There is a very big trend shift in the conventional business practices. There are now businesses are coming on the internet or online to perform or sell their products. Despite the increase in use and popularity of the Internet over the last few years, the question of why consumers prefer to shop on the Internet for certain products and not for others still remains poorly understood.
Consumers' preference for shopping on the Internet has not been abundant. Until just a few years ago, the Internet had been relatively new to consumers as a shopping medium, and is still in a growth phase. Lack of familiarity with its use and the risk perceived by consumers in revealing personal information as a part of online purchasing has created uncertainty and wariness about untried e-tailers. In addition, the appeal and adoption of online shopping have been hindered by inferior Internet retail site design and functions. Finally, historical trends have not had sufficient time to accumulate to predict consumer shopping behavior.
The early years of online shopping has been replaced by more realistic and cautious projections of e-commerce sales. While use of the Internet for the purposes of shopping, information search, communication, interaction, and entertainment has continued to increase, the actual figures for e-commerce sales have not increased as rapidly as expected. As online retail sales continue to increase at a slower pace than expected, academicians and practitioners alike are searching for the product categories that consumers will shop for on the Internet. Consumers' preferences for shopping on the Internet may depend on the product type, which will in turn influence the need to obtain product information easily and cost-effectively, or to test or try products before purchasing. In addition, consumers' willingness to purchase on the Internet may vary depending on the attributes that Internet retailers offer for online-shopping (i.e., information and order services, privacy, quality of products, site quality, etc.).
In the brick-and-mortar retailing and catalog shopping literature, the published research indicates that the importance of store/mail-order attributes varies by product category. There is a discrepancy between e-tailers and customers regarding why customers visit a site. Retailers were reported to believe that factors such as convenience, reputation/trust, and customer service were most important, while customers were reported to list merchandise assortment and competitive prices as the factors that mattered most to them. The reason for the discrepancy is perhaps that the type of product purchased is influential in determining which attributes are more important in choosing a retailer to patronize.
It may also help Internet retailers understand which Internet retailer attributes are important to consumers for specific product types so that they can communicate to them with proper messages and convey the appropriate product-related information on their Web sites and in their advertising.
Consumers' preference for shopping on the Internet has not been abundant. Until just a few years ago, the Internet had been relatively new to consumers as a shopping medium, and is still in a growth phase. Lack of familiarity with its use and the risk perceived by consumers in revealing personal information as a part of online purchasing has created uncertainty and wariness about untried e-tailers. In addition, the appeal and adoption of online shopping have been hindered by inferior Internet retail site design and functions. Finally, historical trends have not had sufficient time to accumulate to predict consumer shopping behavior.
The early years of online shopping has been replaced by more realistic and cautious projections of e-commerce sales. While use of the Internet for the purposes of shopping, information search, communication, interaction, and entertainment has continued to increase, the actual figures for e-commerce sales have not increased as rapidly as expected. As online retail sales continue to increase at a slower pace than expected, academicians and practitioners alike are searching for the product categories that consumers will shop for on the Internet. Consumers' preferences for shopping on the Internet may depend on the product type, which will in turn influence the need to obtain product information easily and cost-effectively, or to test or try products before purchasing. In addition, consumers' willingness to purchase on the Internet may vary depending on the attributes that Internet retailers offer for online-shopping (i.e., information and order services, privacy, quality of products, site quality, etc.).
In the brick-and-mortar retailing and catalog shopping literature, the published research indicates that the importance of store/mail-order attributes varies by product category. There is a discrepancy between e-tailers and customers regarding why customers visit a site. Retailers were reported to believe that factors such as convenience, reputation/trust, and customer service were most important, while customers were reported to list merchandise assortment and competitive prices as the factors that mattered most to them. The reason for the discrepancy is perhaps that the type of product purchased is influential in determining which attributes are more important in choosing a retailer to patronize.
It may also help Internet retailers understand which Internet retailer attributes are important to consumers for specific product types so that they can communicate to them with proper messages and convey the appropriate product-related information on their Web sites and in their advertising.
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