Bloomreach Releases Global Study from Leading Independent Research Firm on The State of Commerce Experience: Shifting Priorities Reshape Digital Commerce Investments

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 9, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Bloomreach releases key findings today from 'The State of Commerce Experience', an independent research study conducted by Forrester Consulting across business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) market segments. This intensive global study by Forrester, commissioned by Bloomreach, examines what's important to customers and businesses before and amid the COVID-19 crisis, demonstrating just how profoundly things have changed. The Forrester analysis and corresponding survey data are available exclusively from Bloomreach and participating partners. To view the study in its entirety, please visit https://bit.ly/TheStateofCommerceExperience.

"This research is a must-read for any business navigating the changing market conditions and setting mid to long-term strategies in the current economic environment," said Brian Walker, Chief Strategy Officer of Bloomreach. "We wanted to have a comprehensive view of digital commerce across consumers, B2B buyers, and the businesses serving them. Forrester more than accomplished that with this research and we're excited to share it with businesses who need data to understand the impacts of changing customer behaviors."

Forrester's research and analysis indicates that with brick-and-mortar stores closed, and supply chains under stress, the shift to e-commerce during COVID-19 has forced both B2B and B2C businesses to accelerate their digital commerce and customer experience strategies. As business shifts to online in the time of COVID-19:

• Nearly half of businesses selling online (46%) report growth as a result of COVID-19.
• 50% of customers are shopping on digital channels for products they've never bought online before, with a focus on necessities early on in the quarantine. The COVID-19 crisis has changed consumer's purchasing habits, and eCommerce is now more important than ever to them.
• 70% of customers are purchasing more than usual and over 90% of customers say their behaviors are different as they avoid physical stores, put discretionary shopping on hold, and buy exclusively online or as much as possible online.
• Over half (53%) of customers will not buy from the same business again if they have had a bad experience, and nearly 50% of customers would pay more for a better, faster online buying experience.

The research also demonstrates that the pandemic has forced years of digital commerce transformation into just a few months. Major brands have to rapidly overhaul their digital commerce experiences and small retailers often have to enable online commerce for the first time.

• Within the next 12 months, the biggest budget increases will be in commerce technology and tools (67%) and third-party services deploying commerce tech (63%).
• Pre-COVID, almost half of businesses planned to increase budget for their offline stores, but since the coronavirus outbreak, investment in offline purchases has halved. Instead, businesses plan to increase their investment in online channels like web (64%), apps (58%), social (52%), and third-party marketplaces (46%).

The study also points to the strategic importance of businesses having their own eCommerce websites and that while many businesses have been able to get by offering the bare minimum, COVID-19 shines a spotlight on the gaping holes in most retailers' commerce strategies.

For the study, Forrester surveyed 640 consumers and B2B customers who make online purchases for their organizations and 320 digital experience and eCommerce decision makers at B2C and B2B businesses selling through their own online channels in the US, the UK, and Germany to evaluate the state of commerce experience. Forrester collected this data in March 2020. As COVID-19 became a concern in April 2020, Forrester recontacted 315 consumers and B2B customers and 50 businesses selling online who participated in the original survey to ask about changes in their behaviors and priorities.

Participating sponsors of 'The State of Commerce Experience' study include Accenture Interactive, Gorilla Group - a Wunderman Thompson company, diva-e, and Mindcurv. To view additional findings from the study and to download the report in its entirety, please visit https://bit.ly/TheStateofCommerceExperience.

About Bloomreach
Bloomreach is the leader in commerce experience™. Its flagship product, brX, is the only digital experience platform built specifically for brands, retailers and B2B companies who want to grow their revenue online while delivering each of their customers a premium, personalized experience. brX combines content management capabilities with market-leading, commerce-specific, AI-driven search, merchandising and personalization in one flexible, API-first next generation platform. In May 2020, Bloomreach announced that its brX platform powers over USD 200 billion in digital commerce experiences, representing 25% of all retail eCommerce Experiences in the US and UK. Bloomreach serves over 300 companies globally including Albertsons, Staples, Bosch, Puma, FC Bayern Munchen and Marks & Spencer. Bloomreach has a global ecosystem of certified partners and market-leading commerce platforms, including Accenture Interactive, BORN, commercetools, EPAM, IBM iX, Salesforce, SAP, Valtech, and Wunderman Thompson Commerce. For more information, visit Bloomreach.com and follow our news on Twitter @Bloomreach_tm or on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/company/bloomreach.

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