VTEX recently announced it delivered USD 5.8M cost savings to merchants that migrated from legacy systems, among other results presented in the September 2023 Total Economic Impactᵀᴹ (TEI), a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of VTEX. Organizations that deployed the VTEX platform benefited from its enhanced security, scalability, and ability to support multiple business models.
Even in challenging economic times, with rising interest rates, higher borrowing costs, and economic slowdown, among many others, from interviewing VTEX’s enterprise customers, the study found the following quantified benefits over three years:
Legacy digital commerce platform cost savings: USD 5.8 million;
Return on investment of 133%;
Developer and platform support efficiency: savings from 20% in year one to 50% in year three;
Ecommerce business growth yields an additional USD 17.1 million;
Marketing operations efficiency: savings from 20% in year one to 50% in year three.
The study delves into the challenges retailers and direct-to-consumer businesses face right now—whether high costs or complex business models—highlighting the need to keep up with quickly evolving customer expectations. At the same time, most are relying on patchwork, antiquated legacy solutions that require expensive upkeep, hard-to-find dedicated internal talent, and fail to deliver rapid, real-time innovation.
“The beauty of VTEX is the ability to pick and choose what we want and don’t want,” said the Chief Digital Officer of a grocery retailer interviewed by Forrester Consulting for this study. “That buys us time, gives us optionality, and allows us to build the best economic model. We don’t have to worry about building capability. This allows us to focus on the things that are the difference makers for the business.”
With profitability a primary focus for retailers and manufacturers today, a pragmatic and realistic approach to digital commerce focusing on evaluating the best strategies to reduce costs and increase revenue is key. Businesses must adopt a modern approach to using efficient, effective, and easy-to-maintain technology—allowing them to create the most personalized customer experiences and promote sustainable, long-term business growth and success.
“More than just unrelatable statistics, this study offers a clear framework to assist our customers in evaluating their current operation and envisioning what it can be,” said Santiago Naranjo, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) at VTEX. “In today’s world, there is no reason for merchants to allocate a significant portion of their GMV to legacy platforms maintenance when they can redirect these resources towards initiatives that boost sales and operational efficiency. VTEX’s composable and complete digital commerce platform allows enterprises to take a pragmatic approach to their IT investments by combining a wide array of native functionalities with third-party best-of-breed solutions. This means increased profitability and substantial ROI.”
Methodology
Forrester interviewed four enterprise retailers using the VTEX digital commerce platform to obtain data concerning costs, benefits, and risks. Then, it created a composite organization based on their profiles. As described in the TEI, “Prior to adopting VTEX, the interviewees noted that their organizations recognized the need to transform their ecommerce strategy but found that their legacy platforms held them back. Lack of internal talent and cost pressures drove these organizations to seek a composable yet complete solution that could deliver agility and adaptability at a good value”.
