Shopping online has gone from a rare occurrence to an everyday activity that is growing constantly. This dynamic shift in how people do their shopping has had major impacts on businesses and is due to a number of changes. The biggest change has simply been businesses making the shift of creating a website and offering their products online. Even once the internet was readily available a majority of businesses didn’t have websites. All of that has changed along with a number of changes in society and shipping.
The other changes that have made online shopping so appealing is the decrease in cost of shipping or free shipping; the speed and ease which you can order a product; and the ability to do it all from the comfort of wherever you’re sitting. The amount of shipping being done today is greater than ever before and this has made shipping costs very low or free. If you’re a customer, the time and gas you’ll need to spend going to a store to get a product is usually worth the couple dollars for shipping. The other bonus of online shopping is you will no longer have to spend time driving to a store only to discover they’re sold out and you’ve wasted your time.
This switch to online shopping has brought with it new challenges for businesses. In order to compete in the market a website is almost mandatory and it needs to be well designed and mobile friendly. Without this a business severely hamstrings their position in the market and loses out on a great deal of potential business. According to data over the last couple years regarding online sells and marketing the growth for the online sector is expected to keep growing and at exceptionally high rates. This means current and new businesses need to jump on the bandwagon.
Our society has become a lot faster paced over the last decade as well, and it seems as though our time is in ever increasing demand. With a desire for more free time to relax from the daily flurry of activity that infiltrates our lives, online shopping is a welcome relief. For people who don’t enjoy spending time driving to the store and picking up items in person; they can now wait for it to be delivered. This is particularly ideal for families with kids, where time is a premium because of sports practices, helping the kids with schoolwork and more. As we head into 2015, its important as a business owner that you make sure you’re on top of your digital game in order to maximize your sales there.