IBM expands its WebSphere Commerce platform

IBM has announced new software and the creation a new consulting practice dedicated to the emerging category of what the company defines as “smarter commerce.”

According to spokesmen, the product is focused on helping companies swiftly adapt to rising customer demands in today’s digitally transformed marketplace.

“The new software and services offerings, supported by global sales and marketing resources, will address the spectrum of enterprise commerce activities—new ways to buy, sell and secure greater customer loyalty in the era of mobile and social networks,” spokesmen added.

IBM estimates the Smarter Commerce market opportunity at $70 billion, driven by demand from clients that must bring new levels of automation to marketing, customer engagement and sales, as well as core processes for production, fulfillment and service for much more immediate responses to changes in markets and buying trends.

IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiatives draw on its WebSphere Commerce platform and a $2.5 billion investment in on-premise and cloud-based software from IBM’s acquisitions of Sterling Commerce, Unica and Coremetrics.
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This includes: ?

?· A new global business services consulting practice offering deep insights into Smarter Commerce.
?· New cloud analytics software that enables companies to monitor their brands presence in real-time through social media channels to better asses the effectiveness of new services and product offerings, fine tune marketing campaigns and create sales initiatives in real-time.
?· Software that automates a company’s ability to design and deliver a personalized shopping experience, campaigns and promotions on new services and products online, or through mobile devices.
?· An “IBM University” will provide educational resources for sellers and partners to build the job skills required for the Smarter Commerce marketplace. ?

?Spokesmen noted that a shift is occurring as social networking and mobile communications is putting more power into the hands of customers:

“Today, 70 percent of a customer’s first interaction with a product or services takes place online, 64 percent make a first purchase because of a digital experience and of the two billion people connected to the internet, more than 600 million are on Facebook. This is compounded by an explosion of mobile purchases, which is tripling annually to $119 billion this year alone.”

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