E-commerce Performance Indicators & Confidence (EPIC) Report Finds 65% of Retailers Sell on Amazon to Increase Sales, Yet Worry Amazon Will Use Their Data to Compete

SLI Systems Q2 2017 Study Shows Mid-Size Retailers Expect Big Increases in Mobile and Online Revenues; 24% in UK Plan to Open More Stores in 2017

LONDON, July 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report published by SLI Systems (SLI.NZ), a global leader and provider of e-commerce solutions and services, finds many retailers worldwide view Amazon as both friend and foe, relying on Amazon for visibility and profitability – but with some concern, due to the potential of competition from their marketplaces.

In this second quarterly 2017 E-commerce Performance Indicators and Confidence Report, SLI Systems provides survey findings from 213 e-commerce professionals around the globe. Respondents represent mid-size retailers, with a mix of business models, including pure e-commerce, as well as omnichannel merchants. The full report is available for download at http://sitesearch.sli-systems.com/epic-report-uk-q2-2017.

While improving the customer experience remains crucial, there is a renewed focus this quarter on purchasing or implementing e-commerce platforms that will bolster great experiences. In addition, retailer forecasts for online and mobile revenues continue to be strong worldwide, despite declines in confidence this quarter compared with Q1 2016. Also a good sign, far more omnichannel retailers plan to increase, rather than decrease, the number of stores in 2017.

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"This quarter SLI took a different look at the relationship between Amazon and online retailers. We asked those who sell via Amazon why they do so, as well as the extent to which they view Amazon as a competitive threat," explained Chris Brubaker, CMO, SLI Systems. "While consumers are shopping Amazon Prime Day with glee, for merchants, the perks of leveraging the online giant come with some concern. Nearly 70% of the retailers we surveyed that sell on Amazon reported being somewhat or very worried that Amazon will use their sales data to compete with them, indicating they view Amazon as more of a 'frenemy.'"

Additional Q2 2017 EPIC Report Highlights:

• Performance Looks Good
• E-commerce Revenue: 86% of respondents worldwide expect their e-commerce revenue to increase this quarter compared to Q2 2016. UK retailers appear the most optimistic with a third predicting growth at 21% or more.
• Mobile Revenue: 81% worldwide expect revenue from mobile sites and apps to increase in Q2 2017 compared to Q2 2016; 22% expect a boost of 21% or more.
• In-Store Revenue / Profit: 39% worldwide expect an increase, with 14% expecting a decrease; in Q1 2017, 46% of respondents expected an increase.
• Mixed Signals for Confidence
• Expansion: 45% of UK retailers surveyed expect to add websites or brands and 90% (highest among regions) expect to add products or product lines during Q2.
• Hiring: 41% of UK respondents plan to hire new employees in Q2 (down from 55% in Q1 2017), lowest among regions and compared to 57% worldwide.
• New Marketplaces and Regions: Only 24% of UK respondents will begin selling on a new marketplace (lowest among regions). 28% of UK retailers expect to begin selling to new geographic markets during Q2 2017 (compared to 40% in Q1 2017).
• CX and Replatforming Top Initiatives: Customer Experience (CX) remains king in Q2 despite declining as the top choice worldwide compared with Q1. Replatforming climbed to the second top priority worldwide with 17% in Q2, up from 11% in Q1.
• Brick-and-Mortar Stores: 24% percent of UK respondents expect to increase the number of stores in 2017; 33% will keep the same number of stores. In European countries, outside of the UK, growth is expected by a full 50%. Across both the UK and Europe, only 6% expect to shrink their brick-and mortar presence.
• Amazon Motivations: 65% of retailers worldwide that use Amazon report adding the channel to their e-commerce strategy to increase sales; customer acquisition and visibility from a high traffic channel tied as the second greatest motivator (47% each)
• Holiday 2017 Planning: Retailers worldwide view June as the most popular month to start planning; June and January tied as peak months for purchasing holiday inventory.

Methodology
Q2 2017 EPIC Report results are from an electronic survey conducted between May 4-June 2, 2017. SLI received qualified responses from e-commerce professionals worldwide headquartered primarily in the U.S., UK and Australia. All respondents sell goods or services online, with 66% selling in stores and 44% on Amazon. Ninety percent of respondents work in a manager position or above and 54% report their company's total annual sales to be above $50 million (U.S.) with 24% generating more than $500 million.

About SLI Systems
SLI Systems (SLI.NZ), accelerates e-commerce for the world's top retailers by generating more traffic, converting shoppers into buyers and maximising order values through solutions that improve site search, navigation, mobile, merchandising, personalisation, recommendations and SEO. SLI is the most chosen SaaS-based site search provider to Internet Retailer Top 1,000 retailers. The SLI Buyer Engine combines user behavior and machine learning to accurately predict what shoppers are most likely to buy, shortening the path to purchase. The SLI Commerce Console™ organises key sales insight and tuning capabilities into one easy-to-use cloud-based console. SLI operates on five continents and offers solutions in 20 languages. For more information, visit www.sli-systems.com or connect with us on Twitter @slisystems.

Contact
Liza Colburn
Crescendo Collaborative Comm.
+1-781-562-0111
liza@crescendocc.com

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