Despite the drop, the online-only retailer reported some positive developments for the quarter ended June 30. Revenue was up 4% from the previous quarter. Beyond credited a 35% increase in active customers and an 18% rise in average order value from the same period a year ago. The net loss for the quarter was $42.6 million, an improvement from last year’s $73.5 million loss.

Beyond Inc. is No. 63 in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 1000 database of the largest North American online retailers. Bed Bath & Beyond formerly ranked No. 47 before its bankruptcy and Overstock.com previously ranked No. 50. Digital Commerce 360 projects Beyond’s total web sales in 2024 will reach $1.58 billion.

Beyond Inc. web sales by year

Beyond updates on turnaround effort in Q2 earnings report

“We have made significant progress in the past 150 days and will continue to execute on our plan to achieve growth and profitability,” Marcus Lemonis, Beyond’s executive chairman, said in a statement.

After acquiring the intellectual property of bankrupt Bed Bath & Beyond for $21.5 million in June 2023, Overstock.com rebranded as Bed Bath & Beyond. It then shut down the Overstock ecommerce website. By November, the company had rebranded again as Beyond Inc.

In March, Beyond backtracked on its decision and relaunched Overstock.com. It also acquired the intellectual property of ecommerce retailer Zulily for $4.5 million, with the new Zulily website slated to go live on Sept. 10.

Beyond expects profitability in 2025

In Beyond’s Q2 earnings call, Lemonis outlined plans to turn Bed Bath & Beyond into a $1 billion-plus ecommerce brand, emphasizing the need for “thoughtful and creative ways” to expand and leverage the brand’s IP for cash flow.

David Nielsen, president and CEO, highlighted that during the quarter, Bed Bath & Beyond experienced growth in core categories such as bedding, bath, and decor, as well as higher-ticket items like patio and outdoor furniture.

On the Overstock front, the brand’s online relaunch, supported by a new AI-driven marketing campaign, delivered strong performance in traditional categories like area rugs and furniture, Nielsen said. Its ecommerce site has expanded its product lineup and improved the user experience. Additionally, Overstock is set to finalize a deal with a major closeout and reverse logistics company, which could draw in more customers.

Looking ahead, Beyond plans to test a new technology, Vercel. Vercel provides an ecommerce solution that integrates with Shopify to speed up and personalize customer interactions. Over the next 18 months, the company plans to create a global loyalty program that leverages its database and partnerships with non-competing companies, with options to use and transfer reward points.

“Think about it like a Bonvoy at Marriott or a Star Alliance in the airlines,” Lemonis said.

In the coming months, he noted that Bed Bath & Beyond and Overstock typically see Q2 revenue outpace Q3 by about 12% to 14%, with Q3 serving as a transition to the busy Q4 season. The goal is to maintain or surpass this trend and improve gross margins every quarter, he said. Lemonis said he expects Beyond will achieve profitability sometime in 2025.

Other Q2 highlights reported by Beyond

• Active customers numbered 6.2 million, up 35% year over year.
• Orders delivered were 1.9 million, up 8% year over year.
• Gross profit was $80 million or 20.1% of revenue. That’s a 530-basis-point decline year over year but a 70-basis-point improvement from the prior quarter.
• Cash and equivalents totaled $186 million at quarter’s end.

The company is two-thirds of the way through a plan to cut fixed expenses by $45 million annually.

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“As it relates to the site experience, it now reflects renewed branding and an improved overall look and feel, reflects improved navigation, and offers compelling promotions,” Alexis Callahan, Beyond’s vice president of investor and public relations, shared in an email to Digital Commerce 360.

In June 2023, Overstock acquired Bed Bath & Beyond’s intellectual property for $21.5 million and later relaunched the retailer’s ecommerce platform, shutting down its own website. However, during a February earnings call, Beyond executive chairman Marcus Lemonis acknowledged that closing Overstock.com was a “fatal mistake.” Under new leadership, Beyond fast-tracked the online retailer’s launch by six months, debuting the new site in March.

Beyond Inc. is No. 63 in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 1000 database of the largest North American online retailers. Bed Bath & Beyond formerly ranked No. 47 before its bankruptcy and Overstock.com previously ranked No. 50. Digital Commerce 360 projects Beyond’s total web sales in 2024 will reach $1.58 billion.

