The global pandemic of 2020 thrust eCommerce and eCommerce fulfillment far forward of expected growth. Research reports state that the projected growth of eCommerce for the next 5-10 years took place within 6-12 months. In 2020, eCommerce experienced 30% year-over-year growth and is expected to hit 19.2% of all retail sales by 2024(eMarketer).
In this tumultuous period of changing shopping and buying habits, retailers rushed to scale up their eCommerce stores and order fulfillment services. Now, retailers and industry analysts agree that the fundamental changes in consumer behavior are not going away. The hastily-launched or expanded fulfillment models are starting to show cracks. Looking towards 2021, retailers are planning to further digitize and expand their retail delivery and fulfillment options in order to profitably meet the needs of the growing online market, while turning a profit.
Key findings include:
- Visibility is a primary pain point to scaling delivery for 21% of retailers
- Only 49% of retailers use technology vendors to streamline their in-store fulfillment
- Over two-thirds of retailers plan to have same-day delivery in place by the end of 2021
