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7
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Over 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned before a purchase is completed—a statistic that highlights the critical need for innovation in eCommerce checkout processes. With eCommerce sales growing by nearly 8% in 2023, the expectations of consumers have evolved; they now demand seamless, omnichannel shopping experiences and are willing to spend more for convenience (Sellars, 2024). However, traditional checkout methods often fail to meet these expectations, contributing to high abandonment rates.
This is where headless commerce emerges as a game-changer. By decoupling the front-end user experience from the back-end systems, headless commerce allows businesses to create more flexible, personalized, and efficient shopping experiences across multiple channels. Implementing headless checkout solutions can significantly reduce friction during the buying process, addressing one of the most persistent challenges in eCommerce today (A., 2024). As businesses seek to adapt to these changing consumer demands, understanding and leveraging headless checkout technology could be the key to driving sustained growth and improving customer satisfaction.
The Benefits of Headless Checkout
Headless checkout offers a transformative approach to enhancing the eCommerce experience, providing several key advantages that drive engagement, boost sales, and reduce cart abandonment. By decoupling the front-end presentation from the back-end infrastructure, businesses gain the flexibility to innovate and optimize the purchasing process across multiple channels. Here’s a closer look at the benefits of headless checkout:
Challenges of Implementing Headless ECommerce
While headless eCommerce presents numerous opportunities for innovation and growth, its implementation is not without significant challenges. From the complexities of development to the intricacies of system integration, businesses must be prepared to navigate these obstacles to fully harness the benefits of this approach. Here’s an in-depth look at the key challenges associated with headless eCommerce:
Building a Scalable Checkout Experience with Shopify’s Checkout Extensibility
In today’s competitive eCommerce landscape, enterprise retailers must cater to diverse customer segments by delivering personalized buying experiences across multiple channels. Achieving this often requires creating various front-end customizations tailored to each customer segment, which can quickly escalate in complexity, especially when building a headless checkout from scratch.
Recognizing this challenge, Shopify has introduced Checkout Extensibility, a suite of platform features designed to simplify the customization of the checkout process while maintaining scalability and performance. This solution offers the benefits of headless checkout through an app-based, easily upgradeable platform, integrated seamlessly with Shop Pay for accelerated, secure transactions.
Customizable Checkout Solutions Shopify’s Checkout Extensibility allows retailers to make no-code checkout customizations using apps and branding tools, or to build bespoke experiences with the platform’s components and APIs. This flexibility means businesses can create tailored checkout processes that meet the specific preferences of their customers without needing extensive technical resources.
For businesses looking to expand their purchasing options beyond their eCommerce website, Shopify offers a “Buy Now” button that can be quickly embedded into various channels, such as blog posts or emails. This feature provides a faster, more straightforward purchasing process, improving customer experience and potentially increasing conversions.
Scalability and Performance One of Shopify’s key advantages is its ability to scale with the needs of enterprise retailers, particularly during peak shopping periods like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Shopify’s platform handled $9.3 billion in revenue during BFCM 2023, with 60 million requests per minute at peak times, and supported 74% of transactions through mobile checkout. This scalability is critical for retailers who cannot afford slowdowns or timeouts during high-traffic periods, as lost sales during these times represent missed revenue opportunities that cannot be recovered.
Shopify’s infrastructure is also optimized for global performance, with 99.9% uptime and 300 points of presence in over 30 countries, ensuring a fast and reliable checkout experience for customers worldwide.
Conclusion For enterprise retailers looking to adopt headless checkout without the technical burden, Shopify’s Checkout Extensibility offers a comprehensive solution. By providing customizable, scalable, and high-performance checkout options, Shopify enables businesses to meet the diverse needs of their customers while maintaining robust performance during peak periods. As eCommerce continues to evolve, solutions like Shopify’s will be essential for retailers aiming to stay ahead in an increasingly competitive market.
