Ecommerce marketers at US brands struggling to keep pace with where and how consumers browse and purchase online, according to new research published .

An ecommerce-focused study by ClickZ, produced in partnership with Catalyst, part of GroupM, has found that 85% of browsing and purchasing activity occurs with non-Amazon retailers, but only 25% of US brands say they have a strategy for ecommerce retailers beyond Amazon.

The Era of Ecommerce: Capitalizing on the New Customer Journey has also found that there is a 29 percentage point gap between the proportion of consumers who have visited a retailer to research and the proportion of brands who market on that retailer’s website (53% vs 24%).

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The report is based on a survey of more than 750 North America-based consumers and more than 600 business to consumer (B2C) client-side marketers across the following nine sectors: appliances, baby care, beauty and personal care, clothing and apparel, consumer electronics, footwear, furniture and home decor, non-perishable goods and beverages, and toys. It includes in-depth interviews with numerous senior marketers actively engaged in ecommerce advertising for their brands. All surveys and interviews were conducted between June and September 2018.

This research comes as a follow up to last year’s Age of Amazon report, in which we told the story of the ecommerce giant and what its ascent meant for marketers. Building on that, this report looks beyond only Amazon to assess the wider ecommerce industry, highlighting both consumer and advertiser behaviors.

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From traditional search engines to ecommerce websites, and from vertical-specific retailers to visual search, this research seeks to understand how and when consumers use specific channels and how advertisers prioritize each channel. Significant opportunity awaits advertisers who think holistically about reaching consumers in each phase of the consumer cycle.

Kerry Curran, Managing Partner, Marketing Integration, Catalyst, commented on the report: “Our new research illuminates a significant disconnect between today’s consumer behavior and ecommerce advertising strategies. We’re hopeful that marketers will be able to use our findings and recommendations to bridge this gap, and ultimately drive better returns for their businesses.”

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