Ecommerce is big business across the globe, with a higher percentage of consumers making online purchases than ever before. To help boost sales, online retailers have had to improve their payment systems. Checkout processes have become smoother, more secure, and easier than ever as a result. Looking forward into the future of ecommerce, consumers can expect an even wider range of payment options. Point of sale software will be accompanied by an increase in mobile commerce capabilities, and an ever-widening channel of payment gateways to help boost sales.
Trends in Mobile Commerce
One of the biggest trends at the moment is mobile commerce. As more and more consumers make purchases using their smartphones and tablets, payment technology has improved for these devices. Mobile payments allow consumers to make impulse buys when they’re out and about, and are often tied in with special discount offers. One example of this is the use of quick response codes, which allow a customer to scan barcodes in a retail location using their phone and then be directed to a voucher or discount. This is a way for retailers to help bridge the gap between a traditional shopping experience and the convenience of online shopping. Retailers are also optimizing their ecommerce websites for use on tablet screens.
Near Field Communications
New models of smartphones are equipped with near field communication, which allows them to exchange information over a wireless network with retailers. This will help change the way that consumers can shop, by enabling payments with a simple swipe of the mobile phone. The PayPass system is a new collaboration between corporate giants Intel and MasterCard. Although still in development, it will eventually allow consumers to make an online purchase by tapping their phone to the computer. This could not only streamline payment systems, but also provide an added layer of security to the transaction because credit card details wouldn’t need to be shared. Read more
New research has suggested that a colossal 220 million people are now buying things online in China.
With the country fast growing into an economic powerhouse, this comes as little surprise – with eMarketer’s research showing the enormous figure dwarfed the 150 million online buyers in America.
According to their research paper “China Ecommerce: A Developing Marker Begins to Boom”, by 2016 423.4 million Chinese people over the age of 14 will be using the internet to do shopping online at least once a year.
This growth is also expected to be reflected in the business to consumer ecommerce sales the country makes, with a rise to almost $107.5 billion expected this year.
This is a huge amount which is 94.1% higher than recorded last year, and one that could see the Chinese ecommerce market rapidly overtake the Japanese market and even possibly dislodge the UK as number two in the world by 2013. However experts predict this spurt of growth will slow down by 2016 to around 22.8%.
At present China is currently ranked fourth globally in regards to ecommerce sales. Read more
The National Retail Foundation (NRF) forecasted an increase of 4.1 percent in holiday sales, to $586.1 billion. It’s a small increase from 2011 and works out to the average holiday shopper spending $749.51 this season.
“Weve seen this pattern of cautious optimism all year and despite the challenges that still exist in our economy, it looks as if consumers are eager to celebrate with friends and family, said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.
With this in mind, the NRF breaks down the potential spending like this. They see $421.82 being spent on children and other family members. Friends might see $75.13 of that spending. Beloved pets and community members, $28.13, while co-workers rate $23.48 in gift spending.
It’s better to be Fido rather than Dwight, apparently. It’s also good to be the giver, as NRF found nearly six in ten shoppers plan to drop $139.92 on themselves this holiday season.
We have mentioned in earlier stories about the rise in smartphones gaining prominence in shopping habits. Ecommerce professionals take note: NRF says more than half of smartphone owners, and nearly two-thirds of tablet toting consumers, will use their gadgets to research and make holiday purchases.
If you can offer those shoppers gift cards of some type, you will be right where many want to be as gift recipients. NRF said six in ten of those surveyed would like a gift card as a present. They prefer these even more than the expected wishes for electronics, clothing, or jewelry.
This post originally appeared on ‘Ecommerce Bytes‘
Online shoppers in the U.S. will spend $54.47 billion this holiday season – nearly a 17% increase over the $46.63 billion spent last year, according to the 2012 Mindset of a Multi-channel Shopper survey released Wednesday.
Ecommerce software and solutions provider MarketLive commissioned the e-tailing Group to conduct the survey. A total of 1,136 consumers completed an online questionnaire last month consisting of 50% males, 50% females; and 61% of survey respondents shop at least several times per month.
Lauren Freedman, president of consultancy the e-tailing Group, said the online sales projection for the holiday season (from eMarketer) marks the fourth consecutive year that online holiday sales (defined as sales in November and December) will post annual growth in the mid-to-high teens, after sinking 8.2% during the recession in 2008. Read more
It looks like another bright holiday season is on the horizon for ecommerce. Shop.org said today that it expects online sales to grow 12% over last holiday season to as much as $96 billion.
