Last week we were at the Ecommerce Expo in the Olympia, London. It was great to see the latest innovations and technologies that are set to have a massive impact on digital commerce. It was a truly inspiring event but with so many highlights, it was impossible to list them all. A lot of the buzz around the hall was centred around the continued effect of mobile commerce. Is it one of the key reasons the UK is still experiencing strong growth? And if so, why are desktops still the main converters? Our team have given their favourite insights to give you the top 10 best bits all in one place.
1. Retailers should offer Click&Collect to facilitate the journey of the customer
2. Look at gift cards and free shipping options in the peak period to entice customers to spend (cc @imrgupdate)
3. Social media isn’t always the biggest converter but it’s the most important for delivering your brand message and engaging!
4. UK still experiencing strong growth in eCommerce, however desktop still drives conversion over mobile (cc @wemakewebsites_)
5. 80% of retail customers want progress updates by SMS/email after purchase.
6. ‘Skills and mindset’ to be the biggest B2B advancement in the next five years. (cc @inviqa)
7. 58% of consumers who follow brands on social media sites say they do so to view products with a view to purchasing.
8. UK online sales exceeded £130 billion in 2016. (cc @wemakewebsites_)
9. Customer journeys are not linear… Who owns them? Marketing? 
10. Dead fish go with the flow.

Ecommerce Success Secrets by Industry Insiders

After the show, it was time to head straight over to our own exclusive event at Soho House for Ecommerce Success Secrets with Google. And what better way to round off the day than to sit back and get some serious insights into the future of retail from industry insiders? Here is our roundup:
1. The pace of technological change is only going to get faster

The pace of technological change is only set to increase within the coming years. people no longer go online, they live online and mobile devices are a key part of that. If we look at something like mobile, consumers are always connected now, which is transformational for the retail sector. Through my role, I’ve been able to see first-hand how these brands react to these changing technologies. Even now, it’s hard to refute the role that mobile has played in our lives. Society is now in a place where it’s ready to engage with technology, but retailers must be delivering a good experience. A good experience means technology helping to create a frictionless, seamless shopping experience. By 2020, we believe that 82% of retail sales will be influenced by mobile.

– Alastair Stirling, Industry Head, Retail UK, Google

2. The huge opportunity for eCommerce retailers

In one second of Singles’ Day last year, there were over 175,000 transactions within the first hour alone. It truly is an exciting time to be working in eCommerce. The impact of the cloud is really changing both the dynamic and perspective of the operations required to drive success, globally and take brands to new international markets. Looking at the comparison between ‘on-premise platforms, versus cloud commerce, in two years’ time, SaaS cloud will account for 66% of e-commerce software – representing $9.4billion in spending. Whilst every retailer and every brand is different, the cloud has the clear advantage of a low total cost of ownership (TCO). Our vision is to truly democratise the world of eCommerce and digital retail and simplify online commerce with cloud technology.

– Ciaran Bollard, Managing Director, Kooomo