Close Menu
  • News
  • Home
  • In Profile
  • Finance
  • Legal
  • Technology
  • Events
  • Features
  • Wellbeing & Mental Health
  • Marketing
  • HR & Recruitment
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Events Calendar
  • Business Wall
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • 0843 289 4634
X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
Trending
  • Finance Founder Celebrates Business Milestone With Advice For Entrepreneurs
  • Fast fashion giant Shein accused of “dark marketing” – what does it mean for businesses?
  • Why GDP Growth Isn’t the Full Story for UK Businesses
  • Windsor Expo Wows: A Showcase of Success, Innovation, and Local Business!
  • Women aren’t risk-averse, they’re risk smart
  • “The Art of Difficult Conversations” Webinar
  • How data is transforming the fabric of SME lending
  • An interview with Dr. Jo Salter MBE: The RAF’s first female fast jet pilot.
X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
SME Today
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Events Calendar
  • Business Wall
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • 0843 289 4634
  • News
  • Home
  • In Profile
  • Finance
  • Legal
  • Technology
  • Events
  • Features
  • Wellbeing
  • Marketing
  • HR & Recruitment
SME Today
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Events Calendar
  • Business Wall
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • 0843 289 4634
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
You are at:Home»Features»Achieving eCommerce Growth in a Recession
Achieving eCommerce Growth in a Recession

Achieving eCommerce Growth in a Recession

0
Posted By sme-admin on November 16, 2022 Features

How do some businesses not only survive recession but thrive? According to Bain, 10% of organisations did well during previous recessions – and while 17% of public companies suffered, 9% bounced back stronger. But how? As James Hyde, Chief Product Officer & Founder, James and James Fulfilment explains, eCommerce retailers that prioritise core operational issues now – from supply chain optimisation to recruitment, sustainability to digital transformation – will be far better placed to grow profitably when the economic outlook improves.

Changing Priorities

The retail outlook has changed quickly. Businesses are not only wrestling with spiralling costs and on-going As James Hyde, Chief Product Officer & Founder, James and James Fulfilment supply chain disruption but the cost of living crisis is also affecting customers’ buying behaviour. After years of eCommerce growth, what will these changing socio-economic factors mean for the retail outlook?

According to McKinsey, opportunities for profitable growth continue if businesses take the right approach by drawing on “The proven playbook for success in a world of slower growth, higher inflation, and more expensive capital.” The management consultant advises companies to consider four key areas: rebuilding the supply chain for resilience and efficiency; continuing to invest in sustainability; building talent; and searching for growth opportunities.

In practice, every eCommerce retailer will have a different set of challenges and priorities associated with these key areas. For example, when it comes to addressing the talent gap, is it possible to find the right skills when UK unemployment is at its lowest level since 1974? Or is it time to think laterally and explore mature third-party service alternatives, from fulfilment to marketing, even finance? The right technology can also play a key role in overcoming staff shortages – is now the time to explore digital transformation? From automation to improve efficiency, to business intelligence tools to attain more insight into customer behaviour and day to day performance, investment in technology is a key objective in 2023.

Cost Control through Efficiency and Resilience

While priorities will vary, every retailer has been affected by supply chain disruption over the past few years – and experienced the knock-on impact on both costs and customer experience. In a market that is increasingly cost sensitive, it is worth exploring any supplier changes that minimise exposure to supply chain problems. For example, adjusting transportation modes and routes, considering options to avoid customs clearance issues and trade tensions can reduce problems, potentially lower transportation costs, and even feed into strategic sustainability goals.

Similar thinking can be applied to the downstream end of the supply chain and achieving a far more efficient approach to meeting customer expectations without incurring unnecessary costs. Returns, for example, are one of the biggest drains on profitability for every eCommerce business – despite the recent shift towards charging for returns. Taking the time to understand the cause of returns can be a revelation, highlighting problems not only with picking accuracy and delivery damage, but also product misdescriptions. Addressing these inefficiencies should be a priority.

Identifying slow moving stock and the associated cost of storage can also quickly release essential working capital and provide space for higher margin products. Adding improved fulfilment processes will also maximise the value of these higher margin goods, boosting both profitability and the quality of customer experience.

Growth Demands Customer Awareness

While the experts agree this is not the time to retreat from growth plans, companies will need a far better understanding of changing customer behaviour to ensure they focus on the most valuable opportunities. Recession is rarely experienced consistently across all retail sectors, markets or geographies, and opportunities still abound for retailers ready and able to respond to changing customer behaviour. Inflation is prompting consumers to buy early for Christmas, for example. According to Salesforce research, 42% more shoppers worldwide and 37% more in the U.S. plan to start buying gifts earlier, hoping to stock up before prices rise too much.

