Heather Hershey

Enterprise B2B buyers, often operating with significant budgets and the weight of organizational expectations, are inclined to opt for solutions that have a proven track record. The stakes are high, and the margin for error is slim. In this context, the known represents reliability, predictability, and a certain level of guaranteed performance. With intricate supply chains, multifaceted customer relationships, and a host of regulatory and compliance considerations, enterprises cannot afford to… Show more

Enterprise B2B buyers, often operating with significant budgets and the weight of organizational expectations, are inclined to opt for solutions that have a proven track record. The stakes are high, and the margin for error is slim. In this context, the known represents reliability, predictability, and a certain level of guaranteed performance. With intricate supply chains, multifaceted customer relationships, and a host of regulatory and compliance considerations, enterprises cannot afford to gamble with unproven solutions. The known, in this sense, offers a semblance of control in an otherwise volatile environment.

This IDC MarketScape Focuses on the Needs of Enterprise B2B Commerce Buyers
For the purposes of this document, enterprise is defined as upper midmarket or above. The buyers of these products are typically multinational, multibrand firms transacting at a volume of $500 million in annual revenue or more. Furthermore, this MarketScape focuses on the specific needs of B2B buyers. The lens of this research is conservative in nature. B2B organizations interested in commerce SaaS investments with a more aggressive growth and innovation focus should consider the advice in the companion document for midmarket buyers, IDC MarketScape: Worldwide B2B Digital Commerce Applications for Midmarket Growth 2023-2024 Vendor Assessment (IDC #US50625723, forthcoming).

This document includes a mix of diverse firms, allowing IDC to assess a spectrum of vendors for enterprise B2B digital commerce. This assessment includes digital commerce platforms, suites, and applications, as well as products for composable modular headless commerce. Show less

(Multiple Analysts) This IDC Market Perspective summarizes the key announcements from the Salesforce Dreamforce 2023 event and provides some analyst perspectives on the different announcements and innovations from Salesforce.

"Salesforce is a significant provider of front-end SaaS applications in marketing, commerce, sales, and other areas," said Alan Webber, program vice president, Digital Platform Ecosystems at IDC. "The company is now also a key player in the artificial intelligence… Show more

(Multiple Analysts) This IDC Market Perspective summarizes the key announcements from the Salesforce Dreamforce 2023 event and provides some analyst perspectives on the different announcements and innovations from Salesforce.

"Salesforce is a significant provider of front-end SaaS applications in marketing, commerce, sales, and other areas," said Alan Webber, program vice president, Digital Platform Ecosystems at IDC. "The company is now also a key player in the artificial intelligence (AI) space, as demonstrated by the AI-focused innovations announced and demonstrated at Dreamforce. The next generations of applications are going to be infused with AI, and Salesforce is establishing a road map for how to do this in a trusted way. But that doesn't mean it is all smooth sailing ahead. Companies adopting AI still need to lay a solid foundation around data, business processes, and skilled users." Show less

(Multiple authors; I authored prediction #6 about embedded payments): This IDC study presents 10 predictions relevant to the payments industry. Each prediction is shaped by a common set of key drivers and provides a planning tool for technology leaders and their line-of-business (LOB) counterparts to use in their strategic planning efforts. The predictions included in this study are indicators of the changing landscape in payments and their impact across multiple use cases.

(Many authors; I wrote predictions #3 and #9) The worldwide sales force productivity and performance market reached $16.1 billion in 2022, up from $14.2 billion in 2021. Opportunities such as omni-channel selling have made it easier for businesses to expand their market reach both regionally and internationally, driving growth in new and untapped markets. And, more recently, artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) technology is creating additional space in the market for new… Show more

(Many authors; I wrote predictions #3 and #9) The worldwide sales force productivity and performance market reached $16.1 billion in 2022, up from $14.2 billion in 2021. Opportunities such as omni-channel selling have made it easier for businesses to expand their market reach both regionally and internationally, driving growth in new and untapped markets. And, more recently, artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) technology is creating additional space in the market for new players and existing vendors to expand their capabilities and offerings. Investment in GenAI has already begun. According to a monthly IDC global survey, more than a quarter of organizations are actively investing in GenAI technologies in 2023 (source: IDC's Future Enterprise Resiliency and Spending Survey, Wave 2, March 2023). B2B sales is primed for such innovation. Traditionally the last group to embrace new ways of "doing things," sales teams have had to pivot more times in the past four years than perhaps any other business unit. If sales organizations have learned anything in the past four years, it's that the next five are sure to bring more changes. Show less

(Many authors; I wrote prediction #4 and co-authored prediction #3) CX executives are ramping up investments in customer data, analytics, and initiatives to track and improve customer sentiment and trust. IDC's July 2023 FERS Survey showed that close to half of all enterprises globally are doing some initial exploration of GenAI use cases. As GenAI use cases mature, perhaps counterintuitively, we will see AI amplifying focus on the humanistic aspects of CX, where organizations will have to… Show more

(Many authors; I wrote prediction #4 and co-authored prediction #3) CX executives are ramping up investments in customer data, analytics, and initiatives to track and improve customer sentiment and trust. IDC's July 2023 FERS Survey showed that close to half of all enterprises globally are doing some initial exploration of GenAI use cases. As GenAI use cases mature, perhaps counterintuitively, we will see AI amplifying focus on the humanistic aspects of CX, where organizations will have to scale on the back of customer empathy as more transactional activities become automated. With more enterprises incorporating edge analytics, factors such as sentiment and intent will be recognized and acted on in real time, resulting in more accurate customer-desired outcomes. The greater use of AI will also naturally see enterprises prioritizing customer trust and privacy and will give rise to newer trust-related metrics. However, to realize these future experiences, enterprises will need to think beyond just the realm of technology solutions and focus on business transformation supported by flatter hierarchies, shared metrics, and a more collaborative culture. Doing so achieves parity in value harnessed by the organization from experiences and value that is delivered to customers. Show less

(Many authors; I co-authored prediction #4) Intelligent ERP and associated applications are undergoing a plethora of changes moving beyond the days of legacy on-premises systems. Today's SaaS and cloud-enabled applications are packed with generative AI (GenAI), artificial intelligence, machine learning (ML), microservices, APIs, and automated workflows. These modern, modular, and intelligent systems can manage vast amounts of data in real time, greatly enhancing the performance capabilities of… Show more

(Many authors; I co-authored prediction #4) Intelligent ERP and associated applications are undergoing a plethora of changes moving beyond the days of legacy on-premises systems. Today's SaaS and cloud-enabled applications are packed with generative AI (GenAI), artificial intelligence, machine learning (ML), microservices, APIs, and automated workflows. These modern, modular, and intelligent systems can manage vast amounts of data in real time, greatly enhancing the performance capabilities of an organization nearly overnight. In addition, these systems are now giving way to more autonomous business processes evolving the nature of information from intelligence to insights to immediate decisive actions. These advances, when utilized, give organizations a competitive advantage in speed, scale, and agility and will transform them into truly digital businesses. Show less

(Many authors; I co-authored prediction #10) Organizations continue to struggle to collect and report investment-grade data from across their value chains, and they are making only slow progress regarding the organizational and cultural changes that are necessary to succeed in this transformation journey and realize the potential financial and nonfinancial benefits related to corporate sustainability. Given the urgency to act and the broadening landscape of available IT products and ESG… Show more

(Many authors; I co-authored prediction #10) Organizations continue to struggle to collect and report investment-grade data from across their value chains, and they are making only slow progress regarding the organizational and cultural changes that are necessary to succeed in this transformation journey and realize the potential financial and nonfinancial benefits related to corporate sustainability. Given the urgency to act and the broadening landscape of available IT products and ESG business services, sustainability leaders need to make informed purchasing decisions to most effectively invest their budgets in solutions that yield a measurable return on investment (ROI) and help them move from ESG box checking into the operationalization phase.

