Online sales in Spain increased by 11% during the second quarter

Salesforce has presented the results of the Shopping Index for the second quarter of 2023 in which global purchasing behaviours are analysed, with data from more than 1.5 billion consumers worldwide.

The data from the study shows a growth of 11% in online sales in Spain (compared to 7% in the previous quarter), which leads the list of European countries analysed in this study, together with Belgium. In Spain, traffic has grown by 3%, the same as the global figure, but the volume of orders has increased by 7% compared to the decrease of 6% globally.

As far as the European countries are concerned, the Shopping Index highlights that all of them are returning to the path of growth, except the United Kingdom and the Nordic countries. However, the negative note comes from the United States where, for the first time since 2014 (date from which this study was prepared) they are in the red. The report reflects how in an economic context that remains uncertain, consumers remain concerned about their budget, so retailers must make strategic decisions regarding prices.

According to this study, the most effective tactic to get shoppers to visit a web site is determined by the discounts they had previously received by mail. Hence, the discount rates in the second quarter increased by 12% compared to the previous year and by 19% if we compare it with 2021. In this sense, Spain registered a global conversion rate of 1.2%, compared to 1 .3% of the previous quarter.

Active footwear and luxury bags are the ones that offer the greatest growth, while toys, food & beverages, and clothing are the ones that have grown the least. As far as channels are concerned, purchases made from computers continue to decline, while mobile continues to be the fastest growing sales channel, representing 75% of traffic and 64% of orders globally, compared to 77% and 62% respectively in Spain. Search continues to be a key functionality to make it easier for consumers to quickly find the product they need, being a determining factor for 16% of orders globally and 19% in the case of Spain.

“The increasing rate of online sales in Spain, which exceeds that of other neighbouring countries, may be due to the increase in prices, the application of lower discounts to protect margins and the increase in the number of online orders,” says Enrique Mazón, Vice President of Commerce Cloud at Salesforce Iberia. “The launch of Commerce GPT will help companies to use generative artificial intelligence, not only to improve the productivity of their teams, but also to offer fully personalised experiences, promotions, and content to their customers,” he adds.

THE INDICATORS FOR THE SECOND QUARTER OFFER THE FOLLOWING CONCLUSIONS:

1. Europe shows signs of recovery

The first half of this year has hinted that European results are heading towards recovery. First quarter results showed that the region was beginning to stabilise. This trend continued in the second quarter, as online sales grew by 1% across the region, with strong positive growth in Germany, France and Spain.

The United Kingdom, however, has shown a decline in sales of 3% year-on-year. Inflation is, here, higher than in other geographies. Despite declining sales, UK retailers reduced discounts (by 12%) to preserve margins as costs continue to rise. For this reason, the objective in Europe is to focus its retail strategy on building customer loyalty by offering them timely and personalised promotions.

2. Marketers slow down your email outreach

In an environment where both consumers and marketers are faced with shrinking budgets, it’s critical to get relevant and timely messages that add value to your customers and engage their attention on the channels and devices they prefer. Inflationary pressure on the retail industry forces marketers to do more with less. Many of them are reducing the number of messages sent by email. The rate rose just 3% in the second quarter of this year, up from 21% in the second quarter of 2022.

On the other hand, mobile messages staged a year-on-year increase of 28% in this quarter.

COMMERCIAL STRATEGY FOR THE SECOND HALF OF 2023

Focusing the retail strategy on promotions, customer commitment and consolidating relationships with the most loyal buyers should be the foundations of this strategy. The retail sector is at the starting point of a competition that will continue for the next six months, with Prime Day, back to school, Black Friday, and the Christmas shopping season as the main dates on the calendar. Customers are expected to bid for discounts and wait until they get a good deal.

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