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<hr /> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Battle_After_Another">One Battle After Another</a> is already garnering buzz as an Oscar contender. But there’s another battle brewing for the top spots in the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/cms-critic-awards">14th Annual CMS Critic Awards</a> – and you get to nominate the contenders!As usual, we’re not the Academy. During this contest, we put you in the judge’s seat, so you can tell us what CMS and related tools really blew your mind in 2025.Keep scrolling for more background and the house rules, but here's how it works in a nutshell: Make your nominations at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/nominate">www.cmscritic.com/nominate.</a> We take the top five contenders across a range of categories, open that up to general voting, and announce the victors in late February.DiCaprio might steal the show on screen, but he doesn’t hold a candle to agentic workflows. Content is the real star of this action flick, and the CMS Critic Awards are an opportunity for you to sing the praises of the platforms that power your digital experiences.<h3 id="celebrating-the-content-community">Celebrating the content community</h3>If you’re not familiar, the CMS Critic Awards are an institution in the content management and digital experience industries. It unites rabid fans across the globe to rally around the tools they love – no small feat in today’s fleeting technology landscape. With well-established enterprise vendors and a plethora of open source platforms, CMS enjoys some of the most loyal user communities in the tech pantheon. That’s why we’ve had such incredible participation over the past 13 years, making ours one of the longest-running awards programs in our industry (you can check out<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/cms-critic-awards"> all the previous winners here</a>).While CMS is our North Star, we also make space for the expanded ecosystem of products. Over the last decade, we've seen the rapid rise of digital experience technologies, from pure-play to fully integrated. To that end, we include categories for e-commerce, digital asset management, and even product information management. If it's a system that manages content, we want to celebrate it.In a world where using technology can feel like fighting one battle after another, the CMS Critic Awards is proof that loyalty still lives – and people make all the difference.<h3 id="2025:-the-agents-cometh…">2025: The agents cometh…</h3>…and they’re still coming. Without a doubt, this was the year when AI shifted to an agentic gear, with nearly every CMS, DXP, and adjacent platform touting its advancements with agents (and in some cases, “super agents”). It was a rapid-fire news cycle infused with innovative announcements – and we covered some of the biggest shifts throughout the year.We traversed the world in 2025, from San Francisco to Hamburg, connecting with communities and following the rattle and hum of the content world. With hundreds of articles published over the last 12 months, there’s too much to cover – but here are a few highlights:<ul><li>Platforms made big moves this year, from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/">Contentstack’s acquisition of Lytics</a> to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/seasons-of-love-sitecore-symposium-2025-sings-putting-ai-and-marketers-in-the-spotlight">Sitecore’s launch of its new Sitecore AI.</a> We attended both conferences, reporting from the ground with exclusive interviews. </li><li>At every event – from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/joy-to-the-content-world-storyblok-brings-ai-innovation-and-human-connection-to-joyconf-2025">Storyblok’s inaugural JoyConf</a> to the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-deep-dish-on-composable-6-tasty-takeaways-from-the-mach-alliances-2025-conference">MACH Alliance’s “The Composable Conference” </a>– agentic AI was a constant undercurrent, manifesting in a wide range of applications, use cases, features, and partnerships. </li><li>Analyst grids were rife with change as enterprise vendors like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/optimizely-opal-fuels-marketers-with-powerful-ai-agents-via-googles-gemini-enterprise">Optimizely made headlines</a> with AI advancements and GEO-ready CMS capabilities. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/rush-to-geo-adobe-to-acquire-semrush-for-19b-to-enhance-ai-search">Adobe’s acquisition of SEO darling Semrush</a> was big news, Progress shook things up with its new <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/progress-powers-its-vision-for-generative-cms-with-agentic-rag-and-a-legacy-of-innovation">Progress Agentic RAG offering</a>, and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/fight-the-cognitive-overload-brightspot-lights-the-way-to-productivity-with-its-evolutionary-cms-release">Brightspot launched</a> a game-changing release of its CMS.</li><li>Meanwhile, headless CMS players continued to drive innovation, from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-headless-holodeck-joel-varty-of-agility-cms-on-warp-speed-demos-ai-and-the-next-generation-of-cms">Agility</a> to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/agentic-cms-why-kontentais-vision-for-the-future-of-content-management-is-inspiring">Kontent.ai</a> to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/hygraph-studio-sets-sail-with-increased-content-velocity-and-new-asset-management-capabilities">Hygraph</a>, leveraging their native composability to accelerate new AI and agentic capabilities and a host of dynamite enhancements.</li><li>Open source was also a big part of the conversation. In the wake of last year’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/wp-engine-wins-an-injunction-against-automattic-is-the-wordpress-scorched-earth-campaign-over">“WordPress Debacle,”</a> we broke the news about the new <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/alls-fair-in-love-and-war-new-fair-package-manager-aims-to-bring-peace-to-the-wordpress-ecosystem">FAIR Package introduced at Alt Ctrl Org,</a> helping to shape a healing path forward. During our coverage of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/sowing-the-seeds-of-love-umbracos-codegarden-2025-celebrates-20-years-of-community-and-innovation">Umbraco’s Codegarden event,</a> we saw notable traction in areas like orchestration, MCP, and more. And we were honored to help judge <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://t3con.typo3.com/awards">the TYPO3 Awards,</a> which featured some inspiring and ambitious entries.    </li><li>Along with our coverage of pure play DAM platforms like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/cloudinary">Cloudinary</a>, customer data was on our radar. From <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/hightouch-launches-high-performance-agents-to-help-marketers-move-10x-faster">Hightouch</a> to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/treasure-data-brings-ai-marketing-cloud-and-super-agent-capabilities-to-aws-marketplace">Treasure Data</a>, we saw incredible use cases for AI and evolving roadmaps for agents at scale. More to come on that in 2026. </li><li>We featured lots of great research on a range of topics, from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/agentic-panic-new-study-finds-ai-agents-in-production-face-infrastructure-and-reliability-challenges">agent system performance</a> to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/put-on-a-happy-cms-face-storybloks-facial-coding-experiment-reveals-how-ai-is-sparking-joy">facial coding experiments.</a> We also tracked some innovative new tools in areas like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/one-ux-to-rule-them-all-auxia-powers-customer-journeys-with-ai-agents-in-new-unified-experience">customer journey orchestration</a> while continuing to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-complete-wordpress-accessibility-checklist-for-2026">shine a light on accessibility</a> and more exotic topics like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-i-mean-to-say-a-practitioner-perspective-on-ai-semantics-and-content-evolution">semantics and content evolution.</a>  </li></ul>Much like last year, traditional category lines are blurring, and new monikers are entering the lexicon. Platforms now offer a wide range of tools and capabilities, particularly in the case of DXPs. But we're focusing on clear, well-established lanes – and as always, if you feel a single vendor can live in more than one category, it’s your choice to nominate it. <h3 id="be-kind-–-your-mother-might-be-watching">Be kind – your mother might be watching</h3>The CMS Critic Awards are intended to be fun and friendly. But they do, at times, get a little intense. Every year, we receive thousands of ballots. Users come together like wolfpacks, championing the platforms they love. We also intercept a number of, shall we say, “passionate” pleas, demanding to know why certain platforms were in a specific category, or why their tool wasn’t in the running. As always, we try to operate in a space of respect and integrity. Obviously, if a platform isn’t truly open source, it won’t be considered for “Best Open Source CMS.” But now more than ever, we're blurring the proverbial lines – and let’s face it, the analysts are also compounding the problem. So, our editorial team endeavors to stay out of the nominating process. As a reminder, we only take the top five in each category by nomination count, so anything below that won’t be featured in the final voting in February.To the victors go the spoils! Winners receive official badging, shout-outs on social media, and one month of upgraded status in our highly-trafficked <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products">Product Directory.</a> <h3 id="how-to-make-your-nominations-">How to make your nominations </h3>The good news is that it’s easy – and fun. Here’s how you can participate:<ul><li>Visit <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.cmscritic.com/nominate">www.cmscritic.com/nominate</a></li><li>Fill out the required fields and enter the names of your nominees in each category. You don't have to include a nomination for every category – only complete the fields that you care about, and your ballot will be counted. Remember that you can nominate the same vendor in multiple categories.</li><li>Once completed, click the “Submit” button at the bottom of the form. </li><li>You can only nominate once, and companies or brands that offer incentives of any kind will be disqualified.</li><li>Spread the word! Remember to share and encourage others to participate, especially across your social channels.</li><li>Nominations close on January 25, 2026, so get out there and rally your communities! Once we tabulate the results, we’ll announce the top five for general voting in early February via email and social. </li></ul>We might call this a battle, but it’s really a lovefest for CMS – and you call the shots. So make your nominations today! <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.44%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/cms-kickoff-2026-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">CMS Kickoff 2026</a></h4>January 13-14, 2026 – St. Petersburg, FLMeet industry leaders at our fourth annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">so secure your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:30.13%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/12/image-1765546475634.png" /><h4 id="umbraco-codegarden-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://codegarden.umbraco.com/">Umbraco Codegarden 2026</a></h4>June 10–11, 2026 – Copenhagen, DKJoin us in Copenhagen (or online) for the biggest Umbraco conference in the world – two full days of learning, genuine conversations, and the kind of inspiration that brings business leaders, developers, and digital creators together. Codegarden 2026 is packed with both business and tech content, from deep-dive workshops and advanced sessions to real-world case studies and strategy talks. You’ll leave with ideas, strategies, and knowledge you can put into practice immediately. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://codegarden.umbraco.com/">Book your tickets today.</a>