IDC's top 10 predictions for sustainability/ESG provide a holistic overview across key ESG topic areas and available technologies and services, focusing on decarbonization, circularity, social sustainability, biodiversity and nature positivity, ESG services, ESG reporting and data management software, sustainable datacenters, responsible artificial intelligence (AI) and digital ethics, the role of the chief sustainability officer (CSO), and sustainable supply chain management (SCM). Show less

(Many authors; I co-authored prediction #9 with Sudhir Rajagopal) In 2023, a new chapter of the digital business era started: AI everywhere. It promises to drastically reduce the time and costs associated with customer- and employee-facing use cases as well as code, content, and product design processes. This IDC FutureScape provides the top 10 predictions on the future of the IT Industry and the implications for organizations as they extend their digital business efforts and begin to consider… Show more

(Many authors; I co-authored prediction #9 with Sudhir Rajagopal) In 2023, a new chapter of the digital business era started: AI everywhere. It promises to drastically reduce the time and costs associated with customer- and employee-facing use cases as well as code, content, and product design processes. This IDC FutureScape provides the top 10 predictions on the future of the IT Industry and the implications for organizations as they extend their digital business efforts and begin to consider how the use of artificial intelligence (AI) everywhere will affect technology decisions. It addresses a wide range of topics and use cases. Show less

This IDC Market Perspective delves into the nuances of differing perspectives based on SaaS customer feedback in IDC's 2023 SaaSPath Survey. It also explores the underlying reasons for the potential perceptual discrepancy between line of business (LOB) and information technology (IT) and charts a path forward for revenue life-cycle management (RLM) vendor marketing teams aiming to capture a broader audience of potential buyers eager to harness RLM as part of their broader digital transformation… Show more

This IDC Market Perspective delves into the nuances of differing perspectives based on SaaS customer feedback in IDC's 2023 SaaSPath Survey. It also explores the underlying reasons for the potential perceptual discrepancy between line of business (LOB) and information technology (IT) and charts a path forward for revenue life-cycle management (RLM) vendor marketing teams aiming to capture a broader audience of potential buyers eager to harness RLM as part of their broader digital transformation journey. Show less

This IDC Market Analysis Perspective (MAP) provides a view of the digital commerce software applications market. It is designed to summarize key trends driving the industry and provide clients with an opportunity to engage with IDC analysts on the key issues impacting this sector.

This IDC Survey Spotlight is taken from the 2023 SaaSPath. SaaSPath added questions about several new software categories in 2023, including product information management (PIM) and product experience management (PXM). SaaSPath data underscores a deep market penetration of the PXM narrative beyond commerce roles, indicating a maturing digital commerce sector keen on delivering enriched product experiences.

Shopify's Enterprise Partner Summit 2023 unveiled the company's strategic partner push into the enterprise sector, supported by industry leaders. The event also touched on Shopify's product strategy and the company's pursuit of market share in the retail POS and B2B commerce realms, challenging established enterprise players with "unified commerce" capabilities. Sponsored by industry leaders, this summit showcased Shopify's extensive partner ecosystem and the company's vision for the future of… Show more

Shopify's Enterprise Partner Summit 2023 unveiled the company's strategic partner push into the enterprise sector, supported by industry leaders. The event also touched on Shopify's product strategy and the company's pursuit of market share in the retail POS and B2B commerce realms, challenging established enterprise players with "unified commerce" capabilities. Sponsored by industry leaders, this summit showcased Shopify's extensive partner ecosystem and the company's vision for the future of enterprise commerce. Show less

Infosys Americas Confluence 2023 served as a pivotal forum for enterprise leaders. The event's central theme, "Being AI first," provided a strategic road map for businesses navigating the complexities of digital commerce. The event showcased actionable insights into the practical applications of artificial intelligence (AI), as well as key strategic partnerships.

This IDC Tech Buyer Presentation summarizes trends and strategies for resilient, future-proof digital commerce. While there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to commerce, this presentation provides recommendations and information about the latest strategies and opportunities in commerce SaaS, including generative artificial intelligence, data management, composable modular ecosystems, and headless commerce applications.

(Many authors) In 2022, the worldwide customer relationship management (CRM) applications software grew at 13.5%. This view of the market is an aggregation of six functional markets covered by IDC that comprise the CRM market. These markets are advertising applications, marketing campaign management applications, digital commerce applications, sales force productivity and management applications, customer service applications, and contact center applications. The breadth of functionality… Show more

(Many authors) In 2022, the worldwide customer relationship management (CRM) applications software grew at 13.5%. This view of the market is an aggregation of six functional markets covered by IDC that comprise the CRM market. These markets are advertising applications, marketing campaign management applications, digital commerce applications, sales force productivity and management applications, customer service applications, and contact center applications. The breadth of functionality represented in the total CRM applications market covers a wide range of use cases. Each functional area and use case is subject to its own market dynamics within the individual segments. Although these applications work in concert in managing customer-related data and responding to customers, the roles that use these applications can be impacted to greater or lesser degrees by market and/or socioeconomic conditions. Show less

Akeneo acquired Unifai to enhance its product experience management (PXM) platform with AI/machine learning (ML)-driven data management, aiming for efficient data migration and digital transformation.

This IDC study provides a forecast for the worldwide digital commerce applications market through 2027.

The digital commerce landscape is undergoing significant shifts due to a variety of factors. China's evolving trade policies and the banking sector's instability are injecting uncertainty into the global market. Meanwhile, the tech industry is facing a talent crisis, with a significant exodus of key professionals. At the same time, impending data regulations threaten to disrupt… Show more

This IDC study provides a forecast for the worldwide digital commerce applications market through 2027.

The digital commerce landscape is undergoing significant shifts due to a variety of factors. China's evolving trade policies and the banking sector's instability are injecting uncertainty into the global market. Meanwhile, the tech industry is facing a talent crisis, with a significant exodus of key professionals. At the same time, impending data regulations threaten to disrupt established online practices. Amid these changes, generative AI emerges as a game changer, offering unprecedented efficiency and intelligent automation, revolutionizing the perceived meaning of creative endeavors, and inspiring the world to imagine a reality hitherto relegated to the pages of sci-fi. The result? A vibrant digital awakening — and not a moment too soon. Buyers at all ends of the market see generative AI as a beacon of promise that is poised to offer new levels of efficiency and intelligent automation that can take the ceiling off of growth for good. We haven't even seen the tip of the iceberg here. Show less

A landscape, once familiar, is morphing dramatically. 2022 should represent a bellwether for leaders worldwide. We've entered the era of mastering the art of change, harnessing potential from chaos, and taking the necessary strategic risks to dare to grow in a dauting economic climate.

