In 2019, ecommerce continues to spike as consumers experience the convenience of shopping online, accept the relative safety of mobile payments, and not having to carry groceries back home. The free delivery is an added perk.
How will the retail sector fair in 2020. Forrester vice president and research director, Fiona Swerdlow, cautions that deep-seated political, economic, and social forces will test the mettle of retailers and banks in 2020.
Forrester predicts that in 2020, retailers will compete on (elusive) data mastery, corporate values stances, tech savvy, and digital supply chain. Retailers agree that in the digital economy, data is king – playing a central role in profitably growing the business.
“Data plays a central role in profitably growing one’s business, but improving the use of data insights in business decision making is a high priority for just 27% of global retail and wholesale purchase influencers.[ii] Plus, data mastery is hard: 38% of our retail and wholesale survey respondents acknowledge that improving their use of data insights in business decision making will be very or even extremely challenging,” commented Swerdlow.
FutureCIO spoke to Anna Trybocka, ceo and co-founder of Crescodata, to get her perspective on the retail scene in Asia.
Is borderless eCommerce in Asia a viable business opportunity?
Anna Trybocka: Yes absolutely! In the past few years, we have seen some of the bigger global and regional brands starting to expand their in-house cross-border capabilities and infrastructure. The regional marketplaces – Lazada, Shopee and Zalora also offer cross border solutions. Companies like Qoo10, BeamAndGo, Althea and Bolton Remote are just a few examples of successful borderless eCommerce businesses in Asia.
What are the current challenges to creating a borderless eCommerce business?
Anna Trybocka: Differences in culture, local business practices, laws, logistics, accepted payment methods and popular consumer practices are some of the many barriers to cross border eCommerce.
However, some of the most significant barriers to this ecosystem include:
- Cultural – Every country in the region is unique. From language to purchasing habits and understanding the price points to peak sales seasons- everything varies. Any company willing to expand across borders not only needs to have a centralized system but also a clear understanding of the culture of the new market.
- Legislation – Having an understanding of import duties and taxes is also important to help establish whether you need a registered business to sell into that market or you have to go through a local partner or distributor and make other informed business decisions.
- Last mile – Delivering parcels to remote areas or when addresses don’t match Google can be a major challenge for a company entering an altogether new market with no ground experience in the localities. Some of our partners including We Are Pentagon and Singapore Post will help manage the cross-border risk with outsourced marketplace management and warehousing services
What is the role and impact of big data on eCommerce automation?
Anna Trybocka: The eCommerce industry in Southeast Asia and around the world has started to realise the need for high-quality structured data and automation. However, there are many companies that still survive on spreadsheets and manual processes. This is not only time-taking but there is also a huge margin for error with data collection and integration leading to inaccuracies.
Slowly, companies are starting to see that this is not scalable. The industry is starting to realise that it is important to have high quality data surrounding a product’s attributes not only when dealing with high volumes of products and sales but also for discovery.
Key impacts of big data on eCommerce automation:
- Understanding purchasing trends – One of the biggest impacts of Big Data on eCommerce automation is that it helps predict eCommerce trends. From price points to buying habits and competitor activity to customer feedback/perception – trend forecasting algorithms, help businesses stay ahead of the competition.
- Planning and stock allocation – Since Big Data helps with understanding seasonal and country trends, it enables more accurate production and stock allocation.
How does automation help in business growth?
Anna Trybocka: Automation can help businesses in many ways by enabling them to save time and energy in a multitude of ways. Automation allows business owners to focus on the core growth activities by eliminating repetitive tasks like gathering and managing large quantities of data among other things. Advanced AI systems help further by using the gathered data to improve and streamline workflow.
Overall, primarily these are the ways, in which automation helps with business growth:
Scale + Efficiencies: With automation, businesses can plan growth campaigns with efficiency and accuracy. By eliminating human errors and using the data collected on emerging market trends, consumer habits and production requirements, businesses can scale easily and more effectively.
Cost reduction: The removal of manual tasks across all business areas not only helps in the elimination of human errors but also cuts down costs on salaries.
How can the industry leverage AI and Machine Learning for automation, growth and scalability in the APAC region?
Anna Trybocka: From the eCommerce industry’s perspective, an impactful and effective use of artificial intelligence (AI) has been in the customer support field and the use of chatbots. Used effectively these can go a long way to help customers self-serve and reduce inquiries into support centres. This of course is very dependent on the quality of the content that’s powering the
The logistics industry has been effectively using AI and machine learning to better leverage and cross-utilize their existing infrastructure.
With big data and automation, how can companies protect sensitive information?
Anna Trybocka:
- Always aim to the highest / most secure standards
- Ensuring they have a transparent data privacy policy
- Encrypting sensitive data
- Using a third-party specialist to do a data security review
- Having a nominated in-house data security officer
Do you see regulation to protect local businesses as stymieing the prospects of borderless e-commerce?
Anna Trybocka: The ASEAN eCommerce Agreement is a great step towards borderless commerce in the region. It encourages paperless trading and the use of electronic information, electronic payments, cloud-infrastructure, cyber security as well as starting to tackle personal data protection. Technology is already borderless regulation just needs to catch up!
