With the price of fuel hovering at all time highs, many people have started counting the cost of the "shopping expedition" as well as the price of merchandise.This has created the beginnings of a paradigm shift in the behavioral pattern of consumers and how they shop for goods.
Recent stories raising consumer awareness on the potential of becoming a victim to card cloning, card skimming, Wardriving, etc. etc. only adds to the momentum to forces driving consumers to shop online.
After all, online shopping literally eliminates the fuel factor, having one's own personal swiping device complete with PIN Entry capability virtually eliminates the potential for fraud and e-Commerce pricing usually beats anything found in bricks and mortar locations...and it always will. It simply costs less to provide an outlet of goods online and in the competitve landscape of such a world, those savings are passed on to consumers. In fact, according to an article published today in Red Orbit entitled: Sale of the Century Bargains are one of the biggest allures online retailers have to offer. Here's an excerpt:
"Part of the internet's popularity is down to its reputation for being the easiest place to bag a bargain. Falling broadband costs, a greater familiarity with e-shopping and increasing online offers mean it looks set to thrive, even against the backdrop of the credit crunch. In fact, online shoppers are buying more regularly than ever before: an average of 16.9 times each per year, an increase of 2.7 purchases each in 2006. This continues to force retailers of every type and size to use the format as part of the way they do business".
Thus, e-Commerce is booming worldwide, not just here in the States.
Therefore it is critical that companies begin to look at how to use the internet to drive sales. Not only should companies utilize the internet for marketing purposes, but they should look at it as a critical sales channel. The numbers speak for themselves. This is not a trend. It is truly a paradigm shift.
Consumers armed with high-speed access and positive online retail experiences are increasingly comfortable shopping online. Metrical analysis of the United States and Europe show trends of increased spending in online retail from last year, and the rate of transition from traditional to online shopping isn't showing signs of slowing down anytime soon. In fact, it's outpacing bricks and mortar, while percentages of online shoppers increase. (see "related stories" below)e-Commerce is expected to boom for the next 5 years. I say longer. I say paradigm shift.
I say that the web is retail's big bad wolf and it's gonna huff and puff and blow some houses down. Bricks...and...mortar...and... all....oh my.
Kudos to the company that houses the global patent on bringing PIN Debit to the web in a browser environment! It's the most popular and fastest growing payment platform in the bricks and mortar world and has yet to take a foothold in the online payments space. That's about to change however and online retailers will jump at the opportunity to significantly reduce their payment processing costs, risk management, chargebacks and increase the security of the transaction. It's not if, it's when. Period.Related articles by HomeATM PIN Debit Blog
