It’s not surprising that Valentine’s Day is a revenue opportunity. But it may be surprising that Valentine’s Day is such an enormous revenue opportunity. Last year, Valentine’s Day spending grew by about 8% and reached $26 billion, and we’re expecting similar growth in 2024. About 38% of last year’s Valentine’s Day sales were online, and that fraction will probably go up.

People are ready to spend during this first retail season of the year. The typical Valentine’s Day categories are clearly defined (though, as with any kind of seasonal merchandising, there is room for new offerings). Chocolates, candy, and other consumables represent about 30% of the total holiday spend, while flowers and jewelry account for about 16% each. Gift cards, clothing, and electronics are also popular Valentine’s Day gifts.

The consumers and the demand are out there. Smart retailers should be ready with a go-to-market strategy to elevate sales and take advantage of this powerful opportunity. As with any seasonal marketing and selling strategies, advance planning and strategy can pay off substantially.

As you gear up for this year’s romantic holiday, consider these key prerequisites for success:

• Schedule campaigns intelligently: Initiate campaigns early to take advantage of the predictable surge in seasonal searches. Think about keywords and SEO in your planning.

• Created targeted popup messages: Engage potential customers through targeted popups seamlessly integrated with a dedicated landing page. Your messaging should reflect some strategic realities. For example, men generally outspend women on Valentine’s Day, so targeting these buyers with appropriate messaging can be a great investment.

• Invest in graphics and copy: Make sure your visual presentation is on-trend for the holiday and for the customers you serve – and make your content pop with engaging copy.

• Leverage social media: Of course, buyers are going to be looking at social media for ideas and offers, so plan your social media strategy early.

• Be aggressive with sales and promotions: A lot of Valentine’s Day spending is on predictable products and categories, so sales and promotions – cleverly tied to the holiday, of course – are great ways to stand out in a competitive market. Limited-time offers and perks like free shipping can also turn a browser into a buyer. (Just stay on-brand with all promotions!)

• Be crystal-clear about ordering deadlines and delivery dates: You know that a lot of Valentine’s Day purchases are last-minute, so you can instill confidence by being absolutely forthright about delivery timelines. Consider ramping up urgency tactfully; for example, dynamic countdown timers can catalyze buying decisions and save your buyers from disappointments.

• Make meaningful suggestions: Valentine’s Day is the kind of holiday where people want guidance in finding the perfect present. You do a service to buyers (and your revenue figures) by providing personalized recommendations and curated gift guides. You may find opportunities for cross-selling too.

• Help last-minute shoppers: What can you offer to people who put off their Valentine’s Day shopping until the last days or hours before the holiday? They may represent a substantial portion of your customer base, so be prepared.

• Optimize your website: Make sure your website is ready to handle increased traffic and transactions during the Valentine’s Day rush.

• Minimize cart abandonment: A customer who fails to complete a transaction is always bad news, especially during the holiday season. Design cart abandonment reminders that will get them to act now; standard email reminders are generally ineffective in time-sensitive situations.

• Partner with other businesses or influencers: Explore cross-promotions and other forms of partnership with complementary businesses or influencers to amplify your reach to new customers and segments.

Finally, remember that Valentine’s Day may be an opportunity for you even if you don’t sell “traditional” romantic gifts. Many gift-givers are looking for alternatives to flowers, jewelry, and chocolate, which means you may have an opportunity to create non-traditional offerings for people who want to celebrate their relationships in the context of the holiday season. You may need to develop a new narrative to make your products mesh with Valentine’s Day – which also requires forethought and planning – but this can unlock new possibilities for your brand and business.

Regardless of your approach, don’t forget to celebrate the people you love and care about. Happy Valentine’s Day!

To learn more about BORN Group’s services, please contact us.

By: Caitlyn Shanahan | Sr. Visual Designer, BORN Group

Since ChatGPT was introduced in 2022, generative artificial intelligence (AI) has dominated the tech landscape and mainstream media with a mixture of hype (“AI will make everything better!”) and doom (“AI will take over the world and destroy society!”). As a designer, I’m particularly interested in the impact of AI on my livelihood. I’ve read a slew of articles, some claiming that AI will be the end of the designer and others assuring us that AI is just a passing trend. One article I found particularly compelling is Jasmine Oh’s “Yes, AI Will Replace Designers” piece that asserts “while AI will replace designers, it will replace the designers of today, not the designers of tomorrow.”

I want to be one of “the designers of tomorrow,” and I’m convinced that AI-powered design tools will help me get there. After looking into the possibilities of AI for product designers – and all kinds of creative work in all kinds of sectors – I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time to embrace the burgeoning power of this technological revolution.

In other words: Don’t be afraid of AI – put it to work! Take advantage of AI’s ability to synthesize data and ideas and allow you to focus on the value you add as a creative, strategic thinker.

I’m sure we’ll see plenty more use cases for generative AI in the near future, but here are four ways I’m using AI now to streamline the product/visual design process:

1. Workshop Facilitation & Synthesis
2. User Research &  Persona Generation
3. Image Editing & Generation
4. Automated Content Creation

Accelerate the Workshop Process

How do we start the design process? With workshops that bring stakeholders together to define the problem, create a shared vision, and generate ideas for solutions. Whiteboarding tools such as Miro are often used to help facilitate workshops and brainstorming sessions. Miro recently launched the new AI-powered Miro Assist tool that makes workshop preparation, facilitation, and synthesis a whole lot easier. During a workshop, you can use Miro Assist to easily generate mind maps to help kick-start the brainstorming process. After the workshop, you can highlight groups of sticky notes, and Miro Assist will automatically summarize all the ideas and present them as text, images, and even presentations. These AI-powered tools can even help you prepare for follow-up workshops by analyzing previous workshop notes, activities, and outcomes to automatically populate new workshop templates with suggested agendas, user flows, storyboards, and even information architecture.

