The Modern Retail Index 2022 E-Commerce Report: How top retailers’ digital services stack up

January 4, 2023

As the Covid-19 vaccine and its subsequent boosters were rolled out across the U.S. population, customers started to return in-store, but their year of relying on e-commerce left an indelible mark. The online-first environment of the pandemic set the tone for retailers to up the experience of their digital platforms to remain competitive.

This trend continued this year, with many retailers adding new functions to their sites. Indexed retailers, retailers measured in the ranking, increased AR adoption by 200% from last year to this year, and the presence of on-site chat features – most commonly powered by chatbots – increased by 100%. These additions to their sites show marketers using more emerging technologies to engage with customers digitally at a deeper level, as seen in Modern Retail’s recent emerging tech series.

Along with new tech, retailers this year also built up their on-site review capabilities: 60% of retailers added the ability to add images to their review function and 20% also added sort and filter options. The increased review capabilities help retailers cultivate more social proofing – discussed in more depth further in the report.

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