A new study from Forrester Research indicates that by 2016 online spending may increase by more than 60%. During the same period, the proportion of total retail sales that take place online will surge to nearly 10% – a figure that would have been unimaginable just a few short years ago.
This increased consumer preference for online shopping is being driven by several factors. The economic slump in many areas, particularly throughout the industrialised world, is causing consumers to aggressively seek out bargains.
E-sellers are able to satisfy the demand and still make a healthy profit, due to the fact that they have far lower overheads than traditional retailers. The lack of any need for formal bricks-and-mortar premises, for example, results in a greatly reduced cost structure for the online seller.
During the next few years steadily increasing numbers of consumers will be attracted to online sellers because of technological improvements that allow them to go online using their mobile devices.
The rate of smartphone adoption roughly parallels the success of e-tailing, for when consumers acquire a handheld device that allows them to access the internet even while away from a computer, they begin to adjust their worldview about how and when they should make purchases for both necessary and discretionary items.
The spread of specialised apps allowing instant access to eBay or Amazon also contributes to this trend. Instead of browsing for goods via Google, today’s e-commerce buyers can engage directly with an online shopping platform, a factor that will continue to help boost sales.
To help with this growth, working capital for merchant expansion during this e-tailing boom can be obtained from pioneering lending firms such as iwoca.
iwoca is the UK’s first finance company to provide instant working capital for eBay sellers and online marketplace retailers.
