A day in the life of the outdoor enthusiast: Wake up early, grab a bran muffin, go walk the dog and then ride your bike to work. Once at work, read through all your emails and then spend the remainder of the day researching outdoor gear online.
Well....not exactly. But the trend we are seeing is that outdoor junkies just love to research the heck out of gear. The time these folks are spending on our sites is going up....not down. But at the same time, while their minds wander around the 10,000+ products we have listed, some of them are still chosing to make the purchase at a real store.
Most often reason for this? Demo the gear, try it on, or touch it. I call this the last mile, since 90% of the purchase decision can be made with research on the web. For some products, it is key to know how your customers feel about an end to end solution online. If the cycle breaks down halfway through, then you better have your retail channel ready with the remaining information / seleciton needed to close the sale.
Cool article from SportsOneSource here that goes over this, more of the study will be available at the end of the month:
Report: Retailers Have Opportunity to Convert Web Shoppers In-Store
Posted: 9/14/2009
Dick's Sporting Goods' recent move to take more control of its Internet sales and The Finish Line's recent decision to structure its Web business as a separate unit are just two recent examples of how retailers see the Internet selling opportunity as a more mature business proposition. Based on the survey feedback compiled in the most recent Where America Shops report, retailers should pay very clear attention to how consumers are using their Web sites for research and purchasing.
... Whether they are purchasing online as much or not, consumers are certainly researching products on retailers' Web sites. Of those that had researched products online, 62% ended up purchasing the product in-store. On the other hand, 34% of respondents shopped for a product in a store and then purchased it online. Of those shoppers, 58% said the reason they opted for the online purchase was due to Price, while 27% cited Convenience and 13% said Selection.
The overall number of people making purchases online has clearly increased, with 54% of adult respondents reporting they have made a purchase at one of the measured Internet retailers in the past year. Last year, 45% of respondents mentioned purchasing online.
Well....not exactly. But the trend we are seeing is that outdoor junkies just love to research the heck out of gear. The time these folks are spending on our sites is going up....not down. But at the same time, while their minds wander around the 10,000+ products we have listed, some of them are still chosing to make the purchase at a real store.
Most often reason for this? Demo the gear, try it on, or touch it. I call this the last mile, since 90% of the purchase decision can be made with research on the web. For some products, it is key to know how your customers feel about an end to end solution online. If the cycle breaks down halfway through, then you better have your retail channel ready with the remaining information / seleciton needed to close the sale.
Cool article from SportsOneSource here that goes over this, more of the study will be available at the end of the month:
Report: Retailers Have Opportunity to Convert Web Shoppers In-Store
Posted: 9/14/2009
Dick's Sporting Goods' recent move to take more control of its Internet sales and The Finish Line's recent decision to structure its Web business as a separate unit are just two recent examples of how retailers see the Internet selling opportunity as a more mature business proposition. Based on the survey feedback compiled in the most recent Where America Shops report, retailers should pay very clear attention to how consumers are using their Web sites for research and purchasing.
... Whether they are purchasing online as much or not, consumers are certainly researching products on retailers' Web sites. Of those that had researched products online, 62% ended up purchasing the product in-store. On the other hand, 34% of respondents shopped for a product in a store and then purchased it online. Of those shoppers, 58% said the reason they opted for the online purchase was due to Price, while 27% cited Convenience and 13% said Selection.
The overall number of people making purchases online has clearly increased, with 54% of adult respondents reporting they have made a purchase at one of the measured Internet retailers in the past year. Last year, 45% of respondents mentioned purchasing online.
