According to a recent study conducted by Internet Retailer, almost 80 percent of the retailers surveyed plan to increase their spending on e-commerce applications and services this year. The study, taken from 195 chain retailers, catalog companies, virtual merchants and consumer brand manufacturers reveals that 78.2 percent responded that they would be investing in a variety of e-commerce technologies in an attempt to improve customer satisfaction as well as bottom lines.
With regard to what they will be looking into specifically, the survey also revealed:
• 29.4 percent of companies will purchase a new web analytics program in the next 12 months
• 44.7 percent of retailers also expect to purchase a new order management system within 24 months
• 24.9 percent of retailers in the survey plan to purchase an advanced site search program within six months and 32.2 percent in six months to two years.
• 41 percent of merchants taking part in the research expect to hire a consultant or another third party for a major e-commerce technology project within the next year.
• 51 percent of retailers ranked adding customer reviews as their highest new e-commerce technology priority for this year.
