IBM SALES AND DISTRIBUTION
Solution Brief
Highlights
● Powers multiple consumer touch
points, including web, mobile, and
kiosks
● Provides the core foundation for a
retailer’s multi-channel operating envi-
ronment, offering a seamless, consis-
tent cross-channel shopping
experience
● Increases conversion rates and aver-
age order size by providing more per-
sonalized customer interactions
● Improves business-user productivity
with tools to control site content,
promotions and product
recommendations
Integrate multiple sales channels and
touch points for a smarter e-commerce platform
Next generation e-commerce
The Web is an important sales channels for both retailers and
consumers—no longer an independent channel but a vital part of an
overall retail sales strategy. Online sales are growing strongly, but the
true value of the Web is the combination of online sales and its power-
ful effect on other sales channels—including mobile e-commerce and
the cross-channel shopping experience. Customers aren’t just using the
Web to buy—they’re using it to gather information, comparison shop,
check product availability at their local store and much more.
Taking e-commerce to the next level
The Web plays an important role by influencing a large percentage of
cross-channel sales. According to a 2007 Forrester Research report,
almost US$400B of physical store sales—or 16 percent of total retail
sales—are directly influenced by the Web. This trend will continue to
grow, resulting in more than US$1 trillion of store sales by 2012.1
Next generation e-commerce is about transforming a retailer’s siloed
Web presence to a robust multi-channel operating environment in
which information, capabilities, processes and best practices are inte-
grated across sales channels and fulfillment networks.
Retail for the next generation
The next generation e-commerce solution from IBM breaks down
barriers between the Web and other sales channels, enabling retailers
to offer consistent and contextual services across any customer
touchpoint, while placing customers at the center of the shopping
experience. The next generation e-commerce solution is built on an
IBM SALES AND DISTRIBUTION Integrate multiple sales channels and
Solution Brief touch points for a smarter e-commerce platform

advanced customer interaction platform featuring configurable business

processes designed to enhance all phases of the customer experience.
Capabilities such as dynamic Web 2.0 and mobile cell phone interfaces and pre-
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2009
cision marketing provide an engaging browsing experience, while advanced
order capture features and full inventory visibility across the enterprise ensure IBM Corporation
Route 100
timely delivery of merchandise. Since peer content has become the number one Somers, NY 10589
shopping tool, the solution provides integrated social commerce features that
Produced in the United States of
embrace consumer-driven content and foster active participation.
America
August 2009
As a key part of the customer interaction platform, next generation All Rights Reserved
e-commerce provides a common framework that links the retailer’s advanced IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com are
multi-channel retail business initiatives such as unified content management, trademarks or registered trademarks of
multi-channel order management and single view of customer to the various International Business Machines
Corporation in the United States, other
customer channels. The solution is also designed to integrate and leverage countries, or both. If these and other
existing corporate systems, data and processes such as finance, merchandising, IBM trademarked terms are marked on
supply chain, enterprise data warehouse and point of sale. their first occurrence in this information
with a trademark symbol (® or ™), these
symbols indicate U.S. registered or
In addition to providing a market-leading customer interaction platform to common law trademarks owned by
power your next generation e-commerce environment, IBM offers a compre- IBM at the time this information was
hensive suite of consulting and outsourcing services, including strategy and published. Such trademarks may also be
registered or common law trademarks in
roadmap, solution and Web design, implementation and integration, as well as other countries. A current list of
hosting and managed operations. This unique combination of best-in-class IBM trademarks is available on the
software, hardware and services, along with unmatched retail industry expertise, Web at “Copyright and trademark
affords IBM an exceptional opportunity to collaborate with retailers on a strate- information” at ibm.com/legal/
copytrade.shtml
gic as well as execution level.
Other product, company or service
names may be trademarks or service
IBM offers tailored financing solutions to credit-qualified clients that can be marks of others.
customized to address your specific IT needs from great rates to flexible pay- 1
“The Web’s Impact on In-Store Sales:
ment plans and loans. Our asset management services include certified used U.S. Cross-Channel Sales Forecast,
equipment, online asset management, buyback, asset disposal and disk over- 2006 To 2012,” Forrester Research, 2007.
write. For more information on IBM Global Financing visit:
ibm.com/financing

For more information

Learn how IBM can help you make the most of your e-commerce capabilities.
Contact your IBM representative, or visit us on the Web at: ibm.com/retail

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