|
|
|
7 Tips To Increase Sales With Your Ecommerce Web Site
Ecommerce is just exploding right now on the Net. More and more people are doing their shopping online. Some Internet retailers are even beating out their offline counterparts. So what does this mean to you? It’s important that you are taking full...
Developing a Winning Ecommerce Strategy
One bright spot on the economic horizons around the world seems to be continued consumer spending and ecommerce is clearly a part of this, with sales estimated to be in excess of $9.9 Billion in the next three months according to ACNielsen. But,...
eCatalog - a Key Component of Your eCommerce Initiative
In recent years, Internet virtually has become major driving force of economic and technological growth in many industries. It is fundamentally changing the way companies operate, do their trade and interact with each other and it is giving birth...
eCommerce, How much does it cost?
Making profits with your existing website design or creating a new online store can be exciting, affordable and most of all; rewarding. Mmmm . . . that's what the last sales guy told me.
What is eCommerce (or selling via the Internet)? It is...
My Top 7 Favorite Ecommerce Tools
Copyright 2005 Jim Edwards
When you make your living on the Internet, you sometimes forget that the resources you use every day (and take for granted) might rate an incredible discovery to anyone who doesn't already know they exist.
Whether...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
| E-Commerce Times: Because E-Business Means Business |
| Everything you need to know about doing business on the Internet. Information for C-Level executives and small-to-mid-sized business managers. |
| www.ecommercetimes.com |
|
| ECommerce-Guide to News, Reviews and Technology Solutions |
| ECommerce-Guide provides ecommerce business owners with e-commerce news, hardware and software reviews and tutorials, technology solutions and information ... |
| www.ecommerce-guide.com |
|
| Electronic commerce - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Electronic commerce (also referred to as EC, e-commerce or ecommerce) ... Even in product categories suitable for e-commerce, electronic shopping has ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| E-Commerce News for IT Managers |
| Daily e-commerce news for managers of business covering marketing, transaction processing, security, retailing and service delivered over the Web. |
| www.internetnews.com |
|
| New Zealand Government E-Commerce |
| Resource containing information on electronic commerce, including law, trade, tax, privacy, consumer protection, and help for businesses. |
| www.ecommerce.govt.nz |
|
| eCommerce Guidebook for web hosting |
| The eCommerce Guidebook provides many resources, including a directory of online transaction providers, a tutorial, and many other resources. |
| www.online-commerce.com |
|
| ClickZ Internet Marketing Solutions for Marketers |
| Includes columns with commentary and analysis on a wide variety of internet marketing subjects ranging from B2B marketing to search engine marketing. |
| www.clickz.com |
|
| Shopping cart software for Dreamweaver, Frontpage, CSS ecommerce ... |
| Shopping cart software integrated into Frontpage, Dreamweaver, CSS and Golive ecommerce software templates. |
| www.ecommercetemplates.com |
|
| E-Commerce & the Internet |
| Information from the FTC on E-commerce and the Internet. Includes anti-fraud tips. |
| www.ftc.gov |
|
| Economy & Work: eBusiness | Europa - Information Society |
| The e-business concept goes well beyond e-commerce (buying and selling ... A pilot study on E-commerce and the Internet in European businesses (2002) was ... |
| ec.europa.eu |
|
| Online Business |
| If your e-commerce site currently accepts online payments, and is really, really, ... They are looking for entries from ugly e-commerce sites to win a new ... |
| onlinebusiness.about.com |
|
| eCommerce Info Center- ONE-STOP for eCommerce info, services ... |
| eCommerce Info Center, created and maintained by Slim Baltagi, will make it easier and faster for you to find out relevant eCommerce information, ... |
| www.ecominfocenter.com |
|
| eCommerce Innovation Centre |
| Practical resources for small business involved in or considering eCommerce implemetations. Expert Advice and Assistance. |
| www.ecommerce.ac.uk |
|
| Web Marketing Today -- E-Commerce, E-Mail, Internet Marketing, and ... |
| Articles, tips and advice on e-commerce and effective Internet marketing strategies. |
| www.wilsonweb.com |
|
| Web Marketing Today Research Room for E-Commerce |
| The largest collection of annotated links to web marketing and ecommerce articles and resources to be found at any single place on the planet. |
| www.wilsonweb.com |
|
| The 2005 E-commerce Awards - Welcome |
| The UK national E-commerce awards organised by the DTI and Interforum. |
| www.ecommerce-awards.co.uk |
|
| Mal's e-commerce |
| Mal's e-commerce ... Customize the look and feel of your store; No scripts or applications to install; Build as large an e-commerce site as you want ... |
| www.mals-e.com |
|
| Howstuffworks "How E-commerce Works" |
| E-commerce has exploded in the last 10 years. Find out how e-commerce works and how you can harness the potential of e-commerce, from affiliate programs to ... |
| www.howstuffworks.com |
|
| Ecommerce Guide - Terms You Need to Know to Do Business on the ... |
| An online computer dictionary and internet search engine for internet terms and techincal support. |
| e-comm.webopedia.com |
|
| Shopping Cart Software Ecommerce Solutions |
| Ecommerce solutions by Volusion will take your business to new heights. Volusion offers the best prices in the industry for a complete ecommerce web ... |
| www.volusion.com |
|
|