Long Term Ecommerce Growth Survey Results Preview

In this post we share early sight of the key findings into our recent survey into long term ecommerce growth.

What are the biggest barriers into long term growth? This was the question, among several others, that we put to the ecommerce selling industry in April and May of 2021. We wanted to know what lessons were learned from 2020, what the leading focus areas are for 2021 and beyond, and what the blockers were to sustained ecommerce growth – the kind of growth that anticipates and is ready for uncertainty, rather than is surprised by it.

Our CEO Tony Kyberd presented the survey results at Tamebay Live last month. We were very happy to sponsor two days of this week-long event, under the banner of our full service motor parts and accessories brand ecommotors: the ‘Growth’ day on Tuesday 18th May, and the ‘Brands’ day on Wednesday 19th May. Tony presented the session ‘Your Long Term Ecommerce Strategy – A ‘How To’ Guide’ on the Tuesday and we wanted to share some very recent primary research, which is why we conducted the survey.

If you missed the session, here’s advance notice of the main insights of the survey which we’re in the process of writing up. We call these insights the ‘Big 7’ – 7 areas which hold the key to future ecommerce prosperity over the long term.

• Multichannel. “We need to be able to diversify across more channels” was the number 1 lesson companies learned for 2021 and beyond. Diversification makes companies more adaptable and responsive to events
• Business Intelligence. “We need better visibility into how the business is performing” was the number 2 lesson for companies. If you can’t see how you business is performing you can’t manage it
• Regulations. Tax and Customs changes in the UK and EU were the number 1 growth blocker, which we think will affect cross-border confidence – especially for UK sellers – for some time to come
• Automation. Manual processes were the number 2 blocker to long term growth. Automating manual processes improves accuracy, productivity and ultimately the bottom line
• Supplier options. Supply difficulties were the number 3 growth blocker. Having more supplier options and better supplier information reduces the risk of being hamstrung when a sole supplier lets you down
• Channels. Channels were the joint number 1 area for long term growth, reinforcing the ‘multichannel’ lesson learned from 2020. This was particularly true for brands and retailers
• Products. Products were the other joint number 1 area for long term growth, which is related to the idea of having supplier options. This was especially true for online merchants

In a couple of weeks we’ll publish the full survey write-up which will include the make-up of the survey response pool, the online channels they’re actively selling on and the detailed breakdown of the answers to all the other questions, accompanied by our analysis and conclusions. If you want to replay Tony’s session, or indeed listen to any of the other 30+ sessions, you can register to do that here and you’ll be taken to a second page where you can tick the specific sessions you’re interested in. Alternatively, look out for the report or contact us to be sent a copy when it’s ready.

In his session, Tony also shared the ‘how to’ guide, a proven process for working with any technology or services provider partner to define and execute on your ecommerce strategy. The guide has a pretty long title, which reflects its importance we think: Your Long Term Ecommerce Strategy for Marketplaces and Web Stores – How to Build Resilience for the Future, Whatever the Weather.’ You can get it here.

To open a 1-to-1 conversation about your long term ecommerce growth requirements, please get in touch with us here.