E-commerce boosts turnover
Digitally upgrading an enterprise can fetch up to 20% more sales compared to its rivals that have not created an online store or made other such moves toward an electronic transformation, according to a report by the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV).
The fact that the use of digital instruments can increase profit margins by up to 55%, while resulting in customers expanding the average sum of their purchases by 20%, means not only higher turnover but also greater earnings for the enterprise, says the report titled “Retail Commerce 360°: Tomorrow Is Here!”
“Interconnected retail commerce is essential for corporations that wish not only to survive but also to develop in the digital future that is coming. Notions such as the interconnected customer, the smart shop and the interconnected supply chain must be embraced by corporations and form part of their digital strategy,” reads the report that highlights the use and the benefits of digital transformation in retail commerce, which has been accelerated as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The winners will be the enterprises that chart and implement as early as possible their digital map toward their transformation into interconnected retail commerce companies,” the SEV report stresses. However, it warns that designing a digital strategy should not involve rushed and haphazard policies, as it requires careful planning and investments: “The adverse juncture of the coronavirus has forced a multitude of enterprises to shift to digital channels for the sale of their products and services. However, the opportunistic use of electronic means does not constitute a transition to Retail 360°; on the contrary, it generates a digital presence fallacy while transformation into
Retail 360° requires a commitment to creating an omni-channel experience aimed at the holistic service of customers.”
According to recent studies by the Athens University of Economics and Business and the Greek Electronic Commerce Association (GRECA), while online customers in Greece amounted to just 32% of all consumers last year, against 53% in the European Union, and the annual online commerce growth rate was at 15%, the picture changed completely this spring. Last month weekly consumer expenditure at online stores grew by up to 170% year-on-year.