Ecommerce Business
Trends Report 2024
AI, sustainability, social media marketing, and lowering costs are some of the top focuses for ecommerce businesses in 2024.
We surveyed over 750 Amazon sellers in the United States to understand their priorities and anticipated challenges for the rest of the year, to help better serve our customers and their customers. From switching shipping software to improving sustainability and utilizing AI, ecommerce owners have a lot to consider in 2024.
Veeqo’s Key Findings
64%
Are considering using AI in their business in 2024
41%
Are worried about high inflation affecting their business
66%
Have experienced an increase in their shipping software fees
64%
Are considering using AI in their business in 2024
41%
Are worried about high inflation affecting their business
66%
Have experienced an increase in their shipping software fees
39% of business owners focusing on AI in 2024 originally worked in the technology industry
The top trends for ecommerce business owners this year all lean on technology for improvement and customer acquisition with AI and sustainability leading the charge.
While 64% are considering using AI in their business in 2024, 39% of those business owners focusing on AI in 2024 originally worked in the technology industry.
For the 64% of the surveyed business owners who are interested in trying their hand at utilizing AI to improve their business, they are most interested in the following strategies:
Personalized product recommendations
Dynamic pricing
41% of business owners are planning to implement subscription services
According to our survey results, 41% of business owners are planning to implement subscription services for customers like Amazon’s Subscribe & Save or other payment methods in 2024.
Specifically older business owners (51+), 68% have no plans to try this but interestingly, 60% of Millennial business owners are planning to apply subscription services or other new payment methods for customers.
80% of Gen Z respondents are planning to focus on sustainability in 2024
Meanwhile, 41% of surveyed business owners are planning to focus on sustainability in 2024, and we’re seeing this trend across all generations. 80% of 18-25 year old (Gen Z) respondents are planning to focus on sustainability in 2024 while 38% of respondents age 51+ are planning on echoing that focus.
When it comes to honing in on sustainability, business owners plan to drill down on:
Lower return rate (17%)
Reduce packaging (14%)
Implement sustainable shipping (12%)
Using a shipping software like Veeqo can help business owners improve their sustainability initiatives. Veeqo's software ensures a lower return rate by preventing both mispicks and misshipments.
The powerful suite of shipping tools not only allows business owners to set the bin locations for every single product, but the Veeqo Scanner has even helped one customer achieve "a 99.9% picking accuracy rate"*.
Another Veeqo seller, Mike Truffa from beauty retailer A1 Great Deals, invested in the Veeqo Scanner after Amazon Accelerate in 2023, and said “I personally use it [the Veeqo Scanner] religiously, I can’t live without it.”
*Results may vary when using Veeqo.
More than a third of "Serial Entrepreneurs" are prioritizing social media marketing
Often known as SMM, social media marketing is the use of social media platforms such as Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), and Instagram to build brands, drive website traffic and ultimately, increase sales and return customers.
When we asked our business owners what their social media marketing plans were, 29% of total respondents noted they are planning to focus on social media marketing in 2024, vs more than a third (34%) of "serial entrepreneurs". This was followed by 16% of respondents who want to gather more customer reviews.
And finally, 34% of surveyed business owners aged 51-60 are prioritizing a social media marketing strategy in 2024.
Where are the majority of businesses located in the US?
When it comes to where these business owners are based, there were 4 states that stood out as far as where headquarters and biggest warehouses are located: California, Florida, New York and Texas. When it came to headquarters, Washington was another top state and Georgia was a prime location for largest business warehouses as well.
High inflation is a major challenge for ecommerce businesses in 2024
Just like there are always difficulties for individuals, businesses are no different. Some foreseen and many others not. So we asked - what challenges are owners preparing for in 2024?
This year, business owners are most concerned about high inflation (41%), supply chain issues (10%), and a possible recession (5%). Older business owners (age 32-50) who have more experience when it comes to recessions are most worried about high inflation (43%) and recession (29%).
66% of US sellers have experienced an increase in shipping software fees
We found that more than half (66%) of business owners surveyed in the US have experienced an increase in fees from their shipping software in the last year. Because of this increase, 55% are considering moving to a different shipping software, while 44% are actively looking to move to cheaper shipping software.
With high inflation and a recession looming comes a desire to lower business costs, not increase them. Veeqo provides access to the lowest commercially available rates, based on Veeqo’s pre-negotiated pricing from UPS, USPS, FedEx, and DHL and up to 5% back with Veeqo Credits. Considering Veeqo’s software is completely free to use, using Veeqo in 2024 and beyond ensures business owners are able to lower their costs and improve their profit margins, even in times of economic difficulty.
So, are you ready to lower your costs, improve your efficiencies and sustainability, and use Veeqo’s free shipping software for your business? Sign-up now!
20% of business owners previously worked in the marketing & sales industry
Interestingly, our survey found that 20% of ecommerce business owners previously worked in the marketing and sales industry, with 17% working in retail and 10% working in technology before becoming a business owner.
When we asked business owners about their own entrepreneurial experience and how they see themselves, 48% consider themselves a first-time business owner, 30% say they own a few businesses and 22% identify as a serial entrepreneur.
“When switching to Veeqo we probably saved $15,000 over the year, and that’s just money straight back into our pockets.”
One of the first things that drew us to Veeqo was the multichannel fulfillment inventory options, especially keeping track of inventory levels. Immediately when switching to Veeqo we probably saved $15,000 over the year, and that’s just money straight back into our pockets. Along with that, the shipping credits has been huge, and just the different inventory management tools and reporting have been incredibly useful.
Ben Chappell
Co-Founder, eChapps
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Methodology
Veeqo surveyed 758 business owners about trends, priorities and challenges for 2024 from September 15, 2023 - October 6, 2023. Data accurate as of October 9, 2023.
Disclaimer: Results from the survey represented in percentages may not add up to 100%, as they are rounded to the nearest percent. All mention of business owners in this report refers to the surveyed business owners who responded to this survey.
