With the New Year just around the corner, I feel compelled to reflect on all the changes, successes, challenges and surprises of the last year — both here at the Path to Purchase Institute (P2PI) and across the commerce marketing industry.
We’ve seen fluctuations in the pandemic (from January’s omicron variant surge to a bit of reprieve and fading to the background this fall), which have continued to impact shopper behavior in both expected and unexpected ways. E-commerce is still going strong, but consumers are returning to in-store shopping in droves, reinforcing the need for integrated marketing efforts that connect with hybrid shoppers along every point on the path to purchase. The year has brought economic volatility and uncertainty, inflationary pressure and the rise of emerging forms of commerce (think social/shoppable media, metaverse, Web3, etc.) for marketers to deal with. And, perhaps most exceptionally, the continued proliferation of retail media is still coming in hot.
For P2PI, 2022 brought a whirlwind of transformation as we realigned our brand to keep pace with our industry, members and readers. With that came everything from a refreshed logo, integrated website and magazine name to brand-new, in-person events, newsletters, membership exclusives and more. Behind the scenes, our team spent countless hours reimagining our offerings so that we could continue to serve the evolving needs of our audience. It’s been amazing to see it all come to fruition over the course of the last 12 months — a slow burn, step by step, one foot in front of the other. All those changes along the way have finally culminated into a massive, overarching metamorphosis. And we have so much more planned for 2023 (hint: a new video series, monthly newsletter and podcast, to name just a few items from next year’s lineup).
In the November/December edition of P2PI Magazine, we are proud to close out the year on a high note by honoring some of the standout individuals and innovative campaigns — via our annual Women of Excellence Awards and the OmniShopper Awards — that have helped fuel the fires of industry transformation.
You can get to know the 36 executives who make up this year’s Women of Excellence across five categories. Additionally, you can dive into the 21 winning campaigns that rose to the top as winners in the second annual OmniShopper Awards.
As we wrap up 2022, I want to thank you for being a part of our community of commerce marketers. We can’t wait to connect you, inspire you and propel your businesses (and careers) forward in the New Year. Cheers to 2023!