Digest User Research & Build Personas Much Faster

Understanding users is, of course, a key component of any product or experience design challenge. AI-powered tools like Dovetail are making it easier, and much, much faster, to transform unstructured and qualitative data – such as open-ended survey responses, user reviews, and support tickets – into actionable insights and comprehensive user personas. 

Dovetail uses natural language processing to automatically analyze unstructured data for sentiment analysis (are users satisfied? Or frustrated?). The tool applies topic modeling and clustering to detect common themes and trends in qualitative user feedback, enabling designers to generate insights and identify key pain points and opportunities. It can automatically segment users based on AI-driven insights into behaviors, attitudes, or demographics. Dovetail features an intelligent recommendation engine that aggregates user data and feedback to generate prioritized suggestions on product improvements and features. The solution also automatically generates interactive dashboards and charts to visualize synthesized user insights and metrics, making it easy for designers to spot trends and patterns.

Leveraging tools like Dovetail can significantly cut down the time it takes for designers to parse through data and derive accurate user personas, pain points, and goals. This robust AI-powered data analysis helps designers gain a deeper understanding of their user base, which leads to more informed product decisions, and ultimately better user experiences.

Automate Image Editing & Generation

Most designers are using, or at least exploring, AI-powered tools for photo editing. Adobe’s Firefly, for example, can significantly accelerate image generation, manipulation and refinement, which is a huge boost to designer productivity. My team uses Adobe’s Generative AI feature regularly to edit out unsightly elements, resize images to conform to existing templates, and create variations of images for review and approval. Edits that used to take our team an entire afternoon (and, sometimes, even days) can now be completed in less than an hour.

Adobe’s entire suite of AI tools (Firefly, Generative AI, and Sensei) can do far more than just photo editing. For example, using only simple text prompts, you can easily generate new color palettes, font treatments, icons, and illustrations. Leveraging these AI tools can help kick-start the creative process and provide designers with a jumping-off point instead of having to start from scratch each time. I am excited to continue my exploration of these tools and am confident that in the near future I will be able to leverage them to generate entire wireframes and page layouts.

Jumpstart the Writing Process

Designers often have to take on the role of copywriters, particularly in the early stages of a project. While ChatGPT is probably the most well-known natural language generation tool, I’ve been using Claude to help me create solid draft copy for wireframes and prototypes in my current project. By expediting the initial copywriting process, Claude lets me focus my efforts on more pressing design challenges.

Two examples demonstrate how useful Claude can be. I’ll ask the tool: “Give me 10 different ways to say ‘X’ in 100 characters or fewer.” Or I’ll paste a sentence in Claude and ask the chatbot to “give me 10 different ways to say ‘X’ without using the word ‘Y.’” While the Claude-generated copy will undoubtedly be edited, refined, and polished by a copywriter before the project goes to market, it saves me a lot of time and effort in the early stages of a project.

I’m also eager to explore a couple of more powerful options, including copy.ai and Jasper. Both leverage natural language generation to create new copy that conforms to style and brand guidelines and is SEO-friendly. These tools can also suggest new content for writers to revise and approve, automatically generate translations for global markets, and can build product-specific follow-up email sequences for marketing efforts.

So…will AI mean the end of the designer? I don’t think so, but I do believe that what we’ve seen to date in terms of AI and digital design is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. I plan to embrace these emerging AI-powered design tools today,

 because I want to be one of the designers of tomorrow. I relish the fact that I am already spending less time on some of the less creative aspects of my work (I’m thinking of you, workshop prep!). Because of AI, I have more time and creative energy to focus on what our clients need as we work to create truly human-centered brand experiences.

For more information about design at BORN Group, please get in touch with us.

In the fickle world of online commerce, the only thing you can ever truly rely on is change:

Change in how online brands are expected to interact with consumers, change in the technologies and trends that digital experiences are built on, change in how consumers behave, change in what customers want, and change in the expectations for businesses to react to these changes more and more quickly.

With the never-ending stream of new digital trends, services, and user needs and wants, today’s online retailers are almost expected to innovate their site’s technology in ‘real time’ to meet the demands of their users. In fact, one of the biggest challenges for online retailers today has nothing to do with driving sales or finding customers— it’s keeping up with new technology and industry standards.

2023 brought with it a slew of new technologies that are designed to help online businesses stay ahead of consumer demands and the competition. Smart businesses are regularly taking all these trends and technologies into account and continuously updating their digital presence.

To keep up, ask yourself these key questions:

• When was the last time you updated your ecommerce experience?
• Have you implemented any new technologies in the CX space (e.g., AI)?
• Do you offer a personalized / tailored experience?
• What are your competitors doing?

Reflecting on where you are today is the first step towards creating the innovative ecommerce experience that your consumers expect tomorrow.

