2. 2
Table of Contents
Table of Contents.......................................................................................................................................2
eCommerce Focus & Trends............................................................................................................4
Global eCommerce............................................................................................................................5
..............................................................................................................................................................7
Mobile Commerce Trends ...............................................................................................................7
B2B mCommerce Adoption & Trends ...........................................................................................8
B2C mCommerce Adoption & Trends............................................................................................9
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................10
References............................................................................................................................................11
Additional Sources..........................................................................................................................12
3. 3
Abstract
Global eCommerce is exploding rapidly across geographical boundaries with an estimated 19.4% growth
annually. Forrester predicts that eCommerce will continue to grow at a blistering pace globally and is
expected to reach $1 trillion by 2016. The US is by far the largest & most mature eCommerce market with
B2B eCommerce already having reached a staggering $559 billion in 2013 & B2C eCommerce estimated
to reach $385 billion by 2017. Europe follows closely with eCommerce estimated to reach €191 billion by
2017. Asia-Pacific is ripe with large online markets ideal for eCommerce in that, India is at the cusp of
digital evolution with eCommerce expected to grow from a current $13 billion to $50 -70 billion by 2020.
Currently, 70 % of all online transactions in India are reported to come from the travel segment, followed
closely by e-retailers constituting 25% of the online retail in India. For example, Myntra reported to have
doubled its eCommerce sales from $278 million in 2012 to $559 in 2013.
Research from various sources forecasts that more & more bands will diversify reaching out to customers
by providing an omni-channel experience with mobile commerce playing a key role for both B2B & B2C
businesses. Forrester estimates that 38% of smartphone owners and 31% of tablet owners will make
purchases on mobile devices in 2014 & by 2018, 55% are estimated to make purchases on mobile devises.
With mobile payments already becoming a preferred payment channel for online business, many B2C
retailers are investing significantly in the B2C mobile potential. Forrester estimates that nearly $38 billion
of the total B2C mobile commerce transactions will happen in 2014. Players such as Amazon and eBay
have already succeeded in popularizing their mobile shopping apps in the U.S. while in Latin America, the
regional eCommerce merchant, MercadoLibre claimed to have a 10% increase in sales through mobile apps
and mobile websites. India’s BookMyShow & SnapDeal.com have reported a 40% & 55% increase in
mobile transactions, jointly from their mobile sites, & native apps.
According to Forbes, enterprises will be investing more in B2B mobile commerce as part of providing an
omni-channel experience for the B2B industry similar to B2C businesses. In a survey conducted by Oracle,
out of 100 B2B companies, 52% confirmed that they used mobile devises to make B2B purchases online &
an estimated 54% of the B2B companies used mobile devises to research products before making a
purchase. With B2B clearly expected to grow in the upcoming years, Netsuite suggests investing heavily on
providing good mobile sites for use cases, mobile upgrades, ensuring good content speed, transaction
capability & performance, faceted search, repeat orders, & customer-defined nomenclature to be the keys to
B2B success in future. Clearly, mobile commerce has taken a pivotal role in eCommerce & has become one
of the largest growth areas for upcoming years with an estimated 48% to invest in mobile channel in future.
4. 4
eCommerce will continue to grow worldwide, including emerging markets which have access to the
internet. Forrester predicts that Global eCommerce will reach nearly $1 trillion by 2016 in countries such as
North America, Europe, Asia Pacific & Latin America (Sucharita Mulpuru, 2012) & will continue to grow
at the rate of 19.4% annually across the globe. With respect to India, eCommerce is expected to grow from
the current $13 billion to $50-70 billion by 2020 (Gorean Candrilic, 2014). Reports from Forrester indicate
that mobile usage is currently used as a major strategic channel to target customers to drive-up sales, along
with mobile-assisted technologies such as smartphones & tablets. For example, the US foods rolled out
iPhone apps to all its sales reps, to enable them to check warehouse, inventory, inquire about product
details & place orders remotely.
Forrester reports that eCommerce will see a huge surge of revenue around the globe in 2014 as more brands
continue to offer international offerings, through various touch points & business models (Zia Daniell
Wigder, 2013). The report also suggests that in 2014, more and more brands will diversify reaching out to
customers using an omni-channel approach in that, mobile commerce will see a huge increase. Giant
retailers, Taobao.com & Tmall.com already have mobile applications for customers and recorded 21% of
their traffic from mobile devices (2013) in Single’s Day. India’s Snapdeal.com recorded that 30% of its
orders came from mobile devices which was a ten- fold increase from the previous years. Brands that still
do not have a mobile presence will soon launch their mobile apps & mobile sites in response to the
increasing number of orders placed through mobile devices as a part of their omni-channel offerings.
eCommerce Focus & Trends
eCommerce is now embracing omni-channel offerings to its customers to boost up sales (Zia Daniel
Widger, 2013), with respect to services such as click-an-collect & ship-from-store, international shipping,
& increasing global presence. For examples, major brands such as eBay, Amazon, Rakuten are emerging in
different countries & focusing more on bridging the gap between online & offline channels. Digital
eCommerce is predicted to focus on e-receipts at point of sale, collaboration and sales technologies in
branches (like Nationwide); geo-targeted mobile promotions (like Meat Pack’s Hijack); digital/experiential
stores and showrooms (like Audi’s City London); mobile adding a service layer to the store (like Neiman
Marcus’ NM Service app) etc. (Ashley Friedlein, 2014).
