Survey: No signs of an e-commerce slowdown

Digital commerce continued its meteoric rise in the fourth quarter, according to the Shopping Index by Demandware.

The index, which measures digital commerce growth across two key attributes -- shopping attraction and shopper spend -- reveals that shopper attraction, which measures the number of shoppers, was up 25% in the fourth quarter 2014 over the fourth quarter last year and drove 81% of the digital commerce growth.

In addition, shopper spend, which combines site visit frequency, conversion rate and average order value (AOV), grew 6% in the fourth quarter 2014 over the fourth quarter last year and drove 19% of the growth.

“Many retailers are leveraging offers and discounts to drive consumers to their sites. That pays off in attraction but can negatively impact margin. The opportunity is for retailers to leverage the cross-device growth to deliver richer and more seamless experiences that maintain context as the consumer migrates from one device to another throughout her day or shopping journey,” said Elana Anderson, SVP of worldwide marketing at Demandware. “Retailers that take advantage of this opportunity will more effectively engage and retain their customers and drive conversion.”

The data revealed a significant year-over-year surge in cross-device shopping, with 21% of all multi-visit shoppers now using multiple devices. Additionally, computers and smartphones displaced computers and tablets as the new favorite device pairing for shoppers.

"The retail industry is transforming at an astounding rate and retailers must rely on data to anticipate shopper desires and deliver relevant, personalized experiences," said Rama Ramakrishnan, chief data scientist at Demandware. “The Demandware Commerce Cloud powers more than 1,100 digital commerce sites across the globe and manages the interactions of more than 200 million shoppers on an average monthly basis. By tapping into the power of this data, we provide rich guidance to retailers on trends and opportunities to help them enhance consumer shopping experiences.”

The Demandware Shopping Index measures digital commerce growth and is the product of two key attributes: shopping attraction and shopper spend. The index represents an analysis of same site data over time and incorporates the behavioral data of over 100 million shoppers interacting with those sites. Demandware sourced data from digital commerce sites transacting on the Demandware Commerce Cloud that were live during Q4 of both 2014 and 2013. The index and the corresponding set of key digital commerce metrics will be published twice annually.