Bricks-and-mortar (B&M) retailers made hefty revenue gains online in the first half of the year, but have a long way to go to catch up with brands when it comes to productivity, according to Marketlive’s Mid-Year Benchmark Report.


The report showed B&M retailers using MarketLive’s e-commerce solution generated a 22.8 percent increase in revenue, on a 19.6 percent increase in traffic, but continued to have the lowest conversion rate and highest cart abandonment of the six categories included in the report at 0.8 percent and 84 percent respectively. B&M sites also had the highest abandoned checkout rate at 52 percent despite posting the biggest improvements in that metric.



Brand owned sites, by contrast, grew revenue by 16.8 percent on a 7.7 percent increase in traffic and an impressive 14.4 percent lift in average conversion rate to 2.4 percent. Brand and catalog retailers continued to enjoy the lowest cart abandonment rates at 69 percent.


On average, MarketLive’s clients saw a 10.9 percent increase in visits, a 14.8 percent increase in revenue and 5.8 percent increase in conversion rates to 2.29 percent compared with the first six months of 2012, according to the report, which is based on results from more than 200 e-commerce websites that use the company’s e-commerce solutions. Those companies, which included Beachbody, Modell’s Sporting Goods, Title Nine and Trek, generate $1.5 billion in annual sales. 
 
“Despite relentless pressure from Amazon, a fierce competitive landscape, and a slow economy, growth exceeded Shop.org/NRF’s 2013 annual forecast of 9-12 percent and was in line with estimates by eMarketer and ComScore,” reads the report.


The add-to-cart rate dipped 0.9 percent to 7.9 percent while the abandoned cart rate fell 1.2 percent to 72.1 percent. Abandonment at check out declined 3.0 percent to 40.1 percent. Smartphones and tablets accounted for 18.6 and 13.5 percent of search engine visits and 2.7 and 11.8 percent of revenue.


In terms of productivity, top performers were the beauty and health sector, which achieved a 13 percent increase in revenue despite 3 percent fewer visits thanks a 16 percent increase in its conversion rate. Home retailers saw the biggest revenue increase at 34.3 percent, but that slightly lagged a 34.8 percent increase in traffic.


Apparel retailers saw an 11.3 percent increase in revenue on an 8.5 percent increase in traffic thanks to a 3.0 percent conversion rate, which was bested only by catalog retailers who clocked in at 3.2 percent. The strong gain was attributed to a 4.2 percent increase in the category’s add-to cart rate, which reached 11.4 percent – the highest of the seven categories measured. Because cart and checkout abandonment rates were maintained, the incremental carts created actually translated into additional orders.


Other findings of the report include:



  • Search engine visits grew at a slow 5.9 percent pace in the first six months of 2013.
  • Paid search visits grew 30 percent compared with the same period in 2012, but were not enough to offset a 3 percent decline in organic search visits.
  • Paid search visits accounted for about one third of total search engine visits, up from 28 percent in the first half of 2012.
  • Revenue from paid search grew to 44 percent of total search engine visit revenue.
  • MarketLive merchants converted 2.6 percent of visitors referred by paid search compared to 1.9 percent rate for those referred by organic search.

MarketLive's Mid-Year Benchmark Report for 2013 can be downloaded for free from the company's website. The full report can be downloaded at MarketLive’s