CPQ Software will empower personalization in 2019 and beyond

There have already been some good predictions for the CPQ Market in 2019, and instead of adding another one, I will focus on a Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ) Vision that goes beyond 2019.

One of the biggest changes for CPQ Software in recent years was that non-business users started personalizing products on websites and apps. Now users keep demanding more personalization options for more products. The owners of the e-commerce websites responded to those requests and worked with their CPQ and e-Commerce Software Solution Providers to develop and implement the requested changes. Since then CPQ and e-Commerce Software Solution Providers started offering many new and exciting ways to personalize products online. Now millions of e-Commerce websites are available that allow users to personalize everything they want to buy, from Apple Products to Zappos Shoes, and the number of these websites increases steadily.

To make the user experience better and more convenient various capabilities like 3D images of products and product reviews have been added. In addition to that the default expectation is that a user can personalize products on various devices like iPhones or tablets and that virtual assistants like Amazon’s “Alexa”are available for further tips and tricks.

One key question now is “Where else can CPQ Software be used?”. While industry insiders have a decent idea how CPQ Software Solutions will develop on the business side there are many untapped opportunities regarding how non-business users can use CPQ Software.

Let’s first look at business users of CPQ Software. Many CPQ Solutions have been developed to integrate easily with specific CRM Platforms like Salesforce, Oracle, SAP and Microsoft. Since there are only a limited number of leading CRM Platforms there will be a limited number of widely used CPQ Solutions per platform, industry and required capabilities. We will also see that CPQ Solutions keep adding more capabilities like advanced pricing, Industry 4.0/Smart Manufacturing, e-Commerce/Omni Channel and Artificial Intelligence. Plus we can expect that more CPQ Vendors will expand geographically and that we will see more M&As. All of these developments and much more is covered in our monthly “CPQ Circle Newsletter’s”.

Now let’s think for a moment about non-business users of CPQ Software. These are customers of companies that bought CPQ Software, meaning they don’t own any CPQ Software themselves. The choices they are expected to make need to be quick and easy since they are not product specialists. They want to use various devices like iPhones, tablets or Amazon’s Alexa and they want to switch from online sales to store sales without losing information. These users could use CPQ Software from the time they wake up in the morning to the time they go to bed at night. There is literally an unlimited opportunity to use CPQ Software for daily tasks. In our full article (3,476 words) we explore some of these opportunities in more detail plus we provide a more detailed look at the expectations for business users in 2019.

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