We are at the dawn of a new commerce era that will eventually “shatter” the consumer funnel, according to PHD’s chief digital officer.

Speaking at the ad:tech conference in Sydney yesterday, Stuart Bailey shared his insights into the next commerce era – the “a-commerce” era – which he predicts will last until 2025.

“During the a-commerce era, technology will become more automated and prevalent in our lives,” he said.

“Increasingly, we will rely on recommendations and algorithms to buy on our behalf. Brands will have less and less direct contact with consumers.”

When this happens, Bailey said we will see the “shattering” of the consumer funnel.

“What we’ll be left with is a hybrid tech consumer go-to-market approach. Low-cost, low-interest purchases will generally be driven by AI VPAs,” he said.

“A brand needs to continue to focus on long-term brand building, but it must also ensure short-term digital hygiene and VPA integration are continuously developed, if they want to succeed in an a-commerce era.”

Bailey also outlined five pieces of advice for marketers to ride the a-commerce wave:

1. Building brands will be even more important as leaving the consideration set could mean exile from the algorithm.
2. Continually develop an ad and marketing technology ecosystem, and evolve your data strategy.
3. Concentrate on customer experience, as it will continue to be crucial. Bad experiences or poor digital hygiene will probably stop your brand making the shortlist.
4. Start building out your voice search strategy and relationships with key VPA players.
5. Measurement is for life, not just Christmas sales. Continue to move from diagnostic to casual KPIs.