E-commerce continues to be a bright spot in biz - Scott Silverman

21 Oct '09

3 min read

Despite a progressively deteriorating economic environment, including the worst holiday season in decades, 57 percent of online retailers surveyed for Shop.org's State of Retailing Online reported they were more profitable in 2008 than 2007. The survey polled 117 retailers and was conducted by Forrester Research, Inc.

“Many Americans are heading to the internet first to look for sales and promotions, especially when shopping for gifts and big purchases,” said Scott Silverman, Executive Director of Shop.org. “Though online retailers have had their challenges within the past year and watched consumers pull back on spending, e-commerce continues to be a bright spot in business.”

According to the survey, online retailers adjusted to the economy in a variety of different ways. Nine in ten retailers (91%) focused on preserving margins, while 88 percent of retailers amplified promotions or increased “value” messaging. Slightly more than half of retailers (53%) lowered prices as a result of the economy.

As the U.S. economy suffered in 2008, the environment provided an opportunity for some online retailers to focus on gaining market share while other retailers struggled. For many, that concentration proved successful: according to the survey, one-third of online retailers (33%) said they increased market share during the downturn.

“While online retailers have been able to navigate better than most through the economic downturn, companies should continue to focus on keeping costs low and integrating the online and offline channels in order to be best positioned when the economy bounces back,” said Sucharita Mulpuru, Forrester Research principal analyst.

As the economy begins to stabilize and consumer confidence grows, online retailers are hopeful for the future with guarded optimism. Four out of five online retailers (60%) believe the U.S economy will improve within the next year, and half (50%) think their web business will actually fare better than expected in the next 12 months. That said, retailers are being cautious internally: even though the overall sentiment about online retail is strong, thirty-eight percent said that they have actually lowered expectations around the Web business, even though the overall sentiment about the channel is strong.

Forrester Research, Inc. is an independent research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice to global leaders in business and technology. Forrester works with professionals in 20 key roles at major companies providing proprietary research, customer insight, consulting, events, and peer-to-peer executive programs. For more than 26 years, Forrester has been making IT, marketing, and technology industry leaders successful every day.

Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, is the world's leading membership community for digital retail. Founded in 1996, Shop.org's 700 members include the 10 largest retailers in the U.S. and more than 60 percent of the Internet Retailer Top 100 E-Retailers. It's where the best retail minds come together to gain the insight, knowledge and intelligence to make smarter, more informed decisions in the evolving world of the Internet and multichannel retailing. Shop.org programs and activities include benchmarking research, events and networking communities.

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