Accenture Interactive, SAP Hybris Team to Take the Customer Experience in Commerce Beyond Transactions (SCN)
Accenture and SAP SE are expanding their alliance in the area of commerce experiences services. The companies announced plans for Accenture Interactive and SAP® Hybris®1 to develop a platform that will help clients build and curate contextual, personalized experiences for customers that span the entire commerce offering – from marketing, eCommerce and offline shopping to customer service and loyalty management.
Anatoly Roytman, global digital commerce lead, Accenture Interactive, said: “Commerce is substantially more than the transaction, it’s now the entire customer experience. We’re seeing the clear need for an ‘experience conductor’ to orchestrate the multitude of data sources, applications, and channels that are required to put the customer at the heart of the experience. With this new platform we’re building with SAP Hybris, we want to help clients create the best customer experiences on the planet.”
With the new platform, Accenture Interactive and SAP Hybris intend to enable B2C and B2B companies in the retail, telecommunications and resources industries to:
discover aspects of their entire commerce offering that make a real difference to the experience customers receive
identify how current technology is impacting the way people experience their brands, offerings and services
act quickly upon insights, using the platform’s capability to create, launch and harmonize experiences across channels that drive tangible business outcomes
Pilot projects conducted by Accenture Interactive with clients from the retail sector on an early-stage version of the platform have delivered impressive results. Initial results from the pilot projects indicate that clients may experience positive outcomes that include increased sales by up to 30 percent, reduced operational costs by as much as 25 percent, and up to a 700 percent return on investment.
Don Matejko, Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Field Operations for SAP Hybris solutions, said: “SAP Hybris’ mission is to enable our customers to stay connected with the frequently shifting needs of their customers and prospects, and enabling organizations to connect the front office and back office in real time – linking people, inventory, supply chain, pricing and customers together. The new platform Accenture Interactive and SAP are co-developing will break down costly, siloed systems and replace them with innovative, integrated solutions that simplify the front office. This will make them easy to do business with and at the same time give each customer a consistent, personalized experience across all channels.”
Accenture Interactive and SAP Hybris plan to combine a range of their proven, proprietary B2C and B2B commerce applications and services for customer analytics, content management, user experience design, marketing, customer service, omnichannel management, and personalization on the new platform. This will include the full suite of SAP Hybris solutions, solutions built on SAP Leonardo technology, and data-driven personalization solutions from Accenture Interactive. The plan for the platform is to also use and integrate with existing client applications and point solutions as necessary.