By The Independent
BigCommerce is a Business Reporter client
Online retailers today face challenges on all fronts. For starters, the millions of customer interactions that occur each day on their platforms generates enormous volumes of data for them to process. If they are unable to effectively process that data, their platform struggles – and they suffer.
The same goes for trends, which come and go quicker than ever. Brands are expected to predict how customer expectations will change in the coming week, month, even year – and then respond to that.
But there is a third challenge: cost. Seldom has there been a time in recent history when overheads for companies are so great. Interest rates are high, advertising is expensive and consumers are more careful with their spending.
The upshot is that retailers have to ensure they’re on top of unprecedented amounts of data and can act on trends at a moment when margins are slim, and when many are still using clunky legacy technology. In a rapidly changing market, those who don’t lose out.
AI-powered tools that are designed to process volumes of data at speed have taken a good deal of the data management burden off their shoulders.
But these tools are only as good as the raw data they receive. If it is messy and poorly structured, even the most advanced tools will struggle to produce a coherent output that can be used to accurately forecast trends or understand how customers interact with a platform.
Moreover, if one company uses multiple AI tools then there is the risk that data will become even more complex, with too many channels being operated.
The task is therefore to reduce costs and reduce complexity. But at this point, brands often get stuck: after all, to reduce complexity requires investing in new data processing technologies, many of which are expensive. Reducing complexity therefore surely increases costs.
This was the Catch-22 that BigCommerce wanted to tackle when it developed Feedonomics – an AI-powered product feed management that helps businesses scale their digital reach.
“Feedonomics acts as the connective tissue between systems of record and revenue-generating endpoints,” says Sharon Gee, SVP of Product for AI at BigCommerce.
“We aggregate and normalise product data, enrich it with performance-optimised attributes and dynamically syndicate it to the right channels – whether that’s Google, Meta, TikTok, Amazon or emerging AI-discovery platforms.”
Unlike fragmented setups with multiple AI tools and inconsistent data, Feedonomics enables businesses to cleanse, harmonise and distribute high-quality product information across all channels.
With the use of its advanced AI data processing tools, Feedonomics empowers retailers to enrich their listings, automatically categorise products on places such as Google Shopping, tailor content for specific channels and connect with external AI platforms for deeper optimisation, all while maintaining data control.
The fact that it plugs into existing online marketplaces such as Tiktok and Google Shopping means that retailers don’t have to spend big on overhauling their tech stack.
And it works in synergy with BigCommerce’s main offering: reducing complexity.
Brands today have a wealth of needs, but BigCommerce’s tools are designed to support them through these. Implementation project managers support replatforming, for instance, and solution architects help by designing and documenting your store’s business and technical requirements. BigCommerce also has people that work specifically on roadmapping for the long-term.
“We know clients have complex needs, but that’s okay because we’re now set up to help them,” says Lucile Pegorier, Manager, Demand Generation, EMEA at BigCommerce.
All told, the benefits of using its solutions are many: cost savings, increased competitiveness, quicker time to market, improved conversions. In fact, brands that use BigCommerce see a 211 per cent ROI in less than eight months.
All told, given how broad and complex the combination of factors impacting on retail success are today, these solutions aren’t merely beneficial; they are potentially lifesaving.
For more information, visit bigcommerce.co.uk