The digital commerce ecosystem, in a swirl of evolution, saw 2022 as a pivotal year. A noteworthy shift has been the vibrant digital awakening within the business-to-business (B2B) segment, keeping pace… Show more

A landscape, once familiar, is morphing dramatically. 2022 should represent a bellwether for leaders worldwide. We've entered the era of mastering the art of change, harnessing potential from chaos, and taking the necessary strategic risks to dare to grow in a dauting economic climate.

The digital commerce ecosystem, in a swirl of evolution, saw 2022 as a pivotal year. A noteworthy shift has been the vibrant digital awakening within the business-to-business (B2B) segment, keeping pace with strides made by business-to-consumer (B2C) sectors. Amid this fluid terrain, the market's power players held their fort, albeit with a slight retrenchment in their market share, signaling a wider diffusion of opportunities.

The world of digital commerce is no longer confined to its traditional boundaries. It is ushering in a new epoch where the adoption of digital marketplaces, headless commerce, social commerce, and cross-channel selling will be the key drivers of growth. These aren't ephemeral trends but pivotal markers that will define the trajectory of the market in the foreseeable future.

Through 2022, the digital commerce applications market has bloomed, with the B2B sector leading the charge. Embracing digital transformations, these traditional powerhouses have emerged stronger, setting the stage for a future built on resilience. This expansion owes much to the "buy anywhere, fulfill anywhere" strategies and the rise of new business models, notably, the business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) commerce model. Show less

None of the language used to describe and sell headless composable commerce, content, and/or business applications is standardized. In fact, the definitional lines can blur dramatically if you are not aware of who the intended audience is for a specific piece of thought leadership.

Articles about headless, composable software intended for developers quickly become mired in technological distinctions so deep that they read like hieroglyphs to everyday admins. Blogs and thought-leadership… Show more

None of the language used to describe and sell headless composable commerce, content, and/or business applications is standardized. In fact, the definitional lines can blur dramatically if you are not aware of who the intended audience is for a specific piece of thought leadership.

Articles about headless, composable software intended for developers quickly become mired in technological distinctions so deep that they read like hieroglyphs to everyday admins. Blogs and thought-leadership pieces written for managers and the office of the CIO often obscure distinctions between software design concepts and technical deployments to the extent that they do little to help those leaders make software purchasing decisions on their own, forcing them to seek out integration firms and consultants to draw those distinctions for them. And, of course, once you add marketers to the mix, many of the core arguments for or against headless architecture get lost in innovation narratives that rely on quasi-magical thinking to sell software. Show less

Confused About the Language of Integrated Systems of Composable Business Software? You're Not Alone. Navigating the ever-changing composable business software landscape can often feel challenging, especially given the lack of standardization in terms used to describe headless composable commerce, content, and business applications. The complexity in terminologies isn't just a linguistic hurdle, but it can have real implications on businesses' strategic and financial… Show more

Confused About the Language of Integrated Systems of Composable Business Software? You're Not Alone. Navigating the ever-changing composable business software landscape can often feel challenging, especially given the lack of standardization in terms used to describe headless composable commerce, content, and business applications. The complexity in terminologies isn't just a linguistic hurdle, but it can have real implications on businesses' strategic and financial health.

Misunderstandings can lead to the selection of unsuitable software or inappropriate microservices, with heavy cost implications and potential impacts on operational efficiency. Furthermore, the absence of a clear, coherent vision for software composition can worsen these challenges, leading to redundancy and wasteful expenditures.

The tone and content of these discussions can vary widely, causing confusion and potentially flawed decision making. This document aims to alleviate this complexity by demystifying the basic terminologies and distinctions in headless and modular applications, empowering readers to make informed, strategic decisions. Show less

Despite the extensive availability of high-speed internet and the pervasive use of smartphones, a substantial segment of India's ecommerce participants remains inadequately integrated into the digital revolution. As of 2020, India, with 140 million ecommerce consumers, has the third-highest online shopping population globally, surpassed only by China and the United States. However, the ecommerce penetration in India is merely 4.3%, significantly lagging behind nations such as China (25%), South… Show more

Despite the extensive availability of high-speed internet and the pervasive use of smartphones, a substantial segment of India's ecommerce participants remains inadequately integrated into the digital revolution. As of 2020, India, with 140 million ecommerce consumers, has the third-highest online shopping population globally, surpassed only by China and the United States. However, the ecommerce penetration in India is merely 4.3%, significantly lagging behind nations such as China (25%), South Korea (26%), and the United Kingdom (23%) (source: ONDC.org, 2023).

The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), an initiative led by the Government of India and leading figures in digital commerce, aims to foster cooperation among logistics firms, B2B sellers, and B2C distributors. The initiative is designed to increase ecommerce penetration beyond the current 4.3% (source: ONDC.org, 2023). Registered as a nonprofit organization in December 2021, ONDC operates on a network-centric model, striving to enable frictionless ecommerce transactions between buyers and sellers, irrespective of their chosen platform or application. The central idea is elegantly straightforward — ensuring all participating platforms and applications are interconnected through this open network. Show less

NCR Corporation plans to split into two public companies focused on digital commerce and ATM operations. This strategic move, underpinned by a Form 10 registration statement, aims to fortify NCR's leadership in both sectors and explore innovative opportunities in the digital landscape.

(Many Authors) This IDC Market Presentation provides application and professional services vendor ratings by 23 application areas from IDC's 2023 SaaSPath Survey.

The survey polled 2,875 organizations across 5 continents and 11 countries to collect information on SaaS adoption, the SaaS buyer's journey, and SaaS vendor preferences and ratings. This IDC Market Presentation covers application adoption and in-depth vendor ratings, spending trends, and advocacy scores for more than 300… Show more

(Many Authors) This IDC Market Presentation provides application and professional services vendor ratings by 23 application areas from IDC's 2023 SaaSPath Survey.

The survey polled 2,875 organizations across 5 continents and 11 countries to collect information on SaaS adoption, the SaaS buyer's journey, and SaaS vendor preferences and ratings. This IDC Market Presentation covers application adoption and in-depth vendor ratings, spending trends, and advocacy scores for more than 300 software vendors and professional services providers.

The functional application markets covered include accounts payable; accounts receivable; configure, price, quote (CPQ); core HR; digital commerce; ALM/EAM; employee experience; ERP; facility management; field service management; finance; procurement; payroll; product information and experience management (PIM/PXM); product life-cycle management/computer-aided design (PLM/CAD); PSA; SCM; subscription management; talent acquisition, talent management; tax; travel and expense; and treasury and risk management. Show less

Revenue and profit generation are the lifeblood of business. Recent labor reductions in the technology industry have shown the folly of a growth-at-any-cost mentality: It is virtually impossible to predict future outcomes, even with excellent data, innovations, and analytics. To quote Conga CEO Noel Goggin, "Profitable companies are very en vogue right now, but they should always be en vogue."

