“So many people now are focused on how they connect with their consumers, with their audience and with their communities based on those digital pieces before those physical pieces.”
Travis Totz is Director of Business Development at Modern Tribe, a next-generation digital agency. Modern Tribe designs and builds software for Fortune 500 companies, government, higher ed and more. They’ve worked with some of the world’s most recognizable brands such as eBay, SAP and MTV.
In this episode of Velocitize Talks, Totz discusses company culture, the future of eCommerce, and the new WordPress editor, Gutenberg.
Agency life [2:46]
“Some organizations definitely get it. They understand digital, they understand that a lot of focus should be there.”
Modern Tribe prides itself on being people-centric within its culture and with clients. The agency adheres to its company mantra of “live well and do good work.” They have a passionate group of developers that bring this philosophy to their projects.
The agency world continues to evolve beyond physical products and services to focusing on digital projects. This is, not surprisingly, where they are investing their money.
Winning data [5:23]
“We are consistently requested on almost all of our projects to help our clients figure out what a win is for them.”
The major driving trend these days in digital marketing and eCommerce is data interpretation. Through tools like analytics, data gathering and calls to action, agencies can tell their clients what’s working and what’s not.
Mobile eCommerce [6:38]
“What we’re finding is that people are focusing on how they build a mobile experience; mobile is quick and easy.”
Although eCommerce is becoming more app-based, an estimated 70% of Americans still prefer doing eCommerce over a website instead of through mobile apps. Slowly but surely, however, it’s becoming more about the user experience and the speed of transactions — two clear benefits of mobile.
Headless E-Commerce [9:19]
“When you think about how to create a lightweight experience, a decoupled or headless experience, is one of the best ways to do it.”
The term “headless e-commerce” refers to how people are moving beyond traditional website e-commerce and instead consuming information and making purchases through IoT, such as smart speakers.
On Gutenberg, the new WordPress editor [10:32]
“We’ve continued to see the iterations on Gutenberg be in the right direction for us to say, this is something…we’re going to embrace. We know that it’s going to be a force that cannot be stopped.”
The new Gutenberg editor enables more flexibility and superior customization and site building, key to both editorial and developer roles.
What’s coming next? [12:36]
“When you think about a front to back data coalesced in one kind of chain, these different solutions and these different technologies are going to continue to disrupt the space.”
Totz sees blockchain and AI, and how it’s integrated into webapp platforms, as two top technology trends coming down the line.
Check out Modern Tribe’s website. Follow Modern Tribe on Twitter at @ModernTribeInc and Travis Totz at @travistotz.