“Online retail has been a bright spot for years and we don’t expect that trend to change anytime soon, especially with the growth in mobile,” National Retail Federation president and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. “Aside from the convenience, shoppers look to the holiday season to take advantage of retailers’ increased digital offerings.”
In addition to enhancing the site experience, retailers have spent the year investing in optimizing their mobile and social platforms, just what holiday shoppers are looking for.” Read more
In the future, the number of contracts between buyers and sellers concluded on Facebook will increase. In the near future, sales through Facebook are even predicted to surpass those through Amazon.
This is according to Nerushka Deosaran, associate at Norton Rose SA, an international law firm.
Speaking at ITWeb’s Social Media Summit, Deosaran said social media is changing the commercial landscape. She also predicted that social commerce will be the next trend to follow e-commerce.
According to Deosaran, social commerce is the conducting of business over social media networks. This includes using social networks to trade, for advertising and marketing, to offer promotions and competitions, as well as accumulating likes and followers on Facebook and Twitter, respectively. Read more
According to a new study byMonetate, tablets may just be the future of e-commerce, more so than mobile or PCs, says Blair Lyon, VP of marketing at Monetate. The study, which was released June 29, appeared in Monatate’s Q1 E-commerce Quarterly report.
The study found that during Q1 2011, just 1.66% of all website visits came from tablets. During Q2, that percentage rose to 6.52%. The prominence of PCs as the conduit for for e-commerce transactions and website visits is on a steady decline, Lyon says. The conversion rate on PCs is about 3.51% of all visits. On a mobile device that drops to 1.39%, but on tablets the rate is about the same as PCs at 3.23%, according to the study.
“PCs have a long life to live, but I think you’re going to see dramatic changes on the overall conversion rate on that device,” he says. “I don’t necessarily I think it will be the death of the PC, but it will decline.”
Part of the reason why tablets have grown in popularity, and mobile phones haven’t at the same rate, is because of the user interface, he says. “There’s a larger screen size, a better interaction experience [on tablets],” he says. “A lot of e-commerce companies haven’t figured out their mobile strategies.” Read more
A report from A.T. Kearney suggests that ecommerce vendors are seeing increased interest from consumers with the web becoming an avenue for Americans to ensure they are buying the best products for their needs at an ideal price.
According to the research, features that help save people money are best suited to drive sales. However, there are other elements of a site and different marketing efforts ecommerce vendors can use to help drive traffic and interest in their products and services. Ninety-six percent of consumers said being able to find specific products on a site was essential to the buying process, while 88 percent pointed to simple navigation as “an important attribute” in online shopping.
This suggests that marketers and web developers should regularly monitor their site and see which links, content and other features visitors are clicking on most frequently. Pages with high bounce rates may suggest poor navigation that frustrates consumers and drives them to other sites. Read more
The huge strides made in the UK’s online shopping industry are set to be highlighted at a business legacy event help to mark the Summer Games.
According to e-commerce trade association IMRG, the UK’s market is only second to the US in terms of value, as its set to grow by 13 per cent in 2012 to hit £77 billion.
IMRG managing director John Andrews said that British retailers export more than the rest of Europe’s e-commerce sellers put together.
“It is a huge business – last year our research found there were 228,000 UK online retail businesses now, an estimated 30 per cent more than the year before,” he said.
The UK’s e-rail dominance is set to be a key topic for discussion at an event to be held over the summer by the British Business Embassy. Read more
The Echo System, the return on social company, today announced the release of an exciting new social data initiative, the Echo Rank index, which measures how top ecommerce companies perform in terms of user engagement, social integration and website performance. The Echo Rank scores Internet Retailer’s Top 500 companies, identifying the businesses that perform best across all three categories and providing valuable insight into what it takes to drive a robust return on social media investment.
Neuhauser will speak at the upcoming Internet Retailer Conference & Expo, which is being held at Chicago’s McCormick Center from June 5-8, 2012. The company is sponsoring this year’s Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide giveaway, which will include the Echo Rank’s top 100 rankings. The inaugural Echo Rank contains some surprising results, including a stellar performance for Office Depot, which ranks at #28, far above leading competitors OfficeMax and Staples, which are both ranked in the 300s. Read more
Ecommerce is big business across the globe, with a higher percentage of consumers making online purchases than ever before. To help boost sales, online retailers have had to improve their payment systems. Checkout processes have become smoother, more secure, and easier than ever as a result. Looking forward into the future of ecommerce, consumers can expect an even wider range of payment options. Point of sale software will be accompanied by an increase in mobile commerce capabilities, and an ever-widening channel of payment gateways to help boost sales.
