Oracle - Mirakl Survey Spring/Summer 2020

Thank you for participating in the Oracle/Mirakl sponsored online-sellers survey. Your input is very valuable to us and will help us determine what initiatives sellers are undertaking to address the growing needs of their customers, especially in an age of accelerated digital transformation driven by COVID-19.

As we mentioned in the email, as a thank you for filling out the survey we are pleased to provide you with the following:

When the results of the research are published, each respondent who completed this survey will be emailed a copy of the complete research report.

All respondents will be entered in a drawing for one of 5 Visa gift cards ($25 each).

Winners of the gift cards will be notified by email after this survey closes in August 2020.

Please note: At the end of the survey we ask you for your name and email address so we can reach out to you about the survey or to notify you if you have won one of the gift cards. The Oracle/Mirakl Research Team will not use your information for any purpose beyond the scope of this survey.

Thank you for your time and input.

The Oracle/Mirakl Research Team

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* 1. How important is having a direct relationship with an end-user customer, versus having an indirect relationship with that customer via a partner?

Not important to our success

Somewhat important to our success

Very important to our success

Critical to our success

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* 2. Looking forward 3 years, how important do you expect these direct relationships with end-user customers to be?

Not important to our success

Somewhat important to our success

Very important to our success

Critical to our success

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* 3. Please describe how mature your strategy is for competing with marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba:

No strategy in place

Early planning stages

Final planning stages

Early implementation

Late stage implementation/already in place

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* 4. What initiatives are you undertaking to improve your product catalog? (Select all that apply)

Expanding first-party categories by bringing in new stocked inventory

Inquiring about range extension through catalogs of existing suppliers

Exploring vendor managed inventory solutions, such as drop shipping

Implementing an online marketplace with offerings from third-party sellers

None of the above

Other (please specify)

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* 5. What impact do you believe online marketplaces such as Amazon and Alibaba have had on your business?

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* 6. To what extent does external channel conflict (selling with partners, resellers and other intermediaries, etc.) affect your strategy?

Not an issue at all

Presents a slight challenge

Presents a moderate challenge

Presents a significant challenge

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* 7. Currently, to what extent do your customers configure products / services on their own versus ordering standard, "off the shelf" items?

Very few items are configured

Some items are configured, but most are standard items

Roughly the same number of items are configured vs. standard

Somewhat more items are configured than standard

Far more configured vs. standard

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* 8. Looking forward 3 years, to what extent do you expect your customers will configure products / services on their own versus ordering standard, "off the shelf" items?

Expect very few items will be configured

Expect some items will be configured, but most are standard items

Expect roughly the same number of items will be configured vs standard

Expect more items will be configured than standard

Expect far more configured vs standard

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* 9. How important are each of the following features/offerings to your digital selling efforts?

	Don’t Know	Not Important at all	Somewhat Important	Very Important
Subscriptions - automatic recurring orders	Subscriptions - automatic recurring orders Don’t Know	Subscriptions - automatic recurring orders Not Important at all	Subscriptions - automatic recurring orders Somewhat Important	Subscriptions - automatic recurring orders Very Important
Recommendations	Recommendations Don’t Know	Recommendations Not Important at all	Recommendations Somewhat Important	Recommendations Very Important
Ratings/Reviews	Ratings/Reviews Don’t Know	Ratings/Reviews Not Important at all	Ratings/Reviews Somewhat Important	Ratings/Reviews Very Important
Personalized content	Personalized content Don’t Know	Personalized content Not Important at all	Personalized content Somewhat Important	Personalized content Very Important
Price optimization	Price optimization Don’t Know	Price optimization Not Important at all	Price optimization Somewhat Important	Price optimization Very Important
IoT - Internet of Things (automatic replenishment)	IoT - Internet of Things (automatic replenishment) Don’t Know	IoT - Internet of Things (automatic replenishment) Not Important at all	IoT - Internet of Things (automatic replenishment) Somewhat Important	IoT - Internet of Things (automatic replenishment) Very Important
Chat Bots/Digital Assistants	Chat Bots/Digital Assistants Don’t Know	Chat Bots/Digital Assistants Not Important at all	Chat Bots/Digital Assistants Somewhat Important	Chat Bots/Digital Assistants Very Important
AR (Augmented Reality)/VR (Virtual Reality)	AR (Augmented Reality)/VR (Virtual Reality) Don’t Know	AR (Augmented Reality)/VR (Virtual Reality) Not Important at all	AR (Augmented Reality)/VR (Virtual Reality) Somewhat Important	AR (Augmented Reality)/VR (Virtual Reality) Very Important

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 10. Looking forward 3 years, how important do you expect these features/offerings to be to your digital selling efforts?

