metaverse’, a concept set to transform our world in the next decades just as the internet did in the last 20 years. The future Metaverse is a shared, inter-operable digital space containing all the virtual worlds we know, not only in gaming but also social media, ecommerce, education, and recreation, with its own economy and experiences. Sometimes it may be in VR, resembling a next-generation Second Life, sometimes it might be AR, where digital elements are overlaid onto our physical world. Mark Zuckerberg sees it as a means of accessing ‘presence’ in the digital realm, imagining our future Zoom calls with holograms of colleagues, or loved ones seemingly sat right next to us⁷. At this early stage no one, not even Zuckerberg, can be quite sure what the Metaverse is. Although it was named nearly 30 years ago in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash⁸, the word doesn’t even feature in the current Merriam-Webster or Cambridge dictionaries.

What we can be sure of however is that NFTs, and galleries in which to view them, will feature in the Metaverse, because they’re already here. Individual Metaverses created largely to display NFTs already exist. This year multinational auction house Sotheby’s opened a prime-location gallery within Decentraland⁹, the ‘virtual destination for digital assets’, while CryptoVoxels allows users to build stores, museums and galleries in a Minecraft-like environment. In both cases these spaces have their own economies: users can buy ‘land’ with cryptocurrency, ‘hire’ a digital architect to build out their spaces and sell NFTs once they’ve created them. This is a whole new world of art, enabling people all over the world to ‘teleport in’, ‘visit’ galleries and see famous artworks without having to get a visa or pay for a flight. One day the hope is that all these individual Metaverses will link up, allowing people to move seamlessly between different experiences.

The issues still to solve in the new ‘Wild West’: identity, property, and theft

The industry is in its infancy and there are a number of legal and security issues still to be ironed out. Theft is a problem; with not much to stop someone ‘stealing’ a digital artwork and minting it into an NFT. There’s plenty of reported instances of this happening, from people finding false ‘verified accounts’ offering their own work to the heart-breaking story of the Japanese artist whose work was tokenized after her death¹⁰. Platforms will take down NFTs based on stolen artwork, and once deceit is discovered an NFT is discredited, but it can be akin to fighting a forest fire, stamp out one and more pop up elsewhere.

In March 2021 hackers stole thousands of dollars’ worth of artwork from NFT marketplace NiftyGateway from users who had neglected to set up two-step authentication on their accounts¹¹. A month later an anonymous artist known as Monsieur Personne ‘sleepminted’ a copy of Beeple’s market-busting Everydays: the first 5,000 days, creating a token that looked like it had been created by Beeple but wasn’t and proving that even NFTs can be fakes¹². No doubt all NFT marketplaces are working on ways to stay one step ahead of bad actors.

In this largely unregulated space, tax evasion and money laundering are also potential problems. The IRS sees NFTs as a tax evasion risk, since in theory people using cryptocurrency to buy and sell NFTs may be liable for tax during different parts of the process. Because the ‘value’ of an NFT is subjective, it’s also not too difficult to collude with others, for instance selling an NFT for a hyped-up price to an associate, in order to collect ill-gotten crypto gains. Existing laws may cover some issues but as so often happens, the regulators need to catch up with the technology.

A greener, more sustainable future for NFTs

Like many new art forms throughout history, NFTs have caused controversy, much of it centred around environmental impact. Most are built on the Ethereum blockchain, which is ‘mined’ using the energy-heavy ‘Proof of worth’ system to ensure security. It’s hard to calculate exactly how much energy creating an NFT might use, but it’s been estimated that one Ethereum transaction consumes as much electricity as the average U.S. household uses in just under five days¹³. Some artists have attempted to make their NFTs carbon neutral by offsetting potential emissions caused by energy use. Opinions differ on how effective this really is.

