Gas Prices Affect Consumer Behavior!
Forty-nine percent of US consumers are reducing their spending to compensate for rising gas prices, according to the Center for Media Research and Nielsen Research. The article reports 70% of consumers are combining shopping trips and errands, 41% are eating out less and 39% are staying home more often.
“Our research shows a jump in consumers shopping on the Internet as a way to deal with high gas prices…a wake-up call for manufacturers and retailers alike to step up their ‘direct-to-consumer’ efforts to utilize the Internet to communicate directly with consumers in 2008…”
Now more than ever consumers are looking to the Internet as a convenient, economical alternative to using fuel. What does this mean for the small to medium size business? You can earn customers and generate online sales with an e-commerce website.
Learn what questions to ask your web developer before getting started in the book, "Website 411: Business Survival in an Internet Economy" by Tom Elliott or call WebDrafter.com today for a free consulation.
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More people shopping online... check out the following article:
Sick of Gas Prices, Shoppers Head Online
APRIL 24, 2008
Web stores may also benefit when tax rebates arrive.
One-third (33%) of online US adults say they are more likely to shop online because of high gasoline prices, according to a recent iCongo-sponsored survey conducted by Harris Interactive.
More than four out of 10 respondents also said they planned to make retail purchases with their rebate, if they got one. About the same percentage of respondents in a recent National Retail Federation-sponsored study said they planned to spend their rebate.
A recent CCH study yielded more conservative results, with just 21% of respondents saying they planned to spend their rebates.
So what will get these consumers to spend their rebates online?
Respondents said that 24-hour shopping, free or discounted shipping and online-only pricing were all factors.
Reasons that US Internet Users Make Purchases Online vs. in a Store, 2008 (% of respondents)
In a data point of interest to multi-channel marketers, the iCongo survey found that 6% of US online adults would complete their purchase in-store and have the merchandise shipped to them if the merchandise were out of stock at that store.
eMarketer estimates that US retail e-commerce is growing by more than $20 billion annually, and will continue to grow by about that same amount through 2012.
Comparative Estimates: US Retail E-Commerce Sales, 2007-2012 (billions)
The eMarketer US B2C E-Commerce report will be published next month. Click here to be notified when it is released.
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