Many e-commerce companies in the UK have seen their data needs increase
Nearly 60% of UK online stores scrape data. Source: unsplash.com
Ecommerce News has found that 57% of retail and e-commerce companies across the UK are scraping external public web data. External data is expected to help their marketing and implement effective pricing strategies.
Oxylabs conducted a survey of 251 senior data decision-makers from UK-based retail and e-commerce businesses.
According to data, the e-commerce and retail sector in the UK have grown at an unprecedented rate. Online retail sales reached a 13-year high in 2020, with a 36% year-on-year increase. This was the highest rate seen since 2007 and this growth will continue through 2021.
The e-commerce sector has also doubled down on its data needs in the last 12 months. Companies aim to gain more information in novel pricing strategies, shipping information, stock levels, customer reviews, and customer sentiment.
Up to 51% of respondents use traditional internal data sources, such as CRM, POS and supply chain systems. Less than half (38%) use third-party data, market research and database aggregators. Additionally, a small majority of 57% are currently scraping external public data.
The majority of respondents are either planning to increase their data collecting budgets (52%) or keep the same budgets (45%) for the next 12 months. This shows that e-commerce companies are aware of the increasing need for data to make better business decisions.
The survey also highlights data management issues. It’s striking that up to 47% of respondents are still looking into manual data collection and cleaning. Automated processes are more cost-efficient, but it seems that businesses find such implementations challenging. There are significant opportunities for those who can implement automated data management processes.
We’ve reported that over 70% of UK consumers find contactless easier despite perceived security concerns.
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