The confidence levels of ecommerce merchants are running high according to a recent survey that was recently published by multi-channel ecommerce solution provider Vendio.
The 2012 Spring Survey reveals insights about merchant's outlooks in regards to the future of ecommerce, as well as the satisfaction levels of merchants that sell on eBay and Amazon.
The Future of Ecommerce
The study reveals that most merchants are hopeful about the future of online shopping. In fact, 84 percent of respondents claim to be optimistic about their online growth potential, while 16 percent say that brick and mortar stores are the method that they currently use to sell their goods. Additionally, only 11 percent of respondents are considering brick and mortar locations for future sales compared to 33 percent who are considering opening their own web store and 26 percent who are considering selling goods on Amazon.com.
The survey also revealed that many of the respondents have a long-term history of selling goods online. Twenty-six percent of the respondents say that they have been an ecommerce seller for more than 10 years, while 30 percent claim to have been in business for 1-4 years. Further statistics show that 20 percent of merchants are newcomers on the Web - only being in business for less than a year, while 15 percent have been in business for 4-7 years and 9 percent have been using ecommerce platforms for 7-10 years.
"We continue to see amazing growth with ecommerce as more sellers are moving online to grow their revenue stream," says Mike Effle, Chief Executive Officer of Vendio. "Since our inception in 1999, we have seen consistent growth in entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to the Internet to sell their goods. It's not surprising that those vendors, based on significant success, see a positive future for ecommerce."
Selling on eBay and Amazon
The survey findings also reveal that the majority of merchants who sell products on Amazon and/or eBay are satisfied with their overall experience and sales - with 80 percent claiming to be satisfied with the overall experience of Amazon compared to 76 percent who are satisfied with eBay.
However, the survey showed that eBay and Amazon differ slightly when it comes to ease of use, with 93 percent of eBay users rating the process of listing on eBay as either "Very Easy", "Somewhat Easy" or "Easy", compared to 80 percent of Amazon users who gave the same ratings.
Further statistics disclose that the fees sellers pay to eBay (and PayPal, its primary payment source) and Amazon appear to be similar, with 42 percent of respondents claiming that less than 15 percent of their sales are taken by eBay/PayPal fees compared to 36 percent who pay less than 15 percent to Amazon. Furthermore, 88 percent of merchants say they pay less than 25 percent of sales to eBay/PayPal compared to 91 percent who pay less than 25 percent to Amazon.com.
"It is good to see that sellers are having positive experiences with both eBay and Amazon," says Effle. "It is important that sellers feel the two major online marketplaces are an effective use of their time. Thus, Amazon could close the gap between the two by improving the overall ease of use for their merchants."