The end of the year is often a time for reflection and planning. Here at Linnworks, we’re looking back at what 2022 had in store for the ecommerce industry, recent product innovations and Linnworks customer successes before looking ahead to see what’s in store for 2023.

The ecommerce industry in 2022 and beyond

The Covid-19 pandemic rapidly increased the world’s adoption of online shopping. Worldwide ecommerce sales are expected to reach $5 trillion in US dollars this year after being just over $3 trillion in 2019.

This growth, however, was not without its challenges for the industry. Exploding growth and low barriers to entry led to increased competition for retailers leading to higher acquisition costs. Plus, inflation and lower consumer confidence put a damper on spending expectations. 

And yet, despite all headwinds, there are still significant signals pointing towards the importance and stability of online selling. This year shoppers in the US spent a record $11.3 billion on Cyber Monday, and while overall sales during the Black Friday weekend contracted this year in the UK, online sales still remain well above 2019 levels. 

With the ecommerce scene set, let’s look at how Linnworks has worked to keep our customers competitive this year through continuous product innovation.

Linnworks product updates this year

Linnworks is committed to helping growing retailers succeed in today’s market by helping them stop using spreadsheets and manual processes and start using automated inventory management solutions.

This year Linnworks helped customers reach shoppers where they spend time online with 11 new channel integrations. We also expanded our partnerships with existing sales channels, including updating our Amazon integration, expanding listing functionality to include OnBuy, and providing eBay fulfillment with Orange Connex.

Speaking of eBay…Linnworks won eBay’s Early Adopter Award early this year at the 2022 Star Developer Awards! The recognition celebrates Linnworks’ continuous innovation in improving sellers’ operational efficiency and business performance by implementing eBay’s latest developments.

Other key product improvements included:

• Reorder low stock: Saving users time by creating purchase orders for low-in-stock products with the click of a button to calculate reorder quantities automatically.
• Hot buttons: Lets customers use hot buttons to apply quick actions to orders to process them faster.
• Flat view: Gives users a simplified view of open orders in a clear and easy-to-navigate format with all the important information on one screen.

While we’re excited about these updates, improvements and awards, we’re more excited by what they mean for our customers.

Linnworks customer successes

Linnworks customers have accounted for nearly £6 billion pounds ($7.5 million dollars) in GMV so far this year, with plenty of holiday shopping still to be done. These customers also fulfilled more than 2.3 million orders from Black Friday to Cyber Monday.

While the comprehensive numbers tell an impressive story, we’re also excited to share some recent wins from customers who were able to overcome unique challenges to grow their businesses.

• JAF Comics was able to reduce overselling and stockouts and grow from an 800-square-foot location to a new 8,000-square-foot retail space.
• Macdaddy Music was able to expand into new channels thanks to time-saving automations.
• Buy Wholefoods Online was able to increase their warehouse efficiency with picklists.

You can see more customer success stories here.

Looking ahead to 2023

Even though ecommerce’s pace of growth has slowed, it is still a vital and growing market around the world. We’re thrilled to be a key growth partner for our customers and are excited to help make 2023 their best year yet.