Almost every industry is feeling the pressure of technology transformation as the speed of change increases exponentially. However, the change is arguably the most extreme and even existential for retailers on the front lines of consumer interactions. Creating customer journeys that are engaging and seamless and maintaining a consistent experience across multiple overlapping channels is the only way forward.
Consumer expectations are evolving at a breakneck pace. The omnichannel capabilities needed to engage with customers go beyond mobile applications and web presence to smart cars, appliances, social media and a host of niche ecosystems. Consumers expect the speed and simplicity of digital interactions in physical stores. Hyper-personalization requires each interaction to be connected and informed. A secure checkout experience online and touchless or unattended in-store consumer journeys are table stakes, while virtual and augmented realities are opening up completely new experiences.
This pace and scale of change require all areas of the business to innovate through the development or integration of an array of niche applications. Headless commerce has become the best-practice means of containerizing each component and connecting to core infrastructure through flexible API gateways to reduce the scale and cost of IT transformation projects and allow retailers to be more nimble in adopting the latest technologies.