Online retailing is continuing to boom in the UK despite a gloomy economy outlook, according to new research. The consumer survey of 4,000 shoppers, conducted by retail analysts Verdict Research, indicted that the amount of money spent by consumers shopping online increased by 35% to £14.7bn last year.
The growth rate was the fastest in six years, and represented about 10 times that of the UK’s retail market as whole. The top answer for opting for the internet over the high street was ‘making better use of leisure time’. The growth in internet access and users making more regular and expensive purchases online meant the growth would continue, Verdict’s report suggested. It forecast that online retail sales would reach £44.9bn by 2012, about 13.8% of total spending. But while some of this was “cannibalisation” - people buying via their computers what they would previously have gone to shops for - physical shopping was far from doomed, the report said. “There is still a need and place for physical locations - the key is to ensure that synergies with online retailing are exploited to drive footfall to stores,” Verdict said. “While having an Internet presence is vital, giving the consumer choice by establishing strong links between the in-store and online offer is now essential.”
The development of faster broadband had made the process of shopping quicker and easier for many people, Verdict concluded, while many saw it as a way of getting cheaper prices. “The internet is widely perceived as a cheaper and easier way of finding lower prices and bargains in most sectors,” said Malcolm Pinkerton, Verdict’s senior retail analyst. “As the cost of broadband falls, consumers become accustomed to internet shopping and retailers continue to enhance their online propositions, the channel will find itself extremely well-placed to capitalise on the falling consumer confidence and lower levels of disposable income currently impacting the retail market.”
 www.wdsinternet.com/ecommerce.aspx
Online sales of clothing and footwear soared by 20% in April, while internet lingerie sales have risen 72% year-on-year, according to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.
The index found that consumers spent £326 million online on clothing and footwear in April.
Since April 2000, when the index began monitoring online sales, more than £150 billion has been spent online in the UK.
www.wdsinternet.com/ecommerce.aspx
Could eCommerce boost your company’s annual revenues by an additional 5-10%?
It is very interesting and important to compare high-street retailers with mail order companies. In the UK more than 1 in 10 books are now purchased online, that is over 10% of the actual market share.
John Lewis’ online sales now exceed total sales of it’s largest Oxford Street department store and many specialist mail order companies have expanded online revenues to exceed 25% of total turnover.
Littlewoods has ramped up its target for the proportion of business it wants to do online from 50 to 70 per cent, having achieved its original goal three years ahead of schedule.
www.wdsinternet.com/ecommerce.aspx
User friendliness
It is vital for your shop to be welcoming and user-friendly. Just as in a ‘bricks and mortar’ establishment, you should make every effort to provide an online shop that is inviting and gives your visitors a pleasant experience.
Contact details
Make sure your contact information (including phone numbers, email address and postal address) are readily available. They should either be part of every page or reached by means of a prominent link on each page.
Don’t hide the door to your shop
Make sure your design shows clearly how to enter your shop, to avoid confusion visitors. The shop entrance should not be obscured with advertisements or too much information. Home pages that are too busy may prevent the customer from locating your shop and the goods or services on offer there.
Use easy navigation
To prevent your visitors from wandering aimlessly around your shop, make sure your navigation system easily allows them to find what they came for.
Let your visitors browse freely
Be careful not to hassle customers for personal information until they are ready to buy. This is the equivalent of a pushy sales assistant and could result in customers going elsewhere.
Layout
Make your shop layout and categories meaningful for customers. Items should be divided into appropriate categories, making it as easy as possible for people to find what they are looking for. Avoid ambiguity in the categories and if necessary use text descriptions to explain what is in a category.
Search facility
A search facility should always appear prominently on the web site. A quick and easy means of ‘finding what you are looking for’ is particularly important, given that browsing through a large online shop can be a difficult and slow process. Make sure that the search facility accepts appropriate terms, including multiple words. This will make the whole searching process work well for customers.
Accessibility
Make sure your online shop can be operated by and is accessible to all customers. ‘Accessibility’ means ‘making the content accessible’, so that everyone can navigate and read what is there, regardless of their location, experience, disability, or type of technology they use. As well as being required by law, good web site accessibility will bring you many more potential customers.
Keep your products list up to date
The shop items need to be kept up to date with correct information. There is no point in advertising items that you no longer stock or that are wrongly priced. Web site users will come back if they know the content is updated regularly. But if you disappoint a customer by not providing an advertised product, you will get ‘poor press’ as the customer relays their experience to others.
The shopping cart
The shopping cart should be both easy to use and to navigate. Shop items should have clear and informative labels to describe them and to show if they are in stock. The customer likes to see what they are buying, so you should include images of items to help identify them. This is particularly important for the more expensive purchases or fashion items. The ‘add to cart’ link should be positioned next to each item listed, with the ‘view cart’ link viewable at all times.
As the customer makes their order, each step of the shopping cart process needs to be explained, from adding an item to paying. Orders should be placed and processed with as few clicks as possible, and customers should have to provide as little information as possible. There should be provision for the customer to recover easily from any mistakes.
Payment options
Be as flexible as possible and allow your customers a variety of payment methods, including:
- credit card
- debit card
- payment processor (for example, WorldPay and PayPal)
- multi-currency
- cheque with order
User testing
Use a sample group of people of different ages, backgrounds and Internet experience to find and buy a product. Use their feedback to fine-tune how your online shop works.
Customer account management options
Registered web site users can log into an account management section with their email address and password to manage the following areas:
- ‘My profile’ – allows users to keep their contact and account information such as payment method and delivery address.
- Account history – where users can view all orders made through the web site, checking each order and its details in full at any time.
- Order tracking – once an order has been placed, users can log into their account management section and view the progress of their order (for example, has it been dispatched?).
Wish lists
Wish lists drawn up by the customer of items they desire can be used as the ideal shopping list for their friends and family choosing the perfect gift.
- The wedding gift list is a good example of the wish list. The bride and groom register with your wedding gift list service online, then browse through the online shop and add whichever items they want to their wedding gift list. Once they have completed the list, they will receive a URL (web site address), username and password to give to guests, who can then go online and log into that list. The guests can view which items have been bought and which are still available to buy.
Customer details and mailing lists
You can ask customers when they register with your online shop if they would like to be added to your email mailing list. Then you can divide this into two types of email mailing lists – HTML (the language of the Internet) and text only. You can use the mailing lists to inform customers of sales, special offers and other initiatives.
Value added experience
You should promote the value of online shopping at your web site. If you can offer benefits over high street shopping, customers may be tempted to buy online. Your promotion will depend on the kind of items you sell, but useful features could include product reviews.