Conga Connect occurred April 10–12, 2023, in Orlando, Florida. The event marked an important… Show more

Revenue and profit generation are the lifeblood of business. Recent labor reductions in the technology industry have shown the folly of a growth-at-any-cost mentality: It is virtually impossible to predict future outcomes, even with excellent data, innovations, and analytics. To quote Conga CEO Noel Goggin, "Profitable companies are very en vogue right now, but they should always be en vogue."

Conga Connect occurred April 10–12, 2023, in Orlando, Florida. The event marked an important moment in the history of Conga and possibly the larger configure price quote (CPQ) market as a whole. At this event, Conga announced the release of its Revenue Lifecycle Management Cloud platform, a crucial first step toward a future that is intertwined with the Salesforce partner ecosystem while simultaneously transcending it to pursue a multi-cloud, channel-agnostic omni-channel future.

Revenue life-cycle management (RLM) is intended to unify data from various processes and revenue sources within an organization via processes including sales, legal, finance, fulfillment, and customer service. According to Goggin, today's revenue life-cycle processes are siloed and disconnected, inconsistent, fragmented, manual, and often customized to address process gaps that might be more effectively triaged by better software. Conga openly admits that this shortcoming includes its legacy CPQ product, which has received a major performance upgrade via its API-first, cloud-based RLM platform.

Conga was able to demonstrate an unnamed CPQ, its legacy CPQ, and the cloud-based CPQ sold as part of the RLM platform in a side-by-side, timed demo. The API response time for Conga's API is 200 microseconds, leading to a much faster experience initiating and completing the quote-to-cash process. Show less

This IDC Perspective discusses digital service regulations. The European Commission published its proposals for the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) in December 2020, kicking off a paradigm shift in the regulation of online platforms in the European Union (EU). The DSA applies to all digital platform or service providers with end users in the European Union, regardless of the size of the user base or the location of that company's base of operations.

"Don't ignore… Show more

This IDC Perspective discusses digital service regulations. The European Commission published its proposals for the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) in December 2020, kicking off a paradigm shift in the regulation of online platforms in the European Union (EU). The DSA applies to all digital platform or service providers with end users in the European Union, regardless of the size of the user base or the location of that company's base of operations.

"Don't ignore these regulations," says Heather Hershey, research director for Worldwide Digital Commerce at IDC. "Prepare for a digital arms race that will be more dramatic than what you experienced when GDPR was rolled out. This series of regulatory steps is meant to be deliberately disruptive of the status quo on digital marketplaces and platforms. Indeed, the most profound impact may be felt by professionals in the field of digital marketing in the EU. The most agile and visionary companies will embrace this as an opportunity. After all, that is also an intended impact of this broad-sweeping regulation: The EU is fighting a de facto battle against U.S. software dominance — among other things — to nudge homegrown software companies to become the marketing and commerce platforms of tomorrow." Show less

Multiple Authors: These IDC Pivot Table banner books provide data for IDC's SaaSPath 2023 program, including 23 application categories, broken out by countries, including Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Coverage includes application adoption, deployment models, budget plans and replacement cycle timing, purchasing preferences and attitudes toward SaaS buying channels, packaging and pricing… Show more

Multiple Authors: These IDC Pivot Table banner books provide data for IDC's SaaSPath 2023 program, including 23 application categories, broken out by countries, including Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Coverage includes application adoption, deployment models, budget plans and replacement cycle timing, purchasing preferences and attitudes toward SaaS buying channels, packaging and pricing options, and in-depth vendor reviews, ratings, and spend and advocacy scores for all 23 functional application markets. Show less

Multiple Authors: These IDC Pivot Table banner books provide data for IDC's SaaSPath 2023 program, including 8 of the 23 application categories: accounts payable (AP), accounts receivable (AR), PLM/CAD, subscription management, tax, treasury management, travel and expense (T&E), and talent acquisition.

Coverage includes application adoption, deployment models, budget plans and replacement cycle timing, purchasing preferences and attitudes toward SaaS buying channels, packaging and… Show more

Multiple Authors: These IDC Pivot Table banner books provide data for IDC's SaaSPath 2023 program, including 8 of the 23 application categories: accounts payable (AP), accounts receivable (AR), PLM/CAD, subscription management, tax, treasury management, travel and expense (T&E), and talent acquisition.

Coverage includes application adoption, deployment models, budget plans and replacement cycle timing, purchasing preferences and attitudes toward SaaS buying channels, packaging and pricing options, and in-depth vendor reviews, ratings, and spend and advocacy scores for all 23 functional application markets. Show less

Multiple Authors: These IDC Pivot Table banner books provide data for IDC's SaaSPath 2023 program, including 7 of the 23 application categories: digital commerce, CPQ, employee experience, facility management, field service management, PIM/PXM, and procurement.

Coverage includes application adoption, deployment models, budget plans and replacement cycle timing, purchasing preferences and attitudes toward SaaS buying channels, packaging and pricing options, and in-depth vendor reviews… Show more

Multiple Authors: These IDC Pivot Table banner books provide data for IDC's SaaSPath 2023 program, including 7 of the 23 application categories: digital commerce, CPQ, employee experience, facility management, field service management, PIM/PXM, and procurement.

Coverage includes application adoption, deployment models, budget plans and replacement cycle timing, purchasing preferences and attitudes toward SaaS buying channels, packaging and pricing options, and in-depth vendor reviews, ratings, and spend and advocacy scores for all 23 functional application markets. Show less

Multiple Authos: These IDC Pivot Table banner books provide data for IDC's SaaSPath 2023 program, including 23 application categories, broken out by industry: financial services, manufacturing, life sciences, oil and gas, retail, and wholesale distribution.

Coverage includes application adoption, deployment models, budget plans and replacement cycle timing, purchasing preferences and attitudes toward SaaS buying channels, packaging and pricing options, and in-depth vendor reviews… Show more

Multiple Authos: These IDC Pivot Table banner books provide data for IDC's SaaSPath 2023 program, including 23 application categories, broken out by industry: financial services, manufacturing, life sciences, oil and gas, retail, and wholesale distribution.

Coverage includes application adoption, deployment models, budget plans and replacement cycle timing, purchasing preferences and attitudes toward SaaS buying channels, packaging and pricing options, and in-depth vendor reviews, ratings, and spend and advocacy scores for all 23 functional application markets. Show less

Multiple Authors; These IDC Pivot Table banner books provide data for IDC's SaaSPath 2023 program, including 23 application categories, broken out by industry: financial services, manufacturing, life sciences, oil and gas, retail, wholesale distribution, professional services, media and entertainment, utilities, education, hospitality and food service, and transportation and logistics.

