Retailers Using Offline, Online Means to Woo Shoppers

eMarketer: US. Large retailers today are increasingly using multiple sales channels to keep their customers satisfied – in their towns, on the Web, everywhere.

Today, to compete anywhere, you have to be everywhere. Wal-Mart and Target have joined Amazon and eBay as the most heavily trafficked e-commerce Web sites, and chain retailers account for about 40% of online sales, compared to just over 25% for pure-play Internet retailers. Sophisticated online shoppers, many of whom are also the biggest spenders, expect their favorite retailers to offer a satisfying cross-channel shopping experience, whether it is to browse print catalogs before buying from e-catalogs, order goods online followed by in-store pickup or research online prior to making store purchases.

During the past holiday season, seven of the ten-most visited retail Web sites belonged to dominant brick-and-mortar retailers, and the key to commercial success is becoming increasingly dependent on how well retailers manage their multiple sales channels.

Traditional retailers are going online in droves in response to the shift in consumer spending from stores to the Internet. Internet sales represented 0.9% of total retail sales in 2000, according to the US Department of Commerce. eMarketer predicts that percentage will rise to 3.4% by 2008.

Cross-channel behaviors that drive traffic from a retailer's Web site to its store can potentially lead to up-sell and cross-sell opportunities. Recent research from the e-tailing group found that 40% of customers who pick-up online purchases at a store make additional purchases.

Multi-Channel Shopping report Publ 20060202