Jul 26 2014
IDC Manufacturing Insights today announced a new report, Supporting the Customer Lifecycle for Manufacturing Value Chains (Doc #MI249914), which looks at supporting the customer lifecycle in manufacturing value chains with software applications and processes.
The new research considers the variances in core business processes for "attract-sell-serve" among manufacturing value chains and includes a selection of vendors that provide these capabilities to the manufacturing industry. Vendors featured include Epicor, hybris (an SAP company), IBM, NetSuite, Oracle, and ShopVisible.
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Customer experience is reaching a prominent place in manufacturers' B2B eCommerce projects and their budgets across manufacturing segments, as predicted in the 2014 Manufacturing Commerce Strategies Top 10 Predictions (Doc #MI245067). The new report takes a closer look at the customer lifecycle across manufacturing value chains and includes a selection of vendors that provide applications to manage the multitude of eCommerce-related business processes associated with the customer lifecycle. Manufacturers can use this evaluation to understand how vendors are offering functionality that addresses the needs of their value chain. Each vendor that participated in this research provided IDC Manufacturing Insights with a completed information profile, a vendor briefing, and two manufacturing end-user references.
The purpose of this vendor landscape is to help manufacturers understand the spectrum of capabilities for enhancing the customer lifecycle with sell-side B2B eCommerce and to differentiate capability and experience so that manufacturers can more readily define a "short list" of candidates. Key findings from the study include:
- IDC Manufacturing believes that the application of B2B eCommerce and customer experience technology differs by value chain, and manufacturers need to understand the most common tools that will support the unique "attract-sell-serve" lifecycle within their value chain.
- There are also some variations in the customer lifecycle for each of the manufacturing value chains and these must be aligned with the offerings and the specific approach of each solution. It is helpful for manufacturers to understand this in order to enhance and optimize their current "attract-sell-serve" process with technology.
- IDC Manufacturing Insights expects to continue to see IT vendors creating additional industry-specific capabilities in their core B2B eCommerce platforms, as manufacturers begin to push the envelope for marketing and selling their products through eCommerce.
In the recently published companion report on this subject, Preparing Manufacturing Organizations for New Customer Expectations (MI#249558), IDC Manufacturing Insights offers a closer look at the how the rise of B2B ecommerce and the changing engagement expectations of business users impacts manufacturers' existing go-to-market strategies, and how the approach varies by manufacturing value chain. The report provides a more detailed look at the attract, sell, and serve phases of the customer lifecycle as well as illustrating how manufacturers in the different value chains are using different tools to accomplish their customer-related goals.
According to Heather Ashton, Research Manager, Manufacturing Commerce Strategies, "The purpose of this vendor landscape for B2B eCommerce is to identify those vendors that are currently offering tools to assist manufacturers in optimizing their business processes around the customer lifecycle. Manufacturers can take the information in this report and use it to formulate a strategy around B2B eCommerce and more easily define a 'short list' of vendors that have offerings in this market."
To arrange a one-on-one briefing with Heather Ashton, please contact Sarah Murray at 781-378-2674 or [email protected]. Reports are available to qualified members of the media. For information on purchasing reports, contact [email protected]; reporters should email [email protected].
Source: http://www.idc-mi.com/