MUMBAI: WPP has achieved the status of Leader in The Forrester Wave: Commerce Services, Q2 2024 report, commended for its adaptable creativity showcased in its commerce strategy based on WPP Open, the company’s intelligent marketing operating system, as reported by Forrester.
The study assessed ten providers of commerce services based on their current offering, strategy and market presence, measuring providers against 24 criteria.
Among those evaluated, the research finds that WPP had the highest score in the current offering category and excels in overall commerce strategic strength, with additional strength in content production and in retail media. The Forrester report states that WPP uses “GroupM’s scale as a global media buyer and its own extensive retailer and marketplace relationships with Amazon and others to help brands and retailers optimize media and transactions.”
The company added that it received the highest score attainable in data, analytics and AI criterion. The report noted that “WPP excels in overall commerce strategic strength, hitting on all cylinders, leading with genAI innovation in its Open platform, and rocking the technology and marketplace partner ecosystem”.
WPP achieved the highest ratings across various criteria, including social commerce, CRM services, talent strategy, and global delivery strategy.
Furthermore, Forrester highlighted WPP’s streamlined commerce framework, wherein the company consolidated its commerce offerings under the VML brand subsequent to the merger of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson.
WPP CTO Stephan Pretorius said, “WPP’s recognition as a leader in commerce services by Forrester validates for us our commerce strategy and investment in AI technologies, including WPP Open. In an increasingly complex omnichannel commerce landscape, the world’s leading brands rely on our network of over 15,000 experts worldwide to deploy pioneering commerce solutions that can engage audiences creatively, can be delivered on a global scale and can drive measurable growth.”
Neil Stewart, CEO WPP Open, said, “We’re honoured that Forrester has recognised WPP as a leader in commerce services, powered by WPP Open. By combining WPP’s creative power with cutting-edge AI technology and real-time commerce data intelligence, we can craft seamless experiences that inspire consumers and accelerate sales across the entire path to purchase.”
Across the globe, WPP’s teams are dedicated to crafting, constructing, and overseeing commerce experiences that contribute to over $56 billion in online transactions each year. Notably, this includes a transaction value of $16.5 billion facilitated through Amazon and TMALL. WPP emphasizes its extensive involvement in ecommerce, citing collaborations with 85 of its top 100 clients in this domain. Moreover, the company boasts partnerships across all major commerce technology platforms, including Adobe, Amazon, Alibaba, Salesforce, SAP, Shopify, and Sitecore.