Simply having an eCommerce presence will no longer suffice the increasing competition today. It is
predicted that eCommerce growth will continue to grow in 2014 with focus on the following areas:
1. Shift to B2B: Although historically, consumers dominate the trend for online shopping, a study
from Hybris and Forrester Research shows that businesses are now sourcing products via the web –
5. 5
creating huge opportunities for B2B retailers to move online. The study showed that 50% of B2B
companies are currently selling direct to business partners online.
2. Big Data: 2014 is thought to be a year where greater number of e-tailers will make use of the big
data to personalize content & their offerings to their customers. For example, Tesco currently
makes use of weather records & sales data to help predict demand for certain products based on
weather forecasts.
3. Next Day Delivery: It is thought that more e-tailers will try to satisfy their customers by offering
same day or next day delivery. The Micros Online Retail Delivery Report showed that 68% of
retailers currently offer next day delivery, compared to 61% last year.
4. Mobile Commerce: Usage of mobile as a strategic channel for reaching out to customers will
further drive-up sales according to Forrester.
Global eCommerce
Countries across the globe are rapidly adopting eCommerce & buying online has become a key component
of the online experience although countries may vary greatly in their eCommerce maturity. The following
section classifies eCommerce maturity levels for some well-known geographies.
United States: is by far considered to be the most mature and one of the largest eCommerce markets across
the globe including cross-border B2C eCommerce. Competition is the US market is very steep & the
numbers of online & multichannel players are vast. B2C eCommerce alone is estimated to reach $385
billion in 2017 (Zia Daniell Widger, 2014).
Europe: Like the US, Europe is also considered to be a mature player in eCommerce & is estimated to
reach €191 billion in 2017 (Zia Daniell Widger, 2014). European countries are thought to be among the top
twenty for logistics & eCommerce penetration. Germany with its mature eCommerce market has well-
established cross border base & a high turnover. In France, nearly 76% of the internet users shop online
with only 15% buying cross-border. With respect to Switzerland, it was noted that consumers are
increasingly looking at cross-border eCommerce with an estimated €823 million spent on foreign
eCommerce sites. Italy is considered to have a vast population of e-shoppers in the fashion & consumer
electronics sectors & largely rely on reviews before making a purchase.
Asia-Pacific: is considered to be ripe with large online markets & ideal for cross-border eCommerce. In
Australia & Japan, the eCommerce markets are considered to be mature & ideal for cross-border
eCommerce. China is being pushed to the single largest eCommerce market in the world, following the US
(Zia Daniel Widger, 2014). India is at the cusp of digital evolution & has embraced the internet as an
6. 6
integral part of the urban population. According to internetworldstats.com, Indian eCommerce market is
currently dominated by the travel segment which accounts for more than 70 % of the online transactions,
followed by e-retailers that account for nearly 25%.
Latin America: is considered to have a fast-growing eCommerce market where cross-border online
shopping plays a significant role. Brazil is considered to have a more mature eCommerce market with
retailers constantly adding new features & functionalities (Zia Daniel Widger, 2012). It was estimated that
the eCommerce sales will cross $25 billion by 2017. Mexico on the other hand is considered to be still in
the nascent stages with respect to eCommerce & is estimated to reach $3.9 billion by 2017 (Zia Daniel
Widger, 2012). eCommerce adoption is still slow in Argentina & is thought to be impeded due to stringent
import laws.
Russia: is considered to have a complex & yet dynamic eCommerce market where the trust factor to buy
online is relatively low. The web is primarily used to research or order products offline & omni-channel
eCommerce is not well-developed according to Forrester Research (Martin Gill, Zia Daniel Widger &
Rebecca Katz, 2013), Russia presents a promising outlook for eCommerce players looking for international
growth.
Others: South African eCommerce is still considered to be in its infancy compared to the other active
eCommerce countries in the world. While eCommerce might not have exploded yet in South Africa, it was
noted that online retail websites have increased, with an increase in mobile traffic from 32% to 47% in
2013. Books, airline tickets, hotel reservations, tickets for concerts/events, music and computer software
products are the most common items purchased online in South Africa. Online furniture retailing is
becoming more common in South Africa. Cross-border eCommerce adoption is low.
