For the first time ever, ecommerce and mobile commerce initiatives are among the top IT investment priorities for retailers in the U.K., according to a new industry research report.
Martec International's IT in Retail analysis revealed that 23 out of 100 top U.K. retailers will choose to focus on mobile and ecommerce investments this year. That's up from 17 percent in 2010, according to researchers.
"Ecommerce represents the only growth in sales for many, and so it makes sense to invest in expanding their websites, adding [mobile commerce] and improving multichannel business," according to the report.
For some, the investments should go toward websites responsible for transaction management. Twenty-four percent of the surveyed retailers don't have a transactional website, while another 5 percent said they are currently in the middle of building one.
A recent report from eDigitalResearch revealed how ecommerce will impact the British economy in other ways. The firm concluded that the sector will account for 1.5 million jobs by 2015, as 60 percent of companies plan to add ecommerce positions during the next several years.