Brands growing 10% faster than their sector’s average are investing more than $100 million in e-commerce technology, and recruiting new tech talent to help capture a larger share of sales in the holiday shopping season, according to McKinsey & Company.  

Its latest e-commerce study explored what leading brands are doing to win in e-commerce and how they were preparing for the holiday shopping season. It examined how B2C and B2B brands are enhancing their strategies and tech capabilities to offer advanced customer experiences, such as AI-driven product recommendations and frictionless buy-online-pick-up-in-store.  

With nearly a quarter of all global sales expected to be made online by 2025, and $6.3 trillion e-commerce sales expected in retail alone, leaders are making a number of e-commerce moves:   

• 69% of brands expect to increase their e-commerce spending for Black Friday 

Almost seven in ten (69%) brands plan to increase their e-commerce spending to support Black Friday, 68% for Cyber Monday, 63% for end-of-year holiday season and 53% for Amazon Prime Day. Almost a third (28%) plan to increase spend by more than 20% for end-of-year holiday season and 24% for Black Friday.  

• More than 40% of leading brands secure 10% plus of their annual e-commerce revenue from holiday shopping events like Black Friday and Singles Day 

Whilst the leading brands secure a significant proportion of revenue from holiday shopping events, 25% of laggards don’t even participate. The brands that capture revenue typically forge deals and partnerships, build inventory, align on promotions, and secure both budget and head count ahead of the shopping season.  

• One in five leading brands are spending more than $100 million on e-commerce technology, viewing it as foundational to growth strategy  

Almost 20% of leaders are planning to spend more than $100m on e-commerce technology infrastructure, seeing it as a source of strategic advantage – compared to 8% of laggards. The investments are seen as an opportunity to help them innovate at speed and build at scale, in response to planned or unexpected surges in demand. 

• Leading brands are prioritizing generative AI, as they look to enhance the customer experience  

Almost 20% of leading brands are making generative AI their top priority in e-commerce, compared to less than 5% of laggards. About 30% of them are planning to put more than 10% of their e-commerce budget towards gen AI in the next 12 months (with more than 10% shifting more than 25 % of their e-commerce spend). In contrast, fewer than 10% of laggards are matching this investment. Many brands are turning to AI initiatives, for example, to better understand their customers in preparation for cookies being phased out.  

• 50% more leaders than laggards are increasing investment in hiring technical talent as they opt to build their own e-commerce capabilities.  

Data engineers, data scientists and software developers are being scooped up by leading brands as they increase their investment in hiring technical talent. Leaders believe in-house capabilities will prove to be mission critical, versus outsourcing to third-party agencies, contractors or partners.   

• B2B brands largely mirror what B2C brands do with their digital investments – online marketplaces, direct-to-consumer and social commerce are top   

30% of B2B and B2C leaders report their digital channels are more “much more profitable” than their offline channels. This has moved both leaders and laggards to invest in more touchpoints with their customers: online marketplaces (60% v 54%) direct-to-customer sites (56%v 48%), and social commerce (63% v 50%).  

• Just a handful of organisations can offer seamless customer experiences across all online and offline channels i.e.  buy-online-pick-up-in-store. 

About 15% of leaders (compared to about 2% of laggards) report that their online and offline channels are well integrated. By this they mean that information is easily shared across company owned, third-party marketplaces and social channels to ensure there is a smooth shopping, returns and post-purchase experience.  

Arun Arora, senior partner, McKinsey & Company, said: “Next-gen e-commerce is a non-negotiable growth lever for both B2C and B2B organizations. Yet, just a handful of brands have cracked the code. Those that can integrate all of their capabilities together – including R&D, logistics, warehousing, marketing and sales – are accelerating innovation and delivering new and superior customer experiences.”   

Rodney Zemmel, senior partner, McKinsey & Company, said: “Brands are investing in technology and talent to innovate at speed and build at scale. By treating technology as a source of strategic advantage, this group is growing 10% faster than their market average. But it’s never just about technology. These organizations are innovating their entire operating models and talent strategy to capture value.” 

Stephan Zimmerman, senior partner, McKinsey & Company, said: “The holiday season is make or break for many brands. It’s why we see so many companies making strategic moves to win new customers. The companies getting ahead are well prepared – typically staffing war rooms with a mixture of talent – marketers, pricing experts, data scientists, and engineers – so they can spot opportunities and make changes quickly.”  

The online survey included 500 leaders in roles including: CMOs, CROs, CSOs, CEOs, heads of digital, and heads of e-commerce across the UK, US, Germany, China and Brazil. And across both B2B and B2C businesses covering the following sectors among others: B2B products, B2B software, B2B services, consumer packaged goods, durables, electronics, fashion, financial services and retail.  

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