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Harnessing data from Holiday 2017 and these past quarters to compile profiles of your buyers and brainstorming themes for the upcoming holiday season is imperative. Unfortunately, most brands are only going to use a fraction of their data when formulating their Holiday 2018 strategy thanks in large part to legacy systems, siloed databases, sporadic automation, and unclear objectives of what they are looking to achieve. However, these don’t have to stand in your way and you don’t need to completely transform before holiday in order to gain access to all this data. While working towards improving on those items you can still harness and better utilize more of your data easier than you might think to enhance personalization and segmentation efforts this holiday season by following two simple rules.
It may seem like a back seat to the sexiness of giving personalized experiences and superior customer service, but during the holiday season especially there is nothing that pushes a customer away faster or makes them more loyal to your brand than their ordering experience. Modern commerce systems require processing and managing orders from multiple channels, carriers, and delivery points. Having a full understanding of your multi-channel order process, channels, carriers, and delivery points plus knowing what your customers utilize most will allow your brand to create a solid strategy.
It seems silly posting about Holiday 2018 when we are sitting poolside and the kids are out of school. But continuous innovation never stops. Harnessing data from Holiday 2017 and these past quarters to begin to compile profiles of your buyers and brainstorming themes for the upcoming 2018 holiday season is imperative and doesn't have to mean implementing a new technology or feature before the rush starts. Simple updates to your online checkout process and customer experience can help improve drop off rates and abandoned carts. And optimizing your order management and inventory can save you hundreds of thousands this holiday season. We could create a much more extensive list than 3 to prepare for holiday, but decided that these are a great place to start preparations as we kick off our Holiday Readiness Series. Utilize this short list to enhance your competitive edge this upcoming holiday shopping season and over the next three weeks look to the blog as we dive deeper into each of these three holiday readiness readiness tips.
Over the past four weeks, we have been discussing various hot topics in B2b Digital Commerce that our clients frequently ask us about. The Consumerism of B2b has lead to an expectation of a personalized, omnichannel purchasing experience with an equivalent level of choice, price transparency and service. This personalized expectation is not just about the shopping experience but also speaks to expectations around information consumption and device enablement. Pivoting into a modern and future-ready B2b commerce organization is complicated by both business process and technology, as there are many approaches and options. Expect these expectations will only grow stronger, and those able to digitally mature to offer these experiences will be seen as the industry leaders.
Welcoming change can be difficult. It’s human nature to enjoy the “comfort zone” and resist stepping outside of it. However, the most successful companies welcome change, seeing future unknowns as opportunities to disrupt and win. Committing to this type of mentality requires disruptive thinking, commitment across your entire organization, and creating a sound roadmap to guide the tactical execution of your winning strategy. At Echidna, we call this being future-ready. And the future comes fast in the digital age. Part of being future-ready means having the ability to change rapidly and regularly. Digitally mature companies regularly set goals, make plans, build solutions, change how they operate, and measure the results. If the results are good, they repeat. If they are bad, they change.
Customer expectations are rising across all industries and verticals. To retain business, B2b companies must embrace digitization. If you don’t offer a superior web, mobile, and conversational interface, your customers will look for the supplier that does.
Business to business in short means that products and services from one business are marketed to another business. But with different ways to go about transactions in business to business, the team at Echidna decided it should be expanded on further because certain businesses will require specific features, functionalities, or user experiences that others don’t. When discussing digital maturity and commerce, first decide- just what type of “b” are you?
When it comes to manufacturing, continual improvement has always been a common theme on the factory floor. But what about about the sales floor? How are you continually improving your customer experiences? How does your sales, support, and marketing operations look compared to your top competitors? To outpace your competitors and see continual growth it goes beyond being in the right market, offering excellent products and services, or simply being the lowest cost producer. This is because as competitors find increased mobility and expanded access to knowledge these once differentiators are quickly disappearing. Continually improving your sales, support, and marketing processes start with taking a look at your buyers and overcoming two common misconceptions around digital commerce for manufacturers.
On May 21, 2018, Adobe, a multinational leader in digital technology solutions, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Magento Commerce, a market-leading platform for open commerce innovation that offers digital commerce, order management and business intelligence to enable both B2B and B2C shopping experiences across the customer journey.
When we talk digital maturity, the technology pillar is imperative. All of the digital capabilities we have discussed in the various pillars rely on the solid foundation of your technology, which is why it has been saved as the final pillar to discuss in our Digital Journey Maturity Model blog series.
