We’re in difficult economic times. Many retailers are battening down the hatches, cutting spending and delaying ecommerce improvements for ‘better times”. It’s hard to argue with the logic of cutting spending when times are tough. But savvy e-tailers know better. They know that these times offer an excellent opportunity to reach new customers and gain valuable market share. Why are they spending instead of saving?
- Online sales growth is out-pacing other channels. More people are shopping online, and the trend doesn’t appear to be changing any time soon.
- Web users conducted 137 billion searches on the top 5 US search engines in 2008, that’s up 21% from 2007. (comScore’s 2008 Digital Year in Review reported in Internet Retailer)
- Online retail sales grew by 6% in 2008, according to comScore, whereas US Department of Commerce statistics showed a decline of .1% for general merchandise in the same period.
- According to Forrester Research Inc., US retail ecommerce sales are expected to grow 11% in 2009, even with consumers cutting back on their overall spend.
- Poor shopping experiences leave a gap that you can fill. Underwhelming satisfaction during the holiday season left consumers looking for better online shopping experiences and now is the time to show them what you’ve got.
- According to the annual Top 40 Online Retail Satisfaction Index from ForeSee Results and FGI Research, 40% of e-tailers saw a decline in customer satisfaction during the 2008 holiday season.
- More than 25% of the retailers in the Foresee survey scored below 70 on the satisfaction index.
- Now is the time to get ahead of the competition. Improve your ecommerce experience to keep your loyal customers and acquire new ones, before your competition does.
- According to an Internet Retailer survey from January 2009, 49.9% of merchants rolled out a new design in the past year, including 26.6% in the last six months and 13.3% within 90 days.
- Improved site optimization is the top priority for 72.9% of merchants, followed by clearly organized home, category and product pages at 62.4%, better navigation at 49.4%, improved site search at 47.1% and faster checkout at 40%.
Now is the time to act!
Posted by Anna Slyter 