While e-commerce is a necessity in some sectors, satisfaction levels, as well as adoption and investment, remain moderate. While modern e-commerce platforms can take advantage of AI and other emerging technologies, some companies are still slogging through older systems they invested in during the early days of e-commerce.
E-commerce adoption numbers are more difficult to interpret than some other technologies in our 2024 Worldwide Technology Trends report . Some sectors, such as healthcare and manufacturing, may have fewer e-commerce needs than sectors like retail. As such, adoption and investment numbers have seemed low. Even among sectors that are quicker to adopt e-commerce, there is a divide.
As shown in Figure 1 from the full report, E-Commerce Adoption Trends and Customer Experience 2024, e-commerce systems exhibit a moderate level of adoption and investment compared to other technologies examined. Additionally, the ROI and TCO associated with e-commerce systems are also moderate, indicating that organizations are generally breaking even on their investments and meeting budgetary expectations. User satisfaction is also moderate, suggesting that while organizations are seeing value, there may be areas for improvement in terms of user experience and system functionality.
Many enterprises consider their e-commerce investment as already complete, mostly focusing on sustaining existing systems with consistent, moderate investment. Others are recognizing the opportunity for innovation and competitive advantage, and they are actively growing their e-commerce platforms. By leveraging emerging technologies, these organizations can enhance personalization, bolster security, and elevate the overall consumer experience.
“AI, headless commerce, and VR/AR are emerging technologies that can revolutionize e-commerce,” said Asif Cassim, principal analyst for Avasant Research, based in Los Angeles. “These technologies can enhance personalization, security, and the overall customer experience, ultimately driving ROI and TCO improvements.”
It is important to note that these technologies are not without challenges. AI requires tremendous investment in infrastructure and new skills, while ethical considerations must be properly addressed to avoid bias and discrimination. Headless commerce can be difficult to develop and run, requiring the use of highly competent technical teams. AR and VR technologies can be costly to create and implement and maintaining compatibility across several platforms can be difficult.
The provides an overview of e-commerce adoption and investment trends, providing data on how many organizations have the technology in place, how many are in the process of implementing it, and how many are expanding implementations. We also look at the ROI experience, TCO experience, and considered or planned uses for new e-commerce investment. We conclude with important principles to apply in planning and implementing e-commerce systems.
This Research Byte is a brief overview of our report on this subject, E-Commerce Adoption Trends and Customer Experience 2024. The full report is available at no charge to our subscribers, or it may be purchased by non-clients directly from our website (click for pricing).
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