Online retailers Vs. Brick-and-Mortar retailers
Online retailers are coming up with creative way to pull in customers while regular retailers are worried what the final few weeks before Christmas will bring them. Online sales have been tipped to increase by 20% this Christmas to a total of $39 billion, as per JupiterResearch, a New York based research firm. Online retailers are likely to come through the season rather well, and the tough economic conditions will not affect them as must as they will affect brick-and-mortar stores.
Online shopping has definitely cut down on the number of people going out to shop this year, a trend that was noticed even on Black Friday weekend. Many consumers are holding out till they see steep sales signs in store windows. Online retailers are ready for the rush of customers and have lots of creative ways to keep them happy, by adding features to their sites such as product reviews by other consumers, clearance sale pages and featured sale pages, all options that make it easier to make a decision.
According to a survey by Shop.org/Shopzilla, an estimated 72.5% of online retailers will let customers buy gift cards from their sites, and an estimated 76.6% will allow customers to redeem them on their site. Total sales from gift cards are estimated to touch $26.3 billion this year, with close to one-third of shoppers polled expected to buy at least one gift card this year.