The e-commerce sector is expected to grow significantly in the coming years and this is an opportunity as well as a challenge, according to the conclusions of the Panhellenic Research on e-commerce & logistics orchestration conducted by the company O.MIND CREATIVES with the scientific supervision of OPTILOG ADVISORY SERVICES.
The workload is expected to increase in the coming years, more workers will be required (if processes are not automated), the use of information systems will increase significantly with a simultaneous positive sign in sales and profitability. Therefore, in order for companies (e-shops and/or logistics service providers) to cope with the ever-increasing demands of end customers, they should acquire a digital culture, reorganize their processes, train their staff and attract executives with experience and expertise, to invest in automation and intelligent systems.
According to the technology providers, the main reasons for the low digital maturity observed in the e-commerce sector in Greece are the lack of specialized executives and employees (76%), the lack of financial tools for investments in Informatics (59%) as well as the lack of digital culture (47%). Although e-shops are not advancing at a fast pace in their digital transformation, the majority of them (53%) have realized its importance. However, there is still a very high percentage of companies (30%) that request the implementation of a pilot system in order to ascertain on a practical level the benefits they will obtain.
In 2022, the e-commerce turnover totaled 20.5 billion euros in Greece and represented 6.9% of the total turnover of approximately 40,000 businesses employing at least 10 people with a total turnover of 295.9 billion euros. The e-shops from which Greeks prefer to buy are Greek ones (91%) in their majority. Moreover, Greeks spend, on average, 644 euros in physical stores and 510 euros on online shopping.