The ‘Battle Royale’ Begins: Nominations are OPEN for the 14th Annual CMS Critic Awards!

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Key Trends for 2026: What’s Ahead for Content Management, CX, and AI with CoreMedia’s Sören Stamer

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<hr /> When I last spoke to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariano-gomide-de-faria-vtex/">Mariano Gomide de Faria</a>, it wasn't long after he published <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mariano-gomide-de-faria-vtex_for-all-the-reasons-explained-in-the-article-activity-7310313384015511552-APGm/?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAABz8skQBu3yAX4WwKnVszlZSL3qGoPZCq6w">“The MACH Mirage”</a> on LinkedIn. It was a veritable shock to the system that pointedly criticized aspects of the composable movement – and, with specificity, the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-aims-to-evolve-enterprise-ai-architecture-with-new-end-user-leadership-model">MACH Alliance.</a> At the time, he announced that <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/vtex">VTEX</a> (the connected commerce platform he founded and steers as co-CEO) would be pausing its membership in the best-of-breed ecosystem, citing the drift of composability from operator control as a central grievance. Famously, both Mariano and MACH Alliance president <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-future-is-composable-a-conversation-with-new-mach-alliance-president-casper-rasmussen">Casper Rasmussen</a> met on “The Watson Weekend” retail program to hash out some of the issues in a town square forum. The debate was friendly, healthy, and focused squarely on the challenges of enterprise architecture – which is being transformed by the advent of AI across the composable stack. And that’s the big tuna. The crucial role of AI in digital commerce can’t be overstated, and this is precisely where Mariano felt the MACH Alliance could be more prolific in supporting its association – and the market at large – in the AI course corrections. In his mind, this required less a less rigid approach to the enshrined standards of MACH.“At the end of the day, we cannot close our eyes to the reinvention of SIs informed by a future where AI rules,” he said, pointing out how organizations like the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://nrf.com/">National Retail Federation</a> could also help to lead discussions that generate value. Since then, VTEX has been putting its nose to the grindstone and building its own ecosystem for agentic commerce. And the timing couldn’t be more apropos: During my many interviews and discussions at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-deep-dish-on-composable-6-tasty-takeaways-from-the-mach-alliances-2025-conference">“The Composable Conference”</a> in April (the annual MACH Alliance event), agentic commerce was already lighting the world on fire. The noise level has only increased over the last few months, and the push to adopt these capabilities is reaching a fever pitch. According to a recent <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2025/03/20/agentic-commerce-ecommerce-trends/">Digital Commerce 360 survey</a>, over 44% of e-commerce leaders are already seeing strong results from their AI investments, and a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://rierino.com/blog/agentic-commerce-with-ai-agents">study from Rierino</a> suggests that agentic frameworks are also paying off with a 6-10% increase in revenue and a big bump in order efficiency.Now, VTEX is shipping its automated agentic AI workforce – and other features – into prime time as part of an expansion of its enterprise-grade capabilities. Unveiled at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fvtex.com%2Fen-us%2Fvision%2F2025&amp;esheet=54310335&amp;newsitemid=20250819007039&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=VTEX+Vision+2025&amp;index=1&amp;md5=8e8045401ca4c78ebfc0f12961001495">VTEX Vision 2025</a>, its annual digital showcase, the company’s latest release includes new solutions tailored to B2B complexity and personalized omnichannel experiences. “Enterprise commerce doesn’t slow down in the face of complexity,” Mariano said. “It rewards those who turn it into leverage. With VTEX Vision 2025, we have expanded our infrastructure to meet rising demands, from B2B buyer personalization to seamless consumer retail experiences, all on one unified commerce platform built for growth.” <h3 id="capabilities-that-convert-and-scale-for-the-b2b-enterprise">Capabilities that convert and scale for the B2B enterprise</h3>In the pantheon of digital commerce, B2B operates with its own set of rules, requiring intuitive digital infrastructure that’s built to move high-volume transactions and manage the full complexity of modern procurement. VTEX’s B2B innovation reinforces a key truth that enterprise leaders know: Success requires infrastructure built around how corporate buyers manage procurement, not systems that restrict transactions. This is where VTEX has its edge, and its Vision for B2B is bringing core capabilities to support these requirements.What’s in the new release? Personalized catalogs, pricing, and payment methods per buyer, as well as advanced buyer organization management that includes branch structures, role-based access, budgeting, and policy control.Brands will also have access to buying policies and approval workflows that enforce custom procurement rules automatically, and rapid cart creation that leverages quick order tools by file and search term. There’s also SKU matrix and reorder tools for high-frequency purchasing and native punchout integrations to centralize procurement within enterprise systems.From a market validation perspective, Andy Hoar's <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fvtex.com%2Fen-us%2Fcampaign%2Fparadigm-b2b-report-2025%2F&amp;esheet=54310335&amp;newsitemid=20250819007039&amp;lan=en-US&amp;anchor=B2B+Paradigm+2025&amp;index=2&amp;md5=9e2f7662e0ed2cad3ef71cd6af712a9d">B2B Paradigm 2025</a> report recognized VTEX with the most Gold medals across its Enterprise and Mid-Market categories, including key metrics like TCO and marketplace capabilities. <h3 id="the-next-level-of-omnichannel">The next level of omnichannel</h3>We’ve been talking about omnichannel for a long time, and how composable stacks help support these strategies. But for enterprise brands, true omnichannel is still a bit elusive. Why? Blame inventory silos, delayed delivery updates, and disconnected store operations (for starters), which block many organizations from operating at their full potential. VTEX closes these gaps by strengthening the “operational backbone” needed to move with speed, accuracy, and complete fulfillment control. AI is helping to power these features in VTEX. This includes AI Semantic Search, which delivers relevant results by interpreting shopper intent through natural language. There’s also AI Product Recommendations that help drive conversions with personalized, behavior-based suggestions.With VTEX, Distributed Inventory is unified and made available across every channel, covering B2C, B2B, marketplaces, and stores. Multi-seller Carts also merge 1P, 3P, and in-store items into one seamless checkout experience, making the entire lifecycle faster and easier.VTEX’s Delivery Promise is also a powerful fixture, helping shoppers find products that are located near them and can be delivered quickly. There’s also Cross-Channel Fulfillment, where newly simplified BOPIS (buy online, pick up in store), ship from store, and simplified returns can lead to operational cost reductions and improved inventory accuracy.<h3 id="agentic-commerce:-the-enterprise-ai-workforce">Agentic commerce: The enterprise AI workforce</h3>For the unindoctrinated, agentic commerce is the application of autonomous AI agents that work independently within a digital commerce system. They’re bestowed with “agency,” meaning they can make decisions, execute tasks, and adapt to context across both frontend and backend workflows. Agentic commerce isn’t just recommending things. It’s effectively running parts of your business with autonomy, tapping more adaptive AI and intelligent automation capabilities that can execute on their behalf. The explosive gains in productivity are making agentic commerce incredibly popular as brands and enterprises look to move faster across channels.Enterprise commerce is entering a new operational era, and VTEX is helping to lead that shift with agentic AI built that can effectively streamline critical workflows and accelerate enterprise performance across the globe. To kick off its roadmap to a fully agentic commerce platform, VTEX is launching three AI agents that are engineered around precision, speed, and adaptability. As the company stated, it’s the beginning of a new standard where digital infrastructure operates as intelligently as the enterprises it serves.“As VTEX advances toward a fully agentic commerce platform, we continue to transform cost centers into engines of growth with measurable impact,” Mariano said. “Our first wave of AI agents marks a critical step, compressing complex workflows and unlocking new value for global brands. Flexibility, transparency, and real-time adaptability will define the next generation of enterprise leaders. Anything else will be left behind.”Some cool capabilities are rolling out, starting with VTEX’s Customer Service Agent, a fully autonomous support agent that works across WhatsApp, Instagram, SMS, and more. Brands like UNICEF and Cencosud are currently using it, which, according to VTEX, has already resolved 92% of tickets without human input – and cut AHT from hours to minutes. Impressive results to be sure.Forthcoming is a Visual Editor Agent, which promises some powerful experience-level capabilities with no developer support required. Teams will be able to instantly respond to change by updating a storefront using a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/figma">Figma</a> file or natural language.Finally, VTEX’s Data Insights Agent is all about powering productivity and observability across channels. The agent receives priority access to real-time omnichannel performance data in plain language, without the need for static dashboards or SQL queries.<h3 id="why-it-matters-">Why it matters </h3>“There's no survival without passing through this chaotic moment,” Mariano said. We were discussing the embedded challenges with navigating legacy systems and how many companies are still modernizing from old IBM mainframes. That might sound a little arcane, but we’ve come a long way on the frontier of interoperability. The MACH Alliance has played a huge role in shaping that, but we’re in yet another chaos moment – one where AI is rendering our roadmaps almost useless. Brands are having to react to change instantly, and commerce is going to need the scale and automation of agentic AI to win customers across channels. To its credit, the MACH Alliance is putting greater emphasis on the AI horizon, manifesting in more end-user representation at the top of the organization. Recently, Casper Rasmussen announced that he will be stepping down as president, and the Alliance will begin shifting to an <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-aims-to-evolve-enterprise-ai-architecture-with-new-end-user-leadership-model">end-user leadership model</a> to support enterprise AI architecture. Will this help mend some of the fences with VTEX? Does it address the core issues surrounding operator control with the composable system? Probably not. There's a rhyme to MACH's reason, and maintaining fierce standards is part of that language. But we’ll see how things unfold. One thing is certain: Mariano will continue his quest for greater flexibility in a market that’s being utterly transformed by AI. “History proves that the highest risk position we can take now would be not assuming any risk,” he told me. “And that serves for NRF, that serves for the MACH Alliance, that serves for any association.”Institutional disagreements aside, VTEX is clearly pushing to innovate on its own terms with agentic commerce, and this could power its already strong collection of 3,400 active storefronts across 43 countries with less friction, greater productivity, and an even nimbler posture. Based on its measurable successes with real customers using its preliminary agents, VTEX is making real headway toward its vision of an autonomous platform that powers the future of digital commerce for B2B and B2C models. They certainly have the chops and market credentials to lead the way, with more than 2,400 brands trusting its technology to unify omnichannel sales, intelligent order management, data pipelines, retail media, enterprise-grade security, and more.It’s early days, so it will be interesting to see how VTEX's pricing models evolve surrounding its agent services. But for buyers with complex requirements and global fulfillment demands, the promise of agentic commerce could be a game changer – with the right platform to build on.  <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-vtex?-talk-to-an-expert.">Looking for guidance on VTEX? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to an expert.</a></h4><hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.44%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/cms-kickoff-2026-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">CMS Kickoff 2026</a></h4>January 13-14, 2026 – St. Petersburg, FloridaMeet industry leaders at our fourth annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">so secure your tickets today.</a>