Beyond Inc. web sales by year

“We believe that our company can be an online leader, helping manufacturers, retailers, distributors, and lenders solve complex inventory problems in order to generate cash and improve their own profitability while creating a frequently visited, value-centric destination for consumers,” Lemonis said in a statement.

Rebuilding Overstock

Overstock.com now features a “significant” increase in core legacy categories, including indoor and outdoor furniture, apparel and footwear, décor and jewelry. Additionally, the platform expanded its offerings to include more closeouts, liquidation items, factory direct merchandise and reverse logistics products, according to the company.

Despite starting from scratch, Overstock’s soft launch exceeded expectations, Beyond president Dave Nielsen said in a May earnings call. Nielsen added that he expects continued growth in site visits as the brand improves customer engagement and expands its email and other acquisition efforts.

Lemonis noted in the call that while Overstock and Bed Bath & Beyond can thrive independently, they also complement each other. While Bed Bath & Beyond saw some success in traditional Overstock categories such as family room furniture and large area rugs, it didn’t meet Beyond’s key performance indicators for margin contribution and acquisition costs, he noted. The company believes Overstock can better return to its historical performance in these areas.

For the fiscal first quarter ending March 31, Beyond reported a modest rise in earnings, with an increase in active customers and orders. The company plans to release its fiscal second-quarter 2024 financial results on July 29.

Zulily website launch

Overstock.com’s full relaunch comes four months after Beyond acquired ecommerce retailer Zulily’s intellectual property for $4.5 million — including its website, domain names, trademarks, customer database, social media and software. Zulily, once known for its online flash sales, shut down in December after a period of financial instability. The company was previously owned by Qurate Retail, which ranks No. 18 in the Top 1000.

Beyond now expects to relaunch Zulily’s website toward the end of the third quarter of 2024.

“Our vision for Zulily is to focus on the segment of customers who loved Zulily before, working moms who enjoy shopping for themselves and their families,” Nielsen told investors in the May earnings call. “Shopping is fun for them, and they like to browse frequently.”

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Old ways of how organizations conducted business by paper, phone, fax, e-mail and in-person are outdated and inefficient — and out of touch with today’s commerce reality.

What’s in — and rapidly transforming how organizations of all sizes interact and buy and sell from each other — is an increasing wave of digitally driven omnichannel business buyers who demand the speed, efficiency and convenience of ecommerce and related digital technologies to get the job done.

There is a sea change of digital transformation — and ecommerce — reshaping the business-to-business landscape. And that means sweeping changes in how manufacturers, distributors, retailers and others interact with the customers, suppliers, vendors and others.

EnvisionB2B 2024 in downtown Chicago

That’s where EnvisionB2B 2024 comes in. The third annual EnvisionB2B conference and exhibition from Digital Commerce 360 will take place on Sept. 12 at the Convene conference center in downtown Chicago.

Long known as the “must attend” event for organizations of all sizes looking to launch, scale and successfully grow their digital B2B business, EnvisionB2B and Digital Commerce 360 will once again bring together the industry’s best and brightest thought leaders and practitioners to educate attendees on how to master digital commerce and transformation.

Once again, the B2B editors at Digital Commerce 360 are reaching deep into their extensive list of industry contacts and have put together a detailed agenda and speaker roster that educates attendees on overcoming obstacles, solving problems and achieving long-term success in business, digital commerce and transformation.

This action-packed one-day event features four distinct keynote speakers who will address all aspects of winning the game of B2B digital commerce.

The keynote speakers

• Brad Budde, chief digital officer, PPG Industries, will discuss how this iconic name in U.S. manufacturing and global supplier of paints, coatings and specialty materials paints the big picture for digital commerce transformation.

• Emily Xu, the senior vice president of ecommerce for Republic National Distributing Co., the second-largest alcohol distributor in the U.S., will detail how attendees can create the digital experiences their users demand.

• David Boone, interim CEO of Essendant Inc., a multibillion-dollar national distribution and commerce company with over 20 years of ecommerce and marketplace experience, will discuss how organizations can achieve a better way to (e)commerce excellence.

• Victoria Gutierrez, senior vice president and chief merchandising of Sysco Corp., the largest food-service distribution company with $76.3 billion in annual revenue, informs attendees about becoming a change agent for enterprise digital commerce.

