Pattern Study Suggests Brand Leaders Will Increase Ecommerce Investment Despite Economic Uncertainty

• 94% of executives plan to maintain or increase their investment in ecommerce over the next 6-12 months.

• Brand leaders are cautious but undeterred as they push to uncover opportunities for growth.

Pattern the global leader for ecommerce acceleration published its first Ecommerce Executive Strategy Snapshot: an analysis of the most common growth challenges facing brand leaders and where they plan to invest in the near future.

“This snapshot ensures that executives don’t have to rely on conjecture when making critical decisions about how to shift their strategy for 2024 and beyond.” – Pattern CRO John LeBaron

Among the major findings, the survey revealed executives plan to increase their financial investment in ecommerce by an average of 16% over the next 6-12 months, with 25% of brand leaders reporting a planned increase of 31-98%. Just 6% of executives surveyed plan to decrease their overall financial investment during the same period.

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To compile the analysis, Pattern conducted an in-depth survey of 300+ founders and ecommerce executives based in North America across dozens of product categories—including Beauty & Personal Care, Sports & Outdoors, Home & Kitchen, Tools & Home Improvement, and more.

The findings are available on Pattern.com and shed light on a number of questions facing ecommerce executives, including:

• Are my peers experiencing the same growth blockers that I’m facing?
• How does our short-term growth strategy compare to others?
• What investments am I overlooking?

“Every brand is more successful when they can make data-driven decisions, but brands have historically not had access to good data on what’s impacting their peers and how they’re planning for the future,” said Pattern Chief Revenue Officer John LeBaron. “This snapshot ensures that executives don’t have to rely on conjecture when making critical decisions about how to shift their strategy for 2024 and beyond.”

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In the survey, executives cited a number of priority investment areas for the next 6-12 months:

• 58% of executives plan on increasing their investment in product imagery, video, and copy for online listings
• 51% plan on increasing their investment in influencer marketing
• 43% are set to increase their investment in branding and packaging
• 41% are upping their financial commitment to product design

The most commonly cited growth impediments include:

• 1 in 3 executives say rising shipping costs and an inability to maintain inventory levels are key impediments to their growth
• 1 in 4 brand leaders are struggling to get unauthorized sellers and distributors under control — eroding their sales and wreaking havoc on their growth strategy
• 1 in 4 also say an inability to expand to new channels and marketplaces is stymying their growth

Many executives are turning to outside partners to overcome these barriers. In the analysis, executives that are working with an ecommerce accelerator to sell on marketplaces were twice as likely to report that they have no major impediments to their growth at this time.