VTEX Expands Enterprise Capabilities with Agentic Commerce, B2B Orchestration, and Omnichannel Power

<h4 id="-"> </h4><h4 id="listen-to-the-full-episode-of-“the-critic's-corner”-podcast-&gt;"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tinyurl.com/bdzj4t2d">Listen to the full episode of “The Critic's Corner” Podcast &gt;</a></h4> <hr /> Last year, a new word was added to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/">Merriam-Webster's</a> Dictionary called enshittification, a slang term used to criticize the degradation in the quality and experience of online platforms and experiences over time. Fun, right?Er… not so much.From a website or e-commerce perspective, enshittification typically manifests as an increase in things like ads, costs, or features, but the definition has been expanded to encompass any state of deterioration – even politics and culture.One might conclude that our world is in a current state of enshittification, but for the purposes of my latest episode of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/asteroids-and-dinosaurs-a-moment-in-time-on-ai/id1801794414?i=1000720435502">“The Critic's Corner” podcast,</a> we'll stick with the decay of modern digital experiences. Something we're all familiar with. On that note: my guest <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellygoetsch/">Kelly Goetsch</a> was enshittified upon, something he wrote about recently on LinkedIn. If you don't know Kelly, he's what you might call an industry luminary, someone who has been shaping and influencing the DX and commerce landscape for quite some time. He's currently the COO at an outfit called <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://pipe17.com/">Pipe17,</a> an OSM alternative that's make waves in its category.In our podcast conversation, Kelly shares more about his recent brush with "abysmal" CX during a retail TV purchase, exposing how online experiences have truly degraded in quality over time as the pursuit of profit takes over. He digs into the prevailing winds that brands face and how a lot of discovery and transacting is happening off-platform and off-site – and that's changing commerce pretty substantially.“A lot of e-commerce over the traditional web is very, very broken,” he said. “And generally, it's a lot harder to drive people to your brand.com website.”Maybe this abysmal reality is a sign of the times. Simultaneously, AI is dismantling the SaaS landscape before our very eyes. It's now possible to build apps faster than ever with less developer reliance, and there's a conscious move to consumption-based pricing. All this uncertainty is disrupting the roadmaps for software vendors and enterprises, and it's all accelerating at a breakneck pace. <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="-"> </h4><h4 style="text-align:center" id="“value-is-not-created-by-that-which-is-different,-but-that-which-is-unique.-that's-something-that-took-me-a-while-to-fully-understand,-but-it's-true.-there-are-a-lot-of-legacy-platforms,-or-even-newer-versions,-but-still-fundamentally-legacy-approaches.”">“Value is not created by that which is different, but that which is unique. That's something that took me a while to fully understand, but it's true. There are a lot of legacy platforms, or even newer versions, but still fundamentally legacy approaches.”</h4> <hr /> When I invited Kelly on “The Critic's Corner," I was hoping to catch up on our alignment within the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-deep-dish-on-composable-6-tasty-takeaways-from-the-mach-alliances-2025-conference">MACH Alliance.</a> We've been in each other's orbit for several years, and I've watched him drive success at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/commercetools">commercetools</a> while building a strong community of interest around composable architectures and practices. But our conversation took some intriguing twists and turns. During the episode, Kelly gets real about what’s at stake as consumers seek new and better ways to search and engage with brands – namely, AI-powered answer engines like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chatgpt.com/">ChatGPT</a>, where simplicity seems the norm (for now). No more combing through blue links or battling search ads to get a straight answer, and we can expect more ads and transactions to move there as well. Of course, this is resulting in a precipitous decline in classic search traffic, which is bad for marketers. He likened all this change to the moment an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs.Dark? Sure. But from the ashes rose new life, and he sees the same potential.At the same time, as revolutionary as ChatGPT is, Google isn't going anywhere tomorrow. Websites will continue to be relevant for a while as consumers adapt to this new digital reality. You can catch a two-minute snippet of Kelly's observation about “living in the future” right here: <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/fcaczDULJ-c"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fcaczDULJ-c" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> On the content and enterprise software side, we also discuss CMS and its own category challenges. He recently asked in another LinkedIn post if we really need another content management system in an already crowded and mature space. This isn't a problem that's exclusive to our industry, but with hundreds of choices battling it out, it's a common question. I ask Kelly how we navigate this commoditization, where platforms – particularly legacy players – are compositionally the same, and AI is shifting expectations. He's focused beyond the legacy “dinosaur” story and looking for real differentiation.“Value is not created by that which is different, but that which is unique,” he said. “That's something that took me a while to fully understand, but it's true. There are a lot of legacy platforms, or even newer versions, but still fundamentally legacy approaches.”Asteroids… dinosaurs... could this be the end as we know it? Maybe. But as Kelly maintains, this is where the opportunity lies. So things get a little dark, but there's some light at the end of the tunnel. I promise. I have mad respect for Kelly's thinking, and this podcast episode is chock-full of wisdom nuggets. We spend a little time talking about his “origin story,” which colors some of his perspective. That collective experience – and success – might also be why he's firmly grounded despite these seismic changes. So strap in, turn up the volume, and watch the skies for falling objects.<h3 id="listen-to-“the-critic’s-corner”-podcast-with-kelly-goetsch">Listen to “The Critic’s Corner” podcast with Kelly Goetsch</h3> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tinyurl.com/bdzj4t2d">Listen to the full episode </a>&gt;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tinyurl.com/bdzj4t2d">Subscribe on Apple Podcasts</a> &gt; <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:58.49%"><a href="https://tinyurl.com/bdzj4t2d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/critics-corner-apple-podcast-kelly-goetsch.jpg" alt="" /></a></figure> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaSee Agility CMS at the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

