Retail and e-commerce - April 2021

Developments and trends in retail
According to Thuiswinkel.org (in Dutch), Dutch consumers spent €26.6 billion at webshops in 2020, an increase of 7% compared to 2019. In Belgium, similar research was published by BeCommerce (in Dutch) showing an increase of 12% compared to the previous year in the online sale of products.
According to Deloitte, 42% of U.S. consumers expect to cook at home more post-pandemic than they did pre-pandemic. Only 7% say they will cook less. In addition, 12% say they will eat at restaurants less, while 20% will order takeout or delivery more often.
A recent IRI report (2.9 MB), examines how to expand online grocery even further in 2021 by sharing e-commerce trends and opportunities for retailers and brand owners.
Eight out of ten B2B decision makers believe omnichannel sales is at least as effective as traditional methods, according to a survey (390 kB) by McKinsey. Belief in the effectiveness of the new selling model has grown sharply throughout the past year—rising from 54% at the start of the pandemic to 83% in February 2021.
In 2020 RetailX published several e-commerce country reports and NVC shared some summaries in the MOU. Asendia has now made the full reports available. They include reports on Europe, USA, the Benelux and a global report. You can download the reports after filling in your details.

E-commerce logistics and digital transformation
Research (415 kB) by WHU entitled ‘On packaging and product returns in online retail—Mailing boxes or sending signals?’ has is published in the Journal of Business Logistics.
HIDC has published the report ‘Supply Chain Overview E-commerce’ (6.7 MB) with trends, new rules and regulations on e-commerce in Europe.
DHL Express has released a new whitepaper (5.6 MB) ‘The Ultimate B2B E-commerce Guide: Tradition is out. Digital is in’. The study predicts strong growth for the B2B e-commerce market in the coming years: by 2025, 80% of all B2B sales interactions between suppliers and professional buyers will take place in digital channels.

E-commerce and sustainability
In a study (4.6 MB) published by Oliver Wyman, the economic and environmental impact of e-commerce is analysed, proposing new lines of approach to look at these evolutions. The study gathers and consolidates public data, and bridges some of the knowledge gap through several new surveys, as well as a new CO₂ equivalent calculation model, bringing a new light on topics that until now lacked concrete figures.
HvA (in Dutch) and TNO have studied (in Dutch, 8.3 MB) the mobility effects and carbon footprint of online shopping. The results show that consumers themselves can exert a great deal of influence on the degree of sustainability of shopping. It also turns out that ordering items online and having these delivered at home is sometimes the most environmentally friendly option. Research by Thuiswinkel.org (in Dutch) and the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management shows that stimulating consumers in the check-out of the web shop to choose the most sustainable delivery option is effective. You can download the report after filling in your details (in Dutch). CouponFollow has published a report that examines consumers' perception of their impact on climate change, and how interested they are in sustainability compared to their preferences for convenience and budgetary restrictions. You can download the report after filling in your details.
Metapack has published a report in which they look at how retailers have survived the COVID stress test and how they are preparing their businesses to thrive in future. 32% of consumers say they value sustainability more than practical factors such as cost and speed. You can download the report after filling in your details.
 

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