With global e-commerce sales growing by nearly a one-quarter last year, brands are upping their investment in e-commerce in 2021. Per a report [download page] from YOTTAA, on average brands are investing 53% more in e-commerce initiatives this year than they did in 2020.
For close to two-thirds (64%) of the e-commerce executives surveyed, a key initiative they plan to invest in is ensuring their site is fully secure to protect shoppers, or evolving a content security policy (CSP).
While businesses of all sizes appear to be placing importance on website security or evolving a CSP, it is a particular focus for medium-sized businesses ($50-200 million in annual online revenue), with 94% investing in this area in 2021. By contrast, 69% of large ($200+ million) businesses and 67% of small (less than $50 million) businesses plan on investing in ensuring that their site is fully secure to protect shoppers.
Additionally, three-quarters of brands are investing in 3rd party governance and securing forms as part of their investment to secure their sites. And, while 2 in 10 say they do not have visibility into all 3rd parties and services executing on their site, close to 4 in 10 (37%) are investing in removing unwanted services that redirect shoppers offsite and offer unwanted discounts.
In the US, mobile accounts for about one-third of e-commerce. As such, improving the experience of mobile shoppers is also an initiative that 51% of e-commerce executives plan to invest in, with two-thirds (67%) of large businesses citing this as a budget priority.
Likewise, an equal portion (51%) of total respondents say they will be investing in moving to single page application/progressive Web Apps (SPA/PWA). Broken down by business size, a larger percentage (60%) of small businesses plan to invest in this area compared to medium (53%) or large (46%) businesses.
Only 42% of executives will be investing in solving shipping and inventory challenges this year. However, these challenges may be more of a concern for small businesses, with more than half (53%) of smaller e-commerce sites listing it as one of their top areas for investment.
Competing with Amazon
For 45% of e-commerce executives, the pandemic has only made the competitive gap between retailers and Amazon even bigger. It is difficult to compete against Amazon’s stronghold on e-commerce when consumers rank it best for free delivery, the ease of finding desired products, and having products in stock.
One way brands are hoping to put a dent in Amazon’s share of e-commerce business is to invest in SEO, social and paid search in order to drive customers to their website. Some 53% are intending to invest 5-20% of annual revenue into their ad spend in order to do so, while 22% plan on investing more than 21% of annual revenue to drive people to their site.
The full report can be found here.
About the Data: Findings are based on a December 2020 survey of 115 executives at a range of retail e-commerce sites, the vast majority of which have online revenue of at least $50 million.
