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When the going gets tough, the tough get going – shopping online that is!

But nowadays they are doing it from the comfort of their own homes.

No more schlepping about from store to store on the high street or in the mall. It’s easier, more economical and more eco-friendly to show some nouse and use your mouse. We’ve noticed a definite upsurge in demand for e-commerce shops within websites in recent months, and the credit crunch doesn’t seem to have dented the enthusiasm of shoppers for a spot of online retail therapy. And of course it makes sound business sense for companies that offer retail products or services to have an online shop – because the ones that aren’t online will lose increasing amounts of business to the organisations that are already out there in the always-open virtual marketplace.

Online is no longer a sales channel that can be ignored, with online sales now accounting for 17p in every pound spent, and steadily increasing. To put that figure in context, it’s equivalent to half of all supermarket sales! The good thing about having an online shop built into (or bolted into) your website is that once we have built the core capabilities for you, everything is easily scalable, so individual product (or services) and even complete lines, can be quickly and cost-effectively added. You can even have your e-commerce shop set up with an incorporated content management system that enables you to make changes, additions and deletions in-house, remotely over the internet. And of course an online shop enables you to gather customer data very efficiently, and build a long-term relationship with your customers by emailing them with regular news updates and special offers.

But why is online shopping such a good thing during a credit crunch?

It seems, according to Mike Petevinos, head of consulting for retail at Capgemini UK, that "The online channel continues to grow its share of retail spend thanks to the traditional drivers of convenience and choice but these drivers appear to be magnified by the current economic environment. Convenience has a sharper edge in a world of soaring fuel prices and the ability to research and make more informed choices in a time of heightened price sensitivity is a key advantage of the online channel". So even in a recession, customers now expect to be able to go online, not just for information about your business, but also to actually buy your products (and, in some cases, services) on the spot.

I think the overall message is that you ignore online marketing at your peril.

Further infomation about e-commerce shopping websites

If you’d like to view some typical e-commerce-enabled websites that we have created for Flare clients, try:

If you’re wondering what an e-commerce online presence could do for your business, you’ll find more information at:

Some of the information above has been taken from an article published online by Internet Retailing Magazine’s web editor, Sarah Clarke.
You can read the full article at:

www.internetretailing.net/news/online-reaches-17-of-retail-sales-nears-tipping-point

Published on the 14th January 2009

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