Table of Contents
- Summary
- Digital Experience Platform Primer
- Report Methodology
- Decision Criteria Analysis
- Evaluation Metrics
- Key Criteria: Impact Analysis
- Analyst’s Take
- Methodology
- About Sue Clarke
- About GigaOm
- Copyright
1. Summary
Digital experience platforms (DXPs) have superseded web content management (WCM) platforms as the go-to systems for building engaging, personalized customer experiences for delivery on websites and digital channels.
The COVID-19 pandemic showed how rapidly business models must adapt to keep pace with changing circumstances, and that companies need to be agile to remain competitive or risk going out of business altogether. This became especially apparent in retail, where companies had to shift from brick-and-mortar stores to going 100% online in a very short time. Those that were able to adapt quickly, or already had a strong online presence, emerged the strongest from the pandemic. DXPs contributed greatly to the agility of many organizations, especially retailers, during this time.
As the world recovers from the pandemic, it’s clear that shopping habits will not return to what they were before. More employees now work from home, meaning they’re less likely to frequent shops on their lunch breaks. Online sales, which reached record highs during the pandemic, have not returned to pre-pandemic levels and show no sign of doing so. Therefore, it has never been more important for organizations to have a strong online presence and offer engaging, personalized experiences to customers. To do this effectively, businesses need to invest in a modern DXP.
DXPs allow organizations to build websites offering targeted, personalized experiences, enabling customers to shop in the comfort of their own homes. These systems also help organizations deliver content through multiple channels—including signage, kiosks, internet of things (IoT) devices, advertising boards, and video screens—across a wide variety of devices (such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop PCs).
A DXP should be headless, with the content separated from the application it’s being delivered to, or be capable of usage in a headless manner, allowing content to be reused and delivered to multiple channels and devices. DXPs offer much of the same functionality found in WCM platforms, but some capabilities may now be available as separate applications that interact with the content in the DXP repository.
The GigaOm Key Criteria and Radar reports provide an overview of the DXP market, identify capabilities (table stakes, key criteria, and emerging technology) and evaluation metrics for selecting a DXP, and detail vendors and products that excel. These reports give prospective buyers an overview of the top vendors in this sector and help decision makers evaluate solutions and decide where to invest.
How to Read this Report
This GigaOm report is one of a series of documents that helps IT organizations assess competing solutions in the context of well-defined features and criteria. For a fuller understanding, consider reviewing the following reports:
Key Criteria report: A detailed market sector analysis that assesses the impact that key product features and criteria have on top-line solution characteristics—such as scalability, performance, and TCO—that drive purchase decisions.
GigaOm Radar report: A forward-looking analysis that plots the relative value and progression of vendor solutions along multiple axes based on strategy and execution. The Radar report includes a breakdown of each vendor’s offering in the sector.
Solution Profile: An in-depth vendor analysis that builds on the framework developed in the Key Criteria and Radar reports to assess a company’s engagement within a technology sector. This analysis includes forward-looking guidance around both strategy and product.