Online Retailers to Offer Special Perks for Holiday Shoppers
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10.11.08, 10:06
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Retail
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According to the 2008 eHoliday Study, conducted by Shopzilla for Shop.org, despite the economic slowdown more than half of the online retailers expect upcoming holiday sales to increase at least 15% in comparison to last year. Nevertheless, the rate of expected growth is lower – last year 77.5% of the surveyed retailers said they expected their sales to grow by more than 15%.
Shop.org Executive Director Scott Silverman stated: "Online retailers are resilient, but not immune to the challenges of this holiday season. Retailers will be heavily promotional to attract shoppers on a budget, but have also invested in new site features to improve the online buying experience."
Promotions will include free shipping offers. 78% of the retailers said that at some point during the holiday season they plan to offer free shipping with conditions, such as that the customer must purchase a certain item or a certain dollar amount of merchandise before receiving the promotion.
Regarding Internet use, 58.6% of consumers surveyed said that convenience is one of the main reasons they choose to make purchases online. Other reasons for shopping online rather than visiting a brick-and-mortar store include wanting to avoid the crowds (41.1%), easy price comparisons (36.4%) and free shipping (33.3%). One fourth of the shoppers stated that they are spending more online due to high gas prices.
The study also indicated that consumers who plan to spend less money online this year are doing so in reaction to their economic circumstances, not to previous online experiences. One in five shoppers said they have less to spend this year for the holidays, and 10.6% mentioned the poor economy as a factor.
42.9% of the surveyed retailers noted that they have added improved site search to their websites. Other new features include product video, customer reviews, featured-sale pages and clearance-sale pages. Almost 25% of the retailers stated that they added a Facebook page this year.
Helen Malani, Shopzilla's online shopping expert, stated: "As budget-focused consumers begin holiday shopping, many are starting on the Internet to look for gift ideas and research products. Whether they make those holiday purchases online or in stores, the Internet will have a tremendous influence on holiday sales this year.”
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By: Rachel Lieberman, Israel Diamond Industry Portal
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