• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » E-Tailers Miss Many Opportunities to Fully Exploit the Possibilities of E-Commerce, Study Finds

E-Tailers Miss Many Opportunities to Fully Exploit the Possibilities of E-Commerce, Study Finds

September 14, 2012
Merchantry

Twelve sites were extensively reviewed and evaluated based on search functionality, comparable merchandising tactics from marketplace to retail, product information and customer service. Researchers placed orders with each marketplace and conducted queries via all available communication channels. The findings are contained in The Merchantry Report: The State of Online Marketplaces, research done in cooperation with e-commerce consultancy the e-tailing group.

The results demonstrate that online retailers face challenges offering their marketplace shoppers the same level of product detail, transparency and logistical support online shoppers have come to expect and rely on.

"Profit-maximizing practices that have become standard in the e-commerce industry are not consistently applied on marketplaces, where we found incomplete product information, limited functionality and inadequate customer experiences," said Lauren Freedman, president of the e-tailing group, which issues the EG100 annual e-commerce mystery shopping survey of 100 online retailers. "Details are ultimately what matter to shoppers. Given our findings, online marketplace shoppers would face many disappointments on the path to purchase; marketplaces have to better capitalize on selling and service fundamentals to retain shoppers."

Sites surveyed for The Merchantry Report were Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Buy.com, Kohl's, Newegg.com, OneStopPlus.com, Overstock.com, Sears, ShopNBC, TigerDirect and Walmart. Researchers evaluated product listings, pricing, social media, customer service, shipping and return processes. Key findings of the report include the following:

Marketplace products are not extended the same functionality as retailer-owned products.

Only 39 percent of marketplace products could be added to a wish list versus 83 percent of retailer-owned products.

Gift registry functionality was available on just half of marketplace products.

Retailers that provide free shipping extend the offer to marketplace products only 33 percent of the time.

While the majority of e-commerce sites incorporate social media tools, the majority of online marketplace products do not have social media functionality.

Marketplace product information is often incomplete.

Only 50 percent of marketplace product listings state seller/merchant details.

Less than half of marketplace products feature customer ratings.

Only 20 percent of product pages have enhanced guides or videos.

Logistics are inconsistent for marketplace products as compared to retailer-owned products.

Out-of-stock inventory notifications are universal but processing times are not often shown.

The average time for customers to receive marketplace orders was high (4.57 days) - more than one day longer than the industry average (as reported by the e-tailing group).

Conducting marketplace product returns is more difficult as not all merchants include complete information (e.g., how to return, to whom to return).

Cross-channel services are not in place for pick-up or returns for online marketplace shoppers.

Email responses were incomplete or they redirected customers to the marketplace sellers/manufacturers more than half the time (55 percent).

"The results of the report highlight that a mix of business, operational and technical factors must be considered when building and establishing online marketplaces," said Tommaso Trionfi, CEO of Merchantry. "A number of the existing operational and technical challenges could be alleviated by implementing a marketplace platform."

Merchantry, originally founded in 2004 as Ixtens, provides catalog management technology behind some of the world's largest online retailers.

Source: Merchantry

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Technology Cloud & On-Demand Systems Business Strategy Alignment Global Supply Chain Management Consumer Packaged Goods Pharmaceutical/Biotech Retail
KEYWORDS best practices in e-commerce Business Strategy Alignment Cloud, SaaS & On-Demand Systems consumer packaged goods e-commerce business models Global Supply Chain Management Online Commerce Pharmaceutical/Biotech Retail retail supply chain saas successful e-commerce techniques Supply Chain Analysis & Consulting Technology where e-merchants fail
  • Related Articles

    Only Half of Organizations Feel Current E-Commerce Systems Maximize Profitability, Study Finds

    Could 2013 Be the Year That E-Tailers Really Start Benefiting from Mobile Commerce?

    Click-to-Brick Phenomenon Finds E-tailers Opening Actual Stores

  • Related Events

    How to Plan More Effectively Across Your Supply Chain

Merchantry

E-Tailers Miss Many Opportunities to Fully Exploit the Possibilities of E-Commerce, Study Finds

More from this author

Wake up to Coronavirus Updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • Coronavirus-watch-Armada

    Virus Update: Slow Vaccine Rollouts Delay World’s Economic Recovery; Airbus Plant Hit by Outbreak

    Coronavirus
  • Car Industry

    A Year of Poor Planning Led to Carmakers’ Massive Chip Shortage

    Technology
  • U.S. Vaccine Rollout Hindered by Faulty Coordination, Messaging

    WHO Fumes at Western Drugmakers As China Fills Vaccine Void

    Coronavirus
  • Can Employers Require Employees to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine? Part 1

    Watch: Can Employers Require Employees to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine? Part 1

    Coronavirus
  • Third-Party Cybersecurity

    What Vaccine Supply Chains Must Do to Protect Against Cyberattack

    Coronavirus

Digital Edition

Scb home issue 27

2020 Supply Chain Innovator of the Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • LSP Saves Customer $1.5 Million a Year With MPO Global Inbound Management

  • Auto Supplier Wows Key Client Using riskmethods Supply Chain Savvy

  • Integrating Shipping and Compliance Saves Conglomerate Millions

  • How a Consumer Goods Giant Upped Its On-Time Delivery Performance

  • LSP Wows Global Client, Quickly Advances to Become End-to-End Provider

Visit Our Sponsors

6 River Systems ArcBest Armada
aThingz BluJay Burris Logistics
DSC Logistics DCSA (Digital Container Shipping Association) DHL Resilience360
Genpact GEP Honeywell Intelligrated
Infor Logility Magnitude Software
MPO Old Dominion Oliver Wight
OpenSky Ports America Purolator
QAD Precision Red Classic Riskmethods
TGW Systems Transportation Insights Watson Land Company
Westfalia Technologies Workjam Yang Ming
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright © 2016 - 2018 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing