Online shopping is soon becoming the main avenue of shopping in the US. Early users were only the highly educated white males otherwise known as the “techies.” Times have changed and so has the customer base for online shopping. Now nearly everyone who owns a computer has made at least one online purchase.
With more and more people shopping online there had to be a way to track the trends of the online service, so the retailers are able to provide the consumer with constant improvements. That’s where b2c ecommerce comes into play. They track the latest trends of the online shopping and post this information to the retailers.
Through these b2c ecommerce reports, the retailers make their improvements in service. With these improvements and new technologies, the shopper has more tools to evaluate whatever they are shopping for prior to making a purchase.
These are only a small portion of the improvements, over the years that online retailers have made to their services. Customers can now return their merchandise if they are not satisfied and they can pick up their purchases or have them delivered. Also, customers can now feel more secure using their credit cards online thanks to newer and more secure technology.
Common Questions Answered by B2C Ecommerce
* How fast will sales grow? * Which parts of the US are showing the largest growth of ecommerce? * What do shoppers think is the greatest advantage to online shopping vs. conventional shopping? * What are the greatest risks to online shopping?
B2C commerce answers questions like these and many others to help the consumer be more confident when shopping online.
Market Size and Growth
The US Department of Commerce (DOC) estimated that the US e-commerce retail sales ending in 2003 was over $56 billion, compared to a little over $44 billion in 2002. The heaviest amount of the 2003 sales came in the 4th quarter during the holiday season. B2c e-commerce has reported that there is a lot of room for online sales growth, considering they have only accounted for 1.5% of total retail sales in ’03.
The Future
By 2007 b2c ecommerce has predicted that the total retail sales will rise to about 3% of total retail sales, and if the online leisure travel sales increase the total will rise to around 4% of all retail sales. This is a huge portion of the United States retail sales.