Digital Marketing Consultant

The electronic retail shopping today is nothing like it was five years ago, and it is unrecognizable from ecommerce at ten years ago.  Even though many online shoppers have been doing business on the web for years, the types of transactions, expectations of quality, and on-site behaviors have all changed dramatically.  Consumers do not go online just to make a purchase.  They go online to browse, compare, and explore.  In other words, they go shopping.

First a few statistics.  During the 2010 holiday season, online shopping reportedly spiked up 13% year-over-year.

• That is compared to a 5.7% reported overall increase in shopping, which indicates the growing importance of the online medium.  At the same time, a recent Limelight Networks study found that 65% of survey respondents claimed to have been shopping online for more than five years.
• This history of on-line shopping appears to show that established online shoppers are doing more of their transactions on the web, even as new online shoppers are only now discovering the web’s advantages.  In other words, growth is coming from both a larger sample of consumers.  Javelin Strategy and Research predicts the percentage of US consumers shopping online will increase to 78% by 2014—and from greater usage among existing shoppers.
• Still, revenue from online shopping is only a fraction of retail revenue overall.  In 2010, holiday online sales rang in at $32.6 billion according to comScore, while the National Retail Federation reports that retail as a whole topped out at $462 billion in revenue.  That means that there is a lot of room for growth in the online space, and, given current growth rates, it also means we could see a big shift in proportional shopping across the retail landscape.  As important as etail is today, its relative impact on the retail sector, including purchases made both online and offline, will increase exponentially in the coming years.

There are three major trends to watch in the growth of online retail:

1. The use of video in online marketing and sales,
2. The growing importance of mobility, and
3. An increasing emphasis on personalized shopping experiences. 

With each of these trends, the impact is not just a matter of a particular behavior spreading to a larger group of people.  More tomorrow.

The economy of the world has been making the news in on a daily basis for the past couple of years.   Does the economy have an effect upon the eCommerce business?

These challenging economical times have made us hear some unpleasant words such as recession on a regular basis.   All you have to do is listen to the daiy news or stock market report and you quickly get the picture with reports of rising unemployment rates, downward turn of the real estate industry...even the store shelves shows the global impact of the economical situation.  But what if any is the economical effect for online businesses?  Download a business trends report.

During economical slow down and questionable futures, people tend to hold back on spending on non-necessities.  This will equate to less sales for many online businesses.

Fewer sales usually ends up with less competition, as some business owners will get out of business or reduce their marketing efforts in an attempt to spend less itself.  As this occurs more room is made for you to move your business up in the rankings.

Another benefit to online businesses during economical challenges is that, with increasing cost of fuel, people start learning how to shop without traveling and are more willing to shop on line than ever before.                                                 

You can look at the economical situation as a challenge or an opportunity to take advantage of the leverage it gives to internet marketing and ecommerce.  If you want ot take this opportunity to dominate your business sector, speak to us sooner rather than later.

And don't miss our Free Webinar and Free Whitepaper on PR.

This type of network emerged during the 90’s and has continued to experience growth in every sector of life.  Today there are hundreds of social network sites reaching various sectors of the population based upon age, religion, ethnicity, interest, work, business and the list goes on.  

For businesses the reality is today that, if you are trying to build an online presence, being active on social network sites is a necessary part of your marketing plan.   Twitter and Facebook are common names in household’s, businesses, and even among celebrity circles of the elite.

Some of the social network sites have seen a shift in their groups of interest.  Myspace is a good example of this as it started out with teenage popularity but the shift in popularity has now shifted to groups over the age of 18. And Myspace has lost market share to Facebook.

Could this shift in popularity be a sign of the demise of Myspace?  What will the effect for more robust social network sites be?  Will the present social media network sites keep pace with the ever demanding need for more technology and creativity?  It seems so much success is hinged on luck.  Hidden behind most of the success, however, lies genius.  But then rarely is creative genius the most competent business leader.

What will be the next new piece of technology that will target the next generation?   It may be just another social network site, but then perhaps it is something with a different twist that will make even a greater impact upon the way business and networking is performed.  It actually depends on the creator, his or her genius, and the ability to bring it to market.  Hey, this sounds like business as usual!

As a business, do you really want to know more?  See Trends Report USA for USA or Business Trends Europe for Europe.
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