The Management Center Innsbruck (MCI) and the School of Management and Law at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) have conducted a survey on online trading for the sixth time in a row, in which almost 600 online retailers from Austria and Switzerland took part.
The results: The Corona-related online boom is over; there is a shortage of staff and competition; and artificial intelligence is on the rise.
Artificial intelligence on the rise
For the first time, the survey also included the applications of artificial intelligence in e-commerce. It turned out that this – especially ChatGPT – is most often used by the retailers surveyed to create text and graphics in the online shop.
They are also increasingly relying on digital solutions when it comes to payments: mobile payment, especially Apple Pay and Google Pay, is becoming more popular and the market for installment payments and “Buy Now, Pay Later” providers such as Klarna is growing.
In online marketing, too, retailers use artificial intelligence to control, analyze and optimize advertising campaigns and are increasingly relying on the help of chatbots to provide digital advice to their customers.
According to MCI Professor Claudia Brauer, valuable opportunities open up here: “Even if artificial intelligence does not completely compensate for the existing staff shortage, the rapidly spreading AI tools can now offer high-quality support.”
Hard to find skilled workers
The shortage of staff turned out to be one of the biggest challenges for online retailers this year; around half said they suffered from a shortage of skilled workers. While last year there were delivery difficulties, retailers in the current survey stated that the search for qualified personnel had become more difficult.
Competition has also continued to increase, with two thirds of companies reporting a decline in sales due to increased online competition. “In order to keep up in the highly competitive markets, companies are forced to invest in cost-intensive marketing measures. For many online retailers, this represents a massive problem due to tight budgets and complex content,” comments Brauer.
Corona boom is over
The survey showed that half of online shops continue to see growing online sales, albeit at a slightly slower rate than last year. For the other half, however, “business as usual” has returned and 90 percent of the retailers surveyed confirmed that the Corona-related e-commerce boom is over.
“Customers’ usual shopping behavior is back and they are increasingly shopping in stores again,” says Brauer, explaining the decline. In addition, the majority of retailers confirmed that consumer sentiment and purchasing power had deteriorated due to crises such as inflation and the war in Ukraine.
The situation is similar in Germany too: As an EHI study confirmed this month, online retail is suffering from the ongoing slump in consumption.