e-Commerce websites make Christmas shopping easy
What type of Christmas shopper are you?
Are you one of those organised types who plans all their gifts meticulously, shops well in advance, and has all their presents wrapped and under the tree as soon as December comes around? Or, are you like most of us – and leave your shopping to the last minute, and then spend up big in a flurry of indecision and excited panic?
Fortunately, the internet has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for us last minute shoppers. And so this year, the team at Big Click have decided to practice what we preach – and do the majority of our shopping online.
Here are some of the great benefits we uncovered:
No crowds! One of the most frustrating things about hitting the shops is always the queues. First, there’s the parking, then there are the crowds milling about the merchandise, and again at the checkouts. Shopping online means you avoid all of this. No screaming children, dawdling consumers, or cranky shop assistants. Simply search, select and transact. Done.
Shop intermittently. Online shopping means you don’t need to dedicate hours to trawling through shopping centres – which is great for the frantic lead up to the holiday season. Instead, you can pop onto a website in your lunchbreak, or mid-afternoon, and browse and buy as it suits you.
Discounts. Perhaps the biggest benefit of shopping online is the fact that it can save you an enormous amount of money – as long as you shop around and are discerning about what you buy, and who from. Lots of businesses provide online discounts for customers – as they’re saving on retail and staff expenses. Also, the current strength of the Aussie dollar against the U.S. dollar opens up a whole range of cheap overseas purchasing possibilities.
Delivered to you. We’ve all exhausted ourselves carrying bags of shopping around shopping centres, and back to the car (no doubt parked streets away at this time of year). However, when you shop online, your packages get delivered to your home or work address – all neatly and conveniently packaged. Easy!
Secure. These days, shopping online is incredibly secure and easy thanks to technologies like PayPal, a third party security system which takes care of the financial transaction on your behalf. And if you buy from reputable suppliers, you shouldn’t encounter any problems.
Unique. This is one of the things about online shopping that we liked the most. There are some fantastic (not to mention bizarre!) gifts out there in cyberspace that you can only discover online.
Research. When you shop online, it’s also incredibly easy to shop around, compare goods, and get yourself the best price possible. You can even get online prices and then present them to actual retailers to encourage them to match their prices in the interests of getting a sale.
So, could your business benefit by selling online?
If your business sells products direct to consumers, an e-Commerce facility can certainly help you convert more sales – particularly in the lead-up to Christmas.
When it comes to sales, your website is available 24/7 – unlike your shopfront. This means that if a customer has a question about something, they can go straight to your website any time of the day or night – without calling you or your customer service teams.
However there is somewhat of an art to ensuring your website is an effective sales channel. You need a quality and well-tested navigation structure, slick web design and branding, and an appropriate content management solution. You need to ensure that these elements are carefully balanced with your business objectives – and that you’re not investing in wasted functionality or features that you won’t use.
While it may be too late to create a Christmas store for your business this year, it’s certainly not too early to start planning for 2011.
If you’re interested in what e-Commerce could do for your business, why not give us a call? We’d love to chat!
