The 12 facts of e-commerce 2015

This year has seen cloudBuy redouble its efforts in bringing B2C simplicity to the more complex world of B2B e-commerce; and taking this concept around the world… and so, as 2015 draws to a close, it seemed natural for us to reflect on some of the interesting e-commerce facts and trends we’ve encountered in the UK, US and globally, to give us all something to reflect on over the holiday season and questions to consider.

Fact 1: The global B2B e-commerce market is set to reach $6.7 trillion (£4.5 trillion) by 2020. This will be double the expected size of the B2C online market. (Source: Frost & Sullivan)

What are the B2C trends we can learn from to ensure that our organizations seize the B2B opportunity?

Fact 2: The Top 10 retail e-commerce countries based on current size and future potential are in order: USA, China, UK, Japan, Germany, France, South Korea, Russia, Belgium, Australia. (Source: AT Kearney)

Fact 3: India provides a huge e-commerce growth opportunity as currently only 19% of the population use the Internet, compared to 87% in the USA (top) and 46% in China. (Source: PwC)

Consumers will increasingly expect the simplicity of their own B2C shopping experiences built into the B2B systems they use at work…

Fact 4: The UK hit its first £1 billion online shopping day on Black Friday 2015 (27th November 2015). In the US, Black Friday online sales hit $2.72 billion (£1.81 million). (Source: Ecommerce Insights)

Fact 5: Amazon UK sold 86 items per second on Black Friday 2015. Over 7.4 million orders were placed in 2015 up 40% on 2014. (Source: The Bookseller)

How can we bring lessons from the B2C world to the business to business experience – so that when employees return to work in the New Year, they don’t feel they have to say goodbye to easy-to-use procurement and return to inefficient workplace processes and systems?

It looks like we all increasingly need to bring mobile into B2B procurement processes – or frustrate our staff and lose out on opportunities…

Fact 6: One third of e-commerce sales are now happening on mobile devices rather than a computer. This is up from just 12% in 2012. (Source: Shopify)

Fact 7: Research suggests UK retailers are missing out on £6.6 billion a year by not going mobile. 73% of consumers predict they will spend more on mobile this year and 15% now use their mobile phone as their primary shopping device. (Source: Econsultancy)

Fact 8: Men are more likely than women to make a purchase online via a mobile device. (Source: Business Insider)

The way we buy things is rapidly changing BUT certain business fundamentals remain – the importance of customer service and retention…

Fact 9: Customer service is still essential with 89% of shoppers saying they stopped buying from online stores after experiencing poor customer service. Some 86% are even prepared to pay up to 25% more for a better customer experience. (Source: RightNow)

Fact 10: Returning e-commerce customers are likely to spend nearly twice as much as brand new e-commerce customers. Average spending for new customers online is $24.50 (£16.35) compared to $52.50 (£35.03) for repeat customers. (Source: Business Philosophy)

In B2B e-commerce we’ll need to think hard about how we present our goods and services online. Are we supplying the right amount of information − images, technical specifications, discounts, tax, and delivery charges – to make it simple for B2B buyers to make a purchase? Certain B2C products provide similar online challenges and maybe we can learn from the retailers who get it right in such sectors…

Fact 11: One of the least popular things to buy online is furniture, with 50% of consumers saying they have never done so. (Source: Kerching)

And finally… a sales fulfilment ‘problem’ we’d all like to have…

Fact 12: Adele’s latest album ‘25’ is set to sell 7 million copies worldwide by the end of 2015, despite only being released on November 20th. (Source: Digital Music News)

cloudBuy wishes you a happy holiday season. Be sure to contact us for e-commerce advice to help make 2016 even more successful for your organization.