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$4.00+ Per Gallon . . . Online Shopping to the Rescue!
In an article released by eMarketer today titled ‘Sick of Gas Prices, Shoppers Head Online’, it was revealed that the current dramatic increase in domestic retail gas prices is having a tremendous impact upon the decision of shoppers across the nation to forgo costly trips to their local mall, and choose to make convenient purchases via the Internet.
The report, conducted by Harris Interactive, discovered that a one-third of online US adults claim that, because of today’s exorbitantly high gasoline prices, they are now more likely to shop online instead of driving to a company’s brick and mortar store.
In addition to the substantial savings on gas, the report also found the ability to shop online at anytime during the day, free or reduced shipping, and online-only prices impact shoppers’ decisions to make purchases at home.
Here is a breakdown of these decision factors:
So, while the recent inflation in retail gas prices is negatively impacting real-world outlets, online shopping is benefiting tremendously. As reported in the eMarketer article, estimates are for domestic retail e-commerce to continue increasing by more than $20 billion each year through 2012.
Given that more than 65% of online shoppers originate through search engines, according to a March 2007 Forrester Report, it has become evidently clear that, in order to thrive in today’s challenging marketplace, commercial entities must devote a substantial portion of their overall marketing budget to professional search engine marketing. They can’t afford to not have their products and services be found by the increasing number of shoppers choosing to make purchases online, rather than at their physical stores.
$4.00+ Per Gallon . . . Online Shopping to the Rescue! | Online Secure Shopping 05.15.2008 at 10:10 pm
[...] Sean McMahon added an interesting post on $4.00+ Per Gallon . . . Online Shopping to the Rescue!Here’s a small excerptSo, while the recent inflation in retail gas prices is negatively impacting real-world outlets, online shopping is benefiting tremendously. As reported in the eMarketer article, estimates are for domestic retail e-commerce to continue … [...]