International marketplaces key to UK retailers
By Retail Technology | Wednesday September 3 2014
Recent survey results indicate that almost half of UK retailers are making nearly a third of their online sales on international marketplaces
Almost half (43%) of UK retailers reported that 21-30% of their online sales come from international marketplaces, according to results recently unveiled by ChannelAdvisor’s multichannel e-commerce study.
The research also found that 95% of mid-sized UK retailers surveyed are selling on marketplaces, 73% are using digital marketing.
The survey was conducted by Redshift Research and focused on collecting responses from more than 200 UK and US online retailers that averaged £1.7 to £3 million in revenue in 2013. Research was conducted using an email invitation and an online survey.
The questions covered marketplaces, cross-border trade, digital marketing and more. The results showed that over three quarters of UK retailers are currently selling on Amazon, with over half of retailers (68%) reporting selling on eBay.
Cross border trade
Still referring to cross-border trade, the survey also showed that global marketplaces are the number one point of sale for international transactions. The majority of surveyed retailers in the UK (54%) and US (69%) think that Amazon provides the best opportunity to sell internationally.
UK retailers said that the most challenging aspect of selling on marketplaces is customer service, followed by maintaining competitive pricing and product sourcing.
Retailers reported that product listing ads are a top digital marketing strategy in terms of performance. Budget, infrastructure and website limitations as well as confusion about options and the digital marketing landscape are the three most common factors preventing UK retailers from increasing their digital marketing spend.
Mobile advertising
Almost half of UK retailers reported that 21-30% of their current web traffic comes from mobile devices. Most UK retailers (87%) think that web traffic from mobile devices will increase over the next two years. To prepare, 73% of UK retailers expect to increase their mobile advertising budget in the next two years.
Retailers’ top three business goals for social media are to increase brand awareness, reach a new generation of customers and drive conversions. Surveyed retailers said Facebook is the social platform that creates the most conversions for retailers.
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