Jul
4
Written by:
James Gardner
Saturday, July 04, 2009
The Internet Measurement Retail Group's 2009 report shows the UK as the Number 1 eCommerce country in the world. Per capita we spend three times as much online as they do in the US. In fact it counts for 17% of all retail spend (about twice the size of Tescos) which is impressive. Even more impressive (or scary if you are a traditional retailer with a poor web presence) is that by 2020, an estimated 90% of retail spend will be influenced online.
So what does influence mean?
Prior to visiting the shopping mall, shoppers will have:
- researched the product on line to find the best price (typically this will be reading information from manufacturer and retailers to find best price and product)
- read a review of the product from someone else who bought the product. Extraordinarily, an earlier survey concluded that we trust these anonymous review on the same par as we trust our school teacher.
- actively sought advice via user forums, Twitter or Facebook
So the online retail industry must be doing a great job. No! The same IMRG report showed that online satisfaction of web-only retailers has only increased by 0.36% since 2007. Out of every 100 people who visit an
eCommerce site, 97 leave without purchasing anything (compared with 50-70 instore). Worst of all, of those who put something in their basket, 50% subsequently leave without buying. Can you imagine Tescos surviving if its check-out desks where jammed with half full trolleys abandoned by shoppers who decided either not to buy anything today or to walk across the street to Sainsbury's instead.
What conclusions can we take from this.
- The opportunity is rising and nearly unlimited
- Just like instore retail - eCommerce is hard and competitive. It requires significant upfront planning, investment and ongoing refinement. Gone are the days when online retailing consisted of knocking together a clumsy site and servicing it part-time. That doesn't work instore and it doesn't work online.
- Online buying is increasing becoming branded like the high street has been for many years
I want to be a successful online retailer - what do I need to do?
May be it is a little counter-intuitive but the answer is to copy what the successful instore retailer do:
- research your marketing and find your niche
- invest to win
- listen all the time to your customers and implement what you learn from them
- hire expertise that you lack
WSI that has been building and fine tuning profitable eCommerce sites around the world for a decade. If you lack the expertise online then come and talk to us.
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