Customer Experience and Human Experience

A recent PWC survey showed that 73% of consumers ranked customer experiences (CX) and digital ‘human experiences’ (HX) as two of the most important factors in their purchasing decisions – only price and product quality were ranked higher. CX and HX work together to engage with consumers at every touchpoint with the brand or service. Today, consumers expect the best of both worlds: a human-centered experience that makes every interaction seamless, enjoyable, and meaningful. Meeting this demand can drive up business. According to a recent Forbes study,

• 43% of consumers would pay more for better convenience.
• 42% would pay more for a friendly, welcoming online experience.
• 40% of consumers would likely pay a 16% price premium for a great customer experience.

Excellent CX and HX helps foster not only a better relationship between company and consumer, but also encourages more engagement and higher sales.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

To stay on top of CX and HX expectations in 2023, top brands are focusing on personalization, customization, and analytic-driven digital experiences – often supported by Artificial Intelligence (AI). According to Forbes research, 83% of surveyed businesses said implementing AI solutions is a strategic priority for their business. AI-driven tools, such as chatbots, content creators, natural language processors, robotic process automations, and rule-based expert systems, are being implemented to deliver the very best and latest in the user experiences consumers have come to expect.

While we know that AI machine learning is the next ‘big thing’ to change the digital world, this technology requires very high-quality data and analytics to work. Reworking your ecommerce platform’s data points to better serve AI/ML search engines will help your site get ahead in the next level of SEO. ‘Data labeling’ and ‘ranking algorithms’ needs to be a key focus in your digital strategy to get the very most from AI/ML.

Conversational UI & Chatbots

Conversational UI, such as voice interfaces and chatbots, is a fast and convenient way to fill the human interaction gap common to many online experiences. With the advent of AI-powered language processing, today’s chatbots can seamlessly emulate natural human conversation. From purchasing to technical assistance, dedicated plugins for your website give customers more personal, intimate and “human” support throughout their eCommerce experience.

Dynamic Pricing and Price Negotiation

Research showed that in 2021, 17% of US and European ecommerce companies planned on implementing dynamic pricing — while 21% of ecommerce businesses surveyed were already using dynamic pricing. Dynamic pricing lets vendors adjust their product and service pricing to better meet consumer demand and market needs in ‘real time’.

Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented reality (AR) is one manifestation of visual commerce that’s becoming increasingly popular; global retailer AR spending is expected to surpass $4B in 2023. Integrating AR functionality into ecommerce websites can create some of the most immersive shopping experiences available to online customers.

Social Commerce

It should come as no surprise that social media plays a huge role in driving today’s ecommerce sales. Social media platforms are rapidly becoming the preferred search tool for younger generations. According to ‘The Future of Commerce’ Gen Z consumers use TikTok more than Google to find products. Top companies are reevaluating their social media strategies and the platforms they use to reach and engage with new customers.

Many of the best-in-class ecommerce platforms, such as Adobe and Shopify’s new ‘Commerce Components’, are taking their cues from this rapidly changing ecosystem of digital experiences. In developing bespoke, headless, composable tech-stacks, they are helping digital enterprise retail shops stay ahead of consumer expectations and demands. If you’re not already ahead of these trends— you’re already behind.  

As eCommerce reshapes the modern marketplace, many shoppers are spending more time and money online, leading eCommerce to grow, with sales expected to reach $5.5 trillion in 2022.¹ The accessibility of online shopping and the growing use of digital payment options have resulted in a dramatic shift in consumer shopping habits. While there are advantages to expanding online, the rapidly changing landscape has also created financial, economic and social benefits.

eCommerce Encourages Entrepreneurship

The eCommerce industry encourages entrepreneurship by reducing start-up costs. An eCommerce site can be launched for as little as $1,000, depending on the necessary features for business.² Whereas a significant amount of time and money is needed to open a physical store, an eCommerce store can be operational in just a few short weeks or days. Fewer barriers to start and a more significant market share encourage businesses of all sizes to compete. As more retailers enter the marketplace, sustained growth and competition lead to more innovation and online experiences. To keep customers coming back, retailers must focus on the customer experience and create compelling products that stand out. This focused attention helps attract new customers and incentivizes current customers to return to online shops, driving economic growth. 

Widely Available Goods and Services

Businesses can connect with customers through online channels and have far greater reach than physical stores. It’s estimated that 2.14 billion people worldwide, roughly a quarter of the world’s population, will make an online purchase in 2022.³ ECommerce ensures customers can find everything they need in one place. Without the limitations of a brick and mortar store, online retail stores can offer a greater number of products to their customers. In addition to increased purchasing options, customers can browse and make purchases at their convenience. Online stores enable customers to spend their time shopping instead of driving to physical stores or waiting in long lines. Online stores are always open and provide 24/7 access to vital goods and services. Secure payment options, including digital wallets, credit or debit cards and crypto, facilitate payment and encourage sales. 

More Affordable Products 

The increasing number of online storefronts has resulted in competition among retailers to provide the best deal to consumers. This gives consumers the ability to compare prices and quality. Additionally, lower operating costs allow online retailers to sell products for less than traditional retailers. The demand for certain products encourages companies to create more affordable alternatives. With so many online options, consumers can find products at their desired price point, encouraging even less affluent customers to shop. Retailers can also offer deferred payment through Buy Now, Pay Later platforms that make purchases more achievable for customers. Giving customers the option to pay later can boost sales by making larger purchases more obtainable. 

