Document Actions
August 08 2008
Investing in online may be the key to success during the credit crunch
Figures have been flying in from all quarters over the last week that seem to show that retailers plan to continue investing in online sales as strongly as ever despite the downturn...
Figures from Maginus, Martec, The E-Tailing Group, ATG and GSI over the last week all show that retailers are planning to spend online to keep business booming during the credit crunch.
In a survey for Maginus, three quarters of those who already have a web site say they plan to renew or revamp it in the next 12 months.
"Retailers may want to consider not only redesigning sites but also how to be better prepared for an upsurge in traffic as their businesses grow," explained Russell Dorset, sales and marketing director at Maginus. "Slow server response or downtime on an e-commerce website may result in a lost sale or, even worse, a poor customer experience may mean a customer never visits your site again."
The study also found substantial benefits from consumers who shopped via more than one channel. 84% of businesses found that they gained more revenue from their multi-channel customers than from shoppers that only use one channel.
"Consumers have so much choice available to them that retailers must make sure they offer customers the choice of shopping via multiple channels so they can buy their goods in their preferred way," Dorset added. 76% of the online retailers surveyed had increased their sales over the last 12 months and almost half of respondents (46%) had increased sales by over 20%.
For Martec's IT in Retail 2008-9 survey, researchers found that retailers are set to increase investment in multi-channel selling and IT decision-makers expect the trend to continue during 2008.
"For vendors there's also a massive opportunity in the months ahead to enable companies to fulfil on their ambitious multi-channel plans and ensure the complete customer experience is as good as can be," say the authors.
Of the retailers polled for the survey, 68% now have a transactional website compared with 58% last year. Core areas for retail investment in IT include store systems, merchandising and buying systems and mobile technology, primarily for stock taking, price checking, markdown pricing and delivery scanning.
To reduce costs, less customisation will be carried out, though. "Budgets are tightening and IT directors are being expected to do more for the same money," explain the authors.
"We expect to see a major rise in take-up of enterprise solutions which help retailers to improve efficiency across the enterprise and enhance the customer experience, enabling them to gain a competitive edge — particularly as we move further into a challenging economic climate," they add.
And figures from the US show the same thing is happening on the other side of the pond. According to a new report from The E-Tailing Group, called 'No Retreat — Investing in e-commerce despite the times,' on a scale of one to ten, online retailers average a seven when asked to rate how aggressive their ecommerce spending plans are.
Meanwhile, ecommerce technology suppliers ATG and GSI have both posted impressive financial performances. At ATG, second quarter revenues are up 29% and, at GSI Commerce, they are up 47%.
Subscriptions