Middle East: Adoption of eCommerce in the Middle East is largely thought to be region-specific than
international (such as Amazon & eBay). B2C eCommerce was reported to be less than 1% of the total retail
sales in that region. People rely largely on cash on delivery and only 2% are said to rely on credit cards.
Cross border shopping is predominantly from the US eCommerce sites & to a lesser extent on Asia &
European sites. mCommerce is currently reported to account for 10% of eCommerce sales in the Middle
East and is predicted to be doubled by 2015 (Middle East B2C eCommerce Report, 2014).
7. 7
Figure 1 shows the online retail forecast for the major countries across the globe
Mobile Commerce Trends
Mobile Commerce in the US is said to be worth $70 billion & Goldman Sachs Groups projects a growth of
$173 billion by the end of 2018. A recent post on Internet Retailer, referred mobile as the primary access
point for many consumers to access online retail. It was noted that 56% of the time was spent by online
retailers in the US to shop online from mobile phones in July 2014 (Internet Retailer, September, 2014).
Even in India, mobile penetration is said to be growing at a whooping pace with very large number of
shoppers shopping via mobile devices. Co-founders of MysmartPrice.com in India clearly stated that
mobile commerce will be the future of India. Forrester estimated that 38% of smartphone owners and 31%
of tablet owners will make purchases on mobile devices in 2014 and by 2018, 55% are estimated to make
purchases on mobile devises. Currently, 86% of customers are said to access content on their mobile
devices and 70% on tablets. Information gathered from various sources indicate that alternative payment
methods (via mobile phones), barcode scanning where smartphones can be used to scan items & add to
8. 8
shopping baskets in customer’s homes, email marketing, mobile POS (for time-starved customers), &
loyalty programs, are the key focus areas for developing a strong customer relationship in future.
Figure 2 below shows an estimate of Mobile Commerce in the US for various categories for the upcoming
years
Source: http://www.slideshare.net/monetate/state-of-mobile-commerce-2014
B2B mCommerce Adoption & Trends
According to Forbes, enterprises will be investing more in B2B in 2014 and beyond. Mobile payments are
becoming a preferred payment channel as it is faster than the PC counterpart & drive sales at any time
(Kellan Willis, 2013). Mobile Commerce is thought to have become an integral part of omni-channel
customer experience even for the B2B industry with B2B eCommerce having more than doubled B2C, with
$559 billion in 2013, according to Forrester Research (Andy Hoar, 2012). In another research, Oracle
surveyed approx. 100 B2B commerce professionals across North America, Europe & Asia Pacific &
concluded that 26% of the B2B companies believe that mobile adoption (mobile web/apps) influences
buying. Nearly 54% of B2B companies are said to be using mobile devises to research products, & 52% of
B2B companies use mobile devises to make B2B purchases online.
According to a poll conducted by EPiServer of 100 attendees at the Internet Retailer Conference and
Exhibition (2014), Internet Retailer stated that many of those who participated in the survey said that they
were planning to make a significant investment in mobile commerce in the upcoming years. Mobile
commerce currently accounts for 3-5% of B2B sales and mobile drives 7-10% of B2B traffic for activities
such as research and search according to Andrew Gaffney, Conten2Conversion Conference; 2014.
With B2B eCommerce expected to grow in future, the following were suggested by Netsuite on Internet
Retailer, 2014 to improve B2B eCommerce:
9. 9
1. Provide good mobile sites specifically for use cases & needs of B2B customers.
2. Invest heavily in mobile upgrades to stay relevant in target markets.
3. Ensure a good content speed, transaction capability & performance especially with B2B where
transactions are made on large scale basis.
4. Build Responsive Web Design for content-centric sites.
5. Faceted Search: in which each product is defined by various categories (color, size, style, etc.).
6. Configurator: to solve problems in pricing.
7. Customer-defined nomenclature: to support B2B customer’s unique product names, numbers, so
that someone ordering a part does not have to hunt for a cross reference & spend too much time on
the eCommerce site.
8. Focus on repeat orders for B2B customers.
B2B Features that customer are looking for:
1. Interactive marketplace with real time product inventory
2. Up-to-date pricing
3. Mobile-support to make B2B purchases
4. Online support forums & live customer reps
5. Database that contains their corporate purchase history
6. Video demonstrations
7. Customer reviews
8. Payment data & Shipping preference
B2C mCommerce Adoption & Trends
Globally, eCommerce players are thought to be investing significantly in the B2C mobile potential to stay
ahead of other B2C competitors. Amazon and eBay have already succeeded in popularizing their mobile
shopping apps in the U.S., while Latin America’s, regional eCommerce merchant, MercadoLibre has
reported a 10% increase in sales from their mobile apps and mobile websites. In UK, popular fashion
retailer, Asos has claimed to have generated close to third of their traffic through mobile devises. Online
merchant, Gmarket in South Korea has launched a new virtual store concept in which mobile users can
make mobile purchases by scanning a code from a product picture displayed in public places. In Russia, an
online clothing merchant has launched their mobile apps for Lamoda and KupiVIP. As more and more
retailors have started recognizing that mobile commerce has a strong influence in eCommerce sales, 2014
is thought to be a year of mobile commerce investments.
