InPublishing’s eCommerce Special: 5 Takeaways for Publishers — and How Our Platform Helps You Act on Them
Philippe van Mastrigt, Managing Director for Europe, recently contributed to InPublishing’s special eCommerce series spotlighting best practices shaping today’s digital marketplace. The series brought together voices from distribution, publishing, commerce technology, and payments, offering a cross-industry perspective on what eCommerce looks like today and what it may look like tomorrow. Philippe’s insights were featured as part of an in‑depth Q&A with experts at the forefront of these sectors. Here are our takeaways from that discussion:
1) Fulfillment is no longer “back office” — it’s a brand differentiator
Consumers remember every part of the delivery experience—especially when something goes wrong. Fulfillment should be treated as an extension of the customer experience and aligned with your brand promise, whether that means offering flexible shipping options, branded packaging, and timely communication about order status or delays.
How we help: Our commerce stack integrates with leading carriers and delivers real-time order status, tracking, and service alerts that your team can automate into journey emails and customer self-service experiences. With Advantage and Cider Plus, our eCommerce solution, you can give customers full visibility into their purchase while keeping your support teams informed and equipped to respond quickly.
2) Storytelling sells; make product impact visible end-to-end
Consumers want more than just a product. Research shows that shoppers respond when they understand where a product comes from, who it supports, and the real-world impact it creates. The story shouldn’t stop at checkout; brands that extend the narrative beyond purchase are more likely to build loyalty and drive repeat sales.
How we help: Cider Plus’s no-code landing pages, combined with Advantage promotions, enable you to craft mission-led narratives into conversion-ready layouts. When paired with Advantage Single Sign-On and Advantage Paywall, you can connect editorial content to campaigns and commerce while maintaining consistent customer identity across sessions.
3) Data-driven UX beats SEO-only content
With the proliferation of AI, publishers are shifting back to user-first formats that prioritize reader value over tactics designed purely for search and discoverability. By reducing friction and speeding decision-making, this strategy strengthens performance across classic funnel metrics like CTR and conversion rate.
How we help: Our roadmap prioritizes an API-first architecture and CDP-driven analytics, enabling you to capture and act on first-party events by targeting segments with personalized prompts, offers, and product bundles. With Advantage Analytics and our Microsoft Fabric–aligned direction, you gain unified, cross-brand reporting and actionable insight at scale.
4) One-click buying shines for one-size products
Impulse friendly goods (like magazines) see outsized benefit when checkout steps are reduced. For multi-attribute items, minimizing friction and simplifying the path to payment can significantly improve conversion rates.
How we help: Cider Plus supports flexible cart flows, targeted promotions, and quick checkout experiences that work seamlessly with Advantage Single Sign-On and Advantage Paywall. You can test placement and messaging, then iterate quickly without co-opting engineering resources.
5) Personalize payment choices
Use location, device, currency, and history to promote the most relevant option, while always presenting clear alternatives. Consider your own costs and retention by method; maintain compliance and transparency to preserve trust.
How we help: Our payments layer supports multiple processors and tokenization, with the flexibility to add new gateways and adapt dunning strategies over time. We continuously integrate leading payment service providers (PSPs) and partner with adjacent solutions to enhance and extend the customer journey.
Market Outlook: What to Expect in 2026–2027
1) Checkout dissolves into the experience. Social commerce and AI-embedded purchasing will compress steps to “zero click,” especially for low-consideration items. Market leaders, such as Stripe and Microsoft are already partnering to provide Copilot-powered eCommerce experiences.
2) Human expertise becomes a premium signal. As “AI slop” takes aim at product reviews, publishers who focus on named experts, transparent testing, and consistent editorial voices will earn greater trust and (hopefully) stronger conversion performance.
3) First-party data makes a comeback. Multitouch, privacy-safe attribution (often modeled with AI) will reshape the affiliate market. Publishers will respond by refocusing on owning and activating their first-party data and proprietary content.
4) AI, AI, AI. The market is saturated with AI‑driven solutions of every kind. While the potential of AI in areas such as search and discoverability, personalization, price optimization, friction reduction, and payment‑method optimization is undeniable, its real impact on eCommerce is still emerging. AI will undoubtedly shape the next generation of digital commerce, but 2026–2027 is likely to be remembered as the Age of AI Experimentation, as organizations balance technological investment with meaningful consumer adoption.