The good news is that the Ethereum Foundation and others are already finding solutions to radically reduce the amount of energy needed by NFTs in the first place. Ethereum has been working on a move from the electricity-guzzling ‘Proof of work’ system to the far more efficient ‘Proof of stake’ for some years. A 2022 upgrade promises to cut energy use by more than 99%¹⁴. In the meantime, some artists are choosing to use Tezos, Wax and other energy-efficient blockchain alternatives to Ethereum, including the British artist Damien Hirst who is using Palm for his monumental new enterprise, The Currency Project, comprising 10,000 oil paintings on paper, each accompanied by its NFT¹⁵. In terms of both legal and environmental issues, it is of course in the interests of the entire industry to find solutions, whether through regulation or by vastly reducing its environmental impact.

Some people, particularly those who came of age before the digital revolution, struggle to get their heads around the idea of NFTs. How can anyone assess their value? If things only exist as pixels, do they really exist at all? But this exciting realm is awash with possibilities, not only putting a value on digital art, but opening up to artists and audiences who are entirely new while creating an economy and an ecosystem already worth billions of dollars. With individual Metaverses like Decentraland already offering a ‘place’ to view NFTs in the virtual world, this is no mere fad. As the Metaverse comes of age these experiences will become mainstream. So perhaps it’s time to start breeding those CryptoKitties – NFTs are here to stay.

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Footnotes

1. Beeple’s Opus: Created Over 5,000 Days By The Groundbreaking Artist, This Monumental Collage Was The First Purely Digital Artwork (NFT) Ever Offered At Christie’s, Christies, https://www.christies.com/features/Monumental-collage-by-Beeple-is-first-purely-digital-artwork-NFT-to-come-to-auction-11510-7.aspx

2. Beeple’ NFT Sold For $69 million Is The Fourth Most Expensive Artwork Sold By A Living Artist, Cryptoslate, https://cryptoslate.com/beeple-nft-sold-for-69-million-is-the-fourth-most-expensive-artwork-sold-by-a-living-artist/

3. Tokenized Art From The State Hermitage Museum, Including Leonardo Da Vinci, Will Be Featured On The Binance NFT Marketplace, The State Hermitage Museum, https://nftcalendar.io/tokenized-art-from-the-state-hermitage-museum-including-leonardo-da-vinci-will-be-featured-on-the-binance-nft-marketplace/

4. Uffizi Sells Artworks As NFTS To Recover Losses, The Art Insider, https://www.art-insider.com/uffizi-sells-artworks-as-nfts-to-recover-losses/2238

5. The Definition Of NFT, Opensea, https://opensea.io/assets/0x495f947276749ce646f68ac8c248420045cb7b5e/13014153790550692438812020292530308527796599818332639642513535596840089550849

6. Historic Snowden NFT Auction Benefits Freedom Of The Press Foundation, Freedom of the Press Foundation, https://freedom.press/news/historic-snowden-nft-auction-benefits-freedom-of-the-press-foundation/

7. Mark In The Metaverse: Facebook’s CEO On Why The Social Network Is Becoming ‘A Metaverse Company’ https://www.theverge.com/22588022/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-ceo-metaverse-interview

8. Snow Crash, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash

9. Sotheby’s Opens A Virtual Gallery In Decentraland, Decentraland, https://decentraland.org/blog/announcements/sotheby-s-opens-a-virtual-gallery-in-decentraland/

10. An Artist Died. Then Thieves Made NFTs Of Her Work, Wired, https://www.wired.co.uk/article/nft-fraud-qinni-art

11. People Are Reporting Thousands Of Dollars Worth Of Crypto Art Was Stolen On An NFT Marketplace, Business Insider, https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/stolen-nfts-on-nifty-gateway-reports-nft-art-marketplace-2021-3,

12. A New $69 Million NFT Was Sleepminted, NFTheft, https://nftheft.com/

13. Ethereum Energy Consumption Index, Digiconomist, https://digiconomist.net/ethereum-energy-consumption/

14. A Country’s Worth Of Power, No More!, Ethereum Foundation Blog, https://blog.ethereum.org/2021/05/18/country-power-no-more/

15. 1The Currency By Damien Hirst Is Now Live On HENI, Palm, https://palm.io/studio/the-currency-by-damien-hirst-is-now-live-on-heni/