Customers are more savvy than ever, with the ability to find what they perceive they want, when they want it. If your marketing pillar can focus on aligning itself with your organizations other pillars to gain important customer insights and move towards a strategy that treats customers as profiles not simply personas, to create a truly individualized experience, you will suddenly be able to perceive what these customers want before they do. And that is where your edge on the competition and ticket to customer loyalty is.
One size does not fit all for customers digital experiences anymore, no matter your industry or market. How you present and promote your merchandise in digital markets is going to move your business to the next level and set a solid foundation for being ready for what the future holds. Being able to succeed in digital merchandising requires a mix of both artistic expression and scientific analysis, along with complete alignment of your other company pillars. After all, without the right strategy, user experience, operations, technology, and marketing in place you will fail to convert the browser into a buyer or up-sell your current customer any day. By approaching digital merchandising with this in mind and taking a holistic view at your data, you will be able to resonate with your unique visitor profiles and offer a superior digital merchandising experience.
September 20, 2026
Quoting is not the reason your products cannot be sold online. Unexamined quoting workflows are. Sort your order volume honestly, move the standard majority to self-service, give the negotiated remainder a visible digital workflow, and measure quote abandonment the way you measure cart abandonment.
September 1, 2026
B2B site search fails when it speaks catalog language instead of buyer language. The evidence is sitting in your search logs right now, and most of the fixes are content and configuration work, not a replatform.
July 21, 2026
We rank nine real use cases by whether they are delivering ROI in production today, whether they are conditionally working depending on the substrate underneath, or whether they remain experimental for most enterprise teams. The framing matters. Investing in a use case in the wrong bucket is how AI budgets quietly disappear in year two.
July 8, 2026
After working with enterprise B2B commerce teams for seventeen years, including most of the past three years deep in AI implementation work, a pattern is clear. The companies pulling ahead are not the ones investing the most in AI. They are the ones operating with the clearest framework for what AI is actually changing in commerce, and what it is not.
June 24, 2026
AI commerce features rarely succeed or fail cleanly. They tend to deliver real value in narrow places and underperform in others, with the net result obscured by attribution challenges, attribution overlap with other initiatives, and metrics that were not set up at the start of the project to answer the question that finance is now asking.
The teams that hold up well in their year-two budget conversations are not the ones with the biggest results. They are the ones with the clearest measurement. Six metrics, in our experience working with enterprise B2B commerce organizations, cover the picture honestly. Together they tell finance whether the AI investment is paying back, where it is leaking, and what to fund next.
April 23, 2026
A failed or underperforming integration does not just delay your go-live. It creates ongoing operational drag that undermines the business case for the entire commerce investment — for years. This guide gives enterprise teams a practical framework for evaluating integration partners: what to look for, what to ask, and what answers should give you pause.
April 16, 2026
Enterprise eCommerce integration projects have a failure rate that the industry does not talk about enough. Failure as in the integration was built, went live, and then proceeded to quietly undermine the commerce experience it was supposed to power. These are not edge cases. They are the normal outcome of integrations that were designed without enough rigor, implemented without enough governance, or handed off to teams who lacked the context to maintain them.
April 2, 2026
B2B eCommerce integration is not a technical afterthought. It is the connective tissue that determines whether your commerce platform works as a real business capability or as an expensive storefront with a broken backend.
The organizations that treat integration as a strategic investment — architecting it deliberately, governing it continuously, and partnering with specialists who understand the complexity — are the ones whose commerce channels actually deliver the ROI they were promised.
March 25, 2026
Most B2B eCommerce projects launch. Few scale. The difference is strategy—defined before the platform is chosen and executed long after go-live.
March 18, 2026
Most B2B eCommerce sites look fine and perform poorly. Here's what enterprise buyers need from a digital commerce experience—and where most designs fail.
March 15, 2026
Boomi is how Echidna builds that foundation. Not as a simple data pipe — but as the central nervous system of the enterprise, transforming and cleaning data in transit, enabling parallel workstreams, and making it possible to modernize legacy systems without replacing them.
March 11, 2026
Choosing the wrong platform costs millions and years. This guide walks through the evaluation criteria that actually matter for enterprise B2B organizations.
April 16, 2026
Enterprise eCommerce integration projects have a failure rate that the industry does not talk about enough. Failure as in the integration was built, went live, and then proceeded to quietly undermine the commerce experience it was supposed to power. These are not edge cases. They are the normal outcome of integrations that were designed without enough rigor, implemented without enough governance, or handed off to teams who lacked the context to maintain them.
March 15, 2026
Boomi is how Echidna builds that foundation. Not as a simple data pipe — but as the central nervous system of the enterprise, transforming and cleaning data in transit, enabling parallel workstreams, and making it possible to modernize legacy systems without replacing them.
