According to a new ESADE study entitled “Retail entrepreneur attitudes towards digital transformation”, Spanish retailers expect to double their online presence over the next five years. The report shows that online sales currently account for 14% of overall sales and that this figure is expected to reach 24.7% in the coming years. Medium-sized companies will see a larger-than-average increase (from 9.6% to 18.3%), while small and large companies will bring up the rear, increasing from 15.6% to 27.3% and from 10.8% to 17.9%, respectively. 

The study analysed Spanish retail companies’ attitudes toward digital transformation by examining 435 large, medium and small retailers, from various industries: food and beverages, personal wares, home furnishings, professional services, leisure, and entertainment and culture.

In the past two years, online sales have increased by 14.2% in the Spanish retail sector: 18.3% for large companies, 9.7% for medium-sized companies and 15.1% for small companies.

Opportunities in marketplaces and other intermediary websites

Most large retailers (65.7%) operate online with their own e-commerce sites, whereas small and medium-sized companies expect to grow in this channel by tapping into the opportunities presented by marketplaces and other intermediary websites.

Over the past two years, large retailers have increased their online sales by 18.3% and small companies are in second place at 15.1%, while medium-sized enterprises are in last place with a figure of just 9.7%.

Greater online presence

For most retailers, digital transformation has meant “being on the Internet and helping people find your business”. Among large and medium-sized enterprises, 74.3% and 73% of companies have an online presence, respectively, whereas small companies are somewhat behind the curve, at 64.3%. Even lower, however, are the figures for the implementation of new technologies (63.7% overall, with medium-sized companies taking the lead), the development of skills and internal processes to adapt to the new environment (59.3%, with large companies considerably ahead of the crowd), and communication on social media (57.2%). Smaller percentages were found for online sales, use of big data, and tracking customers before, during and after a sale.

In this digital age, prior knowledge of customers’ needs and consumption habits is essential for production, distribution and customer satisfaction; 61.4% of all companies have such knowledge, with large firms far ahead of the rest, at 77.1%. Finally, 56.3% of companies have shown that they understand the importance of leadership on the part of owners and managers

Changes in the business model

More than half of all small companies (53.4%), nearly two thirds of medium-sized companies (61.8%) and the vast majority of large companies (85.7%) have started taking steps in this direction, particularly between 2012 and 2016, a key period for digital transformation in the retail sector. The steps taken include modifications to the company’s value proposition (23.2%), increases in online sales (21.1%), increases in profit margins (19.3%), major logistical changes (17.7%) and changes in the monetisation model (16.8%).

The business model and employee profile have undergone changes at 16.8% and 15.4% of companies, with large firms posting much higher percentages than their small and medium-sized counterparts.

Nearly two thirds of respondents said that national, regional and local governments should take the lead in helping businesses through this change, although they also cited employers’ associations, chambers of commerce and the companies themselves as key players in this process. Nearly two thirds (65.7%) of large companies believe that digital marketing is the instrument that will have the largest impact, compared with 39.5% and 39.3% of their small and medium-sized counterparts, respectively.