There are numerous B2B industry and internal events that cater to manufacturing, distribution and B2B-oriented retailing companies, many of which purport to tell attendees how to grow online. But only EnvisionB2B and Digital Commerce 360 have the contacts and deep industry understanding and knowledge of the key issues and growth drivers to deliver an EnvisionB2B agenda and speaker roster that educates business organizations of all sizes on achieving excellence in digital commerce and transformation.

Key takeaways from EnvisionB2B 2024

At EnvisionB2B attendees will learn:

• The most effective approaches companies take to succeed at overall digital transformation.
• The latest ecommerce technologies and helpful deployment strategies.
• How to excel at B2B omnichannel commerce.
• Strategies for avoiding mistakes in digital commerce makeovers.

More on EnvisionB2B and how to register is available here.

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Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at mark@digitalcommerce360.com. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

The post EnvisionB2B 2024 shows how to excel at digital commerce and transformation appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

Central to US Foods’ ecommerce strategy is digital innovation. That includes the use of artificial intelligence to improve the customer experience, the company told stock analysts at its annual Investor Day presentation earlier this week.

US Foods posted net sales of $8.9 billion during the first quarter of 2024. That’s a 4.8% increase over the same period a year ago.

The three pillars of US Foods’ ecommerce strategy

• To use digital innovation to retain its position as an ecommerce market leader and partner of choice.
• Increase the use of its ecommerce and business management platform.
• Leverage artificial intelligence to improve operating efficiencies and the customer experience, John Tonnison, executive vice president and chief information and digital officer told analysts.

At the heart of US Foods’ digital strategy is MOXē, the company’s ecommerce portal, which launched in late 2022. The company says that 84% of US Foods’ customers use MOXē to place orders and manage their business.

What differentiates MOXē from competing platforms is that it was built to be a business management application, versus a marketplace that simply enables ordering.

Tools in US Foods digital suite

Business management tools embedded in MOXē include cost management, labor and staff planning, and retail performance.

Another tool is Menu Profit Pro, which:

• Calculates the cost and margins for each item on a restaurant’s menu.
• Keeps recipe costs in line with menu prices.
• Determines if food service providers are making money on high-volume items.
• Provides recommendations on how to improve the sales mix to generate more profits.

“We created MOXē to be a tool that allows our customers to run and rely on the supply chain,” Tonnison said. “MOXē is at the core of our digital commerce suite.”

Since the launch of MOXē, US Foods has seen increased order sizes of more than 1.5 cases per order, on average. Tonnison attributes the increase to the digital merchandising and marketing tools embedded within MOXē. They include customer alerts, reminders, and product suggestions.

“We also use the data we gather around customer behavior and ordering preferences to create more personalized merchandising experiences,” Tonnison said. “These are all tools that allow us to interact with customers far more frequently than we could face-to-face. With every interaction, we learn more about our customers, which helps us fine-tune those [interactions].”

The increase in average order size proves that US Foods digital marketing and merchandising strategy is working, Tonnison said.

Digital-first customers change the game for US Foods

In addition, customers using MOXē interact 8x more with US Foods than non-digital customers. MOXē users also generate 120 million annual product searches, each of which creates a merchandising and marketing opportunity.

US Foods has also seen a 5% increase in customer retention since MOXē launched. Tonnison attributed the increase in customer retention to the perceived value US Foods’ customers see in the platform.

In addition to bolstering order sizes and customer loyalty, MOXē has reduced the US Foods sales team’s daily workload by 30% through the automation of such tasks as:

• Fulfillment
• Order tracking
• Sending customer alerts
• Exception management

“This has allowed our sales reps to double down on consultative and gross selling,” Tonninson said.

Features that US Foods customers like about MOXē include real-time inventory, detailed product descriptions and product titles, simple navigation, and ease of use. Ordering on MOXē takes about half the time of other apps, Patrice Myer, culinary director of Blackberry Market, a fast-casual cafe and bakery in Glen Ellyn, said in a taped testimonial.

US Foods powers up its AI technology

Looking ahead, US Foods plans to enhance MOXē using artificial intelligence. The company has created its own AI lab. It’s using AI to translate foreign language content, improve delivery tracking and exception management, and streamline customer onboarding and account creation.

Using AI to help with language translation will pave the way for deeper penetration of the platform among customers that operate multi-language kitchens, according to Tonnison.

US Foods also uses AI to make more intelligent menu recommendations for customers and provide deeper insights into customer behavior and interaction. “AI will enable us to do these things because we know this mousetrap works,” Tonnison said.

