eCommerce: How it’s Shaping the Retail Industry

eCommerce companies have experienced a dramatic growth over the past decade. As the internet has continued its worldwide takeover, high street businesses have begun migrating to the World Wide Web, while newer companies, such as ASOS and Just Eat, are solely web-based. With a user-friendly online journey and many delivery options, it’s turned into a convenient way to buy your goods without ever leaving your home.  Here, with Lookers, retailers of the Transit Connect, we look at the rise of ecommerce.

The popularity of ecommerce

77% of us have bought goods online at some point. Millennials are the biggest users of ecommerce services, with the age group purchasing 54% of their products and services online. This highlights how ecommerce has quickly become a key player in catering for the buying habits of the public.

It’s also become a key player for brands, thanks to low expenses. Because of this and the internet offering a wider range of custom, the popularity has sky rocketed for businesses. Whilst consumers can take advantage of lower priced products.

How has ecommerce improved?

With more purchases taking place online, our expectation is consistently becoming more intense. Stats from an Alix Partners report show that three quarters of Americans believe the offer of free shipping impacts their final decision on whether to buy a product. While this is the case, the maximum delivery time has continued to diminish. In 2012, those expecting free delivery were willing to wait 5.5 days for their product. By 2017 though, a full day had been wiped off that expectation.

This means that ecommerce businesses need to focus a lot of time and attention on their delivery service, which has led to many companies offering next-day delivery. While speed is important, so too is flexibility and reliability. It’s no use a customer being offered a fast delivery time if it’s not a convenient time frame. Because of this, companies like Amazon, who have even started offering ‘free’ next day delivery to their Amazon Prime customers, offer consumers the chance to choose a specific slot, meaning they’ll be able to receive their goods when it’s convenient to them.

By focusing on customer service, the ecommerce industry is quickly becoming the strongest player in the retail world. After all, research has found that 52% of customers won’t return to a product if they have a bad interaction.

However, overseas deliveries are still very much part of our everyday life. Companies are taking advantage of ecommerce to tap into markets they’d previously not have been able to reach. To do this, you need to produce a strategic sales and marketing plan to help you successfully convert international customers; improving social media campaigns are one of the main ways businesses are doing this.

What’s in store for the future of ecommerce?

By 2021, 204.4 million digital buyers will be in the US economy. The number of people making purchases that will be facilitated by ecommerce is expected to dramatically increase, too. Research has found that up to 95% of purchases by 2040 will be made using ecommerce.

Amazon have experimented with in-home delivery, where the consumer can remotely unlock their door via their smartphone when their delivery driver arrives and use a real-time camera connection to maintain security.

With 68% of US adults admitting they wouldn’t feel comfortable granting a driver access to their home, it’s sure to take time for the idea to catch on. While the industry is ready for such revelations, it appears that consumers aren’t quite there.

However, one step further has been the trial of autonomous cars. This removes the need for a delivery person, with takeaway companies ready to roll out this concept; the recipient simply types a code into the vehicle’s keypad to open a compartment where their food is. This is currently being tested in the States and could well be appearing in more countries in the near future.

With new innovations constantly being introduced, it doesn’t look like the rise of the ecommerce sector will be slowing down anytime soon.