Grow – eCommerce is a Growth Vehicle

eCommerce purchases are growing at double digit rates.  Traditional retail is not.  Just about everyone you know from grandparents to school children is buying online and access by every demographic is growing globally.  Are you growing your eCommerce channel as fast as you can?

According to Jeffrey Grau, a principal analyst at eMarketer, "87.5% of US internet users ages 14 and older, or 178.5 million people, will browse or research products online this year.  Of that group, 83% will make a purchase online, for a total of 148.1 million online buyers in 2011.  By 2015, 170.3 million people, or 76.3% of the online population, will make a purchase on the web."*

It is never too late to build a strong eCommerce channel.

Multi-channel retailers can leverage their brand loyalty programs and general marketing efforts across channels.  As an example, the web is the fastest-growing channel for Toys 'R' Us for the year ending Jan. 29, 2011. Toys 'R' Us reported that web sales increased year over year 29.9% to $782 million from $602 million.*** In 2009, web sales were 42% of total sales at Staples and the web accounted for 33% of total sales at Williams-Sonoma.**

Pure play internet retailers both big and small are growing.  Amazon grew sales from $24.51 billion in 2009 to $34.20 billion in 2010.  During the same period, Gilt Groupe grew by 150% to increase sales by more than $255 million in one year.  And, Diapers.com which grew at over 100% in the previous year added another  60% growth in 2010.****

Brand manufacturers are growing online and have huge opportunities to grow even more.  The Timberland Company saw internet sales grow by more than 27% from 2009 to 2010**** and going forward they are pursuing an aggressive online growth strategy that includes multiple programs in both North America and Europe.

eCommerce growth is a trend that will continue.  More consumers are online, the technology to shop gets better all the time and now the Kiva solution is a mainstream offering for streamlining the back-end operations that not only scale, but actually contribute to eCommerce growth.

To learn more about how Kiva Systems can enhance your ability to compete, grow and win in the eCommerce space contact us.

*Source: eMarketer, March 2011
**Source: Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, 2010 Edition
***Source: Reported by Toys 'R' Us, April 2011
****Source: Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, 2011 Edition