Boosting E-Commerce Success: Solutions and Strategic Partnerships

Recently, Solvd, Inc., together with Censuswide, a global research company, has carried out large-scale research into the e-commerce industry. The main goal of this research was to gather first-hand information about the pains and needs of e-commerce companies regarding software solutions and infrastructure. For Solvd, as a solutions provider, this information proved to be invaluable. Our careful analysis of this research gave us an apparent picture of the deal breakers and clinchers for e-commerce success for companies when they choose software solutions and provider partners.

One of the most critical findings our research revealed is that e-commerce companies are experiencing an unprecedented increase in the expected quality and complexity of customer service and customer experience management. That is why e-commerce projects are eagerly looking into strategic partnerships with software, infrastructure, and solutions providers they can trust so they can focus more on their customers.

This article will demonstrate how tech partners and solution providers can boost e-commerce companies by helping them reduce the burden of handling tech-related tasks.

Solutions for Adopting New Tech and Innovations

The inevitable and fast-paced technological progress challenges e-commerce stores. They need to stay on par with the new tech, which takes time, investments, and a lot of flexibility.

• AI and ML Adoption

While e-commerce platforms are eager to incorporate AI and ML technologies across various aspects of their operations, managing such integrations is a complex and challenging endeavor. The high costs and extensive change management required can overwhelm many organizations.

However, partnering with experienced AI and ML solutions providers can significantly ease this burden. These providers bring specialized expertise and skilled professionals to facilitate seamless integration. Such collaborations enable e-commerce companies to bridge skill gaps, scale operations efficiently, and maintain a sharp focus on enhancing customer experience management (CXM) without diverting in-house resources.

• AR and VR for Immersive Experiences

Many e-commerce success stories are built on delivering unique and engaging customer journeys, prompting businesses to explore new ways to elevate their customer experience. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies are paving the way, offering unparalleled potential to replicate and even enhance offline shopping in a digital space. Virtual fitting rooms, personalized styling sessions, and immersive interior design tools can transform the online shopping experience, making it more interactive and memorable. However, implementing AR and VR solutions comes with significant challenges, including high costs and needing specialized expertise, which can be difficult and expensive to maintain in-house.

Delegating the development of such solutions to a strategic partner whose primary focus is the development of such products and services is a way out. Again, this brings in the expertise, the flexibility, and the scaling, and it frees up a lot of resources to focus on strategies for e-commerce success.

Solutions for Strategic Alignment with Market Trends

Following e-commerce market trends and accommodating them into workflows is one of the answers to the question of how to succeed in the e-commerce market. E-commerce deals with massive arrays of sensitive customer data and monetary transactions. How e-commerce companies deal with this data is subject to scrutiny by regulators and search engines. On the other hand, how companies interact with customers is also changing drastically. Adapting to customer demand and regulator policies constantly becomes a challenge. However, partnering with a solutions provider can alleviate many issues here.

• Data Security and Compliance

A seasoned solutions provider can help craft and implement a GRC policy that will not only solve many security and compliance problems but also be flexible and adaptable to the ever-changing legal landscape.

• Tools for Customer Engagement and Retention

New customer acquisition and retention can become highly challenging. Target audiences of e-commerce websites can often be jaded and well-versed in tech and have high expectations regarding the shopping experience. They’d love to see something on the level of high-end brick-and-mortar shops. Partners specializing in AI tools can help implement AI for predictive analytics and personalize marketing strategies at scale, improving customer loyalty.

• Innovative Delivery Models

E-commerce success depends on customer satisfaction, and customers want an individual, exciting online shopping experience across multiple touch points such as a website, applications, and social media marketing. Partnering with a provider who can help tap into the power of omnichannel delivery with Adobe Experience Cloud can take e-commerce marketing up to a higher level.

Solutions for Operational Efficiency

Our research participants named operational efficiency problems as some of the most significant holding factors that stand in the way of e-commerce success. They also mentioned that one of the ways to solve these problems was by working with a reliable technical partner.

• Delegated Development, QA, and DevOps

E-commerce platforms tend to employ high-load solutions that place severe requirements on infrastructure and reliability. Maintaining such solutions in-house can be daunting, especially because e-commerce projects want to focus on customer experiences. However, third-party QA, development, and DevOps teams can help build reliable, scalable solutions that let e-commerce businesses focus on the most critical tasks.

• Improving Scalability, Security, and Cost Efficiency

Software solutions for e-commerce continue to grow in scale, complexity, and maintenance costs. Assisted transfer to Amazon Web Services is one of the more popular solutions for optimizing maintenance costs and improving performance.

Benefits of Strategic Partnerships

It's widely understood that businesses thrive when they concentrate on their core strengths. In e-commerce, every successful strategy centers around crafting an exceptional customer experience. Meanwhile, for software development companies and solution providers, the focus lies in delivering customized, scalable, and reliable solutions tailored to their partners' needs. This synergy is a key reason why partnerships between e-commerce companies and software solutions providers are so successful—they allow each to excel in their area of expertise, driving mutual growth and innovation.

• Cost Efficiency and Speed

Maintaining an in-house team for development, testing, and infrastructure can be expensive and difficult to scale efficiently. In-house teams require continuous management and resources, adding to operational complexity. Partnering with a dedicated vendor not only reduces overhead costs but also ensures streamlined processes, enabling companies to stay on track with project timelines while accessing specialized expertise when needed.

• Access to Specialized Talent

E-commerce projects often require specialists in niche fields for short-term needs. Hiring these experts in-house can be costly and inefficient, as there may not be enough ongoing work to justify their full-time role. Outsourcing, on the other hand, offers a more practical solution. Businesses can access these specialized experts on demand by partnering with an IT provider, ensuring their skills are fully utilized. IT partners can also scale resources up or down quickly and efficiently as project requirements evolve, providing greater flexibility and cost efficiency.

• Scalability and Flexibility

When e-commerce projects handle development in-house, they face the challenge of training talent, managing teams, and filling skill gaps, often leading to less flexibility and increased overhead. In contrast, outsourcing development to a trusted partner allows for rapid scaling, access to skilled professionals who are already trained and experienced, and the ability to launch projects without the delays of in-house management quickly. This approach offers greater agility and efficiency, enabling businesses to focus more on growth and innovation.

Key Takeaways

Focusing on what is truly important is the most critical answer to the question of how to succeed in e-commerce. Collaborations with third-party solutions providers enable e-commerce businesses to focus more on their core competencies while at the same time taking full advantage of the expert knowledge and cutting-edge technology that their partners provide. Such collaborations bring stability to e-commerce projects and help them to withstand the shifts in the market, which can often be swift, drastic, and all-encompassing.

To read more about our research, findings, and insights, download our White Paper which provides complete access to this data.