A Lifeline During Uncertain Times

A key benefit of online retail is that it is a lifeline for businesses and customers during turbulent times. As the world went into lockdown in response to COVID-19, commerce habits shifted to online purchasing. Shortages of essential items on store shelves resulted in many customers turning to eCommerce. Online shopping boomed because it was a safe and viable option to obtain necessary items. Companies that focused their efforts on online selling were more likely to survive and grow. Expanding their online presence also meant some businesses could continue to provide jobs to workers during a period of record unemployment and uncertainty.⁴

Career Opportunities

The growth of online retail translates to increased career opportunities. According to the data and analytics company GlobalData, the number of eCommerce jobs has increased by 180% from September 2020 to September 2021.⁵ Jobs in marketing, sales, design, web development and IT positions are vital to keeping an eCommerce company operating. While online websites automate many processes, the human element cannot be eliminated. Talented IT professionals are necessary to create and keep websites up and running, while creative sales and design teams contribute content to educate and connect with customers. Lastly, skilled customer service departments are necessary to handle customer queries.

Why Should Businesses Care

The eCommerce industry has revolutionized commerce worldwide. Entrepreneurs can now set up shop easier than ever, providing new opportunities. The increased number of online retailers has generated more diversity in goods and services, which helps keep costs manageable. During times of uncertainty, eCommerce offers a lifeline that enables consumers to find much-needed supplies. Businesses that shift to eCommerce can continue to expand while helping the greater good by providing employment, goods and services to everyone.

Footnotes:

1.https://www.emarketer.com/content/global-ecommerce-forecast-2022

2.https://www.bigcommerce.com/articles/ecommerce/ecommerce-cost/#conclusion

3.https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/how-many-people-shop-online

4.https://www.forbes.com/sites/johncaplan/2021/05/03/ecommerce-has-been-a-lifeline-for-small-businesses-during-the-pandemic-where-do-they-go-from-here/?sh=e85d61235871

5.https://www.globaldata.com/ecommerce-hiring-increases-180-y-o-y-social-commerce-trends-increasing-hiring-activity-finds-globaldata/

We conclude our three part exploration into our future relationship with retail and how do we navigate this “new Normal”.  

Stores And Malls Will Need To Rethink Existing Spaces 

Before the pandemic the US had the most retail square footage per capita in the world, but now with more people shopping online, retailers don’t need such an abundance of store space. Walmart have created automated fulfilment centers in some of their larger outlets, while in the UK both John Lewis and Marks and Spencer announced plans to downsize their flagship Oxford Street stores and convert entire floors into office space. It’s likely that other large retailers will follow suit, either entering partnerships to share space with other brands or local businesses, selling off space, or finding other uses for it, concentrating on tech-enabled service and online ordering, rather than having huge amounts of stock on site. 

As stores like Macy’s and Sephora steer away from new mall openings and test stand-alone stores instead it seems like malls will also have to find new purpose.¹ Their future again is likely to be mixed use, with office space, gyms, warehouse space, entertainment venues and more. Who knows, in the future maybe that ugly out-of-town mall will devote some of its space to becoming a market garden. 

Local Produce, Digital Fashion and Re-use Goes Mainstream

It’s not just local neighbourhoods that will see an increased focus but local products too, driven by ethical and environmental considerations but also perhaps by practicality. After years of globalization, the world has been experiencing a supply chain crisis caused by an endless list of problems: Covid, trade tensions between the US and China, the Suez Canal blockage, rising shipping costs, a shortage of truck drivers, and in the UK’s case, Brexit. 

Some may scoff but digital fashion is another growing area, giving brands an opportunity to interact with customers at home who can show off their items online. Balenciaga have created digital fashion for Fortnite.² Farfetch are gifting influencers in digital garments from pre-order collections, saving on shipping costs and gauging interest before investing in stock.³ 

The impact of consumption on the environment is increasingly on consumers’ minds, and It’s likely that resale options will move further into the spotlight. IKEA are already offering a buy-back service, finding new owners for resale goods in their ‘bargain corner’, while the original owner gets an agreed value loaded to a card they can spend in the store.⁴ FarFetch and Zelando have also added pre-owned sections to their online businesses. 

Conclusion: New Opportunities For Retail In A Time Of Change

All the above paints a complex picture. Change is happening in every aspect of the retail landscape. Consumers and retailers will need to get adjust to the ‘new normal’: where online shopping is an efficient way of meeting needs, but physical shopping is a treat, where we shop locally but the big platforms become bigger, where retailers need to build their operations on agile technology platforms that connect every aspect of their business from inventory to marketing. 

It’s been a strange and worrying time, but now more than ever there is a chance to make changes that not only keep online and physical retailers afloat, and consumers supplied but that create a low-carbon future that protects the planet. Yesterday and today has brought much turmoil, but there’s no reason we can’t be optimistic about tomorrow.

1. Labour To Scrap Business Rates and Replace With A Fairer System, Labour, https://labour.org.uk/press/labour-to-scrap-business-rates-and-replace-with-fairer-system/

2. High Digital Fashion Drops Into Fortnite With Balenciaga, Epic Games, https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-US/news/high-digital-fashion-drops-into-fortnite-with-balenciaga

3. Vogue Business, Influencers Are Wearing Digital Versions of Physical Clothes Now, https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/influencers-are-wearing-digital-versions-of-physical-clothes-now

4. A Circular Economy Starts With A BILLY Bookcase…Or INGO Table, Or NORRARYD Chair, Ikea, https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/this-is-ikea/sustainable-everyday/buy-back-and-resell-service-pubcc071810

The Covid-19 pandemic has irrevocably changed eCommerce. By April 2020, the industry experienced ten years’ worth of growth in three months resulting from a shift in consumer spending habits.¹ The unprecedented demand for online goods stressed supply chains and forced retailers to reevaluate their operations. As the online shopping trend continues, competition among online retailers has never been greater.