	Don’t Know	Not Important at all	Somewhat Important	Very Important
Subscriptions - automatic recurring orders	Subscriptions - automatic recurring orders Don’t Know	Subscriptions - automatic recurring orders Not Important at all	Subscriptions - automatic recurring orders Somewhat Important	Subscriptions - automatic recurring orders Very Important
Recommendations	Recommendations Don’t Know	Recommendations Not Important at all	Recommendations Somewhat Important	Recommendations Very Important
Ratings/Reviews	Ratings/Reviews Don’t Know	Ratings/Reviews Not Important at all	Ratings/Reviews Somewhat Important	Ratings/Reviews Very Important
Personalized content	Personalized content Don’t Know	Personalized content Not Important at all	Personalized content Somewhat Important	Personalized content Very Important
Price optimization	Price optimization Don’t Know	Price optimization Not Important at all	Price optimization Somewhat Important	Price optimization Very Important
IoT - Internet of Things (automatic replenishment)	IoT - Internet of Things (automatic replenishment) Don’t Know	IoT - Internet of Things (automatic replenishment) Not Important at all	IoT - Internet of Things (automatic replenishment) Somewhat Important	IoT - Internet of Things (automatic replenishment) Very Important
Chat Bots/Digital Assistants	Chat Bots/Digital Assistants Don’t Know	Chat Bots/Digital Assistants Not Important at all	Chat Bots/Digital Assistants Somewhat Important	Chat Bots/Digital Assistants Very Important
AR (Augmented Reality)/VR (Virtual Reality)	AR (Augmented Reality)/VR (Virtual Reality) Don’t Know	AR (Augmented Reality)/VR (Virtual Reality) Not Important at all	AR (Augmented Reality)/VR (Virtual Reality) Somewhat Important	AR (Augmented Reality)/VR (Virtual Reality) Very Important

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 11. Which of these common barriers to pursuing initiatives do you believe compromise your buyer experience? (Select your top 3)

Unscalable/Antiquated system architecture

Lack of executive management support

Insufficient technology team resources

Insufficient business team resources

Poor back office systems

Cannot support required data structure

Other (please specify)

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* 12. Please specify your company’s pursuit of Headless Commerce (separating front-end customer facing development from back-end systems development) as part of your Ecommerce strategy/roadmap?

Not on our radar

Currently being considered

Planned/In process

Already in place

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* 13. Please identify your use of Content Management platforms (CMS, WCM, DXP etc.) as part of a Headless commerce initiative:

No Plans to implement

Being considered for implementation

Already in process of being implemented

Functionality is in place

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* 14. Please describe how advanced your use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is in the following areas:

	Don't Know	Just Beginning	Not Started	Somewhat Advanced	Very Advanced
Enhanced site search	Enhanced site search Don't Know	Enhanced site search Just Beginning	Enhanced site search Not Started	Enhanced site search Somewhat Advanced	Enhanced site search Very Advanced
Personalized content	Personalized content Don't Know	Personalized content Just Beginning	Personalized content Not Started	Personalized content Somewhat Advanced	Personalized content Very Advanced
Price optimization	Price optimization Don't Know	Price optimization Just Beginning	Price optimization Not Started	Price optimization Somewhat Advanced	Price optimization Very Advanced
Product recommendations	Product recommendations Don't Know	Product recommendations Just Beginning	Product recommendations Not Started	Product recommendations Somewhat Advanced	Product recommendations Very Advanced
Identifying changing market trends	Identifying changing market trends Don't Know	Identifying changing market trends Just Beginning	Identifying changing market trends Not Started	Identifying changing market trends Somewhat Advanced	Identifying changing market trends Very Advanced
Adapting to changing buyer trends	Adapting to changing buyer trends Don't Know	Adapting to changing buyer trends Just Beginning	Adapting to changing buyer trends Not Started	Adapting to changing buyer trends Somewhat Advanced	Adapting to changing buyer trends Very Advanced
Inventory forecasting	Inventory forecasting Don't Know	Inventory forecasting Just Beginning	Inventory forecasting Not Started	Inventory forecasting Somewhat Advanced	Inventory forecasting Very Advanced

Other (please specify)

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* 15. What standard commerce features do you consider to be “table stakes” for a viable commerce site?

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* 16. In your own words, please describe the biggest technology hurdle you face in delivering an excellent customer experience:

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* 17. To what extent are buyers asking you (the seller) for a broader selection?

Never

Sometimes

Frequently

Always

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* 18. Looking forward 3 years, To what extent will buyers ask you (the seller) for a broader selection?

Never

Sometimes

Frequently

Always

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* 19. Please describe how significantly COVID-19 will affect your business in 2020:

Not at all

Slightly

Moderately

Significantly

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* 20. Looking forward 3 years, how significantly will Covid-19 have changed your business?

Not at all

Slightly

Moderately

Significantly

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* 21. Do you currently operate a marketplace?

Yes