Online Shopping Reduces Hassles of the Mall
December 15, 2010
As reported on adage.com, Ad Age and Ipsos Observer recently conducted a survey studying the holiday buying habits of American consumers, and the results do not exactly bode well for physical retail stores as compared to virtual ones. The article detailed:
“Shoppers hunting for deals and convenience increasingly turned online during the Thanksgiving selling season. Coremetrics reported sales jumps of 19.4 percent on Cyber Monday, 9 percent on Black Friday and 28 percent on Thanksgiving Day when many retailers started rolling out their Black Friday deals early. These numbers far outpaced the nearly flat sales at physical store locations.”
Per the survey, daily discount websites such as Groupon provide incentive for shoppers to tarry off to the tangible storefronts in the name of getting a good deal. These sites will even hone on members specific interests based on location, demographics and input on interests. While this may seem like a silver lining for the brick-and-mortar locales, the article states that only the consumer is benefiting. “SymphonyIRI Group data show that coupons are not driving incremental sales. They are more likely to offer discounts to those already planning to buy, thereby cutting at the margins for retailers.”
Something else new to the shopping arena is the plethora of iPhone apps suited for this purpose, ranging from instant price comparison programs and barcode scanners to online coupon books, alleviating the need for printing and cutting. Easy just got even easier. So I guess with the internet, ‘the customer is king’ takes on a whole new meaning.
Sarah Rogers, December 15, 2010
Freebie
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