Why do People Shop Online?
Around 26% of all retail sales are now made online in the UK, and that proportion is only growing.
So what is so appealing about online shopping? Here are 5 reasons that are pushing people out of stores, and onto the internet.
Open All Hours
With an eCommerce website, your shop can be open 24/7. People can shop while they are at work, or after a night out at 3am. So you can continue doing business while you are your staff sleep.
No Geographical Limitations
People from anywhere in the world can shop on your website and have items delivered. You are no longer be limited by the small circle of people that are in traveling distance of your retail store. This is a pretty big deal for people that live outside of towns and cities so don’t have convenient access to a big high street.
Customer Convenience
It’s true that people can now easily do 100% of their shopping online. Some people work odd hours, some people just really hate shopping, some people like doing their shopping on the bus. By not making your products available online you are missing out on a whole new demographic of customers.
Stores are Easy to Find
People generally don’t like to spend a long time searching for what they want. If someone is looking for a specific product, they may search for it online with the intention of visiting the store. If they in-fact find an online store of a merchant they’ve never heard of but they can have the product delivered without even leaving their house, they probably will. The chances of this same person happening to walk by your retail store are very low.
Receive Tailored Offers Direct
An online shop can collect a large amount of information about your customers when they register on your site, such as their email and postal address, age and gender. You can correlate this information with your customers buying habits making it much easier to target marketing material and offers.