Asteroids and Dinosaurs: A Moment in Time on AI, Commerce, and CMS with Kelly Goetsch

<hr /> When I first learned about the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-launches-new-mach-ai-exchange-to-help-enterprises-streamline-ai-adoption">MACH Alliance’s </a>plan to host a “pitch day,” I thought it would be a fantastic way to expand its mission and grow MACH adoption downstream for startups and scale-ups. And why not? Like hackathons and incubator bakeoffs, this could be a great pipeline for learning, exploring, and challenging the ecosystem while supporting the growth of early-stage companies with real products – and real ambition.I also thought it sounded fun. Kinda like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_Tank">Shark Tank</a> for the modern tech stack. Can Mr. Wonderful roll with composable?OK, OK. So I have it on good authority that Mark Cuban wasn't a judge for this shindig. But the inaugural North American <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machalliance.org/insights-hub/winner-of-inaugural-futuremach-pitch-day-event">FutureMACH Pitch Day Event</a> had some heavy hitters reviewing the entries – and that alone gave this new experience some decent buzz. This new contest is the latest community program offered by the MACH Alliance, the not-for-profit industry body committed to advancing composable enterprise architecture. And in this first battle royale betwixt up-and-coming technologies embracing the composable path, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.bildit.co/">BILDIT CMS</a> took home the crown.BILDIT, a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">content management system</a> with a penchant for personalization and a keen focus on e-commerce and retail, brought some spicy innovation to the competition. According to the Alliance's press release, BILDIT took home the crown thanks to its novel use of AI, MACH technology, and external data sources that can deeply personalize shopper experiences. From an analyst's point of view, BILDIT is doing some interesting things. If you decide to keep reading, I'll key in on a few of its differentiated attributes, minus the Shark Tank references.As the winner of the pitch contest, BILDIT will receive some cool prizes, starting with mentorship. This includes access to top-notch brand development resources and even introductions to potential investors, fostering its growth and innovation within the MACH ecosystem.Full transparency: I’ve served on the MACH Alliance Executive Advisory Board for several years as an objective industry watcher, and I align with the universal architectural trend towards composability. Education has long been a central tenet of the organization, and FutureMACH's pitch day is another example of how the Alliance is committing its knowledge and resources to elevating the ecosystem.You can <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-composable-conference-2025-takes-shape-as-mach-alliance-announces-speakers-and-new-events">read my coverage</a> of “The Composable Conference” live event from 2025 to learn more about how the space is evolving – and how the MACH Alliance is evolving with it.<h3 id="helping-startups-drive-composable-growth">Helping startups drive composable growth</h3>As a MACH Alliance initiative, FutureMACH was designed to accelerate (you guessed it) the future of MACH. That translates into support for innovative, MACH-aligned startup companies targeting their next phase of growth. This recent competition was open to North American pre-seed, seed, or Series-A startup technology companies with less than $2 million in annual recurring revenue.The jury panel comprised leaders and luminaries from top global VC firms, providing an elite class of industry knowledge and wisdom. Participants were evaluated based on specific criteria spanning their market opportunity and vision, product differentiation, applications of AI and automation, and alignment with MACH’s innovation principles. The jury panel included:<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-benerofe/">Gary Benerofe</a> – General partner, Mu Ventures</li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/marachaben/">Mara Chaben</a> – Principal, Hawke Ventures</li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurakchau/">Laura Chau</a> – General partner, Canaan Partners</li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-fa-b567304a/">Christina Fa</a> – Principal, NewView Capital</li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/svthompson/">Sam Thompson</a> – Founding partner, Progress Ventures</li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/thescotwingo/">Scot Wingo</a> – Co-founder &amp; CEO, ReFiBuy.ai</li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/benwinn/">Ben Winn</a> – VP content &amp; communities, FirstMark</li></ul>With deep expertise in emerging tech and market disruption, these judges will provide the cohort of entrants with market-tested guidance, strategic insights, and potential access to influential investment networks.As the winner, BILDIT will also receive a brand and storytelling workshop provided by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.thebaascompany.com/">The BaaS Company</a>, a long-time resource within the MACH Alliance community. Led by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonijanssen/">Leoni Janssen</a>, “the pragmatic strategist” who serves on the Alliance’s advisory board, The BaaS Company applies its unique “Branding as a Service” methodology to help elevate brands with tech enablement and an AI focus.BILDIT will reap the strategic benefits of The BaaS Company’s expertise in branding and corporate communications, helping them automate processes and prepare for greater scale. Additionally, they'll receive a spotlight feature in a MACH Alliance webinar or insights piece, a facilitated introduction to five MACH Alliance member companies of its choosing, and discounted membership into the MACH Alliance Startup ISV category, which is contingent upon qualification. <h3 id="building-a-new-vision-for-cms">Building a new vision for CMS</h3>In my recent conversation with MACH Alliance veteran <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellygoetsch/">Kelly Goetsch</a> (who will appear on the next episode of our podcast), we discussed the AI-induced challenges that exist for SaaS companies – and whether the market actually needs another CMS. Let’s face it: there are hundreds of solutions out there, from pure headless to DXP component solutions. Is the category sufficiently saturated? Are we all chasing the same 80 percent of commoditized features? How are buyers navigating the confusion?The real crux of his observation isn’t whether we need another CMS. It’s the reality that we’re swimming in a sea of sameness. As he noted during my interview, it’s not enough to be different – you need to be unique.This is where a platform like BILDIT is showing real promise. First, it’s bucking the trend by laser-focusing on its niche: e-commerce marketing teams struggling to deliver personalized, targeted campaigns across every channel. This is where a composable posture provides the right foundation for extensibility and multi-modality within BILDIT’s CMS product set. <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxp1IvBBpog&amp;t=1s"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zxp1IvBBpog?start=1" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> As one of its founders attested, BILDIT was born out of a deepening frustration with creating targeted, engaging campaigns in a multichannel world. Consumers need seamless solutions, and brands need less code-related friction to deliver them. According to BILDIT’s site, the measure for success is elementary, funny, and exceedingly spot on: If customers can't check out while holding a baby, the checkout isn’t good enough.Part of BILDIT’s value angle is its easy cross-channel content management, underscored by a dynamic product UX. Users can manage content for both web and mobile in a single e-commerce-oriented CMS, with support for email and push notifications. Like you would expect, you can create, edit, schedule, and publish with real-time previewing and shareable links – not just for sites but for mobile apps as well.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:97.55%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/07/image-1753743388012.png" alt="A screenshot of a website

