Navigating The WCM Waters: Choosing A Platform That Drives Your Sales
By Peggy Chen, SDL
Deploying a new web content management (WCM) platform for an e-Commerce site may feel like you’ve been thrown into open waters — What kinds of predators lie beneath the surface, How can you stay afloat, and What will it take to succeed? are all questions that might run through your mind as you swim through various WCM offerings looking for the right solution.
Choosing the right platform requires research and foresight, as blindly diving into one solution may not garner the best results for your company. Audiences are now more empowered and knowledgeable than ever before, and your retail businesses cannot afford to deliver poor online experiences, as there is always another e-Commerce business knocking at your e-customer’s door.
If you find your current e-Commerce or WCM system prevents building a true connection with customers, then it’s time to change. Take this challenge head-on in a strategic way, focusing on achieving engagement goals without compromising sales. You can gradually switch over and replace parts of the old experience with a better, newer one. If you’re in the market for a new WCM platform, there are a couple of emerging trends worth noting.
Explore Uncharted Seas
Firstly, the ongoing debate between best-of-breed and single suite approaches. It’s an argument that resurfaced in recent years, and by all accounts, isn’t going away anytime soon. Particularly when you consider that the pendulum has now shifted — almost three-quarters (70%) of brands currently take a heterogeneous approach to their digital experience platforms, meaning they combine best-of-breed components to build the desired DXP and continuously extend its functionality for better customer engagement. Gone are the days when a one-size-fits-all approach provided all the answers. Retail brands want to control — and the ability to build — their own digital ecosystems, according to the study by Digital Clarity Group.
Traditional e-Commerce systems only have very limited content management capabilities, so the key is to explore what your company truly needs, and put the digital experience at the front and center of your research. When considering a WCM provider, look at how your content is delivered, how it will help you engage and how it will combine with aspects like compliance, security and scalability — all important factors. With the right WCM-driven experience at the front end, the commerce system can work at the backend doing what it does best, handling the product information and transactional elements.
Swim With A New School of Fish
Secondly, the debate between headless and traditional WCMs. Most companies are currently on their second or third generation “traditional" CMS, so they have quite some experience with it, and know what to ask for when they engage with vendors during a replacement cycle. In many cases a traditional CMS can do the job, provided you select the right one. But headless CMSs — which simplify the way of delivering dynamic content to mobile devices — can make a real difference, particularly to e-Commerce-led customer experiences. Some systems even allow you to work both in a traditional and headless manner, combining the best of both worlds. If you’re looking to achieve any of the following with a WCM, then the headless approach may be best for you.
1. Rapidly deliver online stores and web sites to a wide range of devices
2. Manage campaign sites, sales offers and other short-lived online properties
3. Syndicate content to affiliate sites/companies, or for instance your e-Commerce environment
4. Reuse content on other channels, in particular mobile apps, but also other devices such as POS displays and kiosks
5. Reuse content on social channels
But most importantly, remember that it’s all about the customer experience. What experience do you provide now, and what kind of experience do you want them to have in the future? Recognize what approach and features matter most and make the most sense given your company’s future goals. Businesses with customers across regions should be able to ensure their WCM systems are able to easily localize content into any language, as the first step toward delivering relevant and personal experiences. While markets have become global, customers still understandably want localized information and approach a business and its products from multiple geographies, channels and platforms. Do the appropriate research now and save yourself from drowning in these complex issues later.
Peggy Chen joined SDL in 2014 and is currently Chief Marketing Officer, with responsibility for communicating the strategic direction of SDL’s brand, products and services across all channels in support of customer acquisition and retention. Prior to SDL, Chen was at Oracle where she drove go-to-market strategies leading Product Marketing and Product Management teams. Chen holds a Bachelors and Masters of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology