E-commerce sales see slowdown in growth

19th June 2009

Good web design for e-commerce websites appears to be more crucial than ever, as the latest industry figures demonstrate a slowdown in the sector's growth.

Research published by Capgemini UK has found that May's e-commerce growth fell by 3.5 per cent compared to the previous month, as the sunny weather resulted in more people heading out to the shops rather than buying online.

Growth in the e-commerce sector has also been affected by the global recession and the May figure of eight per cent is now the lowest rate of growth in the history of the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.

"Although online sales remain healthier than on the high street, UK shoppers are clearly changing their behaviour as a result of the recession - even those heading online to economise are now beginning to trim spending habits," said Mike Petevinos, head of consulting for retail at Capgemini.

However, he added that website design and good customer service would help ensure e-commerce companies are able to continue delivering strong results during the economic downturn.

In March this year, analyst firm Forrester Research predicted that the e-commerce market will continue to see annual growth of six per cent until at least 2014.

That would take total spending on e-commerce to £56 billion within the next five years, the organisation said.

 

Category: Ecommerce Web Design

Other Ecommerce Web Design Articles

Browser boost for Opera and Mozilla important for web design
Price comparison applications could improve bespoke web development
Retailers missing out on billions because of poor web design
Bespoke web design must factor in site speeds
Website development sees retailer reap rewards