Author

Andrew Woods

Published

24 April 2020

Estimated Read time

5Mins

Ecommerce sales increased at their highest rate since late February, shooting up 25% during the week that ended April 20, according to Signifyd’s Ecommerce Pulse data on the rapidly changing retail trends during the global Coronavirus pandemic.

The jump far surpassed the previous record of 17% recorded the week ending April 6. It also contributed to an 85% increase in ecommerce spending overall since late February. Signifyd is a global leader in ecommerce fraud prevention technology (company info below).

Below are key trends & data from this week’s Pulse report (14th-20th April):

Auto, Parts and tyres:

Up 56% for the week, building on a positive run that started more modestly at the end of March. The category is now up 90% for the entire Ecommerce Pulse period, which started Feb. 25.

Commodities & Collectibles:

Saw one of the largest weekly increases early on, was again a high-demand category with sales up 61%.

Fashion, Apparel & Luggage:

 a category that had been more battered than benefited by the shift in consumer spending was up 38%.

Electronics:

experienced some much-needed relief, with revenue up 38% for the week, a far better showing than early weeks of double-digit losses, followed by gains in the low single digits.

Consumer Medical Supplies & Supplements: 

Consumers returned after four weeks where the category’s change in sales ranged from a low of declining by 18% to a high of being up just 8 percent.

Consumer packaged goods: 

Including toilet paper, paper towels and cleaning supplies — was up 13% after four straight down weeks, including a 21% drop in late March.

Leisure & Outdoor: 

Which includes games, toys, puzzles and indoor exercise equipment, is up 141% for the period.

For more statistics, graphics & insights, see here: COVID-19 Weekly Pulse Report for Ecommerce.

Author

Kevin Davies

Published

23 May 2019

Estimated Read time

5Mins

More than three quarters (81%) of B2B organisations are witnessing a decrease in profits due to online order errors, causing…

More than three quarters (81%) of B2B organisations are witnessing a decrease in profits due to online order errors, causing significant repercussions on wider business growth, according to new research out today. 84% of businesses have witnessed a decrease in efficiency due to order errors, while 81% saw a drop in productivity and a further 81% saw a decrease in profitability. The survey of 560 global B2B buying professionals found that 44% of organisations have witnessed a decrease of more than 11% in sales, productivity, efficiency or profitability due to errors during the purchasing process. Some are seeing a decrease in excess of 25%.

The majority of B2B buyers place orders weekly, often daily, which means the opportunity for errors to occur is high. 44% of individuals experience errors with online orders at least once a fortnight, while a fifth encounter issues weekly and 9% experience issues on a daily basis. With the majority of B2B buyers preferring to buy online (75%) it’s critical that e-commerce platforms can reflect current and accurate sales information, such as pricing, shipping and stock as a way to help reduce errors.

The research found that user entry was the top reason for problems occurring during the online buying process. 28% however, felt that incorrect product information is causing errors while 28% said it was incorrect purchase entry. Other reasons for errors include incorrect inventory display (27%), incorrect shipping information (25%) and incorrect pricing information (23%).

Online order errors appear to be most frequent in Benelux with 55% of buyers experiencing problems at least once a fortnight and 25% on a weekly basis. 48% of businesses based in Germany, Austria and Switzerland also experience errors once a fortnight and nearly half (46%) of British or Irish businesses face the same problem. Yet order errors in the US and Canada appears to be less frequent, with the majority (51%) witnessing order errors at least monthly.

B2B buyers purchasing automotive parts appear to be the most susceptible to errors when making purchases online, as 54% experience problems at least once a fortnight. This is closely followed by those purchasing building materials (53%) and food & beverage products (52%).

Michiel Schipperus, CEO and Managing Partner at Sana Commerce comments: “B2B organisations have embraced e-commerce as a route to market and as a way to remain competitive and reach new markets. But our research highlights the need for e-commerce platforms to deliver accuracy across all buying channels. Ensuring that the e-commerce system is integrated into the organisation’s ERP platform to provide a single source of truth at the point of purchase goes a long way to ensuring that customers have the correct information needed to make an informed purchase decision and reduce order errors.”  

The survey of B2B organisations in Europe and the US was undertaken by independent market research company Sapio on behalf on Sana Commerce. The survey sample covered food and beverage, electronics, building materials, medical supplies and automotive parts. For more insights download the report here.