10. 10
Forrester estimates that nearly $38 billion of the total mobile phone eCommerce transactions will happen
on smartphones in 2014 (Sucharita Mulpuru, 2014). In the B2C journey, B2C marketers are thought to be
more concerned with consumers interacting directly with their brands and use mobile phones to shop, find
coupons, check & compare prices, discounts & focus on entertainment apps like games. B2C mobile
marketers attract B2C customers by creating “mobile moments” through focus on emotional triggers such
as discounts, status, price, loyalty programs, etc. to enhance buying.
With respect to India, the B2C eCommerce is projected to grow seven fold to $22 billion in the next five
years although less than 1% of all retail revenue currently comes from electronic payments (Katyayan
Gupta, 2014). The same report predicts showrooming (a growing habit in India) & the fact that more than
70% of the growth in Indian internet users are mobile only, may further encourage shopping through
mobile devises. Companies such as BookMyShow & Snapdeal.com are seeing a 40% & 55% increase in
mobile transactions from their mobile sites, & native apps respectively. For Snapdeal.com, B2C buyers
generally were found to purchase airline tickets, & physicals goods such as apparels & digital products like
eBooks online (Katyayan Gupta, 2014). Between April 2013 and March 2014, it was estimated that nearly
216 million transactions were done via mobile channels: m-wallets, mobile banking, & interbank mobile
payment services (Katyayan Gupta, 2014). Currently, categories such as fashion, home décor, jewelry, and
baby care are rapidly increasing B2C retail in India. The eCommerce retailer, Myntra, claims to have
doubled its value from $278 million in 2012 to $559 in 2013.
Conclusion
Overall, it is clear that mobile commerce adoption is exploding faster than we envisioned irrespective of the
business model. Mobile only customers are playing a pivotal role in online retail. With more than 50% of
the online transactions coming from mobile devises already, it is becoming increasingly clear that mobile
commerce is becoming the largest growth area for the upcoming years. With B2B eCommerce, it is
estimated that up to 75% of B2B companies will be offering mobile commerce in the upcoming years. B2B
e-Commerce already is booming, with 92% of companies marketing their products online, according to a
survey conducted by Intershop 2012 eCommerce Report. As far as B2C companies are concerned, mobile
commerce will continue to grow and be deployed by retailers who have not ventured into the mobile space
& serve as a testing ground for B2B companies to understand how eCommerce can support sales strategies.
Over the next few years, it is estimated that almost half (48%) of the companies will invest in the mobile
sales channel. Clearly, mobile commerce appears to be the future of B2B & B2C selling for many
companies.
11. 11
References
1) “Predictions 2014: Global eCommerce Mandates Multiple Touchpoints And Business Models, Zia Daniell
Wigder, December 12, 2013.
2) “US Cross-Channel Retail Forecast, 2011 To 2016”, Forrester Research, Sucharita Mulpuru, June 12, 2012.
3) “Building a World-Class B2B eCommerce Business” Forrester Research, January 7th, 2013.
4) “Digital Marketing and Ecommerce Trends and Predictions for 2014” Econsultancy, Ashley Friendlein.
5) http://www.startyourbusinessmag.com/top-e-commerce-trends-to-be-embraced-in-2014/
6) http://www.globaldots.com/e-commerce-trends-2014-2018-slower-growth-still-huge-opportunity/
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by-2018/
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(Recommendations for mobile commerce)
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they-demand
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women-shoppers-and-several-infrastructure-bottlenecks/
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17) http://www.cnbc.com/id/101080838#
18) http://www.intershop.com/files/Intershop/media/downloads/en/studies/2013-Intershop-E-Commerce-
Report.pdf
19) “Key Trends In B2B eCommerce For 2013”, Forrester Research, Andy Hoar, October 18, 2012.
20) http://indiamicrofinance.com/ecommerce-business-india-2014-2015-report-pdf.html
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22) http://ystats.com/uploads/report_abstracts/1076.pdf
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24) “Trends In Russia’s ecommerce Market” Forrester Research, Martin Gill, December 3, 2014.
25) http://www.internetretailer.com/2014/09/04/exclusive-mobile-now-primary-way-consumers-shop-online
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27) http://www.wallstreet-online.de/nachricht/6592731-middle-east-b2c-e-commerce-report-2014
