Read time: 3.5 minutes
A new “profession” is gaining traction amongst retailers in the form of online sales.
Over half of Ecomm brands say they find it difficult or very difficult managing their website and growing its reputation.
This is according to the 2022 European E-commerce Report, a scenario in 2021.
Let's dive into the biggest challenge that ecommerce world is facing today and see how you can build your WebAR business by solving this problem.
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How Covid19 changed the online user behavior?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerce played an essential role in the economy and society. According to the 2022 European E-commerce Report, in 2021, total European e-commerce grew to €718 billion with a growth rate of 13%.
This number was up from €633 billion in 2020. Growth rates are forecasted to continue their upward trend in the upcoming years. However, we can see that the growth is slightly stabilizing, with an expected growth rate of 11% and a turnover of €797 billion.
Data from Mollie shows just how much of an impact the pandemic had. More than a third (35%) of consumers now shop online more than before the pandemic.
✅ France: 29%
✅ Austria: 42%
✅ Germany: 34%
✅ Belgium: 30%
✅ Netherlands: 31%
✅ UK: 42%
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✅ Total: 35%
Which Ecommerce categories grew faster?
The most common online purchases of goods in 2021 were clothes (including sports clothing), shoes, or accessories, ordered by 68% of online shoppers, according to data from Eurostat.
Next were deliveries from restaurants, fast-food chains, and catering services (31%). Furniture, home accessories, and gardening products remained the third most popular product category, ordered by 29% of online customers.
✅ Clothes (including sport clothing), shoes or accessories: 68%
✅ Deliveries from restaurants, fast-food chains, catering service: 31%
✅ Furniture, home accessories or gardening products: 29%
✅ Cosmetics, beauty or wellness products : 27%
✅ Printed books, magazines or newspapers: 25%
✅ Sports goods (excluding sport clothing): 24%
✅ Computer, tablets, mobile, accessories: 23%
✅ Childrens' toys or childcare items: 20%
The PROBLEM and how it is impacting retail growth
However, when it comes to website experience, European furniture businesses have a long way to go. Some of the biggest challenges for ecommerce businesses, according to the Maison&Object barometer, are website management, customer service, showcasing products on the website, and building awareness. Ecommerce is an incredibly visual industry, so it’s no surprise that e-commerce merchandising is on top of the priority list for online businesses.
According to our Top 100 European Furniture Retailers report, only 26% of the retailers have 360-degree product configurators on their websites. The number is even lower for furniture retailers that have an augmented reality solution: only 25%. On the other hand, customers’ expectations are constantly growing. Each time customers are exposed to a better shopping experience, the expectation bar raises even higher.
For online ecommerce sales, visuals are make-or-break. Yet, the results from research show that more than half of the Top 100 European furniture retailers have medium or low-quality visuals on their product pages. Significantly there is a big gap to be closed soon for businesses to level up in sales and conversion.
How can Ecomm business prepare for 2023 and beyond?
Consumers’ shift to digital has accelerated dramatically. The retail e-commerce boom increased the need for a seamless online shopping experience.
All the assumptions that the changes would be fleeting were proved wrong. Consumer behaviors driven by the pandemic are sticking.
This begs the question: how can ecommerce retailers reinvent themselves to seize the opportunity?
The short answer: The website experience is everything. Get it right.
Your chance to rise and shine while helping Ecommerce
3D ecommerce is an extremely powerful tool to bring above average results for businesses starting from weeks. From user engagement to sales and conversion can increase significantly. This forge an opportunity for you to pitch to the ecomm vendors to improvise their current business strategy to align with the new customer behavior from post covid19 era.
War and political unrest can shed impact to ongoing global recession. This is the best time for you to begin a business which can pave a path for your future growth. At the same time, it is the best strategy for ecomm business to invest in low budget WebAR technology and bag the extra revenue while their competitors will be left behind.