For scores of brands and retailers, the holiday season is gold! To convert every opportunity at this biggest revenue-generating time of the year, more and more businesses are modernizing their eCommerce platforms. According to our report, “Unwrapping Success: Key Investments Driving Holiday Sales in 2024,” 90% of surveyed business leaders say that composable commerce will help enhance their customer experience ahead of this holiday season.
The arrival of every holiday season represents both an opportunity and a challenge for brands and retailers. While it presents the most profitable time of the year for many businesses, the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas — which includes Black Friday and Cyber Monday on a global scale — is also a period when operational challenges are amplified.
For instance, during peak shopping periods leading up to the holidays, many businesses have to contend with surges in traffic. When eCommerce platforms aren’t able to handle traffic peaks, they may face sluggish performance or, worse, complete site crashes that can result in significant lost revenue. When customers encounter technical issues while shopping, they quickly turn to competitors, leading to lost sales and diminished brand loyalty.
Mobile-first shopping is another dominant trend for this holiday season as more consumers rely on their smartphones to browse, compare and purchase products. Customers expect fast-loading, mobile-optimized websites and apps that offer seamless navigation, secure payments and personalized deals. Retailers must prioritize mobile responsiveness, as a growing number of holiday sales now come through mobile devices.
Similarly, social commerce has firmly shifted from a “nice-to-have” experiment to a key sales driver in crowded markets. 67% of consumers use social media to research products before buying. A large number of retailers are looking at ways to harness the full potential of Facebook, TikTok and other popular social platforms.
What’s more, businesses often roll out aggressive promotions and personalized deals during the holiday season to capture customer attention. However, legacy eCommerce systems are often rigid and unable to quickly adapt to real-time changes, such as launching flash sales or dynamically updating inventory.
And finally, harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) in use cases with proven ROI, such as personalized advertising and marketing, will continue to increase, especially alongside commerce-related applications.
With so many elements to manage frictionless shopping experiences during the holiday season, it comes as no surprise that a large portion of businesses are investing heavily in modern eCommerce platforms before and even during this pivotal season. That way, they’re fully prepared to capture and convert every opportunity.
Moving away from traditional, monolithic eCommerce systems that struggle to meet the demands of the holiday rush, a supermajority of business leaders are turning to composable commerce platforms to enhance their customer experience ahead of this holiday season.
Upgrading your eCommerce platform: Easier than expected
With over 50% of businesses upgrading eCommerce platforms for better performance before, during and after the holiday season, migrating to a new commerce platform isn’t as daunting as many executives may think. Most importantly, the benefits of modernizing eCommerce outweigh any potential challenges. In fact, the commercetools report, Replatforming and Migration Trends for 2024, revealed that 92% of businesses were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with their migration experience.
The holiday season provides a critical window for businesses to assess their eCommerce platforms and identify areas for improvement. By embracing composable commerce now, businesses can not only meet the demands of this year’s holiday rush but also position themselves for long-term success in the future. As customer expectations continue to evolve, the flexibility and adaptability offered by composable commerce will be essential in delivering the personalized, seamless experiences that today’s shoppers expect.
Manuela Marques Tchoe is a Content Writer at commercetools. She was a Content and Product Marketing Director at conversational commerce provider tyntec. She has written content in partnership with Facebook, Rakuten Viber and other social media platforms.