The company is also in what Tonnison describes as two-week product enhancement sprints, in which 1.5 new product features are developed in a week and then taken live a week later.

Independent research has shown MOXē to be the preferred digital commerce platform among 53% of independent restaurants. The next closest competing platform is preferred by 36% of independent restaurants, the company says.

Given the enhancements planned for MOXē, US Foods forecasts that 95% of its customers will be using the platform in 2027, which will generate an estimated $1.5. billion in incremental sales, the company says.

“MOXē makes customers stickier and [more profitable],” Tonnison says. “Our goal is to make MOXē a compelling tool our customers can’t live without and use digital [innovation] to drive new value for customers and new heights for the company.”

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Significant improvement needed with an average digital health score of 2.5 out of 5 reported across all major automotive sites

Managing product data has become a significant bump in the road for automotive companies, and brands, to reach new markets and consumers through digital channels. Complex products, multiple attributes, and data sourced from hundreds of manufacturers often result in incomplete, inaccurate, and inconsistent product descriptions.

Pivotree, a leading provider of frictionless commerce solutions and services, in collaboration with Content Status, a digital shelf analytics solution, just released the 2024 Digital Health Report for the Automotive Aftermarket .  This comprehensive study addresses the critical challenges and opportunities facing the automotive aftermarket industry in the digital age.

Key Findings from the Report Include:

• Average Content Health: A modest 2.8 out of 5.0 across all sites.
• Image Assets: 66% of products have four or fewer image assets.
• 360° Spin Assets: 82% of products do not include these crucial assets.
• Video Assets: Only 18% of products are equipped with video content.

The report provides a digital health assessment of the industry, offering actionable recommendations to improve content quality and digital presence. With expert analysis, the report details how companies measure up against basic content requirements, taxonomy best practices, and other critical product content elements.

“This report sheds light on the current state of the automotive aftermarket industry in its digital commerce journey. By comparing it with companies that have decades-long experience in digital channel selling, it offers valuable insights for aftermarket businesses to strengthen their digital strategies and better adapt to evolving customer needs and expectations,” said Sam Russo, Pivotree Practice Director, Automotive & Heavy-Duty.

Jeff Hunt, CEO and President, Content Status, concurs, “Customer expectations are being driven by everyday shopping experiences. Automotive retailers should take note of the more robust content available on major sites like Amazon and Walmart to meet evolving consumer demands. Maximizing all available content types (images, description, bullets, specifications) is key to reducing customer frustration and increasing conversion.”

With years of industry expertise, Pivotree and Content Status are your go-to partners to reduce your time to market and boost sales. As we’ve helped hundreds of others, we can help you streamline the acquisition, classification and enrichment of product data. Working with us allows your teams to reach revenue goals, contain costs, and get to the market much faster and more efficiently.

Get your free digital health assessment here.

About Pivotree
Pivotree, a leader in frictionless commerce, strategizes, designs, builds, and manages digital Commerce, Data Management, and Supply Chain solutions for over 200 major retailers and branded manufacturers globally. With a portfolio of digital products as well as managed and professional services, Pivotree provides businesses of all sizes with true end-to-end solutions. Visit www.pivotree.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Content Status
Content Status provides brands and retailers with digital shelf content visibility, validation and sales velocity they can’t get elsewhere. It’s a scalable, self-service solution for those seeking to dominate the digital shelf, offering real-time visibility into competitive insights, content health, and share-of-search. The platform empowers online sellers to optimize their digital presence and drive sales by ensuring their digital content is always accurate, consistent, and engaging.   Visit www.contentstatus.com or follow us on LinkedIn

Author:   Jeff Hunt, CEO, Content Status

The post A Call to Streamline Product Data – 2024 Automotive Aftermarket Digital Health Report appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

This week at the Applied AI for Distributors conference put on by Distribution Strategy Group in Chicago, Grainger chief product officer Brian Walker revealed key insights explaining why AI is a major organizational priority and where its trajectory is heading.

Reason 1: AI accelerates digital transformation.

Know products better than the competition through:

• Product information management
• Publishing
• Search
• Product cross-referencing
• Pricing

Key takeaway for all distributors: AI is a competitive advantage for learning your customer behavior inside and outside.

Reason 2: No one size fits all software.

• Grainger is building up its technology group to facilitate more enterprise AI.
• Consolidated 1,000 software applications over 7 years.
• Formed Grainger Technology Group to support digital transformation.
• Quadrupled its AI development staff in 3 years.

