Retail 2.0

API Management

Christmas is coming: Will you be where your customers are?

Retail 2.0 and why you need an API Strategy now

No matter the month – for those of us in the Retail or eCommerce business – the Christmas peak is always coming. But Christmas 2010 could mark the beginning of a rapid transaction to where a majority of customers reach retailers through online channels ‘beyond the browser’ – with iPads, Tivos or Android apps, or on Facebook or Twitter. And with 10 billion new connected internet devices to be sold over the next decade, and social and location-based apps as the next ‘must have’ killer apps, perhaps very soon this is where most of your customers will be found. But retail is a tough business – low margins and budgets, long and complex planning timelines, and often cautious adoption of new tech. Does this mean that established retail and ecommerce businesses need to cede this new frontier to startups? Absolutely not. Mobile, social, and ‘cloud computing’ channels are well suited to an approach that enables agility by empowering partners and developers to innovate with applications that access your core data and services via Web services, or Web APIs (application programming interface). This paper discusses how retailers and ecommerce providers can execute on an API strategy to built new audience, revenue, and accelerate innovation ‘beyond the browser’ to the new API-driven channels where our customers will be this Christmas and beyond.