KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 15): The strategic importance of digital commerce continues to grow, and it is set to dominate chief marketing officers' (CMOs) growth priorities.

In its recent Digital Commerce Survey, technology research and consulting firm Gartner Inc said 86% of surveyed leaders reported that digital commerce will be the most important route to market over the next two years.

It said CMOs will feel the pressure to sustain performance and deliver incremental results, even as customer preferences and behaviours continue to evolve in the direction of a “hybrid” mix of digital self-service and in-person experiences.

Gartner said rapid acceleration of digital commerce growth had created a challenging outlook for year-on-year performance in 2022 as the Covid-19 pandemic wanes.

It said despite 79% of organisations outperforming targets, only 27% of digital commerce leaders exceeded their senior leaders’ performance expectations for revenue and profitability this year.

The report said digital commerce’s strategic importance continues to grow as a near-universally-recognised priority.

It said organisations with advanced digital commerce maturity are more likely to beat performance targets and are better equipped to drive sustainable, long-term growth.

The poll also recognised the need to evolve digital commerce capabilities.

Gartner said 90% of surveyed marketing leaders are aggressively expanding their investments with a particular focus on digital-first value creation and customer experience.

The consulting firm added that while digital commerce was a recognised priority before the Covid-19 pandemic, recent shifts in customer purchase behaviours had dramatically accelerated companies’ progress.

Gartner said most CMOs reported that they met or exceeded digital commerce revenue and profitability targets last year, reflecting an unusually favourable operating environment.

This creates a challenging outlook for CMOs.