While some Americans may only shop online occasionally, others consider themselves to mainly be online shoppers. For those individuals that label themselves in this fashion, 20% make some type of purchase every week. On an annual basis, however, the average American consumer will spend about $1,800.00 for a variety of online retail transactions.
There are, of course, several reasons why Americans choose to make so many of their purchases online. In some instances, it’s just more convenient to shop online due to busy schedules and other obligations. In other instances, local retailers may just not stock what these shoppers want or need to purchase. According to a recent survey, these are the top three reasons participants gave for choosing to shop online:
- Price: 67%
- Shipping costs and speed: 80%
- Discount Offers: 71%
A 2017 study showed that 34% of the participants wanted same-day delivery because long delivery estimates were an inconvenience. Given that Amazon provides same-day delivery services for many of its items, this is just one of the reasons why Amazon is the most common destination for online shopping. In 2016, for example, Amazon’s Ecommerce retail sales amounted to $46.66 billion. Overall Ecommerce sales during 2016 came in at a grand total of $322.17 billion. Given its steady growth, projections indicate that by 2021, retail sales in this category will total $485.27 billion.
One of the major challenges experienced by retailers is the high cost associated with the order fulfillment process, according to a recent survey conducted by EKN in partnership with Radial. This survey revealed that this was the case with 40% of the participating retailers. The costs associated with the small business order fulfillment process can be potentially reduced, however, when working closely with the top Ecommerce fulfillment companies.
When fulfillment services for small businesses are used, an ideal partnership can be formed. Not only will these small businesses benefit from having reliable end-to-end order fulfillment, they will also be able to streamline their overall business operations. Since small business order fulfillment is integral to maintaining and growing an online customer base, it makes sense to explore the benefits of this valuable service.
