Marketing Information: Who’s Shopping Online?

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Who’s Shopping Online?

Two recently released studies expose the good, the bad and the ugly of eCommerce. The good news is that online retail sales for last year increased four fold over 1998 to $16.2 billion. BizRate.com forecasts growth this year to $40 billion.

Who is doing the buying? One of the more interesting trends is that women now make up the majority of internet shoppers, placing 58% of all new orders, according to the BizRate.com report. Weekdays are the most popular time for e-tailing, perhaps because people like to venture into the real world on the weekend. Also, most of us now use computers at work with internet access and will make purchases during "lunch."

Another interesting stat to emerge is that 47% of sales came from web referrals, far eclipsing the 19% that came from print referrals. This certainly indicates the importance of online advertising and affiliate programs to drive traffic.

A survey by the Boston Consulting Group found that over half of all internet users have made purchases online. They typically had ten transactions, spending $460 over the last twelve months. The bad news is that when consumers were asked what motivated them to go online, 80% said communication, 2% said shopping. Email was by far the most popular activity, followed by gathering information.

Now for the ugly. 28% of online purchases were never completed. 80% of online shoppers have had problems, including technical difficulties, inability to locate products and delivery snafus. Overall, consumers find the online shopping experience frustrating. Not surprisingly, dissatisfied consumers spend about 70% less than those who had a satisfying experience. The report concludes that e-shoppers are an unforgiving group: 23% of customers that had a failed purchase stopped patronizing the site; 6% stopped shopping at its retail store as well.

Could there be a more compelling reason to get it right before you launch? From my own experience, I have to agree with the findings of these studies. With so many choices, if a site is poorly organized or slow to respond--click!--I'm on to another site. Rarely have I gone back to try again. The Web is supposed to save us time, not eat it up. If you’re in the practice of eating time, say goodbye to your customers.

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