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure>Source: BILDIT website Like its peers, BILDIT also provides the permissions and governance you would expect from a performant CMS, allowing you to manage multi-user access and modular editing with streamlined approval and deployment inside the CMS. It also sports some tricked-out marketing capabilities, letting you create images, banners, recommendations, animations, and customized display configurations. This gives it even more content marketing power than the average CMS tool.From a composable perspective, BILDIT gives you discrete control over your mobile app or <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/nextjs">Next.js</a> site, allowing you to build out advanced content types to surface the right content to the right users at the right time with personalization and advanced targeting. When it comes to infusing your stack with more power, BILDIT also integrates with some of the top e-commerce platforms, from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/shopify">Shopify</a> to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/commercetools">commercetools</a>. This allows brands to expand functionality with best-of-breed products at their disposal. BILDIT is also helping to accelerate delivery. Having to wait weeks to launch on mobile or settle for out-of-the-box, generic solutions can translate into lost revenue opportunities. To combat this, BILDIT’s templating solution empowers marketing teams to execute with less complexity. Meanwhile, IT can focus on more advanced customizations within the CMS, allowing marketing teams to quickly deliver – without a deployment.Another cool thing: BILDIT provides both native mobile app and web storefront features to provide greater speed and simplicity, all geared towards improving conversions. They even have a reference app to provide a workable snapshot of how your finished app will unfold. All in all, they're endeavoring to make the journey easier for customers by enhancing their e-commerce and retail performance with greater control and simplicity.<h3 id="pricing">Pricing</h3>No big shocker, but price is becoming an even bigger factor within composable stacks as uncertainty continues to drag on the market. Both brands and agency partners are looking for smarter ways to reduce cost and complexity with high-performance stacks that deliver optimal results over the long haul. I like the general transparency that BILDIT provides with its pricing. It offers a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.bildit.co/pricing">range of packages</a>, from its ground-floor Launch Plan at $500/month, all the way up to a Pro Plan that clocks in at $11,000/month. The latter might seem hefty, but give it a good comparison to the TCO with other solutions, and it feels less intimidating. Cost is based on site visits, and each option sweetens the pot with additional features. There’s also an enterprise Scale Plan with custom options; that one requires a phone call. You can also get a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.bildit.co/app-and-web-cms">quick snapshot</a> of how BILDIT stacks up feature-wise to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/sanity-says-cmses-are-broken-is-its-content-operating-system-the-next-evolutionary-step">Sanity</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/adapt-thrive-contentstacks-contentcon25-energizes-attendees-with-an-ai-powered-vision">Contentstack</a>, and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/can-content-management-be-joyful-again-storyblok-labs-promises-fun-and-possibility-in-its-innovation-playground">Storyblok</a>. I highly recommend doing your homework on the specific details during your evaluation, particularly around your requirements. <h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>“BILDIT represents the new wave of MACH-native innovators,” said Kelly Goetsch. “They’ve solved the decades-old personalization problem in e-commerce.”Knowing just how elusive personalization has been, that seems like a big claim. But Kelly would know. Working on the front lines at commercetools, he’s amassed deep insight into the challenges brands face. His observation might be one of the key points of validation in BILDIT’s favor. That said, BILDIT has already established success with notable brands. For example, retail giant Belks saw a significant CVR and AOV lift by moving to BILDIT’s mobile app management platform. As for the FutureMACH Pitch Day competition, I think it’s a win. Making space to include new and early-stage ISVs should be a keystone tenet of the MACH community. This is not just an ecosystem for enterprise vendors. By providing critical resources from experienced partners like The BaaS Company – and even access to potential funding – the Alliance is giving these disruptors a vital boost to the next level. It's also a win-win-win all around. Participating startups gain vital visibility, even if they don't take home the top prize. VCs and investors get access to potentially disruptive technologies and co-investment plays, giving them a strategic edge. And MACH Alliance members also reap the benefits of expanding their networks, growing partnerships, and expanding their category leadership. If you missed out on the North American FutureMACH contest, there's an upcoming UK/Europe competition in Q4 of this year. You can get more details at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.machalliance.org/futuremach">www.machalliance.org/futuremach</a>.Get your pitching skills ready. I'll let Mr. Wonderful take it from here.  <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-bildit?-talk-to-an-expert.">Looking for guidance on BILDIT? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to an expert.</a></h4><hr /> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaSee Agility CMS at the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

BILDIT CMS Wins Inaugural MACH Alliance FutureMACH Pitch Day

The Sommelier of MACHtails: Sommsation’s Danielle Diliberti Uncorks Composability 

Hotjar - Spot what confuses

Spot what confuses your users with Hotjar & AI

#ffffff

<hr /> <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/ryan-breen">Ryan Breen</a> is CTO at Fastr, a digital experience composition platform built for e-commerce, and a CMS Critic Contributor. To differentiate, e-commerce businesses need to deliver the right content to the right audiences. But the “right content” and the “right audience” change every single day.That means you have to make data-optimized content changes at the same pace. That’s your minimum viable content velocity. But you’re stuck: meaningful content changes require developer intervention. AI, 2024's proposed solution to all velocity problems, only exacerbates this problem. It’s boosting the content creation pace across departments faster than speeding up developer release cycles.<h3 id="presentation-is-content">Presentation IS Content</h3>The traditional approach of minor tweaks – like adjusting copy or shuffling UI elements – barely scratches the surface. These changes are superficial, allowing for only cookie-cutter modifications. What we need goes deeper, demanding a radical shift in how content is presented. This is about more than aesthetics; it’s about structural transformation.Consider the scale of change required: the capability to serve entirely different layouts of your product detail page (PDP) to various audience segments. Take a case study where analytics reveal that users coming from search engines exhibit distinct shopping behaviors. They are more inclined to purchase related products than the specific SKU they initially viewed. The logical move? Experiment by altering the PDP layout for these users, placing related products prominently at the top, instead of their usual position below the fold.This approach isn’t about making a single change. It’s about the ability to test a multitude of visual treatments – 5, 10, even 20 variations – to pinpoint what truly engages your audience. And this testing isn’t static; it evolves daily, adapting in real time to the insights gathered.<h3 id="the-ai-productivity-paradox">The AI Productivity Paradox</h3>The advent of AI in business operations presents a profound challenge I call the “AI Productivity Paradox.” On the surface, AI technologies promise significant productivity gains across the board. Marketing and e-commerce teams are leveraging AI to generate a flood of innovative ideas, scaling their creative output to levels previously unimaginable. Imagine this: 20 individuals in e-commerce and marketing now produce 200 times as many viable, impactful ideas each day as they did last year, thanks to AI tools at their disposal.To put this into perspective, consider the equation: (A) the number of ideas generated by the team, times (B) number of target audience segments, compounded by (C) the multiple variants you need to test to get a strong signalIf A is now 200 and B and C are anything above 0, a development team is now staring down the barrel of a combinatorial explosion of demands. A neverending, ever-growing influx of content change initiatives that must be handled with no latency.At the same time, every other part of the business was already waiting on development for site updates. It’s not like development teams anywhere match a business's needs for velocity. Now, this explosion of creative output from e-commerce and marketing teams – amplified by AI – will blow open an ever-widening gap in productivity.This disparity is not just a logistical headache; it’s a strategic bottleneck that stifles innovation, slowing down the essential process of testing and learning. Without a shift towards more scalable, developer-independent systems for executing these ideas, the promise of AI-enhanced productivity is a bottleneck – not a breakthrough.<h3 id="speed-wins">Speed Wins</h3>In today’s e-commerce landscape, agility goes beyond making superficial tweaks with ease (and, sorry, your CTA text is superficial). Agility is about enabling immediate, profound shifts in how content engages and converts. Traditional approaches, marked by delays and developer bottlenecks, miss the rapid pace at which market trends evolve. All content must adapt as fluidly as consumer preferences and market dynamics do, unencumbered by the grindingly slow human latency of development time.And no: clunky, semantically void page builder components aren’t a solution. Their limited scope and bulky controls make them cookie-cutter templates with more steps. Today, we’re giving marketers components like a “carousel with 4 images.” Turning that into a labyrinth of dropdowns so they can spend hours composing a “carousel with 4 images” component into a “carousel with 4 images grouped vertically on desktop but not on mobile and with a translucency effect on hover on desktop” isn’t going to get us where we need to go.Instead, we envision a future where developers empower e-commerce, marketing, and AI tools with the capability to design every pixel of the Product Detail Page (PDP) and sculpt every underlying interaction. This isn’t about providing a bigger box of basic tools; it’s about handing over the keys to the entire workshop. In this new world, developers focus on creating sophisticated, flexible environments that offer total creative control – environments where non-technical teams can intuitively design, test, and refine every aspect of the e-commerce experience without compromise.By stepping away from the bottleneck and repositioning themselves as enablers, developers unlock the full potential of their colleagues in e-commerce and marketing. This shift is critical. It’s about equipping those closest to the customer with the means to apply their insights and ideas directly, in real time, without the mediation of cumbersome, limiting tools.This is how we get something more than pain and dashed hopes from our AI investments.This is how we overcome the AI Productivity Paradox. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-conferences">Upcoming conferences</h3> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-connect-2024-logo.png" alt="CMS Connect 24 logo" /><h4 id="cms-connect-24"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect24">CMS Connect 24</a></h4>August 6-7, 2024 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present our first annual summer edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community. Join us this August in Montreal, Canada, for a vendor-neutral conference focused on CMS. Tired of impersonal and overwhelming gatherings? Picture this event as a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 25</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, so secure your tickets today.

