Online sales in the UK will reach £10.4bn this year, a 46%
rise on 2002, Forrester Research has predicted.The figures will come as a boost to online
retailers ahead of today’s “24x7 day”, the UK’s first
industry-backed internet shopping day, which aims to convince the
18 million people who have not bought goods over the net to shop
online.
Online retailers need to design sites to serve
multiple types of user and use multichannel marketing to smooth the
path of online shoppers, said Rebecca Jennings, senior analyst at
Forrester.
"Online retailers in the UK are doing all they
can to persuade wired Brits to spend money across the net - the
24x7 Day organised by the IMRG being a prime example," she
said.
"Today, 65% of online adults have bought and
paid for a product or service online, and UK net shoppers spent an
average of £237 online in the past three months.”
To ensure they are part of this growth,
Forrester said that UK online retailers must convince consumers to
buy with “hand-holding”; use cross-promotions and free delivery to
drive up spending; and use site design to service both online
novices and experienced users.
"Net newbies and old hands differ in their
attitudes, demographics and product interest,” Jennings said.
“To get the attention and cash of both groups,
online retailers' sites must offer a variety of routes to the same
target, with both simplicity and more sophisticated
functionality."
Retailers should learn from US experience and
factor in cross-channel sales effects.
"US retailers have driven continued online
growth in the face of economic uncertainty by using price
promotions to attract new buyers, expanding product categories to
interest mainstream users, and embracing multichannel marketing to
boost awareness,” Jennings said.
“Online retailers must start by educating
store managers that the web is complementary, not cannibalistic, to
their business, and by prominently displaying their site's URL both
in store and on packaging.”