July 1, 2024
Let’s debunk a popular myth before we start: Continuous innovation is not a one-off event or just a buzzword. It’s not about having that one groundbreaking idea that skyrockets your business to success. True innovation is a continuous process. It’s about applying strategic, tactical, and operational strengths consistently to prepare for future shifts. In a world where technology evolves at breakneck speed, staying relevant requires more than a flash of brilliance. It demands a relentless, ongoing commitment to change.
May 17, 2024
In recent years, voice search technology has transformed the way people interact with their devices and access information. This innovation allows users to search the internet, control smart home devices, and perform various tasks simply by speaking commands. Voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant have become integral parts of our daily lives, making voice search an essential aspect of modern SEO strategies.
May 11, 2023
Throughout 2022 and early 2023, there was an explosion of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology that captivated business leaders, investors, and society as a whole with its impressive ability to create new and seemingly human-made text and images.
April 26, 2023
You know that providing a seamless, personalized experience to your customers is the key to success. With online purchases on the rise and the growing popularity of omnichannel retail, chatbots have become the go-to tool for businesses looking to improve customer service and increase sales.
March 6, 2023
Construction Specialties has been at the forefront of providing specialty building products worldwide for more than seventy years. With a presence in twenty countries, they have obtained more than 40 registered product patents and produced ten distinct product lines. Their products can be found in or on some of the world's most famous buildings.
November 23, 2022
With eCommerce sales doubling in the past five years and markets expected to almost double again by 2026, companies are making sizable investments in their eCommerce capabilities.
June 29, 2022
In a time when every company is digital to some degree, your strategy is the differentiator. The stronger your strategy the easier it is to not only navigate rapid change and innovation, but as a result those companies also see higher conversion rates.
April 4, 2022
The automotive industry is at a crossroads. One way maintains the current status quo with little room for competitive edges and scalability, while the other path leads to reimagining its core operations and focusing on digital channels. While the latter path might seem intimidating at the moment, it is important to understand that the industry is moving towards digital selling as a business model for both B2B and B2C markets. Choosing to ignore buyer demands can hurt automotive brands in the long term.
April 28, 2021
We’re living in an accelerated world of eCommerce.
10 years growth in 3 months according to a recent study by Bank of America and Forrester Analytics. While it can be debated how this measured, we can all agree things have changed rapidly in digital.
June 15, 2020
We knew this year would require brands to work on the ongoing challenge of optimizing the customer experience. However, being able to embrace a customer-first approach through digital operations has turned instrumental for brands in 2020. As merchants work towards the post-coronavirus future, what does that look like?
September 20, 2026
Quoting is not the reason your products cannot be sold online. Unexamined quoting workflows are. Sort your order volume honestly, move the standard majority to self-service, give the negotiated remainder a visible digital workflow, and measure quote abandonment the way you measure cart abandonment.
September 1, 2026
B2B site search fails when it speaks catalog language instead of buyer language. The evidence is sitting in your search logs right now, and most of the fixes are content and configuration work, not a replatform.
August 4, 2026
When a B2B buyer gets stuck on your site, they do not generally abandon the relationship. The site's conversion rate is technically unaffected, because the buyer never entered the funnel at all. Meanwhile a sales engineer spent part of their afternoon reading a spec sheet aloud. Your support volume is the usability report your analytics cannot produce. Here is how to read it.
March 18, 2026
Most B2B eCommerce sites look fine and perform poorly. Here's what enterprise buyers need from a digital commerce experience—and where most designs fail.
October 13, 2025
You don’t need another pep talk about “putting the customer first.” You need levers. The good news: modern UX testing tools are exactly that—levers that move revenue, reduce cost-to-serve, and de-risk big bets.
June 23, 2025
In today’s competitive online market, cutting the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of your eCommerce platform is critical for long-term profitability. Believe it or not, one of the most effective ways to do that isn’t about the technology—it's about user experience (UX). Here’s how enhancing UX can help you slash costs, boost conversions, and reduce hidden operational drag.
January 14, 2025
In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, mobile users demand seamless, intuitive experiences. A mobile UX audit is the key to uncovering friction points, optimizing usability, and boosting engagement. Whether you’re launching a new mobile app or optimizing an existing one, following best practices ensures your mobile experience meets user expectations and drives conversions.
November 5, 2024
Seamless system integration has become foundational for success in B2C and B2B eCommerce. As companies shift to digital-first strategies to remain competitive and responsive to client demands, integrating systems like ERP, CRM, and inventory management is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity.