Coverage includes application adoption, deployment models, budget plans and replacement cycle timing… Show more

Multiple Authors; These IDC Pivot Table banner books provide data for IDC's SaaSPath 2023 program, including 23 application categories, broken out by industry: financial services, manufacturing, life sciences, oil and gas, retail, wholesale distribution, professional services, media and entertainment, utilities, education, hospitality and food service, and transportation and logistics.

Coverage includes application adoption, deployment models, budget plans and replacement cycle timing, purchasing preferences and attitudes toward SaaS buying channels, packaging and pricing options, and in-depth vendor reviews, ratings, and spend and advocacy scores for all 23 functional application markets. Show less

Multiple Authors: This IDC Pivot Table banner book includes data for IDC's SaaSPath 2023 program, which provides comprehensive data and guidance on the mind and journey of the SaaS buyer, including a deep dive into 23 functional application markets: accounts payable; accounts receivable; core HR; configure, price, quote (CPQ); digital commerce; asset life-cycle management (ALM/EAM); employee experience; enterprise resource planning (ERP); facility management; field service management; finance;… Show more

Multiple Authors: This IDC Pivot Table banner book includes data for IDC's SaaSPath 2023 program, which provides comprehensive data and guidance on the mind and journey of the SaaS buyer, including a deep dive into 23 functional application markets: accounts payable; accounts receivable; core HR; configure, price, quote (CPQ); digital commerce; asset life-cycle management (ALM/EAM); employee experience; enterprise resource planning (ERP); facility management; field service management; finance; payroll; procurement; product information and experience management (PIM/PXM); product life-cycle management/computer-aided design (PLM/CAD); professional services automation (PSA); supply chain management (SCM); subscription management; talent acquisition; talent management; tax; travel and expense; and treasury and risk management.

Coverage includes application adoption, deployment models, budget plans and replacement cycle timing, purchasing preferences and attitudes toward SaaS buying channels, packaging and pricing options, and in-depth vendor reviews, ratings, and spend and advocacy scores for all 23 functional application markets. Show less

This IDC Market Glance explores the various software options available to ideate, construct/architect/create, merchandise, and sell products and unique product experiences. In the digital commerce realm, products can encompass anything from services and software to physical goods with varying degrees of complexity and configurability exchanged for money via digital networks. As companies across an array of industries, business models, and sales channels shift more toward online operations, they… Show more

This IDC Market Glance explores the various software options available to ideate, construct/architect/create, merchandise, and sell products and unique product experiences. In the digital commerce realm, products can encompass anything from services and software to physical goods with varying degrees of complexity and configurability exchanged for money via digital networks. As companies across an array of industries, business models, and sales channels shift more toward online operations, they will need a broad spectrum of tools to create amazing product experiences that satisfy their customers. To stay competitive, businesses need to leverage the right tools and strategies to provide customers with exceptional product experiences. Show less

This IDC Market Glance for the core commerce layer software and services market presents a high-level representative view of the software vendors in each of the technology categories presented. The concept of a "layer" in this context is applied extremely loosely, almost metaphorically, because systems for digital commerce cannot typically be isolated to a single "layer" of software, processes, or integration services. Commerce engines influence the front, middle, and back offices of commerce… Show more

This IDC Market Glance for the core commerce layer software and services market presents a high-level representative view of the software vendors in each of the technology categories presented. The concept of a "layer" in this context is applied extremely loosely, almost metaphorically, because systems for digital commerce cannot typically be isolated to a single "layer" of software, processes, or integration services. Commerce engines influence the front, middle, and back offices of commerce operations. The categories in this IDC Market Glace reflect the need for specialized software and services to stand up, maintain, and transform the core engine of cutting-edge systems for commerce. Show less

This IDC Market Glance provides an overview of the digital commerce market.

There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all commerce solution. The digital commerce software and services market is expansive precisely because it is ultimately up to the buyer to determine which software and services are genuinely essential for their commerce operations. With the commerce industry quickly migrating toward microservices and headless systems, vendors in the digital commerce software market must… Show more

This IDC Market Glance provides an overview of the digital commerce market.

There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all commerce solution. The digital commerce software and services market is expansive precisely because it is ultimately up to the buyer to determine which software and services are genuinely essential for their commerce operations. With the commerce industry quickly migrating toward microservices and headless systems, vendors in the digital commerce software market must create a robust partner ecosystem to succeed. Plus, as more organizations of all kinds move their operations online, they need an extensive variety of tools to communicate with and sell products and services to their customers. Core digital commerce applications are the "glue" of the Digital Commerce CIS at IDC. All additional tools and services are supporting components in a digital commerce software environment, utilized to construct systems for promoting, staging, distributing, selling, paying for, and delivering goods or services via digital means. Show less

The Experiential Commerce and Social Commerce Market Glance provides an overview of the software developers in each technology category which are at the junction between commerce and marketing. This convergence of experiential website marketing and digital commerce has created this new market - Experiential Commerce- where various types of software is utilized to enhance the presentation layer on a shopping web page, thereby elevating their customers' digital experience. As organizations from… Show more

The Experiential Commerce and Social Commerce Market Glance provides an overview of the software developers in each technology category which are at the junction between commerce and marketing. This convergence of experiential website marketing and digital commerce has created this new market - Experiential Commerce- where various types of software is utilized to enhance the presentation layer on a shopping web page, thereby elevating their customers' digital experience. As organizations from various industries and business models are increasingly investing in digital commerce, advanced capabilities become essential to establishing a successful online presence that allows companies to connect with their customers via engaging, seamless experiences at the convergence between content and commerce. Show less

This IDC Market Glance for the payment, sales, and revenue generation for digital commerce market offers an overview of the incredible software that facilitates revenue growth. These products incentivize sales teams, improve customer lifetime value and conversion rates, simplify quote-to-cash cycles, capture payments securely, and minimize risk to develop and protect the bottom line.

Multiple Authors: These IDC Pivot Table banner books provide data for IDC's SaaSPath 2023 program, including 8 of the 23 application categories: ERP, finance, PSA, SCM, core HR, payroll, talent management, and asset life-cycle management (ALM/EAM).

Coverage includes application adoption, deployment models, budget plans and replacement cycle timing, purchasing preferences and attitudes toward SaaS buying channels, packaging and pricing options, and in-depth vendor reviews, ratings, and… Show more

Multiple Authors: These IDC Pivot Table banner books provide data for IDC's SaaSPath 2023 program, including 8 of the 23 application categories: ERP, finance, PSA, SCM, core HR, payroll, talent management, and asset life-cycle management (ALM/EAM).

Coverage includes application adoption, deployment models, budget plans and replacement cycle timing, purchasing preferences and attitudes toward SaaS buying channels, packaging and pricing options, and in-depth vendor reviews, ratings, and spend and advocacy scores for all 23 functional application markets. Show less

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has certainly been a hot topic in tech since the launch of Open AI's ChatGPT in 4Q22. Proposed uses for this technology tend to follow general narratives about the disruptive potential of generative pretrained transformers (GPTs) and their influence on digital marketing and advertising, customer service, website personalization, and localized website search. Knowledge workers and content marketers are fascinated, if not slightly terrified, by the prospect… Show more

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has certainly been a hot topic in tech since the launch of Open AI's ChatGPT in 4Q22. Proposed uses for this technology tend to follow general narratives about the disruptive potential of generative pretrained transformers (GPTs) and their influence on digital marketing and advertising, customer service, website personalization, and localized website search. Knowledge workers and content marketers are fascinated, if not slightly terrified, by the prospect of being augmented by these AI systems based on very large language models.