The Next Growth Frontier: Reimagining Telecommunications in the Digital Age

Posted on September 28, 2021September 28, 2021 by Antony

The Next Growth Frontier: Reimagining Telecommunications in the Digital Age

Telecommunications has always been an important Industry in contemporary economies, but with the COVID-19 pandemic unfolding, society has relied even more on interconnectivity to access essentials of day-to-day life, As a result, telcos today are looking into their business & operating models with a new lens, creating a strong foundation for digitalization with a potential value of US $2 trillion through 2025;

As the digital revolution unfolds, the telco ecosystem has opened up to an immense opportunity to move up the value chain to explore new revenue levers. BORN’s own Aditya Basu, Head of Corporate Strategy and Marketing in APAC and MENA, notes

“Today the telco ecosystem represents an increasing competitive pressure on core business and an immense opportunity to move up the Value-Chain to explore new sources of revenue levers. To excel in today’s ever-changing market dynamics and customer needs, telco needs to build agile, modular, customer-centric & intelligent platforms that leverage their own & partner’s services.”

Key-Value Drivers & Market Levers in Telecom

Telcos over the past decade have seen revenue growth stagnate, despite exponential growth in bandwidth usage, forcing them to contemplate upon the new age growth drivers. Even today, telcos are more prone to diversifying their revenue streams but margin management still remains a challenge. Some of the key pain points & opportunity drivers for telcos across the pivots of business, operations, customers & services can be seen in the graph below.

Hence the key value drivers & focus areas for telcos across the globe should be:

Omnichannel Experience: The ability to provide an omnichannel experience by enabling the front (digital) to quickly adapt to market realities without having the backend (BSS systems) undergo major changes.
Modular new-age scalable platforms to onboard and bundle new partners and their offerings quickly and consistent product & services information across channels.
The ability to track consumer behavior across channels and achieve personalization at scale, thereby providing a superior customer experience.
Expanding product portfolio from Core to Complementary and beyond, thereby increasing channels & digital touchpoints to reach a larger audience.
Building and participating in ecosystems to collaborate and create economic value.

Now coming to niche focus areas of digital levers in the telecom, “Network of the Future” is a term telecom operators should swear by when developing their business models. Virtualizing current legacy Infrastructure promises to fundamentally change the basis of future service, as it can create self-optimizing and safe zero-touch networks. Expanding the product portfolio from core to complementary and beyond is another key driver. The increased digital transformation presents the telecom industry with opportunities to extend revenue streams beyond connectivity through IoT solutions, consumer and enterprise digital services across digital touchpoints, and reimagined digital communication models leveraging augmented reality/virtual reality and smart mobile advertising. Lastly, to win the race for customer loyalty and wallet share, telecom industry players should focus on providing superior customer experience and building and participating in ecosystems to collaborate and create economic value and exciting digital experiences.

Customer Experience Management in Telecom: What, Why, How?

We can break down the elements of a telecom value chain as follows; Network convergent technology and infrastructure, Products and services, Partner and ecosystem, Enterprise technology, and Customer Experience Management(CXM) form the core of it.

Drawing our expertise in CXM, we define CXM in Telecom as the amalgamation of the ‘system of records,’ ‘ system of intelligence,’ ‘system of engagement’ & ‘system of things’ for an end to end digital transformation across the customer lifecycle. Essentially, it means mapping customer interactions across touchpoints & channels and optimizing customer journey by delivering personalized experiences with Integrated technology & services. However, the needs and expectations of the partner ecosystem are always changing. Telecom providers will be facing discrepancies in consistent brand & omni-channel experience, and contextualizing personalization to align with the customer demands.

