E-Commerce - still changing the retail world as we know it

The giants are getting bigger - on a global level Amazon and eBay for instance are getting 47% of all purchases according to the very latest Connected Shopper Report from Salesforce - as opposed to e-commerce platforms that takes up 31% and the brands themselves 18%. It is a highly competitive market, but also a market in continuous growth - despite that Shopify reports that close to 2,000 retailers shut down in 2018. The 5 biggest markets are US, China, UK, Germany and Japan.

In the Nordics alone Nordic retailers saw a staggering 30% year over year growth in digital revenue in Q2 2019 and Germany saw a 21% growth in the same period. Especially within retail and fashion, e-commerce is the dominating force. As an example, the Danish international fashion brand MASAI expects that the online sales is larger than the traditional wholesales by 2022. This is to a very high degree driven by the fashion digital shoppers’ preference towards mobile with an order share close to 50%.

Logistics - a vital part of the e-commerce service offering

Recently, we had the pleasure of hearing international e-commerce expert Will Treasure present Accenture’s insights where he stressed the importance of fulfillment solutions in a true omni-channel environment. In short, it is all about being able to do anything from anywhere - from customer orders to order fulfillment, delivery and collection to returns.

Another new trend supported by Accenture and Salesforce research show that the ability to collect is an important factor for the customers. Will Treasure from Accenture gave an example from John Lewis, where 50% of online sales are click and collect based. Salesforce’ Holiday shopping predictions from October this year support this view and estimates that stores offering click and collect will get 28% better sales.

Speed and availability

But a plethora of new e-commerce players are equally busy finding their place and a way to grow in the highly competitive market and use every opportunity to sell their products worldwide. It is the essence of entrepreneurship. However, it is also a fact that in order to be able to act as a global player, regardless of size, and sell your products on every available market, you need an e-commerce fulfillment solution.

Customer loyalty in e-commerce is close to non-existing. So availability, service wise and in terms of being able to deliver the desired products swiftly, easy and in time, regardless of geography via fulfillment centres is the new Number 1 model for e-commerce. Especially as it also offers lower costs, improved accuracy, shorter transportation, efficient use of capacity and scalability.

It is about being where your customer is, channel and platform wise as well as delivery wise. This setup however needs to be backed up by real-time inventory insights and other vital statistics for the e-commerce business to stay on the forefront of their customers’ expectations.

SGL recently introduced our solution to this issue, and we are thrilled to see that it is as close to a complete match to the new trends as you can get.

Sustainability and trust are becoming decisive factors

Sustainability is not something to take lightly - neither from a personal nor business perspective. Over the last years the end-customers as well as the B2B market has zoomed in on the need for businesses to take active part in sustainability and take responsibility.

In fact, basically all the major e-commerce reports stress that trust and sustainability are important factors when deciding on a brand or business partner. The Salesforce Connected Shopper Report from October 15 stated that 56% of the customers saw sustainability and ethical practices as major concerns in choice of retailer compared to last year. In the areas of Apparel/Fashion, it is 54%, Health and Beauty 54% and Food and Beverages 67%. Business and behaviour intertwine like never before.

So to summarize: Behave well, be sustainable - also in your supply chain - be present and make sure that you can deliver the right, desired product fast, flexible and hassle free.