Your Competitors Plan to Outspend You Next Year
Ecommerce Budgets Increasing Greatly in 2023
Over 75% of online retailers plan to increase their budget in 2023, with a majority planning increases between 10% and 25% over 2022 levels. With budgets already at a high level since mid-2020, this represents a large increase in spending. This data comes from the Digital Commerce 360 Digital Technology Survey, which was completed in October 2022, so it’s based on the most pessimistic views retailers had during the fall of 2022 about 2022 holiday sales.
Ecommerce Replatforming Top 2023 Budget Priority
The top priority for ecommerce budgets in 2023 is replatforming, which was cited by 46% of retailers as a “major” priority and by another 31% as a “moderate” priority. This is up from 2019, when only 28% of retailers said replatforming was a “major” priority.
Now that the pandemic-related swings between purely online spending and store-based shopping have settled onto a stable mix between the two, online retailers are evaluating if their current platform serves them well, and their current platform is coming up short. Platforms that were selected in or before 2019 just aren’t serving the needs of retailers and the demands of customers in 2023, making ecommerce replatforming a top priority for 2023.
Ease of Implementation & Use Top Criteria
When selecting a platform or other technology investment, the criteria mentioned by a majority of retailers is not just ease of implementation but also ease of use for both customers as well as employees. Companies are finding themselves needing to do more work with less people, so investments are being made into systems that are easy to use and provide high levels of integration and automation.
What About the Looming Recession?
The current economic climate has stressed some retailers, but in looking at previous recessions the retailers that are able to continue to invest in customer acquisition and finding revenue streams such as those provided by ecommerce and omnichannel that allow them to sell more efficiently are the ones that come out greatly ahead of their competitors both during and after the recession. This knowledge is encouraging retailers that have built up a healthy financial reserve during the uncertainty of the past few years to begin to deploy that money strategically.
Winning the Ecommerce Battle in 2023
It’s clear that ecommerce budgets will be increasing in 2023, with many retailers planning on outspending their competitors. In order to win the ecommerce battle, retailers need to focus on their budget priorities and ensure they are investing in the right technology. By doing so, they can stay ahead of the competition and continue to grow their online businesses.
As a retailer, it is important to keep abreast of your competition's plans for the future. In this case, your competitors are planning to outspend you on ecommerce next year. This means that you need to focus on your budget priorities and ensure you are investing in the right technology in order to stay ahead of the competition.