The need & expectations of our core partners and customers are changing rapidly and some of the key challenges in delivering a best in class experience are

Consistent Brand Experience & Engagement – Customers expect the brand’s value proposition to be delivered consistently across their customer journey. Currently, there is a value leakage across the customer journey due to channel proliferation & inconsistent interactions across touchpoints
A Holistic customer profile – Organizations & brands should strive for having a single source of truth on customer’s interactions, channels, purchasing behavior, experiences & social interaction to create an integrated & unified communication strategy.
Omnichannel Experience – Omnichannel experience is one of the biggest challenges for organizations. An integrated channel experience is highly desirable, but hard to achieve
Contextualizing Personalization – Every customer wants to be treated as a valued individual. Hence businesses should be able to chalk out relevant user persona and optimize their touchpoint management.

Aditya Basu further notes,

“Enabling telcos to measure customer experience by creating a differentiated experience across channels will be a major competitive advantage and will enable combat some of the bottom-line pressures “

Walking the Talk Leadership: Enabling Telco Transformations Across the Globe

BORN built a commerce platform for a leading telecom player in Malaysia that delivers an exceptional customer experience. One of the hallmarks of the solution was the implementation of the headless commerce architecture with a common commerce platform providing unified catalog, Payments, Order Management, and Fulfilment capabilities across all channels. As a result of the solutions implemented, over 3.5 million users were registered across digital channels in 8 months since launch. There has been a 150% increase in the number of transactions on web channels, a 300% increase in conversion rate, a 30% reduction in bounce rate with a 10% increase in average web session duration.

We were also approached by one of the global leaders in Communication Technology, to create a fully integrated solution that could deliver advanced services to 3.5 million businesses across six continents. We implemented a diverse range of technology improvements, including new feature development, integration of multiple updated applications, and development of automated workflows. The company saw an improved user experience with a 5 point NPS improvement while the bottom line improved with a 70% reduction in the manual intervention. Our solution combined insight-driven CX and strategy frameworks to deliver the best outcomes. The accelerator methodologies used, delivered a customer-centric approach at speed. The company was able to apply a catalog of behavioral nudges to review their current user journeys.

Navigating Drupal: End of Life and Upcoming Releases

Posted on May 27, 2021May 28, 2021 by admin

Navigating Drupal: End of Life and Upcoming Releases

Drupal 7 and 8 reach end of life in 2022, and Drupal 10 is scheduled to release in 2022! Are you confused?

By: Rakesh James, Drupal Architect at BORN Group

It is true that Drupal 7 and 8 are reaching the End of Life in November 2022 & 2021. Here we outline and clarify what this transition should mean to you as a Drupal consumer or user. As a leading digital transformation agency, it is our responsibility to provide our partners with the correct information and direction to smoothly transform your Drupal website into the latest version of the software, as efficiently and comprehensively as possible.

What is meant by the end of life for both Drupal 7 and 8?

Drupal community will no longer support versions 7 and 8. Thus items including; security fixes, updates on the admin interfaces, bug fixes on the existing contributed projects like modules and themes documentation, will not be supported.

As a Drupal 7 or 8 owner, what does this mean for you?

This means your Drupal sites need to be upgraded to the latest version of Drupal. By upgrading Drupal to the latest version, you can continue to receive security updates, updated admin interface features, a receive continuous adaption of new features and modern technologies. As technology continues to develop and move faster, Drupal as an ecosystem is expanding and adapting as well. Upgrading will allow you to scale your application into other platforms on the internet.

How does one navigate a Drupal 7 to 9 uprade?

Drupal 7 or 6 site owners are a big step toward Drupal’s latest version, Drupal 9 because it’s needed as part of the migration process. Drupal’s latest versions significantly changed the way content and configuration is stored within the database. For a complete transformation of Drupal 6 and 7 sites to the newest version of Drupal, we need to address the following steps;

Step 1: Migrate Configurations and Content

It’s critical to migrate configurations including; content types, field definitions, and user roles. The content migration includes nodes, users, and taxonomy terms, which are examples of content entities.

Step 2: Upgrading Contributed and Custom Modules

Almost all the significant modules offer an upgrade path to Drupal’s latest version, Drupal 9. If not, you may need to do custom migration or port to the newest version of Drupal. Since Drupal 6 and 7 utilizes procedural programming style and since Drupal 8 there were significant changes made to Object-Oriented programming, your custom module and functionality leveraged in Drupal 6 or 7 needs to be rewritten to achieve Drupal 9 version compatibility.