October 30, 2024
Once upon a time, the most advanced digital assistant many of us knew was Clippy—the quirky, ever-helpful paperclip in Microsoft Office. For all his flaws, Clippy was groundbreaking: the first mainstream, interactive UX assistant that tried to understand what users were doing and offered guidance (even if often unrequested). Though Clippy fell short in many ways, he introduced the idea of proactive assistance in a digital workspace—a concept that has since evolved dramatically.
September 24, 2024
The holiday shopping season is already in full swing—don’t panic! There’s still time to make quick, impactful adjustments to your eCommerce site that can help you handle the holiday rush like a pro. 🎁 With these last-minute tips, you can boost site speed, optimize your checkout process, and leverage social media to drive more traffic and sales. Let’s dive into the tweaks you can implement right away to get your site holiday-ready.
September 10, 2024
The industrial goods sector has seen a significant shift toward eCommerce in recent years, with businesses increasingly turning to online platforms to purchase tools, machinery, and raw materials. However, selling industrial goods online comes with unique challenges—ranging from large and complex product catalogs to diverse customer needs, such as procurement managers, engineers, and technicians seeking highly specific items. In this evolving landscape, AI personalization in industrial goods eCommerce is becoming a key driver for success, as buyers now expect tailored product recommendations, custom pricing, and seamless navigation through large inventories.
September 4, 2024
In the rapidly evolving world of automotive eCommerce, data-driven decision-making is no longer just an advantage—it's a necessity. With the rise of online vehicle shopping, managing customer expectations, inventory, and competitive pricing has become increasingly complex. Automotive eCommerce managers need more than just intuition to succeed in this environment; they require the power of data to make informed decisions that drive growth and enhance customer experiences.
February 6, 2023
The eCommerce landscape is constantly changing, and with it, the technology used to run online stores must also evolve. This can often lead to a need for replatforming, as businesses grow and their needs change.
January 20, 2023
Composable commerce represents a major shift in the way that businesses build and operate e-commerce systems, and it has the potential to transform the way that commerce is conducted.
December 7, 2022
There has been somewhat of a reluctance to look down the road and see what the new generation of B2B buyers want. However, it has become apparent in the past couple years the importance of having some sort of digital purchasing experience for your buyers.
November 23, 2022
With eCommerce sales doubling in the past five years and markets expected to almost double again by 2026, companies are making sizable investments in their eCommerce capabilities.
August 31, 2022
The peak season for eCommerce is almost upon us. Are your site's technology ecosystem and team prepared to take full advantage of this critical sales period?
May 11, 2022
Many eCommerce brands are seen as leading adopters of the technology. With a low barrier to entry, using artificial intelligence (AI) is allowing companies to eliminate a variety of manual activities. The power of AI is not only being used to meet the needs of consumers, but to improve operational efficiency. It is imperative businesses approach the technology with an open mind and create a long-term strategy. Continue reading as we explore several of the benefits of using AI in eCommerce.
April 27, 2022
When many of us imagine the future of eCommerce we tend to think about it in a functional sense, but what about the possibility of fun? Marrying technology with customer experiences in special ways allows a company to not only make their eCommerce functional but can allow the user to break away from the conventional definition of online shopping and enter an immersive shopping experience, something our users have been waiting for.
March 8, 2022
With COVID-19 and its ongoing repercussions, it has changed the way people around the globe shop and use technology. eCommerce is booming and is showing no signs of slowing down.
January 31, 2022
Merchants leveraging Adobe Commerce Cloud need to be preparing for the Magento 2.4.4 release (Adobe Commerce Cloud 2.4.4). Available starting in March, this upgrade includes a robust feature set, addresses security vulnerabilities, significantly improves site performance, and offers easier overall maintenance. With End-of-Life (EOL) dates approaching for both the 2.3 line and versions 2.4.0 to 2.4.3 in 2022, it is important to upgrade to version 2.4.4 or higher by November 2022.
January 25, 2022
Managing a large number of SKUs while still offering a personalized and seamless online shopping experience for every visitor is a challenge. However, for those merchants able to embrace a strategy and overcome the complexities, the reward is a better understanding of your customer with insights that can drive improved innovation and endless opportunities.
January 11, 2022
Technology is the great equalizer. Large or small companies are directly impacted by their competitors introducing innovative technology and digital conveniences that lure customers away. It’s time to flip this fear on its head and become the disruptor.
November 23, 2021
As many brands are working towards recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, it has made them review their processes. How can a brand quickly pivot to meet the needs of customers? In order to meet the needs of the buyer, along with ever-changing market demands that will only continue, many are looking for a more flexible commerce architecture going into the future.
