By Paul Potter
Faculty Member, Retail Management at American Public University
Shopping can be a tiring experience. You walk around a store collecting items and then you have to wait in line to pay. Not only can this be tiring, it can be inconvenient. Convenience is a luxury that has been sought after for years. With the explosion of online shopping in the past few years, it has become easier and easier to purchase items from the comfort of your own home.
This holiday season, I, like many other consumers, did the majority of my shopping online. I was attracted by the offers for free shipping. Additionally, I did not have to wade through the crowds trying to grab the last one of the item I was looking for. I found the convenience I was looking for as well as some other benefits.
Depending on the retailer, online shoppers can receive any of the following perks:
- Free shipping
- Free next day shipping
- Free delivery to the store for pick-up, sometimes the same day as the order
- Same day delivery
I was amazed at the lengths retailers would go to in an effort to get my online business. If free shipping to my home was not offered, I found the option of ship to store to be beneficial. This approach has benefits to the retailer as well. Since products are being shipped to the store, there is minimal additional cost. It brings the consumer into the store with the potential of purchasing additional items.
After doing a little research, I can see why a business would be so anxious to reel-in convenience-seeking customers. According to statista.com, online shopping hit $256 billion in sales for 2011. Amazon, the largest player in online retail, hit $48 billion in sales. Amazon’s growth rate has more than tripled since 2007. I have not heard of any traditional brick-and-mortar stores growing at this pace.
To remain competitive, a retailer has to be able to compete in the online industry. With online shopping, there is the opportunity to reach millions of people a day. In the third quarter of 2012, Amazon averaged over 104 million website visits a month. The next closest brick-and-mortar stores with an online presence were Walmart and Target with 43 million and 25 million online visits a month respectively.
As more and more shoppers use the technology available to them with smartphones and tablets and retailers strive to gain online business, soon there will not be anything you cannot just click and collect!
About the Author:
Paul Potter is full-time faculty member in the Retail Management program. He holds an MBA with a human resources concentration. He has spent the last 17 years in retail, holding a variety of positions including store manager, food operations specialist, and regional compliance manager with Dicks Sporting Goods, Target, and currently Walmart.
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