Retailers planning online channel increase

A new survey of European retailers has found that firms are looking to increase the online channels they sell through in a bid to stay competitive.

The research was conducted by e-commerce specialist ChannelAdvisor at the ChannelAdvisor Catalyst 2011 conference in London and it surveyed a cross-section of medium and large retailers. It found that over half of respondents (54 percent) are already present on over five online channels and that 87 percent of firms will be looking to increase the number of online channels they sell through within the next three years.

Amazon tops the bill, identified by a quarter of respondents as the channel with the most potential to increase sales, beating off eBay, Google, social networks and price comparison shopping sites.

Social commerce is high on the agenda, too, with 40 percent of retailers active on Facebook and 32 percent active on Twitter. One of five retailers view social networking as a sales channel in its own right and most are using Facebook as a tool for marketing.

James Scott, managing director, EMEA for ChannelAdvisor comments: “Channels such as Amazon, eBay, Google and, increasingly, Facebook represent a fantastic opportunity for retailers to take their products and services to a whole new audience. E-commerce is currently growing at 19 percent year on year across Europe, at the same time as it is becoming increasingly complex, sophisticated and competitive. It is vital that retailers can start to generate sales from any new platform they engage on quickly and cost-effectively, so it’s no surprise to see that they are primarily focusing on established and proven channels to make the most of the most of this rapidly expanding market.
 
“Yet at the same time retailers need to keep a very close eye on the more revolutionary models now being explored in social commerce. These platforms have huge potential and those businesses that can crack social commerce will have a chance to put themselves way ahead of the competition, which explains the uptake of channels such as Facebook and Twitter.”