|
The_Rumors_of_Ecommerce_Death
| The Rumors of Ecommerce Death
As Nasdaq sputters along in dot com shame, a few million few
dogged Internet consumers have ignored the crash. They continue
to happily buy away. The good-news story is not popular with
business writers, but Web retailing continues to grow seemingly
unaware that the online mall is crashing down around them as
they choose garden tools, sell sports cards and order vacation
packages. Things aren't perfect. There has been somewhat of a
dip since Christmas, but I think most Net retailers can live
with a post-holiday. Retailers have weathered after-Santa blues
since the English switched from wassailing to kids toys in the
mid-1800s.
We decided to take a look at recent reports on Internet retail
sales just to see if the Net stock gloom was blunting the steady
expansion of online commerce. We found some softening in the
rate of growth, but we certainly didn't find any contraction in
consumer behavior. The shrinking effect right now seems limited
to the number of dot coms rather then the number of consumers.
In fact, if you subtract the bizarrely heightened expectations
for the Internet, its growth is coming along just fine. By any
standards other than the Net-boom mentality, Internet expansion
continues to be fairly spectacular.
Net buyers hit ten quarters of continuous buying
Greenfield Online reported that for 10 consecutive quarters, 60
percent of U.S. Online consumers have made at least one purchase
on the Web within a 90-day period. And 28 percent of these
shoppers have clicked on Internet ads while shopping. Not
surprisingly, those with an annual income of $50,000 and above
are more likely to purchase goods (81 percent) than those whose
income is below $50,000 (64 percent). Women on the Net buy at a
slightly higher rate (74 percent) than men (71 percent). The top
categories of goods continues to be books and CDs, followed by
clothing, toys and computer software.
Rich buyers seek service basics online
Forrester Research looked at the shopping habits of rich
consumers, those with investable assets on $1 million or more,
and found that these shoppers are more interested in strong
basic serve than they are in virtual exclusivity, extravagance
and entertainment. Affluent shoppers have been buying linger,
feel more comfortable buying, buy more frequently and, of
course, spend more money," said Ekaterina O. Walsh, a senior
analyst at Forrester. "They buy online for the same reasons for
the same reasons that all online buyers do and care about price
and positive experiences with Web stores." Forrester recommends
that sellers of luxury goods should concentrate on purchasing
ease and a convenience return process.
Visitor traffic dips
PC Data Online found that traffic to leading ecommerce sites
declined about 4 percent in February following an 18 percent
seasonal drop in January. Goldman Sachs analysts cited
port-holiday seasonality, a slowdown in the rate on new consumer
adopting ecommerce and slower overall consumer spending as the
factors in the slower month-by-month growth of Internet
retailing. However, this year's figures are up 63 percent over
last year. Hey. Did anybody see that? I'll say it again. We're
up 63 percent over last year! Some blues. Features that will
keep your sales growing
Consulting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers released a survey that
identified the site features that are most likely to capture
sales. The research found that with the exception of search
capabilities and close-up product views, most Website features
are never used by the majority of Internet shoppers. The search
function is overwhelmingly the top feature used by consumers,
with 77 percent saying they have used search functions while
shopping.
Other site features such as wish-lists and personalization were
found to be less important to shoppers. As a side note, we found
a study by the International eRetail Association that listed
wish-lists as a tool that works well for building loyalty, so go
easy on making assumptions based on Internet studies.
The take-away on all of the recent information about Internet
retailing is that it continues to grow rapidly in spite of the
gloom that fills the business media. To paraphrase Mark Twain,
the rumors of the death of retail ecommerce have been greatly
exagerated.
About the author:
Rob Spiegel is the author of Net Strategy (Dearborn) and The
Shoestring Entrepreneur's Guide to the Best Home-Based
Businesses (St. Martin's Press). You can reach Rob at
spiegelrob@aol.com.
|
|
| |
| |