How to Free Your e-Commerce Business from the AI Productivity Paradox

ryan-breen

<hr /> There's no question that speed can be the deciding factor when it comes to e-commerce and digital retail. There's more to it than that, but the buck generally stops when the clock hops.Precious seconds count, so it's no wonder why brands are seeking new ways to accelerate and optimize their e-commerce properties. That's why platforms like <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/fastr">Fastr</a> exist: to raise the bar for online shopping experiences and deliver more sales. As a frontend service, Fastr seamlessly combines a rich set of design tools with intuitive orchestration capabilities, giving marketers, merchandisers, and creatives more control over their e-commerce sites – as well as the freedom to experiment at scale. We've spoken previously to <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/fastr-accelerates-ecommerce-optimization-with-adaptive-ai">Ryan Breen</a>, the company's Chief Technology Officer, about Fastr's investment in a built-in, brand-aware AI assistant. This tool – along with other novel features – are helping teams to rapidly create, deploy, and optimize dynamic shopping experiences without the challenging reliance on developers. All of this innovation is strengthening the SaaS company's position in the super-charged e-commerce landscape.Over the last year, Fastr has evolved on several fronts. The company's new identity emerged from the <a target="_blank" href="https://publicatorcommunity.zmags.com/hc/en-us">Zmags</a> corporate umbrella (it was previously a product under the moniker of “Fastr Frontend”). Zmags is known for its Publicator digital catalog solution and Creator Studio software. The company also acquired <a target="_blank" href="https://www.beapartof.com/">Be A Part Of</a> – an award-winning agency – last year. Now, Fastr is hitting the gas pedal on growth, which includes the appointment of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmurdock/">John Murdock</a> as its new Chief Executive Officer. As the company's press release points out, the move reflects Fastr's commitment to innovation and growth as it focuses on global brands and retailers seeking to “revolutionize their e-commerce presence.”“As I step into the role of CEO at Fastr, I am filled with optimism for the future of our company and the e-commerce landscape as a whole," said Murdock. "Together with our dedicated team, we will not only embrace the opportunities presented by the evolving market landscape but also strive to shape its trajectory. I am excited about the incredible journey ahead and the chance to work collaboratively to unlock new possibilities for Fastr and our valued community of partners and clients." <h3 id="proven-technology-pedigree-and-success">Proven technology pedigree and success</h3>Murdock brings 30 years of technology sales and operations experience to his new role. Before joining Fastr, he served as CEO at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.centage.com/">Centage</a>, an FP&amp;A software platform provider. He also spent 7 years at Juniper Networks, holding a myriad of sales director roles. According to the press release, Murdock's expertise lies in scaling organizations through strategic process shifts and building high-performing teams to drive customer success and organizational efficiency. With Fastr, he is squarely focused on profitable growth.  “Fastr has already established itself as a trusted partner for companies navigating the ever-evolving digital landscape,” said Murdock. “I’m thrilled to be leading a team that has earned the admiration of industry leaders, and excited to take Fastr into the future where it will be the go-to provider for all companies seeking cutting-edge e-commerce solutions.” Breen also emphasized the significance of Murdock joining the organization at this critical juncture for the business.“John’s leadership comes at a time when we are redoubling our efforts to fortify our technology for the enterprise, incorporating cutting-edge advancements like artificial intelligence, and introducing new functionalities and service packages that will elevate Fastr's value proposition," he stated. "His arrival marks a milestone in our journey towards greater maturity as an organization, and we look forward to the incredible advancements and innovations that will define this chapter of Fastr’s story.” <h3 id="leveraging-product-innovation-to-drive-growth">Leveraging product innovation to drive growth</h3>Along with advancements in AI and other features, Fastr recently achieved SOC-2, Type 2 compliance, which the company sees as a boon to its growth prospects. Continuing with this trend of milestones, Murdock promises a big year of product enhancements for Fastr’s enterprise solutions. This includes:<ul><li>Fastr Frontend: designed for digital experience composition and experimentation</li><li>Publicator: built for premium digital catalog creation</li><li>MINIBC: offering subscription and payment management for <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/bigcommerce">BigCommerce</a>-powered stores</li></ul>Fastr is aiming to make a big market impact in the coming months, starting with its participation at <a target="_blank" href="https://etailwest.wbresearch.com/">eTail West</a> from February 26th to 29th. The company will also attend other key industry events, including <a target="_blank" href="https://shoptalk.com/us">ShopTalk</a> and the <a target="_blank" href="https://commercenext.com/">CommerceNext Ecommerce Growth Show</a> later this year. These engagements reflect Fastr's goal of staying at the forefront of industry trends and building lasting partnerships.  <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-conferences">Upcoming conferences</h3> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-connect-2024-logo.png" alt="CMS Connect 24 logo" /><h4 id="cms-connect-24"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect24">CMS Connect 24</a></h4>August 6-7, 2024 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present our first annual summer edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community. Join us this August in Montreal, Canada, for a vendor-neutral conference focused on CMS. Tired of impersonal and overwhelming gatherings? Picture this event as a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 25</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, so secure your tickets today.

Fastr Appoints New CEO John Murdock, Accelerates Plans for Growth and Innovation

<hr /> This week, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/proventus/">Proventus AS</a> announced the release of <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/relatude">Relatude 7</a>, the latest version of its signature <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">content management system (CMS)</a> and e-commerce platform. According to the company's <a target="_blank" href="https://relatude.com/proventus-announces-the-release-of-relatude-7-the-innovative-cms-and-e-commerce-platform">press release</a>, the update includes an array of advanced AI features and <a target="_blank" href="https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/7.0">.NET 7</a> support, which builds on Relatude's previous traction in both areas. “Relatude 7 is an important release,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/olegulbrandsen/">Ole Gulbrandsen</a>, Director of Relatude at Proventus. "Relatude has been a pioneer in AI usage in content management and E-commerce for a long time. The previous AI usage in Relatude has mostly been focused on images and related content due to previous limitations in AI technology. With this release, we have developed a range of new features mainly focused on text, to take advantage of the power of modern Large Language Models (like <a target="_blank" href="https://openai.com/">ChatGTP</a>). <h3>Expanding to include .NET 7 support</h3>Based on the company's roadmap, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/proventus-as-announces-release-of-relatude-cms-and-e-commerce-version-6">Relatude 6</a> added cross-platform .NET support. In this latest release, the company has expanded this to include .NET 7, which offers new features and improved performance to the .NET platform. According to Relatude, .NET 7 is the fastest mainstream web framework on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.techempower.com/benchmarks/#hw=ph&amp;test=fortune&amp;section=data-r22">TechEmpower benchmark</a>. The performance translates into flexibility – something the company prioritizes and values.<h3>Introducing Relatude Copilot</h3>To help editors take advantage of its new AI functionality, Relatude 7 provides a new AI companion called Relatude Copilot. The feature helps users rewrite, formulate, edit, and summarize text – as well as generate illustrations and images as part of their workflow. Now, as the company notes, “boring” and often forgotten tasks – like writing meta descriptions – can be done with the click of a button.<h3>Semantic search and vector database</h3>As Relatude points out, text comparison has long been a primary method for performing search, scouring words and sentences for matches in a text-based search index. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wwt.com/event/648339fe1e871d454275b5af?utm_campaign=ao_ai_and_data_wwt2324_event_experts_aditya_llm_ps_1_search&amp;utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_content&amp;gad=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiA6byqBhAWEiwAnGCA4Ewt27CptGHR18H4Ob3fQjcz8JU3xO48tSAviyc2uLPfhpL0A5q_UxoC3QUQAvD_BwE">Large Language Models (LLMs)</a> now make it possible to locate content that has a similar meaning – and not just by comparing text. This allows for an enhanced search experience for users. Relatude 7 is shipping with a semantic search engine powered by its vector database, giving users a more advanced AI tool for conducting search. “While most of our competitors are also bringing out AI features based on LLMs, we have gone deeper and developed our own vector database and semantic search engine,” explained Gulbrandsen. "These advanced AI features are deeply integrated with the content in Relatude. This allows our partners to deliver cutting-edge AI web projects at lower costs than the competition.”<h3>Improved AI image features</h3>Relatude has been delivering powerful image API and image editor capabilities for the last few years. This image functionality has been relying on AI technology, establishing Relatude as an early adopter and innovator in the AI race. “The new AI technologies have also improved our imaging features," said Gulbrandsen. ”Due to our cooperation with <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/microsoft-sharepoint">Microsoft</a>, we have had early access to Azure <a target="_blank" href="https://openai.com/research/gpt-4">OpenAI GTP4</a>. This has been very beneficial and an important factor in why we can offer such advanced AI functionality now."In this release, most of the platform's AI functionality has been upgraded, providing AI operations that deliver faster performance with better quality.<h3>More on the horizon with Relatude 8</h3>According to the company, Relatude 8 is already in the advanced stages of development, and it is planned to be released around the end of the year.