Step 3: Theme Rebuild in Drupal 9

Following the migration of content, configuration and modules, we need to rebuild the theme in Drupal 9. As the structure of the theme has changed significantly, the theme cannot be migrated automatically. Drupal 9 leverages a twig template system for theming instead of PHP.

In Drupal 9, core ships with migration modules that helps you to migrate content and configurations. Another automated migration tool, Acquia, allows us to migrate available modules leveraging the Acquia Cloud Platform.

How does one navigate a Drupal 8 to 9 uprade?

Compared to Drupal 7, Drupal 8 to 9 is the easiest upgrade available and doesn’t require a full migration process. First Drupal 8 sites should be updated to the latest release of the Drupal 8 version. Then using depreciation API, BORN Group rewrite’s the custom module and code to achieve Drupal 9 compatibility. The newest version of almost all the major Drupal 8 contributed modules is compatible with Drupal 9.

In conclusion, If you are a Drupal 7 site owner, it is best to upgrade your website to Drupal 9. But it is a bit more significant process compared to upgrading from Drupal 8 to 9.

For more information regarding our Drupal service offerings or to connect with out team, please visit here.

How to Increase Customer Lifetime Value With Visual Product Discovery

Posted on April 30, 2021May 27, 2021 by Antony

How to Increase Customer Lifetime Value With Visual Product Discovery

The global pandemic prompted a huge shift in consumer behavior — including notable breakdowns and disruptions in customer loyalty.

As supply chains suffered a shock that restricted inventory and forced long-time customers to look elsewhere, another important transformation was taking place.

Brands and retailers that hadn’t been focused on their eCommerce presence suddenly went “all-in.” And those that already had strong websites and solid operations in place to serve online shoppers took things up a notch.

The resulting advancement in customer experience created a new breed of consumers. These shoppers have sky-high expectations from brands when it comes to everything from product recommendations to fulfillment to customer service, and more.

Building Loyalty in the Post-Pandemic Landscape

Now that the initial “shock to loyalty” is leveling out, the onus is on brands and retailers to create customer experiences that are so intuitive, delightful, and memorable that they’ll entice these new, more demanding shoppers to come back time and time again.

The brands that invest in keeping the new business they’re seeing in the long-term — or those that crack to code on how to increase customer lifetime value (LTV) — are poised to be at a tremendous advantage in the coming months. Today’s blog post with BORN partner Syte helps illustrate that advantage by going into detail on LTV and how visual product discovery helps win over shoppers.

LTV is so essential because loyal customers don’t just return to your website more often, they are also more eager to spend with your brand. In fact, 39% of loyal customers will spend more on a product, even if there are other, less-expensive options available elsewhere.

Still, when looking to build lasting relationships with customers, brands and retailers often overlook the most critical element of the customer journey: product discovery.

After all, if shoppers can’t find what they’re looking for in the first place, why would they come back?

Why Visual Discovery Wins Over Shoppers

Innovative brands and retailers are increasingly using visual AI to take their product discovery experience to the next level. This emerging technology, which includes image recognition capabilities, allows retailers to pinpoint specific details about each product in their inventory and to use that unique visual data to surface the most relevant items for each shopper.

Visual discovery tools that leverage AI, including camera search and smart recommendation carousels, enable shoppers to easily find products that suit their tastes, even when they don’t have the right search terms or the time to navigate through dozens of product listing pages.

Connecting shoppers with their ideal products so seamlessly leads not only to a higher conversion rate but also to a dramatic rise in customer lifetime value.

In fact, Syte’s data analysis from July-December 2020 found that when shoppers interact with on-site visual product discovery tools — specifically those powered by visual AI — they are more likely to become long-term, high-value customers:

Compared to high-intent “add to cart” shoppers, those who engaged with on-site product discovery tools had a 12% uplift in retention rate at the end of a 30-day period
The higher retention rate among users of visual discovery technologies also translated to a 19% uplift in customer LTV within a 30-day period, compared to all customers.

