Tag: E-Commerce

US online retail spending to rise – study

Posted by | Apr 10, 2008 | |

A new study from Forrester Research predicts that despite the current economic gloom, online retail spending by US consumers will rise by 17% this year to USD 204 billion.

The study of 125 retailers for Shop.org, the online arm of the National Retail Federation, found apparel is likely to be the largest online sales category in 2008, accounting for an expected USD 26.6 billion. This is followed by computers at USD 23.9 billion, and autos at USD 19.3 billion.

But Scott Silverman, executive director, Shop.org, warns that despite the bullish predictions, e-retailers are still vulnerable to the economic situation.

“From higher shipping costs to changes in consumer shopping habits, online retailers are not immune to the current economic climate,” he says.

However the report does say that growth in the online retail market will slow as the number of people new to the Internet begins to wane and retailers struggle to decide whether to invest in strategies that retain current customers or those that attract new ones. According to the study, online retailers allocate 53% of their marketing budgets to customer acquisition and 21% to retention.

The research also suggests that online retailers will increasingly look to social networks to attract new customers. Of those questioned, 65% say they will increasingly focus on social network advertising and 55% will turn to widgets.

But Forrester strikes a note of caution, claiming social networks have been considered more effective for brand-building and less proven for driving revenue or sales conversion. Therefore retailers need to continue investments in proven techniques like e-mail marketing and free shipping promotions to drive sales.

Search engine marketing continues to be the most effective way to reach new customers, accounting for 35% of online sales. But one technique that looks to be losing favour is the offer free shipping to customers. While 85% of online retailers say they used some shipping promotions in the past, just 35% say they will focus more on these types of offers in 2008.

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Grocery websites drive UK online sales growth

Posted by | Apr 1, 2008 | |

Sophisticated web offerings from the UK’s grocery retailers are driving the growth of internet retailing in this country, making it the fastest growing online market in Europe, according to a new report from Mintel.

The report found UK online sales were worth euro 18.5bn (GBP 12.8bn) last year, compared with just euro 13bn in Germany, the next largest market.

And the UK was also the fastest growing market with sales up by 75% since 2005.

“The UK has by far and away the most developed online market in Europe,” said Richard Perks, director of retail research at Mintel.

“The main reason for this is the sophisticated online offering of the UK’s food retailers and the fact that so many of us now more than happy to turn to the internet to do our weekly shop.”

Tesco is the largest online food retailer in Europe, says Mintel, with www.tesco.com more than twice the size of its nearest rival (www.ooshop.fr) run by Carrefour.

Meanwhile, the latest figures from IMRG Capgemini showed a record GBP 4.3bn was spent online during February 2008.

Beers, wines and spirits saw a rise of 38%, perhaps in anticipation of the higher alcohol taxes announced in March’s Budget.

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Record GBP 4.5 billion spent online in January sales

Posted by | Feb 26, 2008 | |

Online spending in the January sales reached a record high of over GBP 4.5 billion according to new figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index An equivalent of GBP 74 was spent online for every person in the UK in January a year-on-year increase of 75 pct.

The IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index reveals that there is variation in the year-on-year growth of individual sectors. Of the sectors that are broken out, the most popular items for online bargain hunters in January were electrical items and clothing which saw the highest year-on year growth. Perhaps a sign of festive excess was the small 9.8pct growth in the sales of beers, wines and spirits and the high 18pct online spending on Health and Beauty

The Index highlights that January’s high rate of growth is a change in direction from the previously falling trend – year-on-year sales in September was 73pct which fell to 66pct in November and then 49pct in December. The growth in sales volume over the last three months is more than double than the same period last year and is at the highest level since January 2003. While the overall e-Retail market is growing because of more retailers entering the online market, the high growth is still concentrated on the bigger players who are capturing the consumers’ hearts and minds

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What does the future of on-line retailing hold?

Posted by | Feb 5, 2008 | |

A free seminar from the IMRG looks at how companies can increase sales through multi-channel activity

The latest IMRG figures reveal GBP 15.2 billion spent online in Q4 and full year 2007 came in at GBP 46 billion.

This seminar will look at whether this spend is set to continue, what is driving the growth and how companies can increase sales through multi-channel activity and managing customer contact centres more effectively with a case history on Sainsbury’s Online Groceries. Latest industry trends and figures will also be revealed.

These are some of the issues that will be debated by IMRG, eDigitalResearch – one of the leading providers of digital market research, in conjunction with Teleperformance – the world’s largest customer contact centre outsourcer and works with some of the UK’s largest brands, including Sainsbury’s Supermarkets, moneysupermarket.com and JD Williams.

The afternoon will be chaired by Liz Barclay, BBC radio presenter, who will lead a lively debate on the issues facing the online retailing industry.

The seminar is free of charge and places are limited. The seminar takes place on Thursday 6th March, 2008, 1 pm – 5pm at a central London venue. Please book now to avoid disappointment by calling Kellie Cooper on 0121 410 5000 or email [email protected]

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Over 875 Million Consumers Have Shopped Online – the Number of Internet Shoppers up 40pct in Two Years

Posted by | Jan 28, 2008 | |

More than 85 percent of the world’s online population has used the Internet to make a purchase — increasing the market for online shopping by 40 percent in the past two years — according to the latest Nielsen Global Online Survey on Internet shopping habits. Globally, more than half of Internet users have made at least one purchase online in the past month, according to Nielsen.
Among Internet users, the highest percentage shopping online is found in South Korea, where 99 percent of those with Internet access have used it to shop, followed by the UK (97pct), Germany (97pct), Japan (97pct) with the U.S. eighth, at 94 percent. Additionally, in South Korea, 79 percent of these Internet users have shopped in the past month, followed by the UK (76pct) and Switzerland (67pct) with the U.S. at 57 percent.
Globally, the most popular and purchased items over the Internet are Books (41pct purchased in the past three months), Clothing/Accessories/Shoes (36pct), Videos / DVDs / Games (24pct), Airline Tickets (24pct) and Electronic Equipment (23pct).
Credit cards are by far the most common method of payment for online purchases — 60 percent of global online consumers used their credit card for a recent online purchase, while one in four online consumers chose PayPal. Of those paying with a credit card, more than half (53pct) used Visa.
According to Nielsen, online shoppers tend to stick to the shopping sites they are familiar with, with 60 percent saying they buy mostly from the same site. “This shows the importance of capturing the tens of millions of new online shoppers as they make their first purchases on the Internet. If shopping sites can capture them early, and create a positive shopping experience, they will likely capture their loyalty and their money,” said Paul.

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