References
Sellars, M. (2024, March 28). How headless checkout can tackle ecommerce’s biggest challenges. Shopify. Retrieved from https://www.shopify.com/enterprise/blog/headless-checkout
A., Z. (2024). How headless checkout can tackle e-commerce’s biggest challenges. HulkApps. Retrieved from https://www.hulkapps.com/blogs/shopify-news/how-headless-checkout-can-tackle-ecommerces-biggest-challenges
A., Z. (2024). The rise of headless e-commerce: Exploring the benefits and challenges. CyberPanel. Retrieved from https://cyberpanel.net/blog/the-rise-o
If you have questions or need assistance executing these strategies, our team is available at hello@tidalcommerce.ca.
7
min read
Business intelligence (BI) has become an essential tool for organizations seeking to make informed decisions and achieve sustainable growth. At its core, BI is a technology-driven process that involves collecting, analyzing, and transforming data into actionable insights to guide both strategic and tactical decisions. This comprehensive approach allows businesses to access valuable information from internal IT systems and external sources, turning raw data into dashboards, visualizations, and reports that empower decision-makers at all levels.¹
The key objective of BI is to drive improved business outcomes. By leveraging advanced analytics, predictive modeling, and interactive dashboards, BI tools convert complex data into understandable and actionable formats. By integrating various data streams—such as sales performance, ecommerce metrics, and customer behavior—into a unified view, businesses can optimize operations, enhance customer experiences, and ultimately increase profitability.²
Additionally, modern BI represents a significant leap from its traditional origins. Once a tool primarily used to disseminate information across organizations, BI has evolved into a dynamic platform that enables businesses to swiftly adapt to market changes, eliminate inefficiencies, and maintain a competitive edge. Today’s BI solutions prioritize self-service analysis, governed data management, and rapid insights, making them indispensable for modern organizations.³
This underscores the critical role BI plays in helping organizations navigate the complexities of today’s data-driven business environment.
Business intelligence (BI) empowers decision-makers with clear, precise insights, which are crucial for informed decision-making. This foundational benefit of BI translates into numerous other advantages, such as gaining a competitive edge, optimizing business operations, and more. Here are some key benefits explained in detail.
Data-Driven Decision Making
BI tools allow organizations to analyze both historical and real-time data from various sources, facilitating data-driven decision-making. With advanced analytics and data visualization, users can uncover trends and patterns that might otherwise remain hidden. This enables businesses to rely on BI for answering critical questions and shaping their strategic direction.
Enhanced Operational Efficiency
By leveraging BI’s data analysis capabilities, organizations can identify and address operational inefficiencies. Whether it’s improving inventory management or understanding customer behavior, BI contributes to more efficient operations. Self-service BI tools further empower all employees, regardless of their data expertise, to explore and utilize data effectively, streamlining overall business processes.
Improved Customer Experience
BI helps businesses better understand their customers through data mining and predictive analytics. By gaining insights into customer preferences and behaviors, companies can tailor their offerings to meet customer needs more effectively, leading to higher satisfaction levels. For instance, if a retailer notices a trend of abandoned carts containing specific items, they can proactively send targeted promotions to encourage completion of those purchases.
Optimized Supply Chain Management
BI simplifies data preparation and uses advanced analytics to identify inefficiencies in the supply chain. By utilizing tools like online analytical processing and data visualization, businesses can gain better visibility into their supply chain operations, making it easier to adapt to market changes and demand fluctuations. For example, retailers can use BI to visualize inventory flow, helping them manage orders more effectively and keep track of supply chain dynamics. ²
Business intelligence (BI) manifests in various forms, each designed to meet specific business needs and technological environments. Choosing the right type of BI for your organization can significantly enhance data utilization and provide clarity in decision-making.