September 20, 2026
Replatforming does not have to cost you your search traffic or your place in AI answers. The teams that come through clean treat SEO and AI visibility as first-class requirements of the migration, with an owner, a checklist, and a monitoring window, not as a task for launch week.
September 1, 2026
B2B site search fails when it speaks catalog language instead of buyer language. The evidence is sitting in your search logs right now, and most of the fixes are content and configuration work, not a replatform.
October 7, 2025
If your brand sits in that sweet spot—north of $10M, south of $5B—social shouldn’t just be “posting and hoping.” In 2025, social is a performance channel, a customer research lab, a talent magnet, and for many categories, a storefront.
August 11, 2025
Let’s be honest: digital marketing budgets are under more scrutiny than ever.
April 14, 2025
When it comes to showing up in search, your site isn’t just competing for attention—it’s fighting for relevance. And in 2025, the rules of SEO are sharper, smarter, and more user-focused than ever. If you want better rankings, more organic traffic, and a website that actually converts, it starts with a solid on-page SEO audit.
March 25, 2025
Unlock Better PPC ROI with the Right Strategy and Execution
February 6, 2025
Why eCommerce Platform Implementation Matters
February 1, 2025
A Strategic Approach to SEO and Digital Marketing for Sustainable Growth
September 24, 2024
The holiday shopping season is already in full swing—don’t panic! There’s still time to make quick, impactful adjustments to your eCommerce site that can help you handle the holiday rush like a pro. 🎁 With these last-minute tips, you can boost site speed, optimize your checkout process, and leverage social media to drive more traffic and sales. Let’s dive into the tweaks you can implement right away to get your site holiday-ready.
July 2, 2024
Imagine this: A small eCommerce business invests $500 in a PPC campaign and, within a month, sees a return of $2,000 in sales. That’s a whopping 300% return on investment (ROI). This scenario isn’t a fairy tale but a real possibility when PPC campaigns are executed effectively. However, achieving such high ROI isn’t just about luck; it’s about leveraging data to drive decisions.
May 30, 2024
In the ever-evolving landscape of search engine optimization (SEO), staying ahead of the curve is crucial for success. Recent developments have shed light on new opportunities and challenges within this dynamic field. A glimpse behind the curtain has provided us with a deeper understanding of how Google possibly evaluates and ranks content, underscoring the importance of adapting our strategies to align with these newly uncovered criteria. However, Google does caution against making assumptions based on potentially outdated or incomplete information contained in these documents.
April 30, 2024
The boundaries between social media and eCommerce are becoming increasingly blurred. Today's buyers expect not only to interact with brands through social platforms but also to make purchases there without skipping a beat. This shift has given rise to a new phenomenon known as social commerce, a fusion of online shopping and social media that is transforming the way brands interact with their customers.
March 2, 2026
Echidna will be at Boomi World 2026 in Chicago. As a Boomi partner with 16+ years of integration experience, we work with B2B commerce organizations to design and implement the integrations that keep operations moving — from ERP and EDI to CRM, PIM, OMS, and modern commerce platforms.
March 15, 2025
March 2025: Your Monthly Digest of Top Digital Commerce Insights
February 11, 2025
February 2025: Your Monthly Digest of Top Digital Commerce Insights
January 15, 2025
January 2025: Your Monthly Digest of Top Digital Commerce Insights
January 7, 2025
The NRF 2025 Big Show is packed with innovation, inspiration, and strategies to shape the future of retail. With so many sessions to choose from, it can be tough to decide where to focus your attention. That’s why we’ve rounded up three of the most exciting, game-changing sessions you simply can’t miss. These discussions bring together retail leaders, digital visionaries, and industry disruptors who are reshaping the way we do business.
December 18, 2024
December 2024: Your Monthly Digest of Top Digital Commerce Insights
November 19, 2024
November 2024: Your Monthly Digest of Top Digital Commerce Insights
October 16, 2024
October 2024: Your Monthly Digest of Top Digital Commerce Insights
September 18, 2024
September 2024: Your Monthly Digest of Top Digital Commerce Insights
August 15, 2024
August 2024: Your Monthly Digest of Top Digital Commerce Insights
July 8, 2024
July 2024: Your Monthly Digest of Top Digital Commerce Insights
July 3, 2024
The automotive industry is undergoing a major shift, driven by rapid advancements in digital technology. This transformation is reshaping how vehicles are manufactured, marketed, sold, and serviced. From AI-driven manufacturing processes to sophisticated online sales platforms, automotive eCommerce is becoming the backbone of modern automotive operations. This shift is not just a trend but a necessity for survival and growth in an increasingly competitive market.