The Current State of e-Commerce Software Market 2022

_{Source: a2ztaxcorp.com}

Introduction 

E-commerce, or electronic commerce, refers to the commercial transactions that are conducted electronically through the internet. It involves buying and selling consumer products, marketplace services, and customer support, along with other activities, such as online auctions, payment gateways, online ticketing, and internet banking. E-commerce is usually classified based on numerous business models, which include Business to Business (B2B), Business to Customer (B2C), Customer to Business (C2B), and Customer to Customer (C2C). It offers various benefits to the seller, such as a global reach, minimal transaction costs, higher margins of profit, direct communication between the parties involved, and quick delivery of goods and services.

Some of the major players in the global e-commerce market include Alibaba Group Holding Limited, Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., B2W Companhia Digital (Lojas Americanas S/A), Ebay Inc., Groupon Inc., Rakuten, Walmart Inc., Zalando SE, etc.

Market size & Growth rate

The global e-commerce market is expected to total $5.55 trillion in 2022. That figure is estimated to grow over the next few years, showing that borderless e-commerce is becoming a profitable option for online retailers. While in 2021, retail e-commerce sales amounted to approximately 4.9 trillion U.S. dollars worldwide. This figure is forecast to grow by 50 percent over the next four years, reaching about 7.4 trillion dollars by 2025.

Two years ago, only 17.8% of sales were made from online purchases. That number is expected to reach 21% in 2022, a 17.9% increase in e-commerce market share over two years. Growth is expected to continue, reaching 24.5% by 2025, which translates to a  6.7 percentage point increase in just five years.

In terms of revenue, Business to Business (B2B) dominated the market for e-commerce with a share of 63.1% in 2019 and is expected to witness the fastest growth from 2020 to 2027. This is attributed to the growing inclination of the companies toward online selling and buying goods and services.

Market Drivers

Established organizations and large enterprises are leaning towards online business due to lesser expenditure on communication and infrastructure. E-commerce offers the organization an easier reach for the customers, and hence necessary exposure to business is also achieved. E-commerce is also driven owing to the increasing importance of online marketing tools, such as Google ads and Facebook ads. Nowadays, marketing options are in abundance due to the popularity of social media applications, which, in turn, helps in driving the market for e-commerce towards growth trajectories.

The aggressive marketing strategies adopted by the payers and increased investments in social media marketing and digital marketing in recent years have significantly driven the growth of the global b2c e-commerce market. Moreover, the easy and convenient payment options, 24/7 customer support, doorstep home delivery to almost every location, and convenient refund and replacement policies of the e-commerce platforms have augmented the demand for the b2c e-commerce channels among global customers.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has immensely impacted e-commerce firms on different levels. Governments worldwide enforced social distancing measures, instituted lockdowns or temporarily closed non-essential businesses, and other measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that led consumers to ramp up online shopping. This resulted in spikes in e-commerce sales. The pandemic has augmented the adoption of e-commerce.

Market Trends

Based on payment mode, the card payment segment commanded the largest share of the e-commerce market in 2020. Increasing adoption of credit, debit, and pre-paid cards that provide convenience and security to users fostered the largest share of the card payment segment in the e-commerce market.

The impact the COVID-19 pandemic made on supply chains was, a major disruption, along the lines of having an earthquake or tsunami. When the coronavirus broke supply chains around the world, it drove companies to focus on building supply chain resilience or to think of ways to keep supply chains from halting and restoring them quickly when they do. Experts predict that systems won’t “normalize” until 2023 at the earliest. Even once they do, the pandemic has exposed global logistic network vulnerabilities to future political instability, natural disasters, and regulatory changes.

Challenges & Risks

E-commerce businesses faced several key challenges, such as disrupted supply chains, limited operations due to the lockdown, managing inventory, and overall lack of employees.

When it comes to e-commerce, one of the biggest challenges faced is security breaches. There is a lot of information/data that is involved while dealing with eCommerce and a technical issue with data can cause severe damage to the retailer’s daily operations as well as brand image.

Shoppers have a myriad of options to choose from these days. ie. If they are looking to buy a handbag, they do some thorough research before finalizing one. If shoppers have several options, how do you make sure they pick you? How do you go about finding that perfect customer that wants your product, at your rate and to the places you can ship?

One of the biggest e-commerce challenges is to convert visitors into paying customers. An eCommerce website might have a lot of traffic, a lot of clicks, and impressions but they aren’t making the sales it anticipated. What can they do to get more sales?

Opportunities

E-commerce websites can be optimized for pre-sales activities and to generate sales leads. At its most basic this can mean having an online version of your promotional materials on your site. Other options include email campaigns, search marketing, or online advertising to attract visitors to your website.

The internet can be used to automate aspects of your customer support to reduce the number of routine customer service calls. This can be achieved by using your site to answer the most frequently asked questions, or by putting technical information online. Follow-up emails can be automated to encourage further sales.