The e-commerce industry has grown at breakneck speed in recent years, and is expected to reach $8.1 trillion globally by 2026. People are changing the way they interact with brands and their shopping experiences, and they now expect brands to be where they are, rather than the other way around.
At the same time, advancements in technology are giving Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) the opportunity to further their business goals and scale faster with cutting-edge resources such as full-fledged e-commerce platforms. This has enabled them to compete with larger players in their verticals and provide personalized selling services to their customers, thanks to B2B e-commerce companies offering services at affordable prices.
Nathan Focht, CEO of CommerceV3, the leading full-service cloud platform for digital commerce at scale, spoke with Startupbeat about recent changes in e-commerce trends and how small businesses can keep up with them. With over 20 years of leadership experience in SaaS and e-commerce, Focht led CommerceV3 to process over $1B annually, and the company remained resilient when changing consumer behaviors challenged larger platforms.
As e-commerce sales continue to grow globally, what unique strategies do you think can help SMEs stay competitive in a market dominated by larger companies?
I have always believed that merchants, regardless of size, should receive the same high quality service throughout their growth. Many solutions strip features from their products, offer that limited feature set as “basic or standard” and only sell the full suite to enterprise merchants. If merchants want to grow their business, they need to have enterprise features from day one to be competitive.
Just because you're not a $100 million company today doesn't mean your shoppers will change or your marketing will be easier. At CommerceV3, we understand that you need to use all our tools regardless of your current size, which is why we give you access to all our features for one price.
Consumer behavior has changed dramatically in recent years. How has this influenced your approach to e-commerce solutions, and what trends do you think will shape the future of online shopping?
In the 25 years that I've been involved in e-commerce, I've seen a lot of changes and trends – some subtle, like mobile becoming the go-to shopping medium, and some more sudden, like the dominance of Amazon. As shoppers as a whole evolve and become more savvy, websites must adapt and deliver the experience they expect.
As interest in and adoption of AI continues to grow at a rapid pace, we will begin to see a shift in how e-commerce functions. Websites started out as digital catalogs and gradually improved to help you buy the products you want faster. But AI will transform sites into interactive personal shoppers.
E-commerce sites learn who you are and what you like, and then bring those products to you. They instantly change category names, product types, checkout flows, and even colors and layouts based on your preferences. If a website learns that you hate the color green, it can simply switch to red to get you to stay a little longer.
Maybe you prefer free shipping over 15% off? No problem. Sites are no longer a consistent experience for every shopper; they cater to individual needs and preferences.
How does a full-service cloud platform support the scalability of your e-commerce business and what challenges can it help you overcome?
A key part of scaling is saving costs and increasing revenue. At CommerceV3, we believe that coordinating with multiple vendors to complete a task takes time and money, holding your business back from your goals. By providing our platform, development, design, marketing and more all in one place, you can become more efficient and effective, allowing you to spend your time and money more wisely on other activities.
This also benefits retailers in their growth because their systems are all in one place and they can expand to new and advanced services without having to change platforms, and we grow with them.
Looking back at your leadership at CommerceV3, what are some of the key milestones and strategies that helped the company grow, especially during a time of significant market change?
In 2007, CommerceV3 was faced with a major decision: one of our senior developers had to relocate due to his spouse's job transfer. At the time, we had a small staff and the thought of losing a key team member was very scary.
So rather than find a replacement, we decided to allow her to work remotely. This was very successful for us, and by the beginning of 2008, we had moved everyone to remote work and moved out of the office permanently. We didn't know this at the time, but 13 years later, COVID had arrived and many companies had moved to remote work.
Fortunately, because we were already practicing “social distancing,” business was uninterrupted and we were able to serve our franchisees as usual. Sometimes the biggest successes come from seemingly insignificant choices.
Based on your extensive experience in high volume digital commerce, what advice would you give to emerging e-commerce companies looking to scale effectively in a competitive environment?
There are two key things you need to do when growing your small business, even if you're not in digital commerce: First, you need to have a perfect grasp on your company's identity. Similarly, it's important to know what kind of customers you want to attract.
Second, while it's important to be proactive and cutting edge, don't get distracted by new gadgets and slick salesmen. While seeking to innovate, stay focused on what you're already doing and avoid jumping on new trends that may be fleeting and a waste of time.
If you don’t test every decision against these two statements, you’ll waste time and money and end up offering your customers a product they don’t want.
This article includes clients of Espacio's portfolio companies
