Retailers anticipate accelerated growth for 2015 according to research released today from eBay Enterprise, an eBay Inc company – and mobile is among the main investment priorities.
Online engagement emerged as the top area to fuel growth in 2015 (33 percent) followed by global ecommerce expansion (23 percent), mobile commerce (22 percent), digital targeting (22 percent) and product innovation (22 percent). Retailers are also planning to experiment with brick and mortar innovation in 2015, with initial investment in in-store experiences (14 percent), global brick and mortar expansion (12 percent) and pop-up expansion (11 percent).
Among those investing in the mobile arena, mobile device optimization (54 percent) and mobile application development (46 percent) emerged as new priorities of investment (verses continued areas of investment). And of those investing in mobile commerce, 51 percent of respondents plan on building a unique Android application and 50 percent plan on building a unique iOS application.
“With our upcoming launch of Magento 1.14.2 and Mobile Software Development Kit we’ve made it easier than ever for retailers to reduce their time to market for responsive web design or accelerate application development,” said Mark Lavelle, senior vice president, commerce technologies, eBay Enterprise.
The results also revealed obstacles impacting 2015 decisions, technology priorities and the importance of global expansion to fuel growth.
Twenty-eight percent of retailers of all sizes are afraid of new competitors entering the market, while large retailers prioritize the speed of innovation (25 percent), staffing (23 percent) and the risk of re-platforming (22 percent) as secondary concerns.
“As retailers look to innovate throughout 2015 a critical understanding of customer journeys can help identify new channels to pursue and how to best maximize investment,” said Steve Denton, vice president, marketing solutions, eBay Enterprise. “eBay Enterprise offers a holistic suite of marketing solutions that provide advanced analytical capabilities and actionable insights, enabling brands to make smart decisions that impact growth.”
The 2015 Retail Growth Outlook, a US, survey of more than 1,000 ecommerce and marketing professionals from retailers with revenues of $3 million to $250 million, examined projected revenue forecasts and critical decisions retailers will make this year to achieve anticipated growth.
