Online Shopping Trends on the Rise

Author: Michael Dela Cruz

Customers in 2007 slowly traded their mall-walking runners and rickety shopping carts in for a comfortable mouse and mouse pad during the 2007 Holiday Shopping Season. Major retail businesses who have experienced first-hand the revenue that can be generated through an online store spent months gearing up in preparation of the annual online sales rush. They made sure their websites were up to the challenge of handling all the online sales and are busy preparing aggressive marketing campaigns to maximize the return on every person that lands on their online store.

Offline Businesses May Be Missing Out on Online Sales

It's likely that many smaller local businesses that have yet to join the online store movement were in for a bit of a shock last November and December as people, fed up with the hassle of fighting checkout lineups, parking lot mayhem, sub-zero temperatures, and inflated seasonal pricing, abandoned chaotic malls and boutiques in favor of a more quiet, convenient, and hassle-free online sales experience in the comfort of their own home. No pushy sales staff, no busy checkout line-ups, no parking hassles. If you don't think it's a big deal, you might want to check out the online sales statistics below.

Online Sales Revenue Hits $24.6 Billion in 2006: Up 26% from 2005

According to statistics published by ClickZ.com in 2007, there was a 26% increase in shopping dollars spent in online stores during the 2006 holiday season over the same recorded period in 2005. Annual online sales topped $102 Billion demolishing the previous year's record by nearly $20 Billion. Consumers are sending a very clear message to businesses that they are starting to look to the web and online stores to meet some, if not all, of their shopping needs.

Businesses with an online store enjoy:

• A 24 hour a day, 7 day a week, 365 day virtual online store front that can handle hundreds, even thousands of online store customers at the same time. This can exponentially increase your sales productivity time compared to that of your offline competitors who can only open for 8 to 16 hours per day.






• A virtual sales staff that never calls in sick, never quits, never gets tired, never takes a break and never complains saving your business money in terms of minimized downtime and maximized selling time.






• Precise communication between business and customer. You control the message it delivers and the information it gives to potential customers so you can be certain that information is accurately conveyed. This results in fewer returns due to confusion or misinterpretation of a product or service and higher customer retention rates and satisfaction levels.






• Your online store can take a website visitor from a tire kicker to satisfied paying customer all on its own even when your business is closed for the day.






• You'll gain access to customers who shop exclusively online or, for whatever reason, are not able to personally visit your store. (Time constraints, physically challenged, housebound, remote location etc.)

Many businesses have already come to realize the solid advantage that having an online store gives them over their competitors. They all leverage the power of an online store to tap into additional revenue and compete outside of local markets. Don't you think it's time you explored the possibilities and claimed your share of the dollars being generated online?

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ecommerce-articles/online-shopping-trends-on-the-rise-454887.html

About the Author:

Michael Dela Cruz is the Web Marketing Consultant for Canada's Web Shop - A Winnipeg Web Design Company - located in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada specializing in Custom Web Design, Content Management Systems, and E-Commerce.