Etailing is here to grow!

As recently as two years ago, and maybe even last week, I was convincing audiences and clients that Etailing (on-line retailing) was not a fad, but rather a phenomenon that was here to stay and grow and that if you ignore it, you do so at your own peril.

If you’re still not convinced have a look at the top 10 etailer websites (worldwide) as of September 2007 and the number of visitors they are attracting:

1. eBay had 57.6 million visitors, up 9 percent from 52.9 million a year earlier 

2. Amazon.com had 41.9 million visitors, up 18 percent from 35.5 million; 

3. Target Corporation had 19.9 million visitors, up 25 percent from 15.9 million; 

4. Wal-Mart Stores had 19 million visitors, up 22 percent from 15.6 million; 

5. Shopping.com Network had 17.2 million visitors, up 16 percent from 14.8 million; 

6. Shopzilla.com Network had 17.2 million visitors, up 15 percent from 15 million; 

7. Dell Inc. had 15.9 million visitors, up 3 percent from 15.5 million; 

8. Expedia.com had 14.4 million visitors, down 1 percent from 14.5 million; 

9. NexTag Network had 12.5 million visitors, up 30 percent from 9.6 million; 

10. Ticketmaster had 11.4 million visitors, up 3 percent from 11.1 million.

The top ten list is fascinating for its mix of dedicated etailers that do all their selling on line and traditional retailers that use their web presence to both sell on line and to drive traffic into their stores.

It also importantly shows a growing upward shift in buyer behaviour towards using on line shopping as an adjunct to traditional bricks and mortar shopping, this is supported by anecdotal research that 1 in every 4 retail dollars is spent on line.

The dilemma many retailers unnecessarily grapple with is whether they need an on line presence, take it from me the answer is unequivocally YES.

Resistance is futile, even if you see no purpose in it, your customers do. Customers are not only increasingly making their final purchases on line, but in even greater numbers they are making their purchasing decisions on line by researching and short listing their shopping choices, and if they can’t find you on line they can’t short list you to buy from you off line.

The only question you have to answer about your on line presence is whether your site should be a glorified brochure that shows and tells and encourages the shopper to travel to your store to purchase, or should it complete the cycle and show, tell and sell?

Source: Inside Retailing

 

Monday, 26 November 2007

 

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