A growing field of eCommerce players, technological advances, and changing user expectations means that today's retailer capabilities range from the widely adopted and well established to strategies that are still being defined by early adopters. A 2012 assessment of 100 top performing online retailers by Deloitte, "4th Annual eCommerce Assessment: digital retail leaders at the tipping point" names some of these established and trending capabilities.
Critical Mass
Prevalent among the IR Top 1000, these capabilities have matured to a very high degree of functionality making them crucial to success in order to remain relevant within the world of eCommerce. Proficiency in mobile and tablet devices is essential considering 71% of smartphone owners have used their device to make an online purchase. In 2012 alone, mobile commerce sales increased by a whopping 81%.
Can I stress enough how social presence is absolutely vital for online success today? If I haven't been clear, let me repeat myself. Online retailers who prioritize social strategy reach an average of 350,000 users per month. Additionally, 54% of U.S. CEO's say their business strategy is influenced by social media.
On the Verge
Personalization is one of the main capabilities that is still currently still being defined. 65% of retailers saw an increase in conversion rates in 2011, this is in large part of a result of personalized cross-sell, up-sell recommendations and onsite offers.
A great example of this would be JustFab.com. They not only remain relevant by offering shoes and accessories online at an extremely competitive rate, but they throw a "personal stylist" into the mix. Any shopper on the site is offered specific style recommendations from experts based on their personal preferences. 39% said they buy more from retailers that present personalized product recommendations based on their onsite browsing. Onsite personalization not only gives shoppers an "in store" experience but it increases the likelihood of purchases.
The Next Wave
Future capabilities will most likely have a strong focus on differentiating leading edge eCommerce capabilities to advance the industry as a whole. 56% of companies expect significant impact from their data management and analytics investments of the next few years. Turning unstructured data into actionable data, especially social analytics, is undoubtedly a likely characteristic of next wave eCommerce capabilities. To top it off, 59% of digital marketers said increasing the effectiveness of their social spend in 2013 is a high priority.
What does the future of eCommerce capabilities mean for your business?