How Retailers Are Prioritizing Their Digital Efforts in 2016

Retailers are concentrating on a variety of initiatives in 2016. Mobile—like responsive design and app development—as well as basic marketing activities—including search optimization and customer acquisition—are top on their list.

A survey from Shop.org, Forrester Research and Bizrate Insights asked retailers in North America what their top three priorities for their digital business in 2016 were. More than half (59%) of respondents said mobile and marketing were.

In addition, 41% of retailers said that site merchandising was a leading priority for their digital business this year.

Retailers were also looking to prioritize their checkout overhaul, omnichannel efforts and international expansion initiatives in 2016.

While social—like integrating with networks such as Pinterest—fulfillment and shipping, organization and customer service were also leading priorities, they ranked lower on the list.

Mobile’s importance to retail has become undeniable. In 2014, 57% of retailers worldwide surveyed by Payvision experienced major growth in mcommerce sales. Among the total, 33% strongly agreed that growth was significant—already a sizeable share.

And by 2015 the evidence in favour of mcommerce was overwhelming. Nearly half of respondents were in the “strongly agree” group, with an additional 34% agreeing more generally.

  Bizrate Insights, Digital, Forrester Research, Marketing, Mobile, North America, Report, Research, Retail, Shop.org, Study