Company News • 05.09.2014

Multichannel Buyer Analysis Shows Online Sales on the Rise over the Last Few Years

Epsilon Releases 2014 Multichannel Trend Report

Epsilon, the global leader in helping clients create customer connections that build brand and business equity, today released the 2014 Multichannel Trend Report. Based on aggregated 2013 merchandise purchase data, the report shows a 2% increase in total sales for consumer goods, a rise driven by an increase in the average order values (AOV) and frequency of purchases.

Online sales continue to trend upward year-over-year. For Business-to-Business (B2B), online sales grew nearly 8% between 2011 and 2013, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all sales (64.8%). In the Business-to-Consumer (B2C) space, online sales also increased 2% in 2013 when compared to 2012. For both B2B and B2C, the proportion of mail order/call center purchases declined.

Epsilon’s 2014 Multichannel Trend Report is an annual report which aggregates 2013 merchandise purchase data from the Abacus Cooperative database. The findings indicate substantial growth across key metrics in the omnichannel buyer’s analysis.

“As your customers spend more and more time on mobile devices and online, it’s not surprising that there’s a notable impact on where they are researching products and making purchases. In fact, we’ve seen a steady 1 to 2% increase in online spending for the past several consecutive years with steady retail, in-store sales,” said Tim Prunk, SVP of Epsilon Data Solutions. “With brands, consumers and businesses connecting both online and offline, a comprehensive, omnichannel marketing strategy remains key to success and to driving meaningful relationships with customers. In order for marketers to enhance the customer experience and best appropriate marketing dollars, they must use insights to know their customers, technology to reach them when and where they’re most engaged and creative content to drive desired outcomes and behaviors.”

Key findings from the report include:

In 2013, 10 out of 18 product categories in the B2C segment reported growth.

The top five growing B2C categories include Home Décor & Furniture, Arts & Crafts/ Collectibles, Kitchen, Female Apparel and Fashion Accessories & Beauty.

Two of the top five, Arts & Crafts/Collectibles and Kitchen, have had historically negative growth.

In the B2B space, marketers experienced nominal overall growth of 1% over 2012.

Of the 12 B2B product categories, five posted positive sales growth including Ad Specialty, Food Gifts, HR Training/Seminars, Magazines/Newsletters/Books and Tools & Agriculture.

By 2013, Online sales accounted for nearly two-thirds of all sales (64.8%).

Sales in the Direct to Consumer market grew 1% with the average transaction growing 2% to $83.00 in 2013.

Epsilon’s 2014 Multichannel Trend Report provides valuable trends and benchmark data to help guide strategic business and marketing decisions for the remainder of 2014.

Source: Epsilon

channels: multichannel commerce