Will Your Platform Be ‘Fit for Purpose’ a Year From Now?

"More than half of e-commerce platforms won’t be fit for purpose next year, Wunderman Thompson Commerce reveals."

That was the headline I read yesterday in this article, citing results and insights just released from a study of senior IT leaders in the UK. While we at viax work with clients every day who are updating from outdated legacy systems, quantifying this need for digital transformation certainly caught our attention, especially when we saw that the data reflected the candid insight of business leaders themselves.

That data point that got us buzzing: 57% of businesses believe their current commerce platform will only support them for the next 12 months. In a related point, almost two-thirds (64%) of CIOs and heads of IT believe that their ecommerce platform should be updated in the next 12 months – a belief echoed by almost half (49%) of heads of digital and ecommerce, according to the article. These, and other findings were released the resulting report Headless, Microservices and the Future of Commerce Platforms conducted by Wunderman Thompson Commerce.

The reason for this outlook would likely not surprise anyone: The survey’s sponsor concludes that the increased activity from a surge in online purchasing and the resulting demands on digital infrastructure has left many UK organizations thinking about their needs for rapid upgrade, stating in a survey release that “COVID-19 is turbocharging businesses’ need to refresh their commerce platforms.”

While these insights were collected in the UK, the implications around stress on infrastructure and need for platform upgrades can certainly be extrapolated to clients globally, and we at viax can attest to this, as well as many other key points of the research.

What other points can we pull from this study?

• Businesses are centering their ecommerce modernization on four technologies – Headless, Microservices, API-first and Cloud-native – to enable them to quickly pivot operations and evolve their digital offering in line with consumer demand. Virtually all (99%) have plans to adopt these technologies to ensure their online channels, and two-thirds (67%) saying a microservices approach is a good fit for their business now, growing to three-quarters (75%) who say it is an approach for the future.
• Scalability is key: 84% of respondents want to invest in a platform that is capable of growing to support their organization’s ambitions. Elsewhere, the same number (84%) wanted something easy to integrate, while reliability and stability (83%), and ease of customization (81%) were also major considerations.
• 80% of respondents indicate that they would want to work with an experienced technology delivery partner to better leverage their current ecommerce platform or to help them move to a more modern architecture.

For additional insights on this study, download the full report, which provides thorough insight on the future of commerce platforms in three parts: 1) the history of commerce platforms, from monoliths to today’s appetite for microservices, API-first and cloud-native technologies; 2) the survey of insights about headless and microservices from IT and ecommerce leaders; and 3) how to proceed through technology adoption, and the risks of delaying moving forward.

Perhaps one chief technology quoted in the article summed it best: “For organizations looking to retain and even boost the sales and brand awareness they had pre-COVID-19, now is the time to update their digital platforms and make sure their commerce engine and architecture is as effective and future-ready as possible. In the current environment, complacency towards the continually growing demand for digital channels poses the greatest threat to business.”

As for immediate takeaways, how will your business fare? Given the same opportunity to participate in this survey, would you respond like almost 6 out of 10 who said their ecommerce platforms won’t be fit for purpose next year?

Are you like 6 out of 10 — seeking an experienced technology delivery partner to help your manufacturing business move to a more modern architecture? To learn more about how viax can assist with preparing your business for today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities, contact us and learn more about our holistic commerce cloud solution.