Forrestor Report Highlights Importance of Cross-Channel Selling

This came to me yesterday in a Constant Contact email from Storefront.net--the company we use for our ecommerce shopping carts. I thought some of you might be interested in the information.

Forrester Research Senior Analyst Sucharita Mulpuru recently presented her latest findings on the state of e-commerce in America, entitled “Forty Facts About the US Online Shopper.”  (Contact desiree@bellawebdesign.com to obtain this report.) Not surprisingly, the report highlights the continued rapid growth of e-commerce, expected to grow around 25% again this year and reaching over $300 billion in online sales by 2011 (from $130 billion today). The report also highlights the growing importance of cross-channel shopping. Offline sales influenced by online shopping have nearly doubled in the last year. And 37% of the respondents to the survey said they wished more online stores offered the opportunity to pick up an item purchased online in-store. Other interesting items of note include: • Online conversion rates have been flat at   around 2.5% for the last few years • Active web shoppers trust consumer   generated product ratings and seller ratings • E-Mail is well received from favored retailers,   with 65% of consumers wanting to receive   notifications of sales and promotions at least   once a month • Almost half of all web shopping is done for   others • Search engines and Pay-per-click advertising   are the number one source for customer   acquisition • Customized products may be the “holy grail”   of online retailing