In the early days of online shopping, the big retail chains were slow to invest in an e-commerce channel because they thought it would cannibalize their store sales. Eventually they realized the Internet was not a threat, but an opportunity. Now retail chains account for a sizable share of total online sales.

Multichannel retailers (with retail chains or catalog/call centers) accounted for 56% of the Web sales generated by the Internet Retailer Top 500 Websites, and the magazine estimated that the sales of the 500 largest Websites represented 74% of total sales by online retailers in 2008.

Retailers covet multichannel shoppers because they spend more than single-channel shoppers.

Today, many retailers conduct business in multiple channels—brick-and-mortar stores, Websites, catalogs and call centers—but few are adept at coordinating these channels.

The Multichannel Retailing enables retailers to offer a superior shopping experience and gain more loyal customers—and more profit.

Original contents from DelphineZhu.com - real estate marketing, social media marketing, mobile marketing, app marketing, SEO and more

A forecast of online e-commerce sales in US for this year and 3 years after revealed couple of days ago. I believe this forecast should be applied for North America economy including Canada. In the report:

US retail e-commerce sales (excluding travel) will total $132 billion in 2009, down 0.4% from 2008. Assuming the recession ends this year, as many economists predict, eMarketer forecasts online sales will begin to rebound in 2010 and hit full stride in 2011.

US business forecast

The Retail E-Commerce Forecast report tracks the trends that will influence online sales in the near and far future.

Web research has become a priority for value shoppers in today’s recession. Currently 86% of Internet users are online shoppers—they browse, research and compare products on the Internet, but do not necessarily buy online. As a result, though often ignored, store sales influenced by online research are three times higher than e-commerce sales.

Even so, many consumers opt to buy online for convenience, price and broad product selection. Over 80% of online shoppers are also online buyers.

Even after a decade, some online consumers still refrain from buying online due to security and privacy concerns or the inability to touch and feel products. But Web retailers are adding new content and features to overcome these hurdles.

What would you think if you have an offline business, i.e. a real estate agent, an insurance broker, a dentist, a plumber, etc. whose businesses are relying on local newspaper ads, yellow page ads, flyers, or radio and TV ads sometimes?

How would you justify the online business trends today and future? Even though some of  you may have set up a website and trying to push your business online, did you really get new customers through your website?

Get an online marketing package tailored for your local business today!

Original contents from DelphineZhu.com - real estate marketing, social media marketing, mobile marketing, app marketing, SEO and more