Emily Pfeiffer

Speed, options, and transparency should guide holiday-season planning. Learn how to deliver on customers' expectations this year.

Today’s world, rife with supply chain emergencies, natural disasters, and pandemic responses, requires agility and adaptability that businesses cannot deliver with static, overly-customized tech.

Have you noticed the growing link between commerce and loyalty? Forrester has, and we’ve set out to explore it. Our first deep dive was into promotions and offer management tools, which we define as: Software that helps businesses personalize, distribute, automate, and track promotions, incentives, and other offers across digital and physical touchpoints. We included […]

Merchants: It’s time to reevaluate the standards you’ve set for your vendors and push them to innovate as quickly as consumers’ needs evolve. Don’t just stay because you’re comfortable: It’s time to choose your “best for me” solutions. This year, be your tech and business users’ hero and look for vendor partners that: Reduce the drain on your resources during upgrades and provide the flexible delivery models to support your […]

2020 was the year that every digital business fell in love with their order management system (OMS). With the pandemic exacerbating the need for diverse and effective fulfillment options, retailers and vendors were forced to innovate — and innovate quickly. As a sign of the times: A year ago, there were a handful of little-known […]

I can explain the evolution of commerce technology using plate tectonics — really! Now imagine me telling you that commerce is no longer the nucleus of the commerce technology atom (… and that I could even mix a metaphor about Gremlins into this conversation). It’s true — the commerce core is shrinking away. We already […]

On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, on Vixen . . . on FedEx, on UPS, on DHL, on USPS? There is no online equivalent to walking out of the store just after the moment of purchase, carrying a loved one’s holiday gift. This year, Deloitte foresees US brick-and-mortar sales increasing year over year between just […]

As we (re)discovered in the recent Forrester Wave™ reports for B2B and B2C commerce suites, the experience of the business user increasingly influences vendor selection. As a retailer or brand, you already know this. During our recent commerce suites Wave evaluation process, we interviewed current customers of each vendor, and of those we spoke with, […]

With more places for customers to find those products, drop-shipping models fuel many of the largest retail and marketplace websites. The result: more goods in more places (extended assortment for retailers and expanded sales channels for suppliers), which has benefits — and challenges — for both sides.

In our newly published “The Forrester Wave™: B2C Commerce Suites, Q2 2020,” we evaluated the 10 most significant commerce vendors in the B2C space along 31 criteria: Adobe, BigCommerce, commercetools, Elastic Path Software, Episerver, Kibo Commerce, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP, and Sitecore. The Leaders for B2C in 2020 are Adobe, Salesforce, and commercetools. Adobe’s strategic acquisition […]

A brand new organization is helping small businesses move online fast to make it through the pandemic.

“Headless commerce” is the ubiquitous, abstract description of the modern commerce suite. Technical folks talk about it as if it’s the new gold standard, and you’re probably wondering if you’re expected to change your entire commerce stack. There’s one not-so-small problem, though: “Headless” means something different depending on who you ask — and where you […]

Today’s consumers have high demands: They want a personalized shopping experience, attentive customer service, and they want the merchant to meet them where they are. That’s a tall order. Retailers are rapidly shifting their business models to meet those needs and expectations, but they can’t do it alone. Retailers have raised their demands of commerce […]

Last week at the NRF 2020 Vision show, I spent a few hours at the immersive Innovation Lab exhibit that showcased over 50 “new-to-market” technologies to transform the customer’s shopping experience. Aiming to make shopping an easier process, these solutions let the customer browse products strategically, experience the product before they buy, and tailor the […]

Senior analyst Emily Pfeiffer provides key takeaways from the NRF’s Digital Council meetings.

So long as your commitment is genuine, your social responsibility initiatives and practices can be a win-win.

Retailers' demands of commerce technology models have shifted. Providers should understand these demands and move toward more open and flexible solutions.

Nike Just Does It First, the age of the customer shifted power away from institutions to individuals, drastically reducing the control companies had over their own brands. Then came Amazon: The competitive juggernaut ripped whatever shred of control brands had left, leaving them to figure out the algorithmic enigma of eCommerce while competing on price […]

Sites crash, especially when a new product launch creates a massive leap in traffic compared to usual demand. Two sites notably crashed recently: startup Jeffree Star Cosmetics and veteran brand Pringles. While this looks like a disastrous website failure — and may be, fundamentally — it can also create considerable opportunities for brands. Is this […]