These numbers demonstrate that today’s shoppers deeply value brands that help them find what they want intuitively and quickly — and that they see this process as a core element of an improved customer experience.

Brands that rise to the challenge of creating an outstanding product discovery experience will become a trusted destination for shoppers and drive long-term value from new customers. To learn more about how these solutions impact customer experience and drive business value, take a look at our partner Syte’s blog.

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Welcome to BORN’s Partner series! Through this program we look to highlight thought leadership from our vast array of technology partners. Follow along using the hashtag #thisisBORN and #BORNpartner!

Today, we’re happy to call attention to our visual search partner, Syte, and talk about how they help transform Customer Lifetime Value with effective visual product discovery.

How to Leverage Technology to Improve CX and Build Loyalty

Posted on April 7, 2021April 13, 2021 by Antony

How to Leverage Technology to Improve CX and Build Loyalty

What turns a browser into a customer, and a customer into a repeat customer? It may be as simple as listening and helping shoppers find what they want. That can be done face-to-face in a brick-and-mortar store. For online sellers, it requires technology.

Though brick-and-mortar retail stores have reopened nationwide, the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to drive record online sales. July’s ecommerce sales were lower than June’s, but still up 55% year over year. Adobe Analytics expects online sales for the year to surpass 2019 online sales by October 5, 2020. For many consumers, including some who didn’t shop online before the pandemic, ecommerce is still the best option.

To capture new customers and retain old ones, retailers must provide the essentials: easy browsing, a secure ecommerce store, seamless checkout, and trackable delivery. Yet today’s savvy consumers often want more. They like to see themselves wearing your products. They may want to connect with a sales associate — like they do when shopping in person.

It can all happen online with the right technology. Chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI), authentication tools, and curation services can help customers navigate product catalogs. When a shopper needs more detailed assistance, human experts jump in.

Business intelligence platform PSFK examines how technology helps shape customer experience in its Digital Commerce Playbook. Key findings on the importance of customer education and assistance are summarized below and all statistics are attributed to this study;

Help them find what they want

Customers value clear information, well-timed input, and expert opinions. That’s hard to offer when consumers are anonymous, but increasingly, online shoppers are letting themselves be known. About 58% of millennials are willing to share personal information in order to get attuned product recommendations. And 36% of customers (not just millennials) expect a company to be able to provide “relevant recommendations for additional products and services after a single purchase.”

It would take an army of sales associates to offer that sort of personalized shopping experience for all browsers. Fortunately, AI-enabled support can assist with the early stages, narrowing down choices and gleaning preferences. If more personalized help is needed, it can gather information to share with human successors.

Be there for them

Consumers want to feel connected, perhaps now more than ever. Prior to the pandemic, 72% of consumers aged 18–64 said their overall customer experience would be better if they could text with a live agent in real time — too many of us have spent too many hours of our lives caught in endless cycles of automated help lines that provide no answers. Offering different, more human ways to connect can give you a competitive edge.

Authenticate

Consumers want access to human help, but they also want assurance the products they’re buying are authentic. And unfortunately, the rise of marketplace sales was accompanied by an increase in counterfeit products. More than 70% of products purchased from marketplaces annually are counterfeit, and consumers spend almost $0.5 trillion annually on counterfeit goods.

Marketplaces are aware of the problem and working to stem the tide of counterfeit sales. Meanwhile, customers need assurance they can trust retailers. You can provide that via AI verification and blockchain tracking, among other tools.

In short, people like supporting businesses they can trust. They respond to ecommerce stores that curate selections to their taste and provide personalized assistance. It’s what they expect when they shop in person, and they’re coming to expect it online. Retailers that can fulfill those expectations are likely to outperform those that don’t.

Want more key insights about how technology can improve consumer engagement? Get the report from Avalara.

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Today, we’re thrilled to call attention to our longtime partner, Avalara. Through this insightful piece, we hope you gain an understanding of what types of commerce technology can lift customer experience and bring loyalty to a brand.