The eCommerce stagnation

There is a tremendous demand in the market for eCommerce solutions. For years. And you might think that this would provoke many new players and a great deal of competition. This is by no means the case. If you subtract all the marketing speak, it’s more like stagnation. Basically, not much has changed in the last 8 years. The companies that want to do eCommerce are paying for it. A plea for a paradigm shift.

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Magento the rocket

When Magento came onto the market a few years ago, it was a true revolution. For the first time, concepts and a lot of best practice that had previously been reserved for companies with large budgets were made accessible to smaller and medium-sized companies. Magento was a revolution.

What has become of it is remarkable. Market leadership in almost all relevant segments, a large ecosystem, the de facto standard for companies that want to start eCommerce. Everyone has benefited from this. Including me. The best starting position for the future. Or so you might think.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t develop that way. You get the feeling that the rocket has burnt out its stages and is now “floating” in space, at the most only occasionally firing up the control rockets. For all those who have been involved with Magento since day 0, this somehow hurts.

But not everything that is going on around Magento at the moment is bad. Following the spin-off from eBay Enterprise, the company is currently in a phase of redefinition. With Magento 2, a completely re-engineered product has not only been announced, but also delivered. Marketing is being ramped up. There is much more going on than before the spin-off.

But what is missing are visionaries. People who want to deliver a radically improved product. Today, there is much more to lose than there is to gain. Market dominance, the user base, customers or, probably most importantly, the trust of the investor.

And so we agree with the general tenor of the established systems. As mentioned, the ones who suffer are the customers. What was a promise of salvation is now simply a very, very good offer.

Infinite potential

But what we are seeing right now is that such a monolithic eCommerce approach may not be so successful. The growth of eCommerce is progressing far too slowly compared to the use of the Internet in general. I maintain that this has to do with the fact that we as eCommerce operators are far too fixated on building an “online store” in order to do eCommerce. The customer experience often falls by the wayside and we only think it’s ok because “that’s just how it’s done” and because we don’t know any better.

“What if eCommerce, as the industry understands it, is not the optimal tool to sell online?”

All the lamentation and all the studies and comparisons of online vs. offline further cement this mindset.

But ask around why articles are not bought online. The answers are complex. Certainly. But a strikingly frequent answer is that it is simply complicated. Especially in the mobile sector. And especially for older people, who have various incentives and money to buy online.

Spryker

Spryker has been the talk of the town in recent months. In fact, I consider Spryker to be very forward-looking, as it is seen more as a framework for agile eCommerce development than a fixed package of features.

In fact, it is flexibility that merchants need today. And a short “time to market”. And low costs. I think Spryker delivers that. It is, so to speak, the framework for all companies that are serious about their eCommerce initiatives. What remains is that the conceptual input and a minimum of best practice must come from the customer.

This is certainly the case in the segment of large pure players. However, you can count them on four hands throughout Europe. An interesting market looks different.

The vast majority of interesting customers who do not yet have any major eCommerce initiatives (e.g. first steps with a “simple Magento store”) also have little eCommerce know-how. And just because they now have an improved tool at their fingertips does not mean that they will be any more successful.

That’s where I would start as a new player and build up a corresponding learning community. You can earn money with this and there is no better acquisition than people who are convinced by a product because they have been “empowered” by this product.

We don’t need another eCommerce system

I don’t think we need another eCommerce system. What we need is a commerce system (without the “e”). A kind of commerce system that provides best-practice solutions for various verticals.

One that seamlessly combines online and offline and addresses today’s problems that customers have when dealing with providers. And consistently offers solutions that work. Such a provider will not only be fishing in the eCommerce pond, but soon also in the ERP and POS pond. And that is a huge opportunity, also in view of the incredibly outdated and expensive systems in this area.