Ecommerce Confidence Report 2009

UK e-commerce managers are confident that they will either grow or maintain their teams this year and even receive pay increases, according to the findings of a survey out today. Despite the UK jobless total surpassing two million last month the vast majority (81 per cent) of e-commerce managers are either ‘very confident’ or ‘quite confident’ that they could move companies if the wanted to in 2009.

These are just three of the findings from the Digital Industry Confidence Report 2009*, carried out by leading London-based digital recruitment and executive search consultancy, Bearing Partnership.

Main findings from the report include:

• 77 per cent of UK e-commerce managers hit or exceeded their own sales targets during 2008
• 85 per cent of e-commerce managers expect to either expand or maintain staffing levels this year. Encouragingly, the number which plans to expand (36 per cent) is more than twice the number who expect to cut digital staff (14 per cent) during 2009
• Almost half (46 per cent) of e-commerce managers are either “very confident” or “quite confident” of a pay rise during 2009 with just over a quarter (27 per cent) not convinced that they can look forward to a salary increase this year
• that four in five (81 per cent) senior e-commerce professionals are either “very confident” or “quite confident” that they could move companies in 2009 if they wanted to
• The most common length of tenure of e-commerce roles is between 18 months and two years. The average length of time spent in the industry for e-commerce directors being just under eight years, spending just under three years at any one company

Aryn Hurst-Clark, co-director at Bearing Partnership, believes the report contains positive news for both experienced digital professionals and those looking to carve out a career in the sector.

“Our research points to an industry which believes it will enjoy steady growth this year at a time when the wider UK economy is expected to shrink by 4.1 per cent**,” Hurst-Clark said. “Brands will need to service the growing demand for e-commerce from consumers and, in an area currently suffering from a skills shortage, making the right staffing decisions will be critical to the company’s overall business success. Those companies that look closely at e-commerce this year will reap the benefits when the economy finally starts to pick up.”

* About the Bearing Partnership Digital Industry Confidence Report 2009: More than 100 e-commerce managers from leading brands in the UK took part in the Bearing Partnership Digital Industry Confidence Report 2009 online survey during January and February 2009. Between them, respondents manage £7.3 billion of ecommerce revenue, more than 10 per cent of all UK ecommerce sales in 2008 (Nielsen, Comscore, Hitwise and others put UK business-to-consumer ecommerce sales, including downloads and tickets, at £59.8 billion for last year).

The full report can be downloaded at Ecommerce Confidence Report 2009.

** International Monetary Fund, May 2009

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