Forrester says Search for Value Driving Shoppers Online
Even as consumer confidence hovers around all-time lows and most consumer companies struggle to even match last year’s revenue, shoppers are nonetheless turning to the Web and driving growth in the online channel, according to Forrester Research.
“Despite the fact that consumers are in the midst of unprecedented belt-tightening, online retail is one of the only types of retail outlets poised to fare reasonably well during the economic crisis. Aside from an abominable offline holiday shopping season in Q4 2008 that many retailers conceded was their worst ever, a Forrester survey with Shop.org (conducted at the same time) showed that 53 of 85 online retailers that responded actually had increased sales, with average growth being 9.8%.
Furthermore, Web retailers only trailed mass merchants and warehouse clubs in the percentage of consumers who planned to increase their spend in the coming 12 months.
“While consumers had previously shopped online because it offered convenience and selection, more consumers now are shopping online for value, while being seduced by the price transparency and the ability to comprehensively research products online. In 2008, 48% of consumers agreed with the statement: “I can usually find the best values/deals online,” compared with 41% who agreed with the same statement in 2007.”
Forrester’s full analysis and recommendations for online retailers can be found here.
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