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Survey: Retail-integrated e-commerce increases sales for brands

June 14, 2012

Business owners using retail-integrated e-commerce are showing overall increases in sales, both online and in-stores, according to a survey from Shopatron that polled 200 branded manufacturers and 1,300 retailers. It found that 73 percent of respondents said a retail-integrated e-commerce model, which allows branded manufacturers to sell directly to consumers on their website and then pass those orders to their authorized, local retailers for delivery, strengthens retailer relationships, boosts retailer stocking and increases sales. More than 50 percent of surveyed branded manufacturers said their online sales increased since launching retail-integrated e-commerce, with 10 percent noting their online sales more than doubled.

But the model does not just benefit brands, according to a company press release. More than 65 percent of retailers responding to the survey said retail-integrated e-commerce increased store profit or improved customer acquisition, with 23 percent claiming that it increased both. Additionally, 59 percent e-commerce retailers noted that they increased stocking of brands that send them sales through retail-integrated e-commerce. But most notably, 70 percent of retailers in this year's survey said they would reduce or stop buying from brands that sell direct to consumers online. This is a significant increase from a similar survey in 2009, where only 51 percent claimed they would reduce or stop buying.

"Shopatron's retail-integrated solution was created to empower branded manufacturers to sell online and use those sales to drive more in-store sales and improve relationships with their retail partners," Shopatron Founder and CEO, Ed Stevens, said in the release. "The survey clearly shows that brands and retailers are not only happy with the model, but that retailers are starting to demand this kind of partnership from the brands they stock in their stores."

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