More than half of retail chains are selling online today and another fifth plan to have commerce-enabled web sites within a year, says a new study on the e-retailing industry from PricewaterhouseCoopers. The study—The State of Retail Technology 2001—was released today at the Retail Systems 2001 show in Chicago, which started today and runs through Thursday.
PWC reports that 52% of bricks-and-mortar merchants are selling on the web, 19% plan to within a year, 22% are not selling on the web because of concerns over return on investment but may do so in the future and 7% have no web plans. “Concerns about ROI are valid,” PWC consultant Larry Bagwell says in the report. “Few success stories have emerged—at least from a profitability standpoint. In fact, the biggest reason surveyed retailers gave for not selling online is that the required investment could not be justified based on a projected revenue/profit model.”
Retailers selling on the web, though, are committed to the channel. Nearly 90% plan to spend more on their web channel this year than last or to spend at least as much. PWC reports that 60% of merchants selling on the web will increase their investments this year over last and 27% will invest as much; 10% will invest less and the remaining 3% gave “other” answers.
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