2014 E-Commerce Survey

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1 2014 E-Commerce Survey Executive Summary As customer demands increase, organizations across industries are required to connect with their consumers through multiple channels. The pace at which enterprises must keep up with and cater to the needs and requests of their buyers to make sales and drive purchase decisions is rapidly increasing and organizations have to invest in what may be the next big platform. While companies are investing in mobile and social platforms due to audience reach, many are still unsure of how exactly to take advantage of these channels. And despite mobile and social s rein on consumers lives, transactions remain on more traditional commerce platforms such as search, web and . To uncover which channels B2B and B2C companies are using and investing in, EPiServer, an innovator in multichannel digital marketing and e-commerce software, conducted a survey at the 10th annual Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition, the world s largest e-commerce event. Survey respondents included CEOs, Vice Presidents, Directors and e-commerce Managers at more than 100 attending organizations including retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers, catalogers, web-only merchants and local-retailers. About EPiServer is the world s fastest-growing provider of innovative digital marketing and e-commerce solutions that drive business results for end customers. We improve and streamline the user experience, helping clients create true Web engagement that excites users and delivers profit to the bottom line. More than 5,000 customers in 30 countries through a network of 630 partners use EPiServer s comprehensive digital marketing and e-commerce platform that provides a commercialized chain reaction, helping our customers succeed so they can help their customers succeed.

2 2014 IRCE Survey Results 2 business s sales come through your website? 41 said less than 20% 26 said 20% - 40% 26 said 40% - 60% 7 said more than 60% business s sales come through mobile transaction? 64 said less than 20% 23 said 20% - 40% 6 said 40% - 60% 7 said more than 60% Does the transaction occur on your site or on a mobile application? 47 said my responsive site 45 said my mobile site 8 said my mobile application When compared to mobile sites and applications, it s obvious that the traditional website still reigns for driving transactions. For mobile, whether you are using a responsive or mobile site, the few transactions that do occur on mobile are not happening in your application. The mobile application supports consumer decisions processes but it s not the vehicle for transaction.

3 2014 IRCE Survey Results 3 business s sales come through social networks? 68 said less than 20% 20 said 20% - 40% 9 said 40% - 60% 3 said more than 60% Does the transaction occur on your site or on the social site? 93 said my site 7 said social site Which do you feel are the most important traffic sources for new customer acquisition? (Max 3) 49 said organic research 36 said 26 said paid research 24 said digital advertising 24 said social media 16 said offline channel Social may be secondary for driving traffic and transactions, but it s a key part of any organizations content strategy. Organic search and are cited as the most important sources of new site traffic, which shows that with any push and pull strategy you must have an abundance of quality and properly formatted content to support it.

4 2014 IRCE Survey Results 4 Which of these channels do you use today for new acquisition? (Max 3) 66 said web 40 said social 37 said search 36 said mobile 29 said Which of these channels do you plan on investing in? (Max 3) 57 said mobile 53 said web 40 said social 28 said search 28 said Which of these channels do you feel you have mastered? (Max 3) 60 said web 28 said mobile 27 said social 21 said 18 said search 12 said none The results also revealed that while companies believe that search and are the most important traffic sources for new customer acquisition, enterprises are spending more time investing in social and mobile platforms where content supports awareness and decision making processes. The #1 investment in web shows that supporting that investment with multiple channels and traffic-driving sources is key.

5 B2B Versus B2C When breaking down the data even further to compare the channels most often used for business transactions in B2B and B2C organizations, findings revealed the following. 5 business s sales come through your website? B2B 49 said less than 20% 24 said 20% - 40% 8 said 40% - 60% 19 said more than 60% B2C 39 said less than 20% 36 said 20% - 40% 0 said 40% - 60% 25 said more than 60% Both 33 said less than 20% 30 said 20% - 40% 0 said 40% - 60% 37 said more than 60% Businesses in both B2B and B2C are pulling in more sales through their website. They ve taken the best of both worlds and applied B2C tactics to B2B purchases to enable better experiences to drive the transaction. What does this mean? It means that B2B companies should take cues from those in B2C to drive the online transaction.

6 B2B Versus B2C When breaking down the data even further to compare the channels most often used for business transactions in B2B and B2C organizations, findings revealed the following. 6 business sales come through mobile? B2B 78 said less than 20% 16 said 20% - 40% 3 said 40% - 60% 3 said more than 60% B2C 56 said less than 20% 39 said 20% - 40% 0 said 40% - 60% 5 said more than 60% Both 56 said less than 20% 22 said 20% - 40% 7 said 40% - 60% 15 said more than 60% For anyone selling online, the jury is still out on mobile driving transactions but, with increasing mobile transactions for B2C, B2B should take the cue that mobile experience is critical & put themselves in a position to be ready to transact through this platform.

7 B2B Versus B2C When breaking down the data even further to compare the channels most often used for business transactions in B2B and B2C organizations, findings revealed the following. 7 Which channels do you plan on investing in? (Max 3) B2B 21 said web 26 said mobile 19 said social 9 said search 10 said B2C 19 said web 17 said mobile 12 said social 10 said search 10 said Both 14 said web 15 said mobile 10 said social 10 said search 9 said The findings reveal that B2B plans to go big on mobile, and they should! As long as they employ a content strategy that allows for bite-sized content that s easily consumed across channels and devices. B2C plans to continue to go big on web and mobile, and they should also plan to employ a content strategy that allows for bite-sized content that s easily consumed on those devices.

8 2014 E-Commerce Survey Takeaways The message is clear organizations should take advantage of the platforms that are readily available to them today. The traffic sources that are still relied on are search and , yet investments are funneled into social and mobile platforms. Transactions on these platforms may be years away and the data shows that what people need to do is put their money in what s working now not in what may work in the future. Consumers transact in channels where they are comfortable, on a traditional website but, they explore the other channels regularly and look at social, mobile, and search to support their decision making process. B2B and B2C companies alike should not underestimate the power of content in driving an ecommerce transaction. Consumers want to make informed decisions, and have that decision validated. Nowadays, consumers fully expect supportive content in any and every channel, in any screen, at that moment and companies need to be able to deliver on this request. B2B and B2C companies alike should not underestimate the power of content