Brands must be resilient and agile to compete against retail giants like Amazon. To offset the difficulties caused by an online-only ecosystem, retailers must find new sales channels and marketplaces to broaden their reach. However, a larger digital footprint and increased sales channels result in a complexity that can be overwhelming when combined with already steep customer expectations.¹ An order management system (OMS) is essential for a business to grow, embrace multi-channel retail, and compete with other online retailers while communicating effectively with customers.

What is an Order Management System?

An OMS is software that enables an eCommerce store to manage the order fulfillment process more effectively. It collects data such as order information, customer data, and inventory levels which allows for the management of critical business areas.² An OMS streamlines the process by unifying data and making the fulfillment process as cost-effective and automated as possible. OMS systems allow operators to manage orders coming in from multiple sales channels and process them from multiple fulfillment points.² An effective OMS can help with various processes and tasks to ensure a business stays in sync and fulfills its promises to its customers. 

Key Benefits of Using an OMS

OMS tools are critical because they are more than just a means for shipping orders. Most eCommerce brands cannot grow without an effective OMS in place.³ These tools keep critical business processes organized and running smoothly as a business grows. Having a good OMS in place will also reduce human error, an enormous time and money waster for businesses. Reducing manual tasks will create time for solving complex customer problems, focusing on big picture projects, and optimizing the brand experience.⁴ An effective OMS is essential for sustainable growth and a smooth customer experience. 

Customer Satisfaction

Customers have grown accustomed to personalized, efficient, and cost-effective order fulfillment. As a brand grows, systems will be tested, and inefficient processes can result in negative customer experiences and potentially lost profits.⁵ Since order management systems are automated and integrated across every step, brands can ensure a consistent customer experience across every channel. From logging orders to organizing fulfillment to managing invoices and returns, an effective OMS covers each step of the order process.⁶ The goal of the OMS is to get the product to the consumer as efficiently as possible. This is accomplished by managing the journey of each item in the customer’s order from the moment the product goes into the shopping cart until the product arrives on the customer’s doorstep.⁷ A good OMS will integrate with fulfillment centers to keep customers updated on the status of their orders.⁸ By optimizing each step in the process, an OMS reduces shipping and overhead costs and increases the quality of data collected. 

Managing Product Availability and Inventory Insights

Selling products across multiple platforms can make it difficult to unify sales data. An OMS can integrate with each platform, collect all sales data, and bring that information together in one accurate and accessible place. Over time, this can provide insights into customer behavior and identify popular products and SKUs.⁹ Based on the collected data, inventory management decisions like what to order from suppliers and which fulfillment locations need new stock are simplified. 

Other Considerations

The eCommerce landscape changes rapidly, so a good OMS should provide the flexibility and functionality necessary for a business to grow. It should be intuitive and easy to use by non-technical retail and marketing staff and integrate with existing company technology and infrastructure. Opening new fulfillment options, changing promotions and pricing, and setting up workflows should be straightforward.¹⁰ The ideal OMS will fit seamlessly with the eCommerce system to enhance customer experience and meet business sales goals. 

Order Management Systems are the way of the future in the eCommerce world. This innovative software can simplify and streamline every system and process within the supply chain by reducing human error, enhancing delivery speed, simplifying multi-sales management, and forecasting future trends. In the competitive world of online retail, an OMS that optimizes the speed and accuracy of order processing across channels can positively affect the customer experience and give your business an edge over competitors. A seamless order fulfillment process provides an opportunity to enhance brand reputation, provide a positive customer experience, and grow revenue.¹¹ Adopting modern, integrated OMS software is the only way for businesses to keep up with the competition and customer expectations by streamlining the entire virtual business process.

Footnotes

1)https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/order-management/#what-is-ecommerce-order-management

2)https://richpanel.com/blog/order-management-system/

3)https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/order-management/#what-is-ecommerce-order-management

4)https://kibocommerce.com/blog/order-management-system/

5)https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/order-management/#what-is-ecommerce-order-management

6)https://paperform.co/blog/order-management/

7)https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/order-management/#what-is-ecommerce-order-management

8)https://www.brightpearl.com/ecommerce-order-management

9)https://www.shopify.com/enterprise/order-management-system-oms

10)https://www.smartsheet.com/content/order-management

11)https://paperform.co/blog/order-management/

Towards the end of October 2021 Facebook announced big news: the corporate business was changing its name to Meta, while Facebook the social media platform would remain. 

Mark Zuckerberg has solid reasons for the rebrand. The company needed a broader title, now that it also includes Instagram, Whatsapp and Oculus VR as well as mobile web analytics company Onavo, and Messenger precursor Beluga. Meta reflects a new focus on the metaverse and demonstrates the ambition to lead the way in this future digital realm. As an aside, it’s also worth noting that Facebook the social media site is more popular than ever, but it’s not attracting young people like it used to. A shrewd operator like Zuckerberg knows that it’s better to shift focus when a successful product is at its peak rather than on the decline.

All of this makes sense. First imagined in a 1990s sci-fi novel and conjured up in movies from Total Recall to Wreck-It Ralph, the future metaverse is an exhilarating concept, a place of boundless possibilities and experiences. Zuckerberg wants his company to be its guiding light. Yet many people are sceptical. Was this really the deciding factor for the name change, or was it to distance the business from negative press? 

