Online shoppers will no longer accept second best

Jan 29, 2009 by Dirk Singer

A sign of how online shopping has moved into the mainstream can be seen from the Allurent Holiday Online Shopping Survey in the States.

Buggy sites, difficult to understand navigation and a lack of features will leave Internet shoppers cold, with 60% of all consumers and 73% of “power shoppers” saying that their online shopping expectations had increased over the past twelve months.

Among the findings:

Variety is the spice of (online) life: Over half (57%) now consider themselves ‘sophisticated online shoppers’ and want retailers to try new and different things online

Yet at the same time, almost half (45%) say that most online retailers are by and large the same with price and availability the only real differentiators. The opportunity is therefore for websites to concentrate on the overall experience.

According to Graeme Grant, COO at Allurent:

“The survey makes clear that the majority of consumers are now very comfortable with e-commerce. The question retailers now must ask themselves is: ‘What are we doing to meet the higher expectations of these sophisticated shoppers?’

“In 2009, I think we will see that those retailers who continue to innovate on their online shopping sites are the winners, while those who do not are left behind.”