One of the cleanest, easiest implementations of this technology for the enterprise typically goes unexplored: generative AI will make operational busy work a thing of the past. It is only a matter of time. Show less

Several factors are driving larger, established software vendors to be more aggressive in their M&A activity. Portfolio positioning and the strength of offerings are key attributes, as we see a continued drive to build out offerings in an attempt to provide prospective clients with a single source for their SaaS solution needs. This drive to broaden product offerings, coupled with the compressed valuations that we have seen in the past several months, is leading such activity. Industry… Show more

Several factors are driving larger, established software vendors to be more aggressive in their M&A activity. Portfolio positioning and the strength of offerings are key attributes, as we see a continued drive to build out offerings in an attempt to provide prospective clients with a single source for their SaaS solution needs. This drive to broaden product offerings, coupled with the compressed valuations that we have seen in the past several months, is leading such activity. Industry stalwarts — among them Oracle, Shopify, Microsoft, Salesforce, Sage, Thompson Reuters, and Blackline had major acquisitions in 2022. IDC expects this trend will continue for the reasons listed previously (automation, increased talent management costs), as well as the push toward more complicated global financial regulations. In short, IDC expects 2023 to be another very active year for M&A activity within the enterprise software market. Show less

On November 1, 2022, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) entered into force. The DMA has established new regulations for specific core platform services (CPSs) that act as "gatekeepers" in the digital world (such as search engines, social media websites, online advertising platforms, cloud computing systems, video sharing sites, messaging applications, and online intermediation services).

The DMA becomes effective six months from May 2, 2023 (i.e., November 2, 2023). Companies will have until… Show more

On November 1, 2022, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) entered into force. The DMA has established new regulations for specific core platform services (CPSs) that act as "gatekeepers" in the digital world (such as search engines, social media websites, online advertising platforms, cloud computing systems, video sharing sites, messaging applications, and online intermediation services).

The DMA becomes effective six months from May 2, 2023 (i.e., November 2, 2023). Companies will have until July 3, 2023, to register their core platform services with the European Commission if they meet the criteria of a "gatekeeper" under the Digital Markets Act. After registration, the European Commission will determine whether the business crosses the "gatekeeper" threshold defined by law. If so, it will be designated as a gatekeeper and have until March 6, 2024, to fulfill all stipulations of DMA regulation. Show less

Akeneo Unlock Paris 2023 was an exciting event dedicated to pushing the boundaries of digital product experience management (PXM). The insights offered by attendees and speakers may prove instrumental in helping companies reach their full potential as they strive to build customer loyalty through syndicated product experiences (PX).

This IDC Perspective discusses ChatGPT technologies. Chatbots like ChatGPT have not traditionally been used as shopping assistants in ecommerce, but the prospects for the future are quite tantalizing. GPT-3 and ChatGPT could represent powerful tools for enhancing personalized product, search, and shopping experiences. By analyzing customer data such as browsing history, purchase history, and other behavioral metrics, chatbots like ChatGPT can provide more accurate recommendations and product… Show more

This IDC Perspective discusses ChatGPT technologies. Chatbots like ChatGPT have not traditionally been used as shopping assistants in ecommerce, but the prospects for the future are quite tantalizing. GPT-3 and ChatGPT could represent powerful tools for enhancing personalized product, search, and shopping experiences. By analyzing customer data such as browsing history, purchase history, and other behavioral metrics, chatbots like ChatGPT can provide more accurate recommendations and product suggestions based on an individual's preferences and needs once adopted as part of personalization engines, search boxes, and chat support for ecommerce sites.

"It's only a matter of time before these technologies are eventually leveraged to improve the overall customer experience of online shopping by streamlining the search process and increasing the chance of successful conversions with automatically sales-optimized conversational commerce," says Heather Hershey, research director, Worldwide Digital Commerce. "It's a brave new world for digital commerce content and chat experiences. The future is here, and it's AI." Show less

Shopify's Commerce Components offers a promising glimpse into the ecommerce juggernaut's modular commerce future. It remains to be seen how Shopify will juggle its overtures to enterprise software buyers and its current core business with direct-to-consumer and retail SMBs, especially when the needs of these buyer demographics contradict each other.

The integration of social interactions and ecommerce transactions into a single platform and path to purchase is known as social commerce. Unlike traditional social media advertising (which sends users to a different website to complete the purchase), app-based social commerce transactions occur on social media platforms directly via native carts to capture payment.

While both economic and regulatory factors block rapid adoption of true social commerce in the West, arguably, the most… Show more

The integration of social interactions and ecommerce transactions into a single platform and path to purchase is known as social commerce. Unlike traditional social media advertising (which sends users to a different website to complete the purchase), app-based social commerce transactions occur on social media platforms directly via native carts to capture payment.

While both economic and regulatory factors block rapid adoption of true social commerce in the West, arguably, the most challenging obstacles are matters of customer expectations and public perception. These are all complex, multifaceted issues deserving of deeper research in their own right. This document provides a very broad summary for the purpose of basic understanding. Show less

This IDC Perspective discusses some of the grey areas between simplified headless commerce (SHC) and modular headless commerce (MHC) as well as some of the ways these differences in architecture can exert influence over customer experiences (CX) in digital commerce. "Headless" is a term so frequently misused in technology marketing that it has almost become cliché. Therefore, a need exists to further define the category to differentiate between platforms that are colloquially headless and those… Show more

This IDC Perspective discusses some of the grey areas between simplified headless commerce (SHC) and modular headless commerce (MHC) as well as some of the ways these differences in architecture can exert influence over customer experiences (CX) in digital commerce. "Headless" is a term so frequently misused in technology marketing that it has almost become cliché. Therefore, a need exists to further define the category to differentiate between platforms that are colloquially headless and those that are truly API first, cloud native, and microservice based.

"Time is money in commerce, and it flies by much faster in digital spaces than analog ones. Agile global enterprises need to plan for the future of commerce to ensure they stay on top of the bleeding edge of consumer expectations," says Heather Hershey, director, Worldwide Digital Commerce at IDC. "Competitive enterprises must ensure that they do not make cost-cutting choices to their digital commerce strategies now in the interest of saving money in the short term. These decisions may lock them into underperforming commerce systems that are difficult and expensive to abandon later on. Therefore, these choices require careful deliberation and a clear understanding of which headless commerce products will advance the goals of the organization." Show less

This IDC Perspective looks into headless commerce, more specifically modular headless commerce (MHC). While it may seem ironic, most marketing concerning headless commerce actually emphasizes the "head" (aka the front end, or presentation layer of a website). This is not an accurate method of informing potential buyers about headless commerce and its objectives. The focus should be on the foundational API ecosystem within headless commerce rather than how many heads are attached to the… Show more

This IDC Perspective looks into headless commerce, more specifically modular headless commerce (MHC). While it may seem ironic, most marketing concerning headless commerce actually emphasizes the "head" (aka the front end, or presentation layer of a website). This is not an accurate method of informing potential buyers about headless commerce and its objectives. The focus should be on the foundational API ecosystem within headless commerce rather than how many heads are attached to the system.

