£174k wasted on failed ecommerce projects on average by UK retailers last year

Failed ecommerce projects cost direct-to-consumer (D2C) retailers an average of £174,000 last year, according to new research.

In the UK 98 per cent of D2C retailers said they were facing some sort of ecommerce challenge, and nearly three quarters said they expect the number of ecommerce projects they carry out to increase this year.

Despite this, just under a third expect key objectives of these projects to be missed while around half believe they are falling behind competitors because of these failures.

The research, commissioned by Greenlight Commerce and BigCommerce, revealed that budget issues were the key barrier to success in launching ecommerce projects, with 68 per cent of the survey’s 100 respondents citing it as the main cause of failure.

READ MORE: Number of ecommerce retailers has tripled since 2013

Lack of planning and time was also cited by over half of respondents, while 42 per cent said it was lack of flexibility.

“It is clear from these results that D2C retailers in the UK are having difficulties with their ecommerce offering,” Greenlight Commerce managing director Kevin Murray said.

“Digital has completely transformed the shopping experience and it is a positive to see that D2C retailers understand this and are investing in ecommerce. However, it is worrying to see so much of this investment is being wasted.”

To rectify these failures, 49 per cent of respondents said they needed better planning while 46 per cent thought better budget management would help.

“There is a huge opportunity within D2C for businesses to connect directly with their customers, however brands need to start making investments that are going to provide a superior customer experience and ultimately improve the bottom line,” Murray added.

“To do this, retailers must ensure a measured and diligent approach is taken, ensuring projects are planned, implemented and measured.”

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