Constantly-evolving conditions for retailers has made e-commerce the biggest investment priority for 2013, ecommerceouttakes.com reports.
Constantly-evolving conditions for retailers has made e-commerce the biggest investment priority for 2013, ecommerceouttakes.com reports.
According to the newest IT in Retail report, businesses of every size are looking to the online retail sector amid fears they would fall behind if the connected consumers aren’t targeted.
To compile the report, 150 of the UK’s top retailers were surveyed, as they represent around 70 per cent of the UK market, or £203 billion in real-world sales. It found that for the second year running, e-commerce investment has outstripped that of in-store systems. This drive, analysts have claimed, is largely due to the increases in mobile and tablet usage, making it possible for users to shop wherever they are and at any time of day.
Retail spend on the whole has decreased by 10 per cent over the last twelve months, although a larger percentage is now taken up with online investments, with added focus placed on supply chains and customer systems, such as online payment processing.
Writing for guardian.co.uk of the trend, analysts Brian Hume and Lee Gill explained: “Ultimately, the winners and losers will be determined by the approach they take to creating a consumer-centric all-channel business.
“We’re witnessing an evolution. Overall, consumers are in the driving seat and the catalyst for change is technology – for the vast majority of retailers, standing still will not be an option.”
Comments are closed.