Traditional BI Systems
Traditional BI systems are comprehensive but often complex and costly, making them ideal for larger organizations with the resources to employ IT professionals who can manage the setup and maintenance. These systems excel in handling vast amounts of structured data and seamlessly integrating with other enterprise systems.¹
Self-Service BI
Self-service BI tools empower business users to generate reports and dashboards independently, without relying on IT support. This type of BI is generally more affordable and provides quick insights into business questions, making it particularly suitable for smaller businesses or departments within larger organizations that require agility.¹
Cloud-Based BI
Cloud-based BI solutions offer the flexibility of remote data access and eliminate the need for on-premise hardware, reducing overall costs. These solutions are scalable and can be implemented swiftly, making them a versatile option for businesses of all sizes.²
Mobile BI
Mobile BI enables access to business intelligence applications and dashboards on smartphones and tablets, facilitating real-time decision-making from virtually anywhere. Designed for ease of use, mobile BI tools typically feature streamlined dashboards that display key metrics and visualizations optimized for smaller screens.¹
Real-Time BI
Real-time BI processes data as it is generated, providing an up-to-date view of business operations, customer behavior, and market conditions. This type of BI is essential for applications that require immediate decision-making, such as credit scoring, stock trading, and targeted promotions.¹
Operational Intelligence (OI)
Operational intelligence, or operational BI, delivers real-time analytics directly to managers and frontline workers, aiding in swift decision-making during business operations. OI tools help address immediate issues, such as resolving customer service problems or managing distribution logistics, enabling faster and more informed responses.¹
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) BI
SaaS BI utilizes cloud computing systems hosted by vendors to deliver data analysis capabilities through a subscription-based service. Also known as cloud BI, this model often supports multi-cloud environments, allowing organizations to deploy BI tools across different cloud platforms, minimizing the risk of vendor lock-in.¹
Open Source BI (OSBI)
Open source BI offers both free community editions and subscription-based commercial versions with vendor support. These tools provide flexibility by allowing BI teams to access and modify source code for development purposes. Some proprietary BI vendors also offer free versions of their software, primarily targeted at individual users.¹
Embedded BI
Embedded BI integrates BI and data visualization features directly into business applications, enabling users to analyze data within the tools they use daily. This integration allows for seamless data analysis without the need to switch between applications, increasing efficiency and usability.¹
Collaborative BI
Collaborative BI is a process that combines BI applications with collaboration tools, enabling users to work together on data analysis and share insights. This approach often involves the use of online chat, discussion tools, and annotation features to facilitate communication and collective decision-making.¹
Location Intelligence (LI)
Location intelligence is a specialized form of BI that focuses on analyzing geospatial data, offering insights through map-based visualizations. LI is particularly useful for applications such as site selection, location-based marketing, and logistics management, where geographic factors play a critical role.¹
By understanding the different types of business intelligence available, organizations can better tailor their BI strategy to meet their unique needs and technological landscape, ensuring that they harness the full potential of their data
Creating a robust business intelligence (BI) strategy is essential for retailers aiming to maximize the value of their data and convert it into actionable insights. This process typically involves five critical steps, each designed to ensure that your BI tools effectively meet your business needs.
Define Business Objectives and KPIs
Before beginning data analysis, it’s crucial to set clear business objectives and identify key performance indicators (KPIs). Understanding what you want to achieve allows you to focus on the most relevant data. Whether your goal is to analyze sales and delivery metrics or enhance customer satisfaction, these KPIs act as a guide for your BI strategy.
Choose the Right BI Tools and Platforms
With a wide array of BI platforms and tools available, selecting the right ones is key. Some tools are designed for advanced data science, emphasizing complex analysis and predictive modeling, while others are more suited to descriptive analytics, which focuses on interpreting past data to identify trends. It’s important to choose tools that integrate well with your existing systems. Consulting with BI vendors can provide valuable insights into which tools may best fulfill your requirements.
Collect and Prepare Your Data
The foundation of a strong BI strategy is high-quality data. Typically, business intelligence developers will create a data warehouse for centralized data storage, streamlining the collection process to include sales data, customer interactions, and inventory information. Preparing this data for analysis often involves cleaning it to remove inconsistencies and filling in any gaps to ensure that the subsequent analysis is both accurate and reliable.