"If you want to stay ahead of the curve, it is important to understand your headless commerce options — and the importance of API utilization in the system — thoroughly before you commit," said Heather Hershey, research director, Worldwide Digital Commerce at IDC. "As a CIO or technology buyer, you understand the importance of staying ahead of the curve and leveraging cutting-edge technologies to drive success for your business. With modular headless commerce, you can access all the latest CX tools and back-office commerce innovations to help you achieve your strategic goals and outperform the competition, whether your business is B2B, B2C, or anywhere in between." Show less

The colloquial definition of headless commerce misses the point of the technology. The fact that the "head" is decoupled from the back end is only the start of the story. The most important distinction among headless software vendors is a story about API, not about front ends. Simplified headless commerce (SHC) is a system that meets the aforementioned colloquial definition but is not modular in nature. The back-end system is monolithic with all of the key features of the commerce engine… Show more

The colloquial definition of headless commerce misses the point of the technology. The fact that the "head" is decoupled from the back end is only the start of the story. The most important distinction among headless software vendors is a story about API, not about front ends. Simplified headless commerce (SHC) is a system that meets the aforementioned colloquial definition but is not modular in nature. The back-end system is monolithic with all of the key features of the commerce engine embedded within a single code base. Show less

The intended audience for this buyer's guide is the Western technology buyer, even though to date, social commerce is more of a Chinese phenomenon.

Impressive international headlines about the lucrative nature of social commerce in China can tempt Western ecommerce and marketing professionals into thinking it is only a matter of time before this phenomenon takes hold in a similar fashion in the West. However, many unique serendipitous circumstances were required to make that situation… Show more

The intended audience for this buyer's guide is the Western technology buyer, even though to date, social commerce is more of a Chinese phenomenon.

Impressive international headlines about the lucrative nature of social commerce in China can tempt Western ecommerce and marketing professionals into thinking it is only a matter of time before this phenomenon takes hold in a similar fashion in the West. However, many unique serendipitous circumstances were required to make that situation manifest in China. Show less

This IDC Perspective discusses the commonalities, differences, friction points, technology trends, and opportunities of business-to-business (B2B) digital commerce from both a seller (commerce) and a buyer (procurement) perspective. The opportunity for both the selling organization and the buying organization to automate more, collapse workflows, and expand into more collaborative and winning relationships lies in understanding both viewpoints in the transaction. New B2B technologies are… Show more

This IDC Perspective discusses the commonalities, differences, friction points, technology trends, and opportunities of business-to-business (B2B) digital commerce from both a seller (commerce) and a buyer (procurement) perspective. The opportunity for both the selling organization and the buying organization to automate more, collapse workflows, and expand into more collaborative and winning relationships lies in understanding both viewpoints in the transaction. New B2B technologies are creating profound opportunities for deeper partnerships between buyers and sellers by driving efficiency. Show less

It's no longer enough for businesses to sit back and rely on their technological debt of software and hardware assets to keep the company running. In the digital world, enterprise software needs to constantly innovate to keep up with demand for speed, scale, and a resilient business. Organizations will invest in new tools to keep their application portfolio up to date as they move into the digital era, automating all processes while also leveraging innovation and a wealth of data to become a… Show more

It's no longer enough for businesses to sit back and rely on their technological debt of software and hardware assets to keep the company running. In the digital world, enterprise software needs to constantly innovate to keep up with demand for speed, scale, and a resilient business. Organizations will invest in new tools to keep their application portfolio up to date as they move into the digital era, automating all processes while also leveraging innovation and a wealth of data to become a more creative and resilient company in the digital realm. Show less

This IDC study provides the worldwide market shares for the enterprise applications software market for 2021.

"Establishing a viable digital business means organizations are leveraging enterprise software technologies for internal and external processes, including customers, suppliers, employee, and partners, and are focused on the digital product, services, and experiences it is providing. Speed, scale, resiliency, and agility are all part of this digital world," said Mickey North… Show more

This IDC study provides the worldwide market shares for the enterprise applications software market for 2021.

"Establishing a viable digital business means organizations are leveraging enterprise software technologies for internal and external processes, including customers, suppliers, employee, and partners, and are focused on the digital product, services, and experiences it is providing. Speed, scale, resiliency, and agility are all part of this digital world," said Mickey North Rizza, global vice president, Enterprise Software at IDC. "As organizations move toward their own viable digital business, enterprise applications software from the suites to line-of-business applications to business process applications and TaskApps will continue to define the extreme automation of the digital era." Show less

Pixlee TurnTo — a United States–based provider of user-generated content (UGC), ratings and reviews, and influencer marketing solutions — has been acquired by Emplifi, a global company in customer experience (CX) technology. Emplifi will integrate Pixlee TurnTo's capabilities across social marketing, live commerce, and customer support functions as part of its CX Cloud platform.

This IDC study explores 10 of the most urgent business and technology issues that customer experience executives across the C-suite must address to differentiate and prepare themselves to thrive in the next era of customer experience.

According to Sudhir Rajagopal, research director, Future of Customer Experience at IDC, "In a world of accelerated uncertainty, the next era of CX innovation will be led by those brands that improve value for the customer through empathy and delivering… Show more

This IDC study explores 10 of the most urgent business and technology issues that customer experience executives across the C-suite must address to differentiate and prepare themselves to thrive in the next era of customer experience.

According to Sudhir Rajagopal, research director, Future of Customer Experience at IDC, "In a world of accelerated uncertainty, the next era of CX innovation will be led by those brands that improve value for the customer through empathy and delivering outcomes for customer success. Thrivers will share and apply intelligence at the speed of customer engagement, create new customer engagement models and metrics for a digital business, and tap into the power of decentralization/Web3 to create equitable value parity in customer and business outcomes alike." Show less

This IDC study presents the top 10 predictions and key drivers for intelligent ERP/enterprise applications over the next five years. It highlights the midterm and long-term challenges that enterprise business, technology, and IT teams face as they define, build, and govern the enterprise applications required to thrive in a digital-first world.

"The storms of disruption are changing up the selection, timing, and usage of enterprise applications, and this will have huge implications on… Show more

This IDC study presents the top 10 predictions and key drivers for intelligent ERP/enterprise applications over the next five years. It highlights the midterm and long-term challenges that enterprise business, technology, and IT teams face as they define, build, and govern the enterprise applications required to thrive in a digital-first world.

