Commerce is rapidly evolving, and at the forefront of this evolution is the drive to enhance customer experiences while ensuring trust and simplicity in the buying process.

This week’s commercetools Elevate 2024 event provided valuable insights into the future of commerce, emphasizing the importance of customer-centric innovation. As technology continues to reshape the way customers shop and interact with brands, collaboration between industry leaders is crucial, especially when it comes to sharing insights and driving the evolution of commerce in a rapidly changing landscape, according to Shelly Kramer (pictured, left), managing director and principal analyst at theCUBE Research.

“I think customers knowing where to trust, and there’s so many different payment options and that sort of thing. I think PayPal has long been the gold standard,” Kramer said. “It was great to hear their message about not only building data privacy and protection into everything that they do, but again, focus on making all those experiences seamless.”

Kramer spoke with co-analyst Rebecca Knight (right) during the keynote analysis segment at the commercetools Elevate event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed commercetools GmbH’s evolution and the transformative potential of technology in simplifying the buying process and meeting the ever-changing demands of consumers and businesses alike. (* Disclosure below.)

The importance of trust and simplicity in AI

The importance of making customer and partner experiences easier and more seamless was a part of the discussion during the keynote analysis. It is crucial to understand customer needs and leverage technology, particularly AI, to personalize recommendations and streamline the buying journey, according to Knight.

“The key theme that we’re hearing here is simplicity across the board, being able to take commercetools’ products and drop them in and to be able to use things very quickly,” Kramer added. “The very tail end of the keynote, they were talking about a major implementation that took six months from the time of getting the idea and talking about the strategy to implementing in that. Six months is pretty quick in the big scheme of things.”

Trust in technology was another key theme. Speakers, including representatives from PayPal, underscored the necessity of building trust with customers by prioritizing data privacy and protection. The emphasis on trust as a key differentiator in today’s tech landscape highlights the evolving consumer expectations and the need for companies to prioritize transparency and security in their offerings.

“One of the other themes that we kept hearing a lot about … [was] also trust,” Knight said. “Trust is so important when it comes to any kind of technology.”

The shifting landscape of B2B

There is also a growing focus on B2B interactions as the landscape of commerce shifts. While business-to-customer experiences have traditionally set the standard for customer expectations, there is now a growing demand for similar seamless experiences in business-to-business transactions.

“That doesn’t mean we’re leaving B2C behind in any way,” Kramer said. “To see commercetools and their partners step into the B2B arena, which is infinitely more complicated, really signifies the big transformation that’s happening here.”

Commercetools Elevate promised exciting developments in composable commerce and deepened partnerships, with companies such as PayPal unveiling new initiatives to enhance customer experiences and expand into new territories, according to Kramer.

“There’s some really exciting things ahead on the B2B front as it relates to composable commerce,” she said. “Foundry B2B one of the things you’re talking about. We’re going to be hearing from PayPal with the new Fastlane and hearing about deepened relationships and partnerships and new expansions into new territory.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE Research’s coverage of the commercetools Elevate event:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Elevate event. Neither commercetools GmbH, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE