New data from Juniper Research has revealed that global online retail sales are expected to reach $1.7 trillion this year, up by more than 17 per cent on 2014.
It argued that while recent growth had been buoyed by factors such as public wi-fi deployments and 4G roll-out, in the medium term, sales would receive a strong boost from the trend of social-media companies to act as direct sales platforms.
The new research, Mobile & Online Purchases: Cards, Carrier Billing & Third-Party Payment Platforms 2015-2020, observed that players such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram had already launched buy buttons from their mobile apps. It claimed that such players are also likely to enhance their sales prospects through strategic retailer partnerships, with Twitter already enabling users to link their accounts to Amazon.
The research also argued that online retailers were increasingly seeking to reduce time-to-consumer by launching same-day delivery, while bricks-and-mortar stores now widely offered next-day in-store collection, often charging a premium for this option.
However, the research cautioned that retailers need to deliver a consistency of message, branding and shopping experience across all channels. It argued that integration between in-store and online is also critical if the retailers want to maximise the extent to which that information can identify a unique individual’s omnichannel shopping habits.
According to research author Dr Windsor Holden, "The key is to ensure that consumers are allowed to choose their own path to purchase, rather than have it effectively mandated by channel limitations."
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