"The storms of disruption are changing up the selection, timing, and usage of enterprise applications, and this will have huge implications on buying decisions during the next five years." — Mickey North Rizza, group vice president, Enterprise Software, IDC Show less

Meta announced the roll-out of a new social commerce partnership with JioMart in India that enables users to browse, discover, shop, and purchase directly from the popular WhatsApp chat application. While this service is only currently available to JioMart and WhatsApp users in India, this release highlights the promise of Meta's marketplace platform ecosystem and future social commerce partnerships. Many vendors in the digital commerce market say they have the ability to enable social commerce… Show more

Meta announced the roll-out of a new social commerce partnership with JioMart in India that enables users to browse, discover, shop, and purchase directly from the popular WhatsApp chat application. While this service is only currently available to JioMart and WhatsApp users in India, this release highlights the promise of Meta's marketplace platform ecosystem and future social commerce partnerships. Many vendors in the digital commerce market say they have the ability to enable social commerce experiences at scale, while conveniently dodging details in their marketing that might otherwise address the differences and limitations found in the Western sphere of digital commerce influence compared to the Chinese firms – such as WeChat, TenCent, TMall, and others -- driving most of the global social commerce market. This is the first major social commerce release outside of China that truly delivers on those promises, making this partnership announcement a legitimately big deal. Show less

Many digital commerce brands struggle to deliver on their CX goals because most internal metrics focus on how well teams react to customer friction points rather than on proactively preventing friction from the start. The ideal approach to CX incorporates proactive strategic use of digital solutions to set the stage for brand engagements. Enterprises can reduce the workloads of customer service and marketing teams via the consistent delivery of accurate product and brand information across all… Show more

Many digital commerce brands struggle to deliver on their CX goals because most internal metrics focus on how well teams react to customer friction points rather than on proactively preventing friction from the start. The ideal approach to CX incorporates proactive strategic use of digital solutions to set the stage for brand engagements. Enterprises can reduce the workloads of customer service and marketing teams via the consistent delivery of accurate product and brand information across all relevant digital channels and customer touch points. Show less

This IDC Market Note reviews highlights from Conga's recent analyst event in which it provided a comprehensive update on Conga's product portfolio, future road map, go-to-market activities, and recent company performance. The overall goal was to roll out what Conga hopes will be a new solution category — revenue life-cycle management — which is intended to digitally transform and unify all revenue operations processes within an organization.

Disregarding ex-employees on their way out the door pushes them to consider aligning with competitors for employment. Many of those competitors continue to struggle for talent. Shopify’s layoffs present a very real opportunity for competitors to find that talent with prior training provided by a perceived leader.

This IDC study provides a forecast for the worldwide digital commerce applications market through 2026. COVID-19 had a long-lasting impact on the market over the past few years by accelerating B2B digital transformations (DXs), with many B2B brands diving into B2C digital commerce to tap directly into the first-party data that can be generated from standalone ecommerce sites. This will become increasingly important as the implications of a cookieless future come to fruition. 2022 also saw… Show more

This IDC study provides a forecast for the worldwide digital commerce applications market through 2026. COVID-19 had a long-lasting impact on the market over the past few years by accelerating B2B digital transformations (DXs), with many B2B brands diving into B2C digital commerce to tap directly into the first-party data that can be generated from standalone ecommerce sites. This will become increasingly important as the implications of a cookieless future come to fruition. 2022 also saw customers return to in-person shopping experiences, but the trend toward digital over physical shopping holds. IDC forecasts the market will see a double-digit CAGR through 2026. Show less

The June 2022 release of more than a hundred new features in Shopify Editions Summer 2022 announcement signals a new era for the company, one in which their application marketplace partners lose much of their significance while the platform attempts to attract more enterprise merchants into their ecosystem.

Sophisticated PaaS (platform as a service) and complex transaction models were the dual focus at the second annual Spryker Excite on June 22, 2022. The event was held at the posh Supper Club atop Justin Timberlake's 12/30 Club in Nashville, TN. Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk served as the guest for a candid fireside chat. The intimate venue provided many opportunities for meaningful networking with Spryker's Herd (called such because their mascot is an oryx named "Oskar"). Education was a major… Show more

Sophisticated PaaS (platform as a service) and complex transaction models were the dual focus at the second annual Spryker Excite on June 22, 2022. The event was held at the posh Supper Club atop Justin Timberlake's 12/30 Club in Nashville, TN. Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk served as the guest for a candid fireside chat. The intimate venue provided many opportunities for meaningful networking with Spryker's Herd (called such because their mascot is an oryx named "Oskar"). Education was a major aspect of this event. Multiple presentations were designed to familiarize their customers with Spryker's API-first composable/modular commerce technology on a deeper level, including enterprise marketplaces as well as B2B, B2C, and Unified Commerce. Show less

The digital commerce applications market is a broad category for research and includes software that enables businesses to sell products and services online. The COVID-19 pandemic brought the rate of change in the digital commerce market into overdrive, with three to four years of change and growth occurring in less than a year. 2021 saw a continuation of this theme, predominantly with business-to-business (B2B) companies that may not have been able to transition to digital-first strategies as… Show more

The digital commerce applications market is a broad category for research and includes software that enables businesses to sell products and services online. The COVID-19 pandemic brought the rate of change in the digital commerce market into overdrive, with three to four years of change and growth occurring in less than a year. 2021 saw a continuation of this theme, predominantly with business-to-business (B2B) companies that may not have been able to transition to digital-first strategies as quickly as business-to-consumer (B2C) companies in the previous year. Show less

Salesforce was fully energized to interact with their clients in person at Connections, a two-day event held in Chicago June 8 & 9, 2022. Approximately 8,000 Trailblazers met in the Land of Wow (McCormick Place) to discover new ways to leverage Salesforce products to produce "wow" moments for their customers. The stars were out for this camping-themed event, including NBA star speaker Dwayne Wade and a concert featuring band One Republic. Other speakers included a wide range of representatives… Show more

Salesforce was fully energized to interact with their clients in person at Connections, a two-day event held in Chicago June 8 & 9, 2022. Approximately 8,000 Trailblazers met in the Land of Wow (McCormick Place) to discover new ways to leverage Salesforce products to produce "wow" moments for their customers. The stars were out for this camping-themed event, including NBA star speaker Dwayne Wade and a concert featuring band One Republic. Other speakers included a wide range of representatives from divergent industries, such as fashion brands Adidas and True Religion jeans, healthcare provider Humana, and heavy-duty truck parts provider Fleetpride. Executives and product experts from Salesforce led showcases, breakouts, and other informational sessions to expand customer horizons and spark innovation. Show less

This IDC SurveySpotlight examines the influence of digital commerce channels on sales within three different business models. The data shown in this study comes from IDC's SaaSPath 2022 Survey, which surveyed over 2,300 organizations (125 respondents are shown in this survey snapshot). The overall survey was used to identify what is driving organizations' decisions when it comes to selecting and purchasing across 19 enterprise applications.

This IDC SurveySpotlight examines the attributes that are most important when evaluating a SaaS digital commerce platform for integration requirements. The data shown in this document comes from IDC's 2022 SaaSPath Survey, which surveyed over 2,300 organizations (125 respondents are shown in this survey snapshot). The overall survey was used to identify what is driving organizations' decisions when it comes to selecting and purchasing across 19 enterprise applications.