Business-to-business e-commerce is on a tear and set to grow even more over the next few years. Are industrial distributors keeping pace or falling behind?
E-commerce revenue jumped 21 percent this holiday season over last year as mobile sales continue to climb - 30.4 percent of online sales were placed on mobile devices, according to Custora.
While more peak-season shopping will likely be done online this year than ever before in North America, one of the most important factors in a shopper's decision to use the web will be cost rather than speed of delivery, according to a consumer survey conducted by Canadian parcel and freight service Purolator International, along with the Stony Brook University Center for Survey Research.
Consumers expect to hear knocks on their door from delivery services well into the holiday week and for no cost at all, according to Deloitte's 30th annual holiday survey of consumer spending intentions and trends. In fact, free shipping is the top priority for shoppers when it comes to retail policies, with 72 percent of responding consumers planning to take full advantage of the perk. Nearly 9 in 10 shoppers (87 percent) prioritized free shipping over fast shipping (13 percent) when purchasing gifts shopping online.
E-commerce has already transformed the world of warehousing and logistics, and according to Colliers International Group Inc., everything indicates that this process will continue.
The growth of e-commerce increases consumer choice and flexibility, but it also challenges distribution centers to keep pace with consumers' higher expectations for faster and more accurate delivery. Nearly nine in 10 distribution center operators expect to adopt new mobile devices and voice-direction technology in the next five years to meet that need, according to a survey by Honeywell and YouGov.
A growing number of consumers go to Amazon first when shopping for online products. According to a Survata study, commissioned by BloomReach, 44 percent of shoppers go straight to Amazon, beating out the 34 percent who go direct to search engines and 21 percent who go directly to a retailer's e-commerce site.
Amazon is taking aim at delivery services like Postmates with the launch of a program called Flex., which calls for drivers to make $18 to $25 per hour delivering packages to users of Amazon Prime Now using their own cars and phones.