Perform Data Analysis
With the data warehouse and BI platforms in place, the next step is to conduct data analysis. Depending on your specific objectives, this may involve a variety of activities, from identifying patterns in historical data to applying data science methods for predictive analytics. BI analysts and developers collaborate to thoroughly examine the data, extracting valuable business insights.
Implement an Iterative Review Process
Developing a BI strategy is an ongoing process that requires continuous refinement. Based on the insights gained from your analyses, you may need to adjust your business objectives, KPIs, or even your data collection techniques. An iterative approach ensures that your BI strategy remains aligned with organizational goals and leverages the latest tactics and technologies.
Business intelligence (BI) is a vital tool for organizations looking to thrive in today’s data-driven environment. By turning data into actionable insights, BI helps businesses make informed decisions that enhance growth, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
To succeed with BI, companies must clearly define their objectives, select the right tools, prepare and analyze their data, and continually refine their strategies. This approach ensures that BI insights align with business goals and adapt to changing market conditions.
In summary, effectively leveraging BI allows businesses to stay competitive, identify opportunities, and make confident, data-driven decisions, positioning them for long-term success in a rapidly evolving landscape.
If you have questions or need assistance executing these strategies, our team is available at hello@tidalcommerce.ca.
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min read
Whether you’re a DTC brand venturing into B2B or a traditional retailer transitioning from in-person to online sales, here are the top 11 advantages of B2B ecommerce.
B2B ecommerce is projected to reach $7.7 trillion, more than doubling the $3.8 trillion in direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales. By 2025, 80% of all B2B sales are expected to take place online, with millennials—who prefer digital purchasing experiences—making up 70% of buyers.
As one of the fastest-growing sales models, nearly half of all B2B transactions are already happening online. In fact, a 2022 survey conducted with Shopify businesses found that 85% of B2B companies view centralized commerce as critical to success.
The important question is: Why are DTC brands increasing their focus on building B2B online experiences?
1. Boost brand recognition
For DTC-only brands, building brand recognition can be a challenge. Success in this area often depends on your customers’ willingness to spread the word about your products or on spending substantial sums on marketing.
However, selling through B2B channels like wholesale can significantly amplify brand recognition. When resellers purchase your products at wholesale prices, they take on the responsibility of promotion for you.
Whether it’s an online store or a physical retail location, your product packaging—complete with your logo, brand name, and any trademarked slogans—gains exposure through your retail partners’ platforms.
This advantage extends even to legacy B2B retailers who have traditionally relied on in-person sales. By shifting to B2B ecommerce, you can scale brand visibility by reaching a broader market. Instead of managing wholesale transactions manually, an online storefront empowers B2B buyers to self-serve, increasing both efficiency and reach.
The more B2B customers you serve, the greater the visibility of your products across various channels, helping you capture the attention of the general public.
2. Reduced B2B Marketing Expenses
In the DTC space, gaining visibility for products often requires a significant investment in marketing or advertising, which can be both costly and risky.
Recent updates, like Apple’s iOS 17, have made it harder for brands to track customer activity and assess the performance of marketing efforts. Additionally, Google’s phase-out of third-party cookies has caused a rise in the cost-per-click for search ads, with notable increases between the second and third quarters of 2021.
B2B ecommerce, however, offers a more economical solution. Resellers manage the promotion for you, placing your products in storefront displays, on department store shelves, and incorporating them into their digital campaigns. This means your B2B customers handle the marketing, saving your brand from spending heavily on promotional activities.
Marketing to B2B buyers also differs significantly from DTC. Business buyers prefer personalized, account-based marketing approaches, which are more cost-effective. Selling directly to other businesses is less expensive than broad, mass-market campaigns on social media platforms.
3. Lower Customer Acquisition Costs
With no marketing spend required, acquiring B2B customers becomes more cost-effective and profitable.
A real-world example is a bathworks business using Shopify, where the owner approached a retail store in person to pitch carrying the brand’s products. The only investment was time, which led to securing large orders. This straightforward approach to cold-pitching is a highly effective B2B sales strategy that isn’t easily scalable for DTC-only brands.
