Growth for most retailers – probably all retailers – in 2021 is going to have to come to a large extent from online. While there are many strategic approaches that need to be taken to make this happen, having the right attitude also seems to be crucial.
New research by Mollie, one of the fastest growing payment service providers in Europe, has explored how adopting a growth mindset has given e-commerce merchants a competitive edge – and in some cases has led on its own to double digit growth.
Growth mindset merchants: outmanoeuvring, outcompeting and outperforming, produced in partnership with Coleman Parkes, reveals that European merchants adopting a growth mindset generate an average of 17% more annual revenue from e-commerce than fixed mindset merchants.
In the UK, the difference was found to be even greater, with British growth mindset merchants generating nearly a quarter (24%) more revenue from e-commerce than their fixed mindset counterparts.
While COVID-19 has rapidly accelerated the growing trend towards e-commerce, 2020 has been challenging for merchants across all sectors. Yet despite the economic uncertainty, merchants with a growth mindset have increased sales more, and suffered lower revenue declines, than their fixed mindset competitors during the first wave of COVID-19.
Roughly three in ten (28%) growth mindset merchants reported an increase in monthly sales during the pandemic versus two in ten (21%) of fixed mindset merchants, when compared with the same months in 2019.
All in the mind
The terms “growth mindset” and “fixed mindset” were coined more than 30 years ago by Dr Carol Dweck. Individuals with a growth mindset understand that abilities and intelligence can be developed. They are more likely to take on challenges, learning from the process and furthering their capabilities. As a result, they tend to be more successful than people with a fixed mindset. The same rings true for merchants across Europe.
The study also found that growth mindset merchants are more optimistic and ambitious about revenue growth. 93% of growth mindset merchants expect to grow online revenues in the next 12 months, compared to 83% of fixed mindset merchants.
Growth mindset merchants also experience lower cart abandonment rates because they are more likely to track cart abandonment and develop their abilities to address the root causes. What sets growth mindset merchants apart from fixed mindset merchants is that they are more international, offer more relevant ways to pay, and are more focused on finding ways to optimise their conversion.
“2020 has challenged merchants in an unprecedented way. Retailers have seen sharp declines in footfall but have been supported by trends in e-commerce driven by social distancing and national lockdowns. It’s crucial merchants recognize and embrace these challenges and build their abilities to ultimately support the needs of their customers,” says Ken Serdons, Chief Commercial Officer, Mollie. “It’s clear from the study that adopting a growth mindset gives merchants a competitive edge, stimulating revenue and growth in even the most turbulent times. Fundamentally this is about merchants learning from each other and driving continual improvements, and that’s what Mollie does to help more than 110.000 merchants across Europe to grow.”
He adds: “Between March and October 2020, Mollie’s customers experienced a 40% increase in sales compared to the same period in 2019. This comfortably outperforms the average growth reported by fixed mindset and even growth mindset merchants in our study.”
