How innovation is rocking the foundations of commerce

Joining the first Braintree_Talks event in Sydney that took place recently, panelists from Uber, Facebook, THE ICONIC and eBay discussed today’s accelerants of change: the latest innovation disrupting the commerce landscape, and what it takes to thrive in this new paradigm.

Here are the top insights from the panelists to serve as thought-starters for your business:

1. Spot the mega-trends

With technology adoption moving faster than ever before it continues to shape and change the way in which consumers interact with brands and consume content. For businesses to survive, they need to embrace change and adapt to the landscape.

Steve Brennen, Senior Director of Marketing & Retail Innovation for eBay notes the importance of this. “Spot a mega-trend early, go hard and be confident.”

Mobile is a perfect example of this. Accounting for 50% of all digital Commerce traffic, mobile search has surpassed desktop as the primary way in which customers find
goods and services.

This change in consumer expectation is shifting the foundations of commerce. In fact, Melinda Petrunoff, Industry Head, Media & E-commerce for Facebook Australia notes that if Facebook was started today, “[they] would only start a mobile business”.

2. Be personal. Be relevant. Be Engaging

As people spend an increasing amount of time on mobile devices, businesses are having to stay on the front foot of how, where and when their customers are consuming content.

With the continued shift towards digital media, consumers are engaging less with traditional formats, and digital personalisation is rapidly becoming the priority.

Adam Jacobs, Managing Director and co-founder of leading online fashion destination, THE ICONIC, shared that the majority of their business focus when it comes to innovation and personalisation is on their in-app suite.

Connecting with the consumer directly on their social channels is also critical to success. “We consider Instagram a primary channel to create a brand connection with our audience,” Adam noted.

A winning combination of personalisation and clever content will be key for a business to capture and engage an audience.

3. The next game changer

Contextual commerce is merchants selling to consumers wherever the product is seen, be it on social, blogs, ads, in-page, in-app and anywhere consumers go online or on their mobile device. Instead of trying to build audiences from nothing, companies will be able to tap into platforms and owned distribution methods that are already well-trafficked with engaged
audiences, adding buy buttons then and there.

David Rohrsheim, General Manager of Uber ANZ, spoke to how Uber is paving the way for this adoption making it possible for their customers to book a ride within other apps like Facebook Messenger and Google Maps.

4. Make your payment experience invisible

What consumers want more than anything is the ability to purchase quickly, seamlessly and securely, without the hassle of entering their credit card information for every purchase (i.e. no friction).

The ability to sell wherever the products are seen, the influx of wearable and IoT-connected devices, and the capacity to truly globalise by implementing multiple currencies allows all startups and retailers to think globally.

But when it comes to creating a successful business, the consumer and user experience is at the heart of it all. A great question to keep in mind and ask every step of the way is, “how could it work better?”

Braintree_Talks is the global talk series created for developers, startups, merchants and thought leaders to connect and share their stories. Check out the full panel discussion, or learn more about how Braintree can help your business.