Trust in Facebook was already low after testimony from whistle-blower Frances Haugen hit the press, telling of polarizing algorithms, understaffing in key areas concerned with safety and a culture that ignored known problems. The rebrand hasn’t helped its cause. A survey by SightX reported that 37.5% of respondents did not believe the name change would bring any real changes to the organization. Many believe it was because of poor public perception, rather than to better fit the company’s future goals and vision. Still, 2022 is a new year and as people start to see the metaverse taking shape they may be more accepting of the reasons behind the rebrand. 

The good, the bad, and the need for regulation

Like Coca-Cola, Facebook the platform is nigh-on universal; open to anyone with internet access. Most of us have been Facebook users at one time or another and have had largely positive experiences. We’ve enjoyed its window into the lives of friends, family and colleagues, the way it has re-connected us with those we had lost touch with and enabled groups of people from all over the world to create communities around niche interests. But there’s no ignoring the bad stuff.

That bad stuff has been coming from all angles. Privacy and a lack of transparency over user data is one issue; the company’s low tax contributions is another. Cloning competitor apps like TikTok (Instagram Reels), and Snapchat (Facebook Stories), has also attracted criticism. Content moderators brought a lawsuit after reporting poor working conditions and post-traumatic stress disorder; some have now been compensated for their experiences. 

But the biggest concerns are to do with the disconnect between Facebook’s mission statement of bringing the world closer together, and the real-world damage caused to individuals, minority groups and sometimes entire nations because the business hasn’t done enough to take down and prevent the spread of fake news and harmful content.

A Wall Street Journal investigation found that changes to Facebook’s content algorithm stoked division and did not do enough to reduce Covid 19 vaccine hesitancy. In addition, Instagram was harming the mental health of teenage girls. UK natural beauty company Lush recently took the radical step of quitting Facebook and Instagram alongside Snapchat and TikTok, citing the negative impact the social media sites have on young people’s mental health.

Comments made by ex-members of Facebook staff together with the company’s own leaked research and that of many other organizations also suggest that not enough is being done to deal with misinformation and malign content. Former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya didn’t pull any punches about the seriousness of the issue, saying ‘We have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works’. 

Meta/Facebook stress that they make robust efforts to deal with negative content. The company has just announced the development of a new AI which is quick to ‘learn’ to spot harmful content, rather than taking months of training. 

However, the company has been criticised for placing too much emphasis on reacting to problems and not enough on preventing them. So far, AI does not seem to have been able to spot harmful content before the damage is done. Is it possible to do enough? And how can they be confident about policing behaviour in the future metaverse, with its billions of tiny interactions in every moment? We just don’t know the answers yet. 

Meta’s Horizon Worlds platform may provide a clue as to how moderation of the metaverse might work. Users in this colorful virtual space can report harmful behavior and send recorded data from their device as evidence. They can also activate a ‘safe zone’, a personal space where they can take time out and mute, block, or report users if necessary. Users can be suspended or permanently excluded if they are found to be breaking the rules. Community Guides with their own avatars inhabit the space and keep an eye on things. It’s a mostly reactive rather than preventative approach, but then it’s hard to see how prevention could work. Though some warning signs can be noted, we can’t – yet – predict crime in the way shown in Minority Report.

People might just have to accept that a future virtual world, like social media, reflects society and so will never be perfect. Techdirt editor Mike Masnick put it like this: content moderation is impossible to do well at scale, because in a situation where there are billions of interactions, even if 99.9% of content decisions are ‘right’, the 1% of ‘wrong’ decisions could still represent thousands of negative experience. It will be up to individuals to decide how much time they want to spend in the metaverse and, to a degree, how to keep themselves safe.  

But more regulation will be needed. Businesses exist to make money; it’s governments who must take charge of putting in measures for the sake of the public good. Future metaverse users will be under constant surveillance. VR headsets will be tracking what users see, hear, feel and how they react, both physically and mentally. This puts current concerns about how much Google and Facebook/Meta know about us in the shade. In the metaverse, users could be subject to a constant deluge of exceptionally nuanced marketing that taps directly into the emotions felt during virtual experiences. It needs regulation to ensure that users can control who their data is shared with and always know when they are being marketed to, whether they’re watching a video or talking to an avatar. Somehow, limits for manipulation, whether political or commercial, need to be set, so that people are free to enjoy the metaverse without fear of exploitation. 

The metaverse must be built

The consensus is that the Metaverse should be built by communities, rather than by one corporate entity with a guiding hand at best, or ultimate power at worst. Even Zuckerberg seems to agree, stating in his Meta Founder’s Letter that ‘The metaverse will not be created by one company. It will be built by creators and developers making new experiences and digital items that are interoperable and unlock a massively larger creative economy than the one constrained by today’s platforms and their policies’. Though it’s hard to see Facebook’s name change to Meta as anything other than an attempt to ‘own’ the space. 

Just in 2021, Meta spent $10 billion developing metaverse technologies. The company is creating 10,000 jobs in the EU as part of its growth program. It recently invested more than $50 million in non-profit groups to help ‘build the metaverse responsibly’. Other major players turning their attention to the metaverse are Epic Games, creator of Fortnite, Pokémon Go developer Niantic, graphics technology company Nvidia, blockchain-based virtual world Decentraland, Microsoft, and Apple. 

