According to Adobe’s digital economy index, 2022 is expected to be the first trillion-dollar year for ecommerce. Consumers dramatic shift to shopping online during the pandemic has been a key factor in this growth and all signs point to this sea change being permanent. What else is driving ecommerce to reach this milestone?

BOPIS and curbside pickup

With 215% year-over-year growth in the first two months of 2021 and consumers that use this service placing orders that are 18% larger, BOPIS and curbside pickup are clearly here to stay. During the height of the pandemic, many large retailers like Best Buy and Walmart rolled out or enhanced curbside offerings to help get consumers what they needed faster.

In the coming months, consumers will likely start to adjust their preferences to match their feelings about safety, while also trying to add in an element of normalcy with more people now vaccinated. Curbside pickup is a service that sits at the intersection of this dynamic. Curbside has also proven to be an important service for retailers to offer when delivery carriers are experiencing high volume times or facing delays due to weather or other unforeseen challenges.

Innovations in delivery and fulfillment

Retailers need to offer a better delivery experience, both at checkout and while goods are in transit to the customer, to improve online revenue and customer satisfaction. Shoppers are more likely to buy from a retailer that will get them their order quickly. Offering a specific delivery date that’s only a few days away versus a date range with a number of days leads to more consumers completing a purchase. Rithum data indicates that, in certain circumstances, retailers could realize a conversion rate increase of as much as 4% for each day sooner that the retailer can promise delivery during an online checkout.

 Offering every consumer more choice through expanded assortment

One thing that retailers learned from the pandemic is how quickly consumer demand for product categories can shift. Retailers that can tap into a supplier network to increase product assortment to meet consumer demand with minimal capital investment can provide a better customer experience.

In-store fulfillment and distribution centers are not enough, especially when customers expect to have all products available on-demand and this is only going to evolve and intensify. A supplier network can protect the customer experience and expand a retailer into and out of product categories quickly and easily. Having access to a strong network like Rithum’s along with the real-time inventory visibility our platform offers can increase customer loyalty, reach new customers, and grow online sales.

Contact us to learn more.