Abstract of the report: "Amid a global financial crisis, US online retail (excluding auto, travel, and prescription drugs) managed to grow 11% in 2009 to reach $155.2 billion. With a 10% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), US online retail sales are forecast to reach $248.7 billion by 2014. In this report, we also examine the outlook for three of the top product categories: computer hardware, software, and peripherals; apparel, accessories, and footwear; and consumer electronics. Growth in online retail sales will also continue to outpace growth in offline retail sales, as low prices, convenience, and selection drive more shoppers to the Web."
It's no surprise to hear that shoppers are increasingly turning to the web during all phases of the 'shopping process' (which we define as research - consideration - comparison - purchase), but Forrester sees the internet as wielding enormous influence on consumers' shopping behavior, stating that 42 percent of all 2009 retail purchases, (approx. $917 billion), were influenced by the web in some way.
Meanwhile, in his article about the report for the WSJ, Geoff Fowler excerpts a quote from Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru that points to a pain point for retailers as the phone becomes an increasingly important point of entry to retailers' website:
In the future, the lines between online and offline commerce are going to get even more blurry. “If somebody buys from a mobile device in your store, is that a Web sale or a store sale?” asks Mulpuru. Retailers “need to think of some new ways that they can take into account the Web’s influence,” she says.
It's true, cross-channel transactions are a headache for retailers to implement. But they know that shoppers highly value these convenience features and have smartly added a range of web-to-store services to court their business — such as in-store pick up and cross-channel returns. Aside from accurately determining cross-channel sales attribution, another even more challenging issue for multi-channel retailers is how to link the mobile store shopper to the point of sale.
We think that location-based technologies will soon allow retailers to capture in-store shoppers at the point of sale from their mobile phone. The next level of innovation will surely come from the connections made in-store, as retailers engage with the 'smartphone-equipped' shopper who may still be in the consideration-comparison phase of shopping — even price-checking nearby stores before loading that item into the shopping cart.
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