It is nearly impossible to imagine a world without brick-and-mortar stores, and while traditional retail is unlikely to become completely extinct over the next few years, a shift to digital transactions has been gathering speed for over a decade. Even before the global pandemic, the share of online sales was increasing steadily year after year, but the most recent public health crisis has accelerated the digital shift by five years, according to IBM estimates. In a recent report, a team of UBS analysts said, “An enduring legacy of the pandemic is that online penetration rose sharply. We expect that it will continue to increase”. However, not all e-commerce operators benefited from this unique situation, nor is every online business slated for long-term success in the post-pandemic world, says Abir Alameddine, COO of US-based fashion wholesale platform OrangeShine.

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“What we must recognize is that the pandemic provided a massive boost only to companies that had invested diligently in their digital infrastructure before the crisis. This commitment goes beyond building omnichannel fulfillment capabilities: the ultimate winners will be organizations that combine the power of these capabilities with marketing strategies suited to doing business in a digital era,” Abir Alameddine comments. “It is telling that 83% of global CEOs expect marketing to be a key driving force behind most or all of corporate growth agendas, as a McKinsey survey established. In an enterprise environment dominated by the pursuit of digital transformation, marketing technology (martech) has become an indispensable tool for gaining a competitive advantage and promoting business growth in the e-commerce sector.”

In the age of mobile devices, machine learning (ML), and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven solutions; marketers have inevitably turned to technology in a bid to streamline customer relationship management (CRM), Abir Alameddine notes. Without robust martech stacks, e-commerce operators would find it virtually impossible to achieve critical objectives such as attracting and retaining customers, personalizing consumer experiences, and measuring the effectiveness of their campaigns. With the help of various software tools designed to automate, manage, analyze, and measure marketing initiatives, e-commerce companies are paving the way to sustainable growth.

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As Abir Alameddine points out, martech is leveling the playing field for smaller or regional e-commerce operators, giving them the opportunity to reach consumers globally and compete in a space that was previously unknown to them. For e-commerce sector as a whole, martech is proving essential for promoting business growth by enabling companies to identify consumer trends, enhance the efficiency of advertising campaigns, streamline workflows through automation, and easily measure and analyze outcomes. In the age of Big Data, e-commerce success depends on targeting the right consumer segments, keeping them engaged, and converting prospects into loyal customers, all of which have become impossible without proper martech tools.

A strategic thinker with more than two decades of experience at the executive level, Abir Alameddine has built an outstanding track record as a driver of operational efficiencies, human capital development, and technological expansion at companies in various sectors. Keenly aware of the benefits of cross-departmental collaboration, smart data analysis, and operational efficiencies, she focuses on executing strategic initiatives that maximize the combined potential of people, technology and processes to foster a transformational mindset in an organization and help it achieve its business objectives. At present, Abir Alameddine is serving as chief operating officer of OrangeShine – a Los Angeles, CA-based B2B marketplace connecting wholesale vendors and buyers in the fashion industry.

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