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

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