4. Higher Order Value and Volume
One of the key differences between B2B and DTC customers is the quantity and frequency of purchases. B2B buyers tend to place larger, more frequent orders—especially when the ordering process is simplified through a B2B ecommerce platform that allows for easy self-service. It’s common for B2B buyers to reorder significant quantities on a regular basis, whether that’s daily, weekly, or monthly.
Shopify enables businesses to offer top-tier wholesale experiences, featuring bulk ordering, personalized pricing, and a self-serve portal designed to meet the expectations of modern B2B buyers. As a result, B2B customers not only place larger orders, but they do so more often, increasing both order value and volume.
5. Built-In Loyalty for Predictable Revenue
In B2B commerce, customers often establish long-term relationships, meaning repeat purchases are more of a given. As long as the product meets expectations, there’s a mutual understanding that the partnership can last for years.
This built-in loyalty generates predictable revenue for your business. Unlike DTC companies, which are vulnerable to external factors like economic downturns or seasonal fluctuations, B2B customers tend to place regular orders to meet their own demand. This consistency provides greater cash flow certainty and allows for more accurate planning and scaling efforts.
6. Automated Sales and Business Processes
Managing B2B sales through traditional offline methods is often labor-intensive. Many B2B companies rely on manual processes, such as sales reps nurturing relationships, entering orders, and handling invoices or payment reminders. By moving B2B operations online, businesses can automate these tasks, speeding up sales cycles and reducing human error.
With Shopify, businesses can tap into a robust app ecosystem that enhances automation and customization. Shopify’s ecosystem, which includes over 10,000 apps, offers a wide range of tools to streamline workflows, personalize buyer experiences, and manage complex sales processes without needing extensive developer resources.
For example, Shopify’s integration with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems allows B2B businesses to sync data across sales, inventory, and logistics, eliminating the manual effort of tracking these processes separately. Whether it’s automating order fulfillment or integrating shipping workflows, Shopify’s app ecosystem helps reduce manual tasks and simplify back-end operations. Tools like Shopify Flow automate routine tasks, such as notifying customers about low stock or processing reorders, saving valuable time and minimizing errors in B2B transactions.
In addition to automation, Shopify’s app ecosystem supports extensive customization, enabling businesses to offer bulk ordering, custom pricing, and personalized customer portals. These features create a seamless self-serve experience, which is essential for modern B2B buyers who expect the ease of online shopping alongside the flexibility of custom pricing and payment terms.
7. Simplify International Distribution
An online presence makes it easier for businesses to go global, allowing you to launch in new markets through a single DTC storefront. However, the logistical challenges of international expansion can be costly and time-consuming.
By expanding into B2B, you can offload distribution to your new customers. For instance, if you’re a US-based CPG brand, you can enter European markets by selling wholesale to B2B customers. Rather than managing international logistics yourself, you simply ship inventory to one location, and your resellers take on the role of distributing your products across the region.
8. Reduced Operational Costs
B2B orders naturally lead to lower operational costs. A single bulk order of over 100 units requires fewer shipping labels, boxes, and logistics than selling each item individually to end customers.
B2B buyers also prefer self-service options, which is another cost-saving benefit. Selling at scale through a customer-focused ecommerce platform reduces the need for expensive trade shows, manually processing orders, or sending invoice reminders.
A self-serve B2B ecommerce platform allows buyers to make purchases without consuming your valuable resources, freeing up your sales team to focus on building relationships, discussing new products, providing marketing support, and sharing insights on upcoming trends that help move your products.
Legacy systems often create operational bottlenecks due to manual processes for order management and invoicing, increasing errors and limiting scalability. Shopify, however, automates these tasks with features like bulk ordering tools, personalized storefronts, and flexible payment terms, significantly reducing manual work and cutting operational costs.
With Shopify, you can manage both B2B and DTC storefronts from a single backend, eliminating the need for two separate platforms. This unified system helps businesses:
The best part? You don’t need third-party apps to manage wholesale and DTC channels separately. Shopify provides B2B buyers with a personalized, seamless buying experience without the complexity or costs of maintaining two separate systems.