Meanwhile Elon Musk believes that his own Neuralink brain interface products will eventually offer a better way to experience virtual reality than spending much of the day trying to move around in a VR headset.

So, the issues of the future metaverse, the problems around trust, privacy, transparency, manipulation, and possible harassment are not just Meta’s to solve. All the more reason why it’s important that government regulations keep up with the technology. 

The metaverse will transform our lives. It could enrich our day-to-day experiences, and even reduce our environmental impact by allowing us to be ‘present’ in the office, ‘attend’ concerts hundreds of miles away, and ‘travel’ to see the world’s sites without ever leaving our homes. 

Like the internet in general, and social media in particular, the metaverse will hold a mirror up to our world. There’s extraordinary potential for good, and equally for bad. Meta and others cannot just go through the motions. To create trust, companies need to demonstrate that they are truly doing all they can to keep users safe. 

Above all, metaverse businesses and governments must work together to build the metaverse we want – a creative, inspiring space worthy of exploration, a place where we feel safe and protected, but have the freedom to make up our own minds. 

1. Founder’s Letter, 2021, Meta, https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/founders-letter/

2. Facebook Wants To Attract Young People, But Gen Z Teens Say It’s A ‘Boomer Social Network’ Made For ‘Old People’, Insider, https://www.insider.com/facebook-gen-z-teens-boomer-social-network-leaks-2021-10

3. This 29-Year-Old Book Predicted The ‘Metaverse’ — And Some Of Facebook’s Plans Are Eerily Similar, CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/03/how-the-1992-sci-fi-novel-snow-crash-predicted-facebooks-metaverse.html

4. Facebook Whistleblower Hearing: Frances Haugen Calls For More Regulation Of Tech Giant – As It Happened, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/live/2021/oct/05/facebook-hearing-whistleblower-frances-haugen-testifies-us-senate-latest-news

5. Facebook’s Name Change Receives Poor Marks In New Poll, Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsegal/2021/10/29/facebooks-name-change-receives-poor-marks-in-new-poll/?sh=30c5c49a444b

6. Facebook Will Pay $52 Million In Settlement With Moderators Who Developed PTSD On The Job, The Verge, https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/12/21255870/facebook-content-moderator-settlement-scola-ptsd-mental-health

7. The Facebook Files: A Wall Street Journal Investigation, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-facebook-files-11631713039

8. ‘I’m Happy To Lose £10m By Quitting Facebook,’ Says Lush Boss, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/26/im-happy-to-lose-10m-by-quitting-facebook-says-lush-boss

9. Ex-Facebook Executive Chamath Palihapitiya: Social Media Is ‘Ripping Apart’ Society CNBC (via YouTube), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MakEIlvlyfE

10. Our New AI System to Help Tackle Harmful Content, Facebook/Meta, https://about.fb.com/news/2021/12/metas-new-ai-system-tackles-harmful-content/

11. Horizon Community, Oculus, https://www.oculus.com/facebook-horizon/community

12. Masnick’s Impossibility Theorem: Content Moderation At Scale Is Impossible To Do Well, Techdirt, https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20191111/23032743367/masnicks-impossibility-theorem-content-moderation-scale-is-impossible-to-do-well.shtml

13. Founder’s Letter, 2021, Meta, https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/founders-letter/

14. Facebook Says It Expects Its Investment In The Metaverse To Reduce Its Profits By ‘Approximately $10 billion’ This Year, Insider, https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-metaverse-investment-reduce-profits-by-10-billion-2021-10

15. Investing in European Talent to Help Build the Metaverse, Facebook/Meta, https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/creating-jobs-europe-metaverse/

16. Building the Metaverse Responsibly, Facebook/Meta, https://about.fb.com/news/2021/09/building-the-metaverse-responsibly/

17. Breakthrough Technology For The Brain, Neuralink, https://neuralink.com/

Elon Musk Sits Down With The Babylon Bee, The Babylon Bee (via YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaRKd4U6Ixg

Supply chain disruptions are causing price increases and a growing shortage of goods as the global economy attempts to deal with the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Retailers must navigate an unprecedented set of challenges as they contend with delays, stock issues, and customer expectations.¹ As lockdowns lift, extraordinary demand for goods has outpaced supply. Consumers are ready to spend money they saved during 2020 and 2021 and are accustomed to readily available goods and nearly instant gratification.² Unfortunately, the global supply chain bottleneck has resulted in record shortages of once easily accessible products, such as household items, electronics, and automobiles. 

What Caused The Supply Chain Crisis?

The pandemic disrupted nearly every aspect of the global supply chain. It placed enormous strain on the usually invisible manufacturing, transportation, and logistics pathway that delivers goods where needed. The supply chain bottleneck led to PPE shortages such as N95 respirators, gloves, cleaning supplies, and other critical care items needed in medical settings, which threatened our ability to fight the COVID-19 threat.³ The supply chain is like an ecosystem with each part playing an essential role and one unfortunate event can result in repercussions downstream. As the world closed down in response to COVID-19, consumers discovered the safest way to buy products was through eCommerce retailers. Skyrocketing demand for products combined with limited supply led to unprecedented delays worldwide.⁴ The shipping industry did not have the technology or processing ability to cope with the extreme shift in consumer behavior, and items became backlogged. The disruptions stemming from the pandemic combined with economic issues, such as energy shortages, production shortages and issues at key shipping ports have all contributed to the supply chain problems eCommerce businesses face today.