To maximise these opportunities, retailers need to identify what customers are buying. How relevant is the current customer product offer? How much room is there to discount – for Black Friday, for example? It is also important to reassess digital marketing activity and ensure the spend is delivering value for money. Are consumers more susceptible to promotional offers, for example? Is price sensitivity affecting all product segments or only certain areas? Sustainability is also increasingly important to customers – 31% of retailers expect more sustainable delivery options and ‘click-and-collect in-store same-day’ to be the most in demand delivery options next year.

Retailers need to take the time to understand what is selling, in what volume and where it is being sold. They need to understand customers’ delivery expectations – from speed and price to sustainability options. Combining this insight with an accurate cost of product sale will help to identify new growth opportunities and maximise value from both merchandising and marketing.

Conclusion

Retailers may face a difficult trading period, but the mood is still optimistic. 67% of UK retailers expect sales to be higher in 2023 than 2022. To ensure those sales are profitable, however, it is now vital to reflect on internal processes. Retailers that actively explore current operational processes will be best placed to unlock potential, eradicate inefficiency and refocus the business towards the most profitable opportunities. These businesses will likely not just survive the next few months; they will be perfectly placed to grow rapidly when the market improves.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

Why GDP Growth Isn’t the Full Story for UK Businesses

Women aren’t risk-averse, they’re risk smart

An interview with Dr. Jo Salter MBE: The RAF’s first female fast jet pilot.

Comments are closed.

Follow SME Today on Linkedin and share all the topics you find interesting
Get £100 of free trades - ii trading account

The Newsletter

Join our mailing list for the best SME stories, handpicked and delivered direct to your inbox every two weeks!

Sign Up
Events Calendar
    • Marketing
    June 20, 2025

    Fast fashion giant Shein accused of “dark marketing” – what does it mean for businesses?

    June 16, 2025

    “My business almost died, twice – here’s how I saved it”

    • Finance
    June 20, 2025

    Finance Founder Celebrates Business Milestone With Advice For Entrepreneurs

    June 20, 2025

    Why GDP Growth Isn’t the Full Story for UK Businesses

    • Health & Safety
    January 29, 2025

    UK takeaways guilty of shocking hygiene failures:

    December 18, 2024

    Comment on Covid Corruption Commissioner Investigation

    • Events
    June 19, 2025

    Windsor Expo Wows: A Showcase of Success, Innovation, and Local Business!

    May 27, 2025

    Jose Ucar Confirmed for Leadership Live 2025 Speaker Line-Up

    • Community
    June 2, 2025

    National Charity Accelerates Children’s Reading Through New Corporate Partnership

    May 14, 2025

    Social care experts launch an online marketplace to disrupt a sector in crisis.

    • Food & Drink
    June 16, 2025

    Hospitality industry risks collapse

    June 4, 2025

    Creative Nature Launches Its First-Ever Kids’ Snack Bar Range in Tesco Nationwide

    • Books
    April 24, 2025

    Values-Driven Professionalism: A Path to Client Loyalty

    December 2, 2024

    Banish the banshee boss: how to lead without fear – addressing the issue of fear-based management and how NOT to be this manager

    About

    SME Today is published by the same team who deliver The Great British Expos’. We have been organising various corporate events for the last 10 years, with a strong track record of producing well managed and attended business events across the UK.

    Join Our Mailing List

    Receive the latest news and updates from SMEToday.
    Read our Latest Newsletter:


    Sign Up
    X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    Most Recent Posts
    June 20, 2025

    Finance Founder Celebrates Business Milestone With Advice For Entrepreneurs

    June 20, 2025

    Fast fashion giant Shein accused of “dark marketing” – what does it mean for businesses?

    June 20, 2025

    Why GDP Growth Isn’t the Full Story for UK Businesses

    June 19, 2025

    Windsor Expo Wows: A Showcase of Success, Innovation, and Local Business!

    June 19, 2025

    Women aren’t risk-averse, they’re risk smart

    Categories
    • Books
    • Community & Charity
    • Education and Training
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Features
    • Finance
    • Food and Drink
    • Health & Safety
    • HR & Recruitment
    • In Profile
    • Legal
    • Marketing
    • News
    • Property & Development
    • Sponsored Content
    • Technology
    • Transport & Tourism
    • Wellbeing & Mental Health

    Copyright © 2020 SME Today.

    • ABOUT SME TODAY: THE GO TO RESOURCE FOR UK BUSINESSES
    • Privacy
    • Contact
    Copyright © 2025 SME Today.
    • ABOUT SME TODAY: THE GO TO RESOURCE FOR UK BUSINESSES
    • Privacy
    • Contact

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.