9. Enhanced Personalization and Customer Experience
Personalization has long been a priority in DTC, but it’s gaining even more attention in B2B. According to Gartner, while 71% of B2C customers expect personalization, 86% of B2B customers expect it during their interactions with companies.
However, DTC personalization often has its limits. It typically revolves around offering discounts and generalized customer journeys. In contrast, B2B ecommerce enables more advanced personalization, providing unique prices, contract agreements, and tailored experiences that cater to the specific needs of each business customer.
This higher level of customization is essential in B2B, where sales cycles are longer and more complex, often involving bulk orders or intricate needs like enterprise-level service plans. B2B companies must leverage data-driven insights that go beyond basic customer behaviors and purchase history. They need to understand individual decision-makers within a company, their roles, and the specific requirements of their business or industry.
Leading B2B ecommerce brands personalize every interaction across various channels—email, search ads, social media, AI chat, and website landing pages—tailored to each buyer persona. This approach works well in B2B, where sales cycles can stretch for months, and buyers engage with the brand multiple times before making a purchase decision.
DTC, on the other hand, typically relies on broader data such as browsing history, demographics, and past purchases to deliver personalized ads and emails. DTC also faces challenges that hinder deeper personalization, such as:
Ultimately, the richer the data, the easier it becomes to deliver personalized experiences and retain customers long-term. In this regard, B2B is currently leading the way.
10. Higher Customer Retention Through Ongoing Support
When a customer buys from a DTC company, they usually don’t receive much direct follow-up engagement. While support options like phone, email, or forums exist, post-purchase interactions are typically limited to a few product tips via email.
In contrast, B2B businesses offer more comprehensive support. Customers often receive a dedicated account manager who follows up through calls or emails, ensuring proper onboarding and providing ongoing assistance. This personalized support enhances the customer experience, as the account manager understands the client’s business needs and can offer more tailored advice.
Some B2B companies also provide self-serve resources, such as industry-specific knowledge bases with tutorials, videos, blog posts, and forums, all customized to the customer’s use case. This blend of dedicated account management and tailored self-serve options boosts customer satisfaction, driving higher retention rates. B2B companies that regularly survey their customers see an impressive 82% retention rate, compared to just 28% for DTC businesses.
If you offer dedicated account management, promote this feature to alleviate customer concerns and improve sales engagement.
11. Easier to Scale Business Operations
The B2B ecommerce model, with long-term relationships, bulk orders, lower marketing costs, and simplified international distribution, provides an ideal strategy for scaling operations. What truly sets scalable businesses apart is their ability to manage both B2B and DTC channels from a single platform, without building separate systems for each.
Shopify allows businesses to run both B2B and DTC operations from a single admin interface and store. This simplifies operations without sacrificing either sales model, enabling businesses to manage inventory, pricing, and customer relationships for both B2B buyers and DTC consumers through a unified backend.
For instance, Shopify enables businesses to display contextual pricing based on whether a customer is a B2B buyer or an end consumer. It also allows setting minimum and maximum order quantities for wholesale buyers, while offering discounts and personalized experiences for DTC shoppers—all from the same store. Whether selling in bulk to retailers or directly to consumers, Shopify’s unified system supports both models, providing the flexibility to scale across multiple sales channels without the complexity of managing separate ecommerce setups.
This seamless integration is particularly beneficial for hybrid businesses operating both B2B and DTC models. Shopify streamlines operations by merging workflows while offering customized storefronts, flexible payment terms, and a self-serve portal, allowing businesses to manage both B2B and DTC orders simultaneously and scale effectively.
References
¹Elise Dopson, “The 11 Top B2B Ecommerce Benefits (2025),” Shopify Enterprise Blog, September 10, 2024, https://www.shopify.com/enterprise/blog/b2b-ecommerce-benefits-advantages.
If you have questions or need assistance executing these strategies, our team is available at hello@tidalcommerce.ca.
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