This four-part series will explore the transformation of the digital landscape within e-commerce and provide insight and practical guidance on how online retailers can benefit from cloud hosting technologies.
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E-commerce in the UK has developed into one of the biggest channels within the retail sector, with consumers increasingly turning to shopping online, contributing to 19% of total retail sales, with a forecasted increase of 29.6% between 2019 and 2024. It is now easier than ever to shop and buy products online, with purchasing possibilities continually developing and adapting to keep up with the growth of e-commerce demand and advancing technology.
With 95% of people online and an estimated 87% shopping online, e-commerce business in the UK looks to be the preferred choice and is forecast to have a continued boom. The long-term shift from the high street to online retail will inevitably be accelerated by the impact of Covid-19. Figures suggest that the pandemic will have a lasting and permanent effect on the acceleration and growth of e-commerce, perhaps to the further detriment of traditional brick-and-mortar stores, with predictions that the number of physical shops could more than half in the next two years.
The UK’s top e-commerce players are made up of a healthy mix of marketplaces, department stores and speciality retailers but also include a selection of niche e-commerce sites that can capitalise from the size of the market, which is estimated to be worth $233bn in the UK alone.
The top e-commerce rankings in the UK for 2019 show the expected big household name brands including Amazon, Argos, Apple, John Lewis and Tesco. All these companies have recognised the potential of e-commerce and in many cases transferred their high street popularity over to the virtual marketplace to access their consumers online.
The growth of e-commerce sales can be attributed to the increasing ease of access to new technologies and technology adoption by both consumers and retailers, impacting trends and behaviours in how and where consumers spend. To provide an example, e-commerce retailer ASOS introduced an AI technology as part of its online shopping experience to improve size assistance to its shoppers. As a solely digital retailer they have used technology to address a common flaw with online shopping, allowing their customers to determine sizing more accurately without trying outfits on.
ASOS, as a key player in the UK e-commerce industry demonstrate just how retailers are investing in their platforms. As technology becomes slicker and competition in the market increases, an optimised, secure website and mobile application now appears to be a necessity for any online retailer.
M-commerce is not to be overlooked, over 95% of adults own a mobile phone in the UK, with 63% of traffic to retailers and 53% of sales happening via mobile devices in 2019. The huge penetration of mobile devices has affected these figures, but emerging trends such as ‘one-click’ ordering, social commerce ‘influencing’ and voice assisted shopping are just a few examples of additional trends making mobile devices even more central to the way we shop and make payments now and in the future.
With consumer expectations and sophisticated technologies paving the way for a continued upward trajectory for m-commerce and e-commerce, the vital role of maintaining a secure, always available web presence when trading online has never been more important.
As a cloud hosting provider that specialises in supporting critical websites and applications, we know the importance of your business being online and available to consumers 24/7. The online retail landscape has never been more competitive or dynamic, which means any period of downtime can result in a loss of revenue, customer confidence and brand reputation.
Secura’s Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is designed with e-commerce businesses in mind, offering high-performance hosting with built-in security to ensure the very best online experience for website users and protection for business revenue. The platform is designed in a way that resources can be scaled up and down to meet the needs of new projects, customers, promotions, or seasonal variations, only paying for the resources that you use.
Today’s e-commerce market offers a massive opportunity and if you’re trading online, it has never been more important to partner with a cloud provider that has specialist e-commerce knowledge and expertise. Choosing a trusted provider will make all the difference when it comes to keeping pace and competing within an incredibly fast-moving sector.
If you have any questions, be sure to get in touch with one of our experts today.
Image credit: blossomstar/Shutterstock.com
Hannah is the Marketing Executive at Secura, helping the team deliver our campaigns and digital marketing with acute accuracy.
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