Proventus Releases Relatude 7, Adds AI and .NET 7 Features to CMS and E-Commerce Platform

Last week, Portland-headquartered <a href="https://www.sheerid.com/shoppers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SheerID</a> announced a new partnership with composable commerce vendor <a href="https://commercetools.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commercetools</a>. The goal: help merchants create better personalization and more relevant offers and promotions for consumers based on identified customer segmentation.
“Our partnership with SheerID further demonstrates our commitment to providing our merchants with access to market-leading technologies,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellygoetsch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kelly Goetsch</a>, chief strategy officer at commercetools. “We look forward to working together to help merchants sell more, grow faster, and create meaningful connections that build customer engagement and loyalty.”
<h2>SheerID gets personal</h2>
SheerID operates what it calls a “digital verification engine.” With more than 20,000 authoritative data sources, the system helps to instantly verify eligible customers for offers they qualify for.
With brands like <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/andy-jassy-amazons-new-ceo-signals-bold-future-for-loud-and-digital-experiences/">Amazon</a>, Spotify, and T-Mobile already on the verification platform, SheerID boasts their customers have received three times the conversion of their typical campaigns when utilizing the verification platform.
“Our strategic partnership with commercetools enables the company’s merchants to access our audience verification service, driving significant business outcomes,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakeweatherly/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jake Weatherly</a>, chief executive officer at SheerID. “Providing offers to valuable consumer communities like students, teachers, and healthcare professionals is a proven strategy to drive immediate sales. In the cookieless future, online merchants increasingly rely on privacy-compliant, zero-party data marketing solutions like this to drive consumer acquisition, retention, and loyalty.”
<h2>Heading headless with commercetools</h2>
The partnership with commercetools – a <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-headless-commerce-platforms/">leading headless commerce platform</a> and member of the <a href="https://machalliance.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MACH Alliance</a> – was a natural fit for SheerID to improve customer segmentation. More integrations like SheerID and commercetools could be likely in the future as companies embrace the headless commerce structure, allowing for greater flexibility and more software offerings.
“The integration was conceived with MACH principles in mind,” said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyvanags/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Andy Vanags</a>, global director of retail technologies and marketplace partnerships at SheerID. “Companies will be able to flexibly set up SheerID with their existing frontend e-commerce systems and DXP, CDP, and marketing automation systems. With our supporting documentation and sample open-source code, a merchant's developer or system integrator can easily leverage the verified customer data to create custom promotions, feed the loyalty system and/or personalize the site experience. Companies are only limited by their imagination!”
<h2>About commercetools</h2>
The inventor of headless commerce, <a href="https://commercetools.com/?utm_source=press_release&amp;utm_medium=announcement&amp;utm_campaign=publicis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commercetools</a> is an innovative technology disruptor that has established itself as an industry-leading eCommerce software provider. Today, some of the world’s most iconic brands and growth-focused businesses trust commercetools’ powerful, flexible, scalable solutions to support their ever-evolving digital commerce needs. As the visionaries leading the modern MACH (Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native and Headless) architecture movement, commercetools provides customers with the agility to innovate and iterate on the fly, merge on and off-line channels, drive higher revenue, and future-proof their eCommerce business.
<h2>About SheerID</h2>
SheerID is the global leader in identity marketing. With SheerID, brands identify and acquire customers from highly valued consumer communities — such as the military, students, teachers, first responders, and more — with personalized offers, gated by instant verification from the largest set of authoritative data worldwide. SheerID verifies over 2.5 billion people via 20,000 authoritative data sources; provides global insights from hundreds of the world’s leading brands, and never shares or sells customer data. As a result, the world’s biggest brands — including Amazon, Home Depot, Spotify, and T-Mobile — rely on SheerID as their identity marketing partner. Founded in 2011, SheerID is backed by Fortson VC, Brighton Park Capital, Centana Growth Partners, Voyager Capital, and CVC Growth Partners. For more information, please visit <a href="https://www.sheerid.com/business/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SheerID</a> or follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/SheerID" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/sheerid/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LinkedIn</a>, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SheerIDdotcom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a>.

SheerID and commercetools Form Partnership to Provide More Personalization and Better Offers for Consumers

mk-patterson

Last week, the MACH Alliance announced the addition of three new members to the organization: Adyen, Commerce Layer, and Pipe17. With these new members, as well as naming <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/google-cloud-joins-mach-alliance-as-enabler-member/">Google Cloud</a> an Enabler member earlier this month, the MACH Alliance now boasts <a href="https://machalliance.org/members" target="_blank" rel="noopener">74 total members</a>.
<h2>Adyen: an A+ choice for financial tech</h2>
The Netherlands-based financial technology company, <a href="https://www.adyen.com/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adyen</a>, was the first added to the MACH Alliance roster last week. Adyen’s all-star list of clients includes Facebook, H&amp;M, Uber, and Microsoft, with a specialization in providing end-to-end payment options and financial products in one solution.
“Joining the MACH Alliance is a natural move for us, as our success hinges on the strength and flexibility of our digital backbone, of which MACH solutions are foundational,” said Brian McDonnell, Senior Vice President, Partnerships at Adyen. “Unified commerce for retailers and other players in the fintech space wouldn’t be possible with legacy technology. We believe the MACH framework is the standard that will change the game for how businesses connect, transact and grow.”
<h2>Commerce Layer provides ready-to-use headless commerce experiences</h2>
<a href="https://commercelayer.io/why" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Commerce Layer</a>, an Italy-based, API-first, headless commerce platform, helps customers scale their businesses for almost any commerce channel in any market. Commerce Layer utilizes a set of “ready-to-use micro frontends that allow you to quickly create a headless commerce site without compromising the flexibility and the uniqueness of your brand.”
They also focus on commerce, merchandising, and product discovery rather than content and catalog management.
Occupying MACH principles, Commerce Layer promotes composable, headless commerce and offers customers a “clean separation of commerce and content,” which helps developers design and build efficient and clean shopping experiences.
<h2>Pipe17 offers operations ease from initial sale to delivery</h2>
Seattle-based <a href="https://pipe17.com/why-pipe17/overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pipe17</a> is an API-first e-commerce integration operations platform that helps customers simplify the workflow of orders from the point of sale to fulfillment obligations.
As opposed to just focusing on quick and scalable e-commerce solutions, Pipe17 uses composable technology to connect inventory data, as well as shipping and fulfillment services, which help companies keep the same tempo from sale to delivery. They promise users improved sales, smoother integrations, greater visibility for consumers post-checkout and easy accessibility for developers.
<h2>MACH Growth at MACH Speed</h2>
Since the MACH Alliance formed in June 2020, the organization has had a stringent process for accepting new members based on principles aligned with MACH (microservices, API-first, cloud-native SaaS and headless). With the goal of “future proofing enterprise technology,” each organization must embrace MACH architecture in order to be accepted. With growth increasing from 15 organizations at the launch of the MACH Alliance to now almost 75, companies are taking note of the benefits of early adoption of these principles, compared to other monolithic enterprises. With four new additions already in the first month of 2023, <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/8-cms-trends-to-watch-in-2023-from-mach-to-metaverse/">we anticipate seeing even more adoption of MACH principles and growth for the MACH Alliance continuing for the rest of the year</a>.
<h2>About the MACH Alliance</h2>
The MACH Alliance is a [501(c)(6)] non-profit organization, governed by an independent board and does not endorse specific vendors, members or otherwise. The Alliance was formed in June 2020 to help enterprise organizations navigate the complex modern technology landscape. It aims to guide and show the business advantage of open tech ecosystems that are Microservices based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS and Headless. All MACH Alliance members meet certification principles that are published on the website.
The MACH Alliance welcomes technology companies and individual industry experts who share the same vision for the future. Learn more at <a href="http://machalliance.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">machalliance.org</a>, read here about MACH certification and follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/machalliance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/machalliance/posts/?feedView=all" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LinkedIn</a>.

