Online Buying Clicks vs. Bricks

[mandy]

Part 1 of an article from AuctionBytes:

People have been getting used to buying online since the mid-1990s, and today it has become an integral part of how most folks shop. US online retail sales will grow to $328.6 billion in 2010, up from $172.4 billion in 2005, according to a Forrester research report. By 2010, predicts Forrester, there will be 55 million US online shopping households.

But there are certain types of things that people still look to those traditional offline venues to buy. And there seems to be plenty of room for improvement in the online experience: Seventy percent of consumers report satisfaction when completing transactions in stores, vs. just 26% for a Web shopping experience, according to Forrester. And that lack of satisfaction translates into weak conversion rates for online sellers: they post an average conversion rate of just 2.6%, according to Forrester.

AuctionBytes decided to investigate what makes people buy online, and what kinds of things push them away from online purchases or to abandon their virtual shopping cart. With this knowledge, online sellers can address the things that turn people off, in the hopes of turning up their sales volume...

full article: http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m10/i30/s02

[mandy]

Part 2 of the article:

In general, the Eisenbergs argue, customers are becoming more sophisticated; they can skip through TV ads with their Tivos, and their "BS meters" are finely tuned. They often research their purchases beforehand online. For example, they may gather information about a car that they want to purchase ahead of time.

But if the bad news is that sellers are pickier and savvier, there is also good news: speak to their individualized needs, and provide good customer service, and you can win them over.

There are plenty of bad customer service experiences out there: the Eisenbergs use "Lisa's" experience as an example. She's looking for a doorknocker that she saw on a web site. When she needed to get more information, in this case, the bolt measurements, she calls the company, only to be told, "I don't currently have that information available."

Sale lost.

full article: http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m11/i13/s05