Online Shopping Trends That You Need to Know

Ecommerce growth in the U.S. overall is still strong, despite rough economic times and poor sales for many brick and mortar retailers. This year we witnessed ecommerce sites starting their marketing efforts well in advance of their typical format to help increase sales. Large online retailers started competing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales days before the actual dates by posting their top deals and even starting to offer the sale prices early. After Christmas sales were also started days before the holiday was over as online retailers are looking to sell as much product before the year closes out. Many online shops also improved their shopping cart process to help advance the user experience and conversion rates. The early data is reporting that this was successful for big online retail sites like Amazon.com and Walmart.com, so it is likely that many small online shops will close out 2009 with a profit as well. Coupon Sherpa recently released their 30 Top Online Shopping Trends of which we wanted to highlight our favorite trends of the list that ecommerce site owners should know.

1) Moms are the fastest growing demographic that are shopping online and overall 63% of online shoppers are women. So if your ecommerce site is skewed towards a female demographic, then you should make sure to cater to them in site design and how you promote your products.

2) In the US, online shoppers spent over $115 billion in 2008 and this figure is expected to rise when data for 2009 information is released. This demand gives online store owners confidence in their space and long term stability.

3) Books are still the most popular item that people like to purchase online. This is not surprising as Amazon.com was also cited as the most popular shopping site that is a default for many. When people think about ordering books online, they almost always turn toward Amazon.

4) First popular in Europe, invitation only shopping sites that typically cater towards luxury goods, are becoming increasingly popular with online shoppers. Many are geared towards a female demographic which makes sense since they do more of the online shopping.

5) Website security is still paramount in a user feeling comfortable about their online shopping experience. This is why many abandon their shopping carts along the way as they do not feel safe about shopping on a certain ecommerce site.

-Zippy Cart

Holiday Shopping Up 4% to Date after Record-Breaking Week

Holiday retail ecommerce spending for the first 43 days of the November – December 2009 holiday season was up 4% compared to the corresponding days last year, according to ComScore, reaching nearly $21 billion spent online. The week ending December 13 reached $4.74 billion in spending, making it the heaviest online spending week on record. The previous high of $4.70 billion occurred during the week ending December 16, 2007. According to the research firm, eBay and PayPal suggested in 2007 that online spending actually peaks on the second Monday in December, and dubbed this event “Green Monday.” ComScore said this year, Green Monday (which fell on December 14) was likely to be the heaviest online spending day of the year and perhaps of all-time. The company will release this year’s Green Monday total later in the week.

According to the research firm, eBay and PayPal suggested in 2007 that online spending actually peaks on the second Monday in December, and dubbed this event “Green Monday.” ComScore said this year, Green Monday (which fell on December 14) was likely to be the heaviest online spending day of the year and perhaps of all-time. The company will release this year’s Green Monday total later in the week.

-Auction Bytes

Three Simple Steps to Social Media Success

This blog entry has been floating around my head for several weeks. During the SMB Nation conference back in October, I listened to dozens of VARs and managed service providers try to prioritize their social media efforts across Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn and other networks. The more I heard the more I realized MSPs and VARs were focusing on the wrong web problem. Here’s why.

Imagine the following scenario: You’ve got a limited budget for your home. Instead of building a beautiful, engaging home you spend all of your time building roads and driveways that lead to a run-down house that’s the worst piece of real estate in the neighborhood.

Now apply that scenario to VARs and MSPs:

• Internet Roads: FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter are roads on the Internet. Those roads should drive traffic and readership back to your Internet home.
• Internet Home: Your Web site is your most important point of presence on the Internet. It’s the home you want everyone to visit.

My key point: A lot of MSPs and VARs have their priorities backwards. They’re building Internet roads before they’ve built or updated their Internet homes. Before you spend a minute on social media sites, call a time out and determine if your company’s own web site is well-designed, informative, fast-loading and meeting visitors’ needs.

Think of it this way:

• Step 1: Get your web site built (or re-built) and running smoothly. Forget everything else (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) until your web site is stellar. Ask your developer 50 times how they plan to search engine optimize the site, and demand examples of sites they’ve developed that are at or near the top of Google search rankings.
• Step 2: Potentially launch a blog (using WordPress, Google or other tools) to promote your press releases, company news and industry observations. Speak with your web site developer to see if you can integrate the blog into your web site. Blogs are greatly search-engine optimized.
• Step 3: Once your web site and/or your blog are in great shape you’re now ready to proceed to a FaceBook, Twitter and LinkedIn social media efforts. Now, speak with your site developer again and ask how your blog entry headlines can automatically flow across FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Fact is you and your employees don’t have time to continually update your “status” across those social media sites. So automate the process.

Got more questions? I’m happy to answer them. But don’t get caught up in the social media hype until you have a simple, well-designed, informative web site that customers can easily find.

Article by: MSP Mentor