Key takeaway for all distributors: It takes internal resources and technology talent to master AI.

Reason 3: Why Grainger is making AI a priority.

• Grainger’s three AI pillars are process, technology, and people.
• Know products better than the competition.
• Put customer needs first.
• Custom software enables efficient growth, data capture, process execution, and insight development.

Key takeaway for all distributors: AI creates more digital sales opportunities and operating efficiency.

How AI is paying off for Grainger:

• Creates a competitive advantage around customer and product information.
• Faster search and more complete product discovery
• Increased technical and organizational ability.
• Tailored algorithms and data integrity

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Dale Edman

I’m sure many of us have seen Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk “Start with the Why.”

In the talk, he introduces the golden circle, which consists of what, how, and why.  Sinek suggested that every company knows what they do; some can even articulate how they do it, but few get to Why they do it.

Companies looking to replace their ecommerce system often know what they are doing: replacing their ecommerce system. Some even get to the how, deciding on technologies and partners. But from my experience, few understand why they are replacing their platform. The re-platforming project will be complicated and expensive, and you will need a ‘Why’ to align everyone in the company.

Here are some of the whys that I have heard over the years:

• Legacy systems that are no longer supported.
• Security concerns.
• Increasing total cost of ownership.
• Looking for modern functionality.
• Board/CEO/CIO/CMO — want something new and shiny.

There are other reasons why, so make sure you understand yours. Often, it will have multiple layers. For example, who doesn’t want modern functionality? However, you need to ask yourself what you think you are getting.

Is it enough for the investment? Technical debt and legacy systems can force your hand, but your Why must be bigger than “we have to do it” to get you through the difficulty of the project.

One last word of caution: while having your C-suite on board might be enough, wanting something new or shiny is not enough to sustain your project over the long run.  Your Why is likely to be multi-faceted, and the better you can get to the bottom of it and get transparent with all stakeholders, the more you will set yourself up for success.

Setting Requirements

To accomplish your Why, you must decide on what you are building and establish requirements.  Requirements are an iterative process, starting with high-level requirements often defined by your Why.

For example, I have been a part of many projects that required analytics. “Enable Google Analytics” would be recorded as a project requirement. That is a high-level requirement from the Why, but you will need to define what types of data you need, what you want your dashboards to look like, and whether you have internal resources to build them. There are a couple of other watch-outs when defining requirements; over- and under-engineering.

Once you start to understand your requirements, it is important to consider prioritization. One question that an architect on one of my projects used to ask was, “If this was the only thing not ready, would you still go live?” You will eventually have to make those decisions, so understanding what is necessary versus nice will make the project smoother.

Over-Engineering

As you define your requirements, you may over-engineer the problem. Industry trends, such as “composable or headless commerce,” can cause additional work and overhead.

I worked on a re-platforming project to implement headless commerce.  We needed a high-level strategic resource to design the system, then an architect for the front-end work, an architect for the commerce work, and two or three developers for both the front- and back-end work. Requiring a headless commerce system added overhead to the project. You may have an excellent Why for using more complicated architecture, but make sure you know what you are gaining and what it will cost you.

Another common reason for over-engineering is to future-proof your platform by ensuring you get every requirement in the first build. Not understanding or prioritizing your requirements can lead to everything being important and nothing being important. It also could prevent you from seeing times when an “out-of-the-box” solution could have been adopted with a few tweaks to the requirements, saving costly customization. Remember, you don’t just build these systems; they must be maintained and expanded to meet your consumers’ needs.

Under-Engineering

Under-engineering can also be problematic; phrases like “Lift and Shift” or “Out of the Box” are often used to simplify requirements. With “lift and shift,” you focus on moving the existing site’s functionality into the new technology platform. It may seem the easiest way to avoid scope creep and constrain the project. But it doesn’t work because not every requirement can be ported over.

Most legacy systems were engineered over a decade ago, and there is a reason you are considering a re-platform. At the same time, you may have built those into your legacy system, but the new system tends to handle them differently. Another common mistake is using the “Out of the Box” functionality. You should select a modern ecommerce platform because they have already figured out many of the challenges you are dealing with.

