The World At Our Feet

We literally have the world at our feet.  Gone are the days when we slaved over trying to get accurate information to make the right decisions.  Do you remember the long drives from one store to the other to look for that very thing that you want, comparing prices, squinting to read information and barely able to make out the lettering because of the small typo?

I bet that more than three-quarters of internet users, if not all, go online to research a product or service, while comfortably seated in their house, office, or anywhere with access to the world wide web.  I also bet that every internet user has used the information they gathered to actually purchase something? I mean why wouldn’t anyone do that? We have been given the opportunity to become more efficient in our buying process in terms of availability of information, the minimal time and cost associated to getting information, AND making purchases (my husband certainly appreciates it!!).

Research supported by the University of California’s Center for Research on Information Technology in Organizations (CRITO) noted that one of the major attributes to consumers preferring to shop online is because of the availability of high quality shopping experience, and abundance of product information.  And companies are getting it, strategically creating corporate website that give its customers the freedom where they feel more connected to the brand without any intermediary customer experience. As almost 90% of our internet use is for purchase of products or services online, local and global markets have become more accessible and skies are the limit within any market.

With new ideas and models emerging on how to attract consumers, e-commerce through brand websites has become an integral part of business financial returns.  Consumers are conducting billions of dollars worth of transactions online.  This has accounted for the changes in consumer attributes and purchasing trends.  Setting up an e-commerce website seems to be a natural step towards increase in sales revenue.

http://crito.uci.edu/papers/2002/CrossCountryComparisonTIS.pdf

http://crito.uci.edu/papers/2002/USsnapshot.pdf

http://crito.uci.edu/papers/2002/IndustrySectorSnapshot.pdf