Top 2021 eCommerce Investment and Innovation Trends
According to Retail Executives: Digital Transformation, Browser Security, 3rd Party Technologies, and Site Performance are Key Investment Areas
Yottaa, Inc., the leading cloud platform for accelerating eCommerce, today announced the publication of a new research report titled, “2021 eCommerce Leaders Survey: Investment & Innovation Trends.” The objective of the research was to gather data from online retail executives to identify their key eCommerce initiatives for 2021.
Over the past year, retailers faced many challenges due to the global pandemic. Stores closed. Online traffic soared. Brands pivoted to address rapidly changing retail environments with immediate decision making. Retailers worked tirelessly to digitally transform their operations and, as a result, many retail priorities shifted. The 2021 eCommerce Leaders Survey Report examines the technology investments retailers are making to successfully adapt to changing conditions in the coming year.
For this research report, which is now in its fourth year, Yottaa interviewed over 115 leaders from a wide range of eCommerce sites. This year, the majority of respondents are leading some of the biggest brands in the industry. In order to measure the direct impact that eCommerce performance has on the bottom line, this report focuses on executive titles from the line of business, such as Vice President and Head of eCommerce. The research was collected both online and via telephone during December of 2020.
Key Findings
2021 eCommerce Investment Trend: Brands are investing much more in eCommerce initiatives than they did last year. Most brands are increasing investments by over 50%.
Top Investment Areas: Security, mobile, site speed, single page applications/progressive web applications, 3rd party technologies, & shipping.
Top eCommerce Initiative for 2021: Managing and securing 3rd party eCommerce technologies.
Online Revenue Growth: Most of the retail executives surveyed stated they experienced a 54% increase in year-over-year online revenue.
The Pandemic’s Impact on eCommerce: With online shopping increasing at a faster rate during the pandemic, 91% of retailers are changing their digital strategies in the coming year.
Amazon is even Stronger: 45% of respondents think the global pandemic has made the competitive gap between retailers and Amazon even bigger.
Significant eCommerce Architecture Investments: More than half of respondents listed Single Page Applications and Progressive Web Applications as key initiatives in 2021.
Brands Continue to Invest in 3rd Party Technologies: Retailers will spend (on average) $1.1 million on 3rd parties to improve online shopper experiences.
eCommerce Login Pages a Big Concern: 40% of brands do NOT realize that one of the biggest data breach vulnerabilities is having unnecessary 3rd parties on checkout and login pages.
Browser Extensions Cost Brands Big $$$: 39% of respondents say they have lost up to $400K annually due to some browser extensions giving unintended discounts.
Site Speed Matters: Most respondents were unaware that more than 50% of shoppers will leave a site if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load.
Speed = Revenue: 70% of brands agree that faster site performance results in higher conversion rates.
“Now more than ever, the annual eCommerce Leaders Survey Report is a must-have guide for online brands to ensure they are focusing on the eCommerce initiatives that will maximize online efficiency and revenue,” said Rich Stendardo, CEO of Yottaa. “After a challenging 2020, retailers are looking to build on the digital transformation initiatives they put in place last year with the hope that they will continue to benefit from increased online traffic and revenue. This new report provides them with a blueprint for eCommerce growth and success in 2021.”
Click here to download the full report “2021 eCommerce Leaders Survey: Investment & Innovation Trends.”