Small businesses are optimistic about 2024 ecommerce growth – Digital Commerce 360

Get access to essential strategic content, in-depth reports, industry intelligence, and exclusive data.
Get access to essential strategic content, in-depth reports, industry intelligence, and exclusive data.
Get access to essential strategic content, in-depth reports, industry intelligence, and exclusive data.
Get access to essential strategic content, in-depth reports, industry intelligence, and exclusive data.
Sign Into Digital Commerce 360



Forgot your password?
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
As the mid-year approaches, U.S. small businesses are in an acceptable position to grow sales and expand ecommerce, says a new survey from Alibaba.com.
The results, chronicled in Alibaba’s 2024 State of U.S. Buyers Survey, find that most small businesses are in a good mood and anticipating decent  ecommerce performance.
“84% of companies have at least a cautiously optimistic outlook for this year, with 44% being very optimistic,” according to the survey. “6% are pessimistic or very pessimistic about their online business growth this year.”
For many small business organizations, growing ecommerce is a top priority this year. The survey finds that only 53% of respondents sell online, compared with 44% that don’t and 3% that won’t consider ecommerce as a sales channel.

The top digital barriers for small businesses to overcome include:
“When comparing this year’s challenges to last, it’s clear that the top issues have remained steady: Lead generation and cash flow,” the survey says.
For more than three-fourths of small businesses ecommerce — and the increased use of artificial intelligence — remain top priorities.
“In 2024, 75% of respondents foresee online business playing a significantly larger role in their overall strategy, highlighting the increasing importance of e-commerce platforms,” according to the survey. “This trend underscores the evolving digital landscape and the potential for broader audience reach and business growth.”
With AI, about two-thirds of survey respondents are already using some form of machine learning. Meanwhile, other companies are looking to start up at least a small program.
“Adoption has been remarkably slow in high-earning companies, with 83% of respondents from companies making over $5M not using AI,” the survey says. “However, one company in that financial range that uses AI noted, ‘Yes, AI is used in almost every aspect of the business.’”
Check back soon for more Charts & Data Stories, like our weekly B2B infographics. Here’s last week’s. We add new content regularly. 
Nominate a game-changer for the Global B2B eCommerce Industry Awards from Digital Commerce 360 and the B2B Ecommerce Association.
Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. 
More on This
In This Article
Companies
Industries
Topics
Related Stories
B2B buyers want (and use) multiple digital sales channels
Comscore report shows how mobile commerce trends shaped a decade
B2B ecommerce to help grow manufacturing, distribution sales in 2024
3 examples of what is working in omnichannel retail strategy
Copyright © 2024 Digital Commerce 360 | Vertical Web Media LLC
Copyright © 2024 Digital Commerce 360 | Vertical Web Media LLC

source