Since brick-and-mortar stores have shut down due to the panic situation, retailers and small businesses have made a lot of efforts to increase their digital footprints online. And honestly, a lot of them are doing a great job. A recently published report by the name ‘Digital Commerce 360 Top 1000 Report’ outlines the crucial insights and trends of online sales amid global panic.
I am willing to discuss those digital commerce insights and trends with you that came out this year from some of the recent surveys.
Are you ready?
Smaller Businesses are Doing Great
It is pretty understandable to assume that small businesses might be suffering with less sales due to the presence of tech giants like Amazon, Target, or Walmart. But in fact, that is not the case. Instead, small online businesses also witnessed an increase in their online sales by 15 percent during the current crisis.
Medium-sized retailers are also doing great online. The increase in their revenue skyrocketed; they grew over 18 percent. This concludes one thing; there is still massive room for small businesses to strive and grow online.
Store-based Retailers are Making Massive Sales
We believe that the increase in online shopping reduces customers to the physical stores, but that is not true. In fact, the store-based retailers are making massive sales online, especially those businesses that sell food.
Digital commerce insights also verify that Kroger, Walmart, Amazon, and other big companies witnessed enormous growth in their businesses during the global crisis. But a big part of the online growth for the food retailers recently has come from offering in-store pickup.
Online Conversion Rates are Somewhat Inaccurate
If you look closer to the recent stats, you’ll discover that even after 40 to 50 visits to a retail website, it does not end in a sale. This confirms that the conversion rate for online retail stores stands at 2.2%. But retailers need to make an effort to look deeper to assess the trend.
As a matter of fact, the conversion rate varies on how a retailer is selling and what they are selling. To give an example, retailers in the catalog/call center category have a better conversion rate i.e 2.9%.
But why is it so? This is because many of the online shoppers visiting their websites are looking at a glossy catalog or reading a sales pitch. This compels them to buy more than other shoppers browsing retail sites.
Brands are Selling Directly to the Shoppers via Web
One of the prominent digital commerce insights is that brands have started to sell directly to online shoppers at retail prices instead of selling at wholesale prices. This practice has been very lucrative for such brands.
This trend helps understand why almost 60 percent of the brands prefer to sell on Amazon instead of selling wholesale. Even though Amazon charges the cost of advertising and commissions, brands still manage to make a good amount of money through Amazon.
On the downside, Amazon prohibits its sellers from contacting shoppers in its marketplace directly. This makes it extremely difficult for such brands to build their customer loyalty base. Still, they try their best to draw shoppers to their brand websites.
Wrapping Up
The Internet is fraught with digital commerce insights, but the above-discussed trends are some of the most hidden ones. Such information helps small businesses and retailers plan an effective strategy to increase their online sales.
It is only logical to plan your next strategy based on these trends. If you are planning your own e-commerce business, reach out to the experts in this field in Commersys.
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