E-Commerce Digitization

The Digital Association reported in mid-November that four out of ten retailers have a central strategy for digitization. E-3 Magazine's E-Commerce Round Table, held a month earlier with SAP partners and analyst Frank Niemann of Teknowlogy, also showed a high level of dynamism in the industry - but also almost unmissable issues and challenges.

At the E-3 Round Table, mainly B2B scenarios were discussed: Not only traditional retail is affected by the findings, but also the manufacturing industry, which relies on web stores and CRM for sales. The range of topics covered in this E-3 Extra is correspondingly broad.

However, the trends appear to be similar in both B2B and B2C, which means that the findings presented here can be summarized as a B2B2C roadmap. In the SAP community, one finds the two characteristics "front-end vs. back-end" and "business department vs. IT".

Front-end versus back-end is the debate about quickly developed and attractive apps to the advantage or disadvantage of stable and consistent data management in the back office.

It's a complex discussion because ultimately one side can't live without the other: Sales success with an attractive app remains a Pyrrhic victory if the delivery process and billing cannot keep pace.

The best high rack and merchandise management remain useless if the web store is not scalable. In the E-3 Round Table, the panelists wrestled with a holistic strategy between front and back office.

The result: Only mixed and agile teams of users and vendors can find solutions. Perhaps never before have SAP's existing customers and SAP partners been so dependent on each other.

Business department versus IT department is a traditional area of tension. In B2B2C, however, the difference in perspective and language is compounded by the pressures faced by both ends of an end-to-end process.

The business department faces dynamic competition in the market. The IT department has to win the digital transformation and SAP's S/4 C/4 Hana release change with all technical, organizational and licensing aspects.

Advice via chat, delivery to the doorstep or click and collect in the store: digitization has opened up numerous new opportunities for retailers both online and offline.

This is not just about individual services offered to customers, but also about the development of entirely new business models on the B2B2C route.

"Customers' expectations have changed massively with digitization - not only in online shopping, but also in brick-and-mortar stores, where smart and digital services are increasingly expected. It is important that retailers keep pace with these expectations."

says Bitkom Chief Executive Bernhard Rohleder.

"Many companies have already recognized this necessity. Retailers who have not yet taken action should urgently put their business model to the digital test now. This will not only make companies more service-oriented, above all they will remain competitive."

All articles from the Special December 2018/January 2020:

• Services, IT architecture, touchpoints, web stores, back end and front office
• Achieving True Transparency with Solutions from SAP and CAS AG
• Customer experience - it has to be simple, convenient, fast and personal
• Customer Journey is a 7-by-24-hour task
• Trade - Why customizing is no longer enough
• SAP C/4HANA as an e-commerce solution in B2B
• Holistic software environment secures the future of commerce
• Digital transformation of the customer experience