Chip Shortages

COVID-19 mitigation strategies reduced the production of goods and services as many factories entered lockdowns. Workplace shutdowns in chip manufacturing companies in countries like China, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and South Korea have resulted in a global shortage. This shortage affects the production of electronics like laptops, phones and webcams, appliances, and new cars in which chips are vital components.⁵ Currently, production of these items remains severely limited, while demand remains high.  

Labor Shortages

Much of the world is facing labor shortages. As companies struggle to find workers for their warehouses, production has struggled to keep up with demand. In August 2021, 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs, and the warehouse industry recorded 490,000 job openings.⁶ The labor shortage forces companies to go to great lengths to attract workers. Companies are increasing wages to keep up with rising prices, and in some cases offering incentives like free college tuition. Even with these attractive incentives, many potential workers have difficulty reconfiguring their post-covid work futures and are reluctant to return to work as the risk of COVID-19 infection persists.

The Energy Crisis

In countries with manufacturing economies, energy shortages and power cuts have forced productivity to slow in factories, threatening already stressed supply chains. Natural gas supply has failed to meet post-pandemic demand as the energy sector has recovered more quickly than anticipated following a year of reduced coal, oil, and gas extraction.⁷ Over 20 Chinese provinces are rationing electricity to meet energy efficiency and pollution reductions targets.⁸ However, there is insufficient renewable energy to replace natural gas, and a coal shortage worsens matters. Global prices for goods and resources produced in China, such as steel and aluminum, will significantly increase if factories contend with widespread power shortages. 

Transportation and Logistics Challenges

A global shipping problem is compounding the supply chain crisis by making it difficult for sellers to obtain needed goods, even if they are available. Transportation bottlenecks at ports such as Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland have increased wait times for ships to unload cargo.⁹ A robust trade of goods strained the available supply of shipping containers, ships, and port operations worldwide. 

When the pandemic halted international trade in April 2020, empty containers were no longer collected and redirected for reuse. Over a year later, shipping companies are still trying to get containers to ports where they are needed most. In response, the cost to ship items has risen by 480%, which makes some international trade no longer profitable.¹⁰ To complicate matters, a shortage of dockworkers and truck drivers prevents goods from being offloaded and reaching their destination in a timely fashion.¹¹ The lack of these critical components results in more scarcity in the supply chain, leading to even more shortages and price increases. 

What eCommerce Retailers can do to Mitigate the Impact of the Supply Chain Crisis?

The global supply chain is a fragile and highly interconnected ecosystem. When unprecedented issues occur, they produce a ripple effect that eCommerce retailers can feel on the other side of the world. Businesses will need to be proactive in their approach to managing these effects. Optimizing operational performance and prioritizing efficiency at every leg of the supply chain is essential to ensure the best use of existing capacity. Retailers should consider implementing productivity improvements such as redesigning warehouses and investing in lean operations to increase productivity and mitigate the risk of disruptions caused by labor shortages.¹² It is imperative retailers understand precisely how their supply chain functions. It can be helpful to locate and work with alternative suppliers to ensure a steady flow of necessary parts and materials.¹³ It is tempting for retailers to concentrate the majority of their business with one supplier in pursuit of volume discounts, but fragmenting the supplier base can help to ease capacity constraints and create new opportunities for sourcing materials as demand for products continues to fluctuate. 

If a business can source more of their needs locally, that can also be helpful. Though adding new suppliers is not an easy solution and may result in a higher cost of sourcing materials, it can help a business mitigate risk and avoid disruptions to production.¹⁴ Additionally, eCommerce retailers should consider allowing double or triple the lead time for ordering stock due to potential shipping delays.¹⁵ It’s essential to stay ahead of seasonal curves when consumers are more inclined to make purchases. Finally, retailers should maintain customer expectations of quality while being honest with their customers and communicating any potential delays.¹⁶ Customer expectation management is critical when it comes to protecting brand reputation. 

1)https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/whats-causing-americas-massive-supply-chain-disruptions/story?id=80587129

2)https://cnet.com/features/you-shopped-like-never-before-the-supply-chain-couldnt-handle-it/

3)https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/whats-causing-americas-massive-supply-chain-disruptions/story?id=80587129

4)https://www.bloombergquint.com/gadfly/supply-chain-disruptions-almost-too-many-reasons-to-count

5)https://www.bloombergquint.com/gadfly/supply-chain-disruptions-almost-too-many-reasons-to-count

6)https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/whats-causing-americas-massive-supply-chain-disruptions/story?id=80587129

7)https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-27/europe-s-energy-crisis-is-about-to-go-global-as-gas-prices-soar

8)https://blog.edesk.com/resources/us-supply-chain-crisis/

9)https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/22/business/shortages-supply-chain.html

10)https://blog.edesk.com/resources/us-supply-chain-crisis/

11)https://info.waxie.com/blog/key-factors-responsible-for-supply-shortages-in-2021

12)https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/ten-steps-retailers-can-take-to-shock-proof-their-supply-chains

13)https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/risk-resilience-and-rebalancing-in-global-value-chains

14)https://blog.edesk.com/resources/us-supply-chain-crisis/

15)https://www.modernretail.co/startups/dtc-briefing-how-supply-chain-shortages-are-impacting-e-commerce-operations/

16)https://blog.edesk.com/resources/us-supply-chain-crisis/

17)https://blog.edesk.com/resources/us-supply-chain-crisis/