In their recent State of Commerce Ops report 2024, Linnworks surveyed more than 2,000 consumers and 1,000 eCommerce retailers to create the most comprehensive analysis of the priorities and challenges consumers and retailers face.
So, what are the top trends retailers need to be aware of in 2024? Here's a snapshot of our survey's top 11 findings - and dont forget to
download the report for more detailed analysis.
1. Shipping costs and marketplace connectivity are significant challenges.
43% of UK online retailers and 33% of US online retailers have identified managing delivery costs and connecting to new marketplaces (36% in the UK, 35% in the US) as the primary operational challenges during business growth. These concerns align with consumers' top issue: delivery cost. Other significant pain points for retailers include coordinating warehouse movements, fulfillment, and logistics across various platforms, as well as syncing inventory across multiple channels.
2. Mid-market retailers are investing heavily in inventory visibility
Retailers with higher revenues have superior inventory visibility across their sales channels and warehouses. Four out of five UK firms with a turnover between $1M and $50M reported good or excellent visibility, a trend closely mirrored by US retailers in the same revenue range. This underscores the importance of inventory visibility as businesses grow.
3. Retailers are advancing rapidly with process automation
Automation is helping retailers to scale sustainably and cost-effectively. Although only a few industry pioneers in the UK (7%) and the US (10%) have fully automated operations, over a third of retailers in both countries have automated significant parts of their business. Businesses generating between $1M and $10M in revenue show the highest automation rates, with 49% in the UK and 51% in the US. Despite this progress, approximately one in five firms still have minimal or no automation in their eCommerce operations.
4. Automation of inventory and order management takes precedence
ECommerce businesses are prioritising automation efforts in order processing and inventory management. More than 60% of retailers in both the UK and the US have automated their order processing, while approximately half have streamlined inventory management. Leading in this area are firms with revenues between $500,000-$1M and $10M-$50M. Automating manual eCommerce processes ranks third in priority, with around a fifth of US respondents and a quarter of UK respondents focusing on this aspect. Most successful firms perceive automation as a continuous, organisation-wide initiative rather than a singular effort.
5. Selling on two to three marketplaces is the sweet spot
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