Respite for Retailers?

Week 49 is, historically, the busiest week for Christmas shopping.
Or should I say was?  Although we had severe weather last year which affected customers getting to the high street shops, this year, official surveys show that retail sales are over 1% lower than the same period last year. Once again, shop windows are screaming SALE in an effort to stimulate sales. So, people are not buying again this year then? Wrong!

During week 49 the company with most sales was online store Amazon. Cyber Monday showed figures of £19m per hour being spent on online sales over a 24 hour period. Wow! where did that come from? Most people want to save money obviously, by cutting out the middlemen they believe they are getting value for money. Not only that, you don't have to get the car out or catch a bus, no crowded shops (I hate crowded shops) and no steaming feet at the end of the day after walking three miles and queuing for that elusive present only to find once you have reached the front of the queue that it's sold out!

These recent figures show that retail sales are the lowest for 6 months, so it isn't just Christmas that is sucking us more and more into internet shopping. No, better prices, good delivery costs and great service (Usually), along with all the time you can save are certainly factors.

So, Retailers will be having another year of reduced turnover and profits and, ultimately, some businesses will fail which is a great shame. The lesson here is that whatever you sell, you need a quality website. Not only that, you need to make sure you have it designed and built by experts. Why? well, a badly constructed or optimised website will actually do your business more harm than good. And forget those free sites too, would you buy from an online retailer that has spent nothing on a website? Of course not. Don't scrimp on your site because your competitor won't!

Online sales may be the only way some companies will survive. If you haven't got one, then your business may suffer. To find out what you can expect from Online Marketing, contact us now, and get your business earning money.

http://www.dpom.co.uk/