Adyen, Commerce Layer and Pipe17 Named Newest Members of MACH Alliance

It’s happened to all of us: an online ad piques our interest in an item, and suddenly we’re debating a purchase.
Then, you link to the product’s <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/netlify-to-host-headless-commerce-summit-for-talks-on-building-world-class-e-commerce-experiences/">e-commerce</a> store, only to find that it’s slow, unresponsive, or just bad. You refresh a few times and pray for a digital miracle. Maybe you browse a bit, holding your nose. But if you’re like many people, you give up and head to a competitor's site.
Many outside factors can impact an online purchase decision. Even if an item is lucky enough to make it to a cart, it’s frequently left for dead. You could chalk some of this up to pre-buyer’s remorse or other real-world distractions, but a new study from <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/netlify-to-host-headless-commerce-summit-for-talks-on-building-world-class-e-commerce-experiences/">Storyblok</a> – a <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-free-headless-cms-platforms/">headless CMS</a> provider – suggests that poor website design could be the culprit.
According to the company’s survey published this week, 60% of consumers estimated that on average, they abandon five purchases per year just due to poor website performance.
Five purchases may not seem like a lot, but collectively it adds up to billions in unrealized revenue, all due to a less-than-stellar website experience.
<h2>Bad websites mean big business losses</h2>
As Einstein once theorized, time = money. Or was that <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/350999364678568583/" target="_blank">Gary Larson</a>?
Time is indeed the enemy of all websites, particularly those with transactional e-commerce experiences. It starts with performance, and according to the <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/lighthouse/blipmdconlkpinefehnmjammfjpmpbjk?hl=en" target="_blank">Lighthouse</a> keepers at Google, pages should ideally load on mobile and desktop in <a href="https://seattlewebsearch.com/2020/11/your-website-needs-to-be-faster-than-3-seconds/" target="_blank">less than three seconds</a>.
Storyblok’s study takes the time conundrum a step further, digging into a user’s behavior on a web page and how the design experience might further impact their likelihood of sticking around. Based on the survey, 42% of participants said they decide whether to remain on a page in less than 10 seconds, while 20% decide in less than five. That means websites don’t have a lot of time to impress shoppers and convert interest into purchases.
And what about those “extra” features some sites make a point to have? Well, put earmuffs on those chatbots because ease of navigation, faster loading speeds, and a simple web design matter a lot more to shoppers.
“Consumers want easy-to-navigate, intuitively designed, and fast-loading websites,” said Storyblok CEO and co-founder <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominikangerer/" target="_blank">Dominik Angerer</a>. “However, a lot of e-commerce websites are falling short. Five purchases per shopper in missed sales may not seem like a lot, but when you scale this up to the number of potential new customers businesses are missing out on, it becomes a very significant amount of money.”
<h2>Avoiding “website embarrassment”</h2>
A great UI/UX can significantly impact a website’s <a href="https://raoinformationtechnology.com/blog/importance-of-ui-ux-design-for-your-website/#:~:text=A%20high%2Dquality%20UI%2FUX,brand's%20offered%20items%20and%20services." target="_blank">trust and credibility</a>. That’s why leading brands invest significantly in design and usability testing, as well as enhancing accessibility to ensure digital equality.
Still, getting the digital gum off your shoes can prove daunting in a world littered with bad UX. Let’s say a consumer actually decides to proceed with a purchase on a poorly functioning website. It turns out that experience still gives them the “ick”– and they would rather forget about it.
According to Storyblok’s survey, 42% of Americans and 18% of Europeans revealed that on at least one occasion, they were too embarrassed to say where they purchased a product – all because the website was so poorly designed.
Maybe we call this… digital shame?
Kudos to Storyblok for uncovering this data point, which is both entertaining and alarming. All jokes aside, any company that might be the target of this shame isn’t just missing out on sales – it's damaging the reputation of its brand.
<h2>Leveraging headless CMS and composable commerce to improve website experiences</h2>
As talk elevates around a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/02/business/global-recession-fears-explained/index.html" target="_blank">looming economic recession</a>, online shopping continues to be the gem in an otherwise rusting crown of retail. Outlooks are still trending upward, with 23% of those surveyed anticipating more holiday purchases online this year. Meanwhile, 51% of respondents are planning to make the same number of online purchases as last year.
To meet the shifting demands of online consumers, Storyblok sees technology as a key activator for improving the digital experience in an omnichannel world. This is crystallized by the rise of composable commerce and the need to meet consumers anywhere, anytime, on any device or form factor.
“Additional functionality is still an important factor in attracting customers, but it’s critical to get the basics right first,” said Angerer. “For example, by investing in a headless, composable commerce tech infrastructure, companies can set the foundation for a great, fast-performing user experience.” 
<h2>Shopping in a metaverse marketplace</h2>
<a href="https://www.solodev.com/metaverse/" target="_blank">The metaverse</a> has become all the rage in 2022, with leading brands investing heavily in AR/VR strategies – particularly when it comes to e-commerce. According to Storyblok’s survey, transactions in virtual and augmented reality environments might be gathering more attention.
In fact, 42% of respondents said they would be encouraged to make more purchases with an AR or VR experience. Surprisingly, that percentage rose to a whopping 57% when filtered to the U.S. market. That’s big news for retailers who are struggling to find new opportunities for growth.
The results of this study echo what we’ve heard over and over for years: consumers don’t just want products. They want experiences – and giving them what they want isn’t as hard as it might seem. New features aside, brands that provide a great UX with an easy-to-use, easy-to-navigate website and an abundance of payment options will make it hard for shoppers to say no, even if the storefront is in a virtual world. 
If e-commerce sites can KISS (keep it simple, stupid) and make up with shoppers, they’ll likely feel less “ick” at the bottom line. And investing in quality design and the right technology stack – including <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/the-future-is-composable-a-conversation-with-new-mach-alliance-president-casper-rasmussen/">composable, MACH-ready solutions</a> – can help keep the gum off everyone’s shoes.
<h2>About Storyblok</h2>
Storyblok is a headless CMS that enables developers and marketers to deliver powerful content experiences on any digital platform. Developers create flexible components that are independently managed by content teams through a collaborative visual editor and customizable workflow. Published content is delivered through an API, so changes are made once and will appear everywhere: websites, mobile, IoT, the metaverse, and beyond. This approach reduces maintenance and makes content management more efficient. Leading brands such as Adidas, Renault, and Marc O’Polo use Storyblok to manage and share their content with the world. Storyblok was named the #1 CMS for 2022 by G2.
 
<a href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff23/program" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/12/cms-kickoff-2023-banner-1024x151.jpg" alt="CMS Kickoff 2023 banner" /></a>
<h2>Join CMS Industry Leaders, Digital Agencies, and Users at CMS Kickoff 2023</h2>
January 17-18 in St. Petersburg, FL
Don't miss the only conference tailored for everyone working with content management systems, from beginners to experts! Featuring two packed days with a carefully curated mixture of talks, workshops, activities, world-class facilitators, thought provokers, speakers, and session leads. Mingle with CMS experts, system integrators, and users from around the globe at this exclusive event in beautiful St. Petersburg. 
Register today at the <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff23/program" target="_blank">CMS Kickoff 2023 website</a>.

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