A new study by RSR Research reveals information about challenges that retailers are facing in their ecommerce strategies.

The study shows that retailers report that the top three ecommerce business challenges include getting consumers to engage online, maintaining growth rates and keeping up with evolving consumer shopping patterns – such as social networks and mobile. As for operational ecommerce challenges, some of the responses included understanding and accommodating how different customer segments engage, finding it difficult to coordinate with other channels for a seamless cross-channel experience and defining what an online experience should look like for a brand.

Retailers also revealed that the top opportunities for their ecommerce strategies include improving online merchandising and assortment, providing richer product information (photo and video) and investing in cross-channel capabilities.

The best performing retailer respondents were more interested in revisiting past efforts to build communities and help consumers engage with them, as well as were more focused on online merchandising and the rich media that goes with it and improving targeted email campaigns.