A Look Back: 2011 E-Commerce Operations Trends

Innotrac White Paper

By all early accounts, 2011 was a terrific year for retail e-commerce in the U.S.  Year-over-year growth estimates for online holiday sales were reported to be more than 15%, according to digital measurement firm comScore, Inc., with some of that growth fueled by an increase in mobile and tablet shopping.  Smaller merchants also reported strong numbers, another indication that shoppers are increasingly getting comfortable with the e-commerce experience.  Finally, Internet Retailer reports that 54.6% of web merchants expect to increase e-commerce staff in 2012, which is certainly no small number in an otherwise challenging environment for job growth.

All of that good news underscores the importance for today’s retailers to have a strong operational infrastructure in place to manage e-commerce growth.  You’ve likely spent significant dollars driving traffic, and creating the best possible user experience for your growing base of online shoppers.  However, the experience does not end until a customer receives, and is satisfied with, an online purchase.  When talking with online shoppers, you’re much more likely to hear praise such as, “I received my item in just two days!”, or, “the customer service agent I spoke to was extremely helpful!”, rather than, “I really enjoyed the usability of the site.”  Despite what’s really important to consumers, it’s easy to overlook those final steps in the process, which can include fulfillment, shipping, returns, and interactions with a contact center. 

Innotrac’s proprietary SmartHub™ benchmarking tool looked at a multitude of operational trends in e-commerce during the fourth quarter of 2011.  Among our findings:

• 59% of retailers were able to ship packages to customers in three days or less; in general, actual shipping times were within the most popular expected delivery window of 2-7 days.
• Only 29% of retailers utilized any branded packaging, either inside or outside the box; this reflects a tremendous opportunity for retailers to differentiate the post-sale experience. 
• Prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, SmartHub™ findings indicated that 55% of retailers made some sort of free shipping offer available (according to database marketing firm Responsys, this jumped to 75% during the holiday season).  SmartHub™ findings also indicated that pre-holiday, the largest majority of retailers offering free shipping did so at a minimum price point between $49 and $85.
• Holiday standard shipping deadlines ranged from 12/5 to 12/22, with Tuesday, 12/20 as the most popular date (four days before Christmas Eve).  More surprisingly, 28% of those in our survey did not post holiday shipping cut-off dates anywhere on their website, missing an opportunity to create a sense of urgency for last-minute shoppers.

Sources:

E-commerce sales have increased 15% this year, according to comScore, Inc.

http://www.internetretailer.com/2011/12/28/holiday-web-sales-top-35-billion

54.6% of web merchants plan to expand their e-commerce staffs next year

http://www.internetretailer.com/2011/12/16/retailers-put-out-help-wanted-sign

Free shipping is standard practice for big e-retailers this holiday season

http://www.internetretailer.com/2011/12/12/free-shipping-holiday-norm-big-e-retailers