The big story in today’s InternetRetailing newsletter, is about the gradual slowing of ecommerce growth. IMRG figures out this week suggest that UK shoppers passed the £100bn barrier for the first time in 2014, spending £104bn online. That comes after a year in which it estimates online sales grew by 14%. That’s less than the 16% the IMRG originally predicted. Next year’s its sights are set lower still – at 12%. As online shopping matures, that trend is likely to continue. But that’s not to say there isn’t lots for retailers to do in improving their approach to online, and multichannel selling.
Argos is among the many traders evolving their approach to the new Black Friday phenomonen. Shop Direct, Ocado, Burberry, and SuperGroup reported their Christmas trading figures this week, while Mothercare and Bonmarché both updated investors on third-quarter figures. For all, the job of adjusting to a world in which online shopping won’t necessarily continue upwards will be an issue. Each must carve out its own place in this new world, ensuring it enables its shoppers to buy in the way that they want to.
An IBM study out this week suggested that a significant proportion of shoppers are still more interested in online shopping in practice than in reality: in that gap, argues the technology company, lies the opportunity for retailers to make mulichannel retailing still more convenient, personal and appealing.
This week we also reported on Shoe Zone’s plans for online investment in the wake of 26% growth in its full-year ecommerce sales, while today’s guest comment, from Peter Veash of The BIO Agency, singles out the consumer electronics trends from CES that will matter to ecommerce practitioners.
Our webinars
Our first webinar of 2015 comes from dotmailer, whose group account director Lili Boev will explore why potential shoppers abandon shopping carts – an average 68% of all online retail shopping carts are left before a purchase is completed – and how to craft strategies to make the most of those abandoned carts and convert lost browsing sessions. The free webinar, A sense of abandonment?, takes place at 2pm on January 27. To find our more and register, visit the dotmailer webinar page.
Click to visit the Internet Retailing webinars page to catch up on any that you may have missed.
Our research reports
Our research editors research and produce regular reports on pertinent ecommerce issues. Click on the links to download your free copies of the Seasonal Commerce Report and Customer Experience Report.
