Easing E-Commerce Pain Points
Although key logistics capabilities are needed to build and maintain successful e-commerce operations, few brands excel at them, according to a study from Geodis and Accenture Interactive. The study highlights:
E-commerce acceleration: Brands estimate that e-commerce in 2020 will represent nearly half of their sales. Before COVID-19, companies were making 34% of their sales online. During lockdown, 65% of sales were made online.
The increase is more extreme in Europe than the United States: European companies without online sales solutions suffered, with 40% of brands estimating that sales lost due to COVID-19 will exceed 15% of their earnings on average.
Platform ownership: Most brands say their e-commerce potential is limited by their logistics capabilities, with 59% of European brands and 46% of U.S. brands opting to rely on marketplaces. Marketplaces held a 28% market share pre-COVID-19 and rose to 38% during the pandemic.
However, 64% of brands state that reducing their dependence on marketplaces is their first or second priority for the next six months. Within three years, 77% of U.S. and 56% of European brands want to sell directly from their websites.
Customer experience: Improving the customer experience is the biggest long-term challenge for 76% of brands. Currently, 38% of U.S. brands offer two- to three-day shipping nationwide, and 56% plan to do so within three years (25% and 57% for European brands).
No U.S. brands currently offer that for international shipping, but 17% plan to do so within the next three years. No European brands currently offer two- to three-day international shipping, but 7% plan to do so within the next three years.
Real-time visibility: Brands are working toward greater shipping flexibility and simplified returns—80% recently made efforts to provide a more practical return process. However, only 16% can get real-time key performance indicators. In addition, 40% of European brands say their analytical capabilities are too rudimentary or manual.