Technology Platform and Partners

You have your team identified; they are clear about the Why and have started the hard work of defining the requirements. The question is, have you already decided on a technology platform? It is tempting to lean heavily on the IT department to make this decision. They will, after all, be responsible for maintaining it, so shouldn’t they have the final say? Since a re-platforming involves more than IT, it should be more than their decision. Your chosen platform has business, merchant, and marketing implications, so you must ensure everyone is comfortable with the decision.

Some things to consider as you look at different platforms:

1. Are you B2C or B2B? Do you need to support other marketplace channels?
2. How do your requirements line up with the functionality of the platform?
3. Will this platform scale with your growth?
4. Support and community: are there resources to turn to? What does the broader partnership ecosystem look like?
5. Interfaces and integration: will this platform integrate with your back-end systems?
6. What is the total cost of ownership, and what do maintenance, licensing, and support costs look like? How do they increase over time?

One last thought on platform selection: Make sure you talk to customers using the platform. Ask the vendor for references, but also do your homework. Reach out to folks in your network to get a sense of how people use the platform, what challenges they have had, and how they feel about it post-launch. You can’t have too many of these calls; they will help you understand what and how the platform works day to day.

Funding and ROI

You will need to understand the total cost of ownership and the benefits or gains the new system will bring. If your Why is technological debt, and you have been in a maintenance mode, it’s more than likely that your new system will cost more. Your old system doesn’t cost anything and feels like a freebie. Not since the early days of commerce have I seen a new system with double conversion rates, so you will need to get creative about what benefits the business and your customers will derive from the project. Having the team bought into the Why will pay dividends. Hopefully, they will  see the benefits, which could be as simple as freeing up your sales teams to have more time to sell and not take orders.

Once you understand your ROI, you can decide how to structure your project and its costs. I have seen two different ways.

1. Only fund the upfront work, requirements gathering, and UI/UX that informs the cost of the development portion of the project. I prefer this method, but most CFOs/CEOs won’t sign off on a project if they don’t have at least some idea of the total cost.
2. Get a bid for the entire project up front. If you have done enough requirements gathering, you can look to get a bid for everything. Your system integrator should know what they typically charge, although none are typical builds. If you go this route, add 40% internal contingency to your request so that you have room for surprises. The last thing you want to do is have to go back and ask for more money.

The other way to manage costs is to be flexible with your requirements. From my experience, this is hard to manage. Most people feel they will never get the functionality if it doesn’t happen at launch. At one company, there was an internal joke that there “was no 2.0,” meaning that once something launched, it was there for good, and nothing would change or get upgraded.

Conclusion

The decision to re-platform your ecommerce business is always a challenging one.  As technology author Rick Watson once said, “No one ever got fired for not re-platforming, but plenty of people have been fired for botched re-platforms.”

Starting with the Why, getting clear about your requirements, resisting the urge to over-/under-engineer, and selecting the right technology platform are crucial to having a successful re-platform project. Hopefully, this will help you understand the importance of firmly setting the foundation for your project.

About the author:

Dale Edman is an independent adviser on B2B and retail ecommerce and digital transformation. He has held ecommerce executive positions at companies including West Marine, Newell Brands and The Wasserstrom Co. He posted an earlier version of this article on LinkedIn.

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The post Replacing your ecommerce platform? First, figure out ‘the Why’! appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

The food-service distributor, which reported $19.4 billion in sales for its fiscal third quarter ended March 30, said at its annual Investor Day conference yesterday that digital was one of its core strategies in its “recipe for growth.”

The company launched the online Sysco Marketplace, where it will expand its scope of product offerings by forwarding online orders on for drop-shipping by third-party suppliers, and it laid out the details behind its digital personalization program across its Sysco Shop ecommerce platform.

Sysco said the marketplace, built on Mirakl technology, will let customers access “over 15,000 niche products” across such categories as grocery, canned food and dry products to supplement the distributor’s regular offerings.

“Maybe you’re buying from Sysco already, but if you need a heater for your outdoor patio, you can now get that,” said Neil Russell, Sysco’s chief administrative officer.

Victoria Gutierrez, senior vice president and chief merchandising officer, Sysco Corp.

Victoria Gutierrez, senior vice president and chief merchandising officer, said the marketplace product offerings complement Sysco’s digital personalization program, which uses data on customer demand gathered from across Sysco’s sales operations to tailor product offerings and shopping experiences to customers. “One way we’ll be expanding that is by introducing more breadth and depth of products offered online.”

Gutierrez demonstrated how Sysco compiles data on customer purchasing activity and then displays product recommendations tailored to different types of restaurants after they log into their personalized content pages. A high-end steakhouse, for example, will see recommendations different from those offered to a lower-priced hamburger and sandwich cafe.

She added that Sysco is also using its digital data and personalized product displays to engage suppliers in cooperative promotions.

“This past November, we had a chance to run one of these campaigns with a very key supplier,” she said, without naming the company. “They supplied funding to support discounts specifically for customers [who hadn’t purchase] their products. And they worked with us to activate on a digital merchandising strategy that was coordinated with personalized emails and activation not only with our sales team in the field, but their sales team as well.”

Gutierrez noted that that marketing campaign resulted in “doubling” the number of customers buying that supplier’s products through Sysco.

Sysco said its digital personalization program has been operating for about three years and has already generated $450 million in incremental sales. The company adds that it expects the program to produce a 15% compound annual gross rate between 2024 and 2027.

Guiterrez will give a keynote address on enterprise digital commerce strategy at the EnvisionB2B Forum on Sept. 12 in Chicago.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

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Consider these metrics from a survey of 100 European manufacturers by Copperberg and Valtech for their report, The Voice of Digital Leaders in Manufacturing 2024.

• Three-quarters of manufacturers expect digital commerce to drive the most revenue growth in 2024.
• The top digital business goal for 82% of manufacturers in 2024 is increasing the share of wallet and revenue growth from existing customers.
• The number of manufacturers relying on ecommerce for aftermarket services has more than doubled. They’ve grown to 15% this year from 7% last year.
• Two-thirds of manufacturers are investing in customer portals this year. That compares to 50% of respondents from last year.
• 51% of manufacturers are concerned that rising costs of operations will pose a threat to their digital success in the new year.

Digital investments drive growth for manufacturers

“They (manufacturers) are also looking to improve their digital sales capabilities, with ecommerce remaining a top area of investment for 49% of respondents,” the report says. “This continued focus on ecommerce is consistent with the customer-centric approach and the profitability of setting up digital storefronts for online transactions.”

The channels that manufacturers expect to bring in significant growth in 2024 are increasingly digital. Three out of every four manufacturers (75%) cited ecommerce as the expected channel for revenue growth. The direct sales channel remains a strong contender, with 58% of respondents anticipating growth from it.

“Zooming in on the digital sales channels, it is interesting to see the big differences between manufacturers currently,” according to the report. “Especially in the aftermarket, the digital sales percentage can vary between 10% and sometimes more than 70%. This indicates many manufacturers still have a lot of potential to significantly grow their sales volume through digital channels.”

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Check back soon for more Charts & Data Stories, like our weekly B2B infographics. Here’s last week’s. We add new content regularly. 

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The results, chronicled in Alibaba’s 2024 State of U.S. Buyers Survey, find that most small businesses are in a good mood and anticipating decent  ecommerce performance.

“84% of companies have at least a cautiously optimistic outlook for this year, with 44% being very optimistic,” according to the survey. “6% are pessimistic or very pessimistic about their online business growth this year.”

For many small business organizations, growing ecommerce is a top priority this year. The survey finds that only 53% of respondents sell online, compared with 44% that don’t and 3% that won’t consider ecommerce as a sales channel.

Ecommerce obstructions for small businesses

The top digital barriers for small businesses to overcome include:

• Digital marketing effectiveness (50%)
• Customer communications (34%)
• Technology infrastructure and upgrades (31%)

“When comparing this year’s challenges to last, it’s clear that the top issues have remained steady: Lead generation and cash flow,” the survey says.

For more than three-fourths of small businesses ecommerce — and the increased use of artificial intelligence — remain top priorities.

“In 2024, 75% of respondents foresee online business playing a significantly larger role in their overall strategy, highlighting the increasing importance of e-commerce platforms,” according to the survey. “This trend underscores the evolving digital landscape and the potential for broader audience reach and business growth.”

With AI, about two-thirds of survey respondents are already using some form of machine learning. Meanwhile, other companies are looking to start up at least a small program.

“Adoption has been remarkably slow in high-earning companies, with 83% of respondents from companies making over $5M not using AI,” the survey says. “However, one company in that financial range that uses AI noted, ‘Yes, AI is used in almost every aspect of the business.’”

More Charts & Data Stories

Check back soon for more Charts & Data Stories, like our weekly B2B infographics. Here’s last week’s. We add new content regularly. 

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