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Tami Lancut Leibovitz
In the last 10 years, our consumer behavioral patterns have changed drastically. The most significant shift has occurred from traditional store and mega-store shopping into the cyber space.
In the first quarter of 2015, about 250 Million U.S consumers purchased at least one product online. Meaning, about 75% from the American population over 15 of age have shopped online this year, pretty impressive!
We can tell this trend is changing the way we consume and react to marketing, so let’s put the information into numbers:
- By the old fashioned stereotypes, women are the ones that supposedly spend more! In reality, men purchase more online! The gap is even greater when you measure purchases from a mobile device.
- The infamous millennials, and in particular – young consumers between the age of 18-34, are considered to be the strongest buying power. In average, each person spends 2000 dollars a year on online shopping!
- Out of every 5 consumers over the age of 55, at least one is actively participating in online shopping.
I am writing you from Israel, a country that is extremely involved in technology, engineering and tech industries, a country with the 2nd highest number of start-up tech companies in the world. With that being said, the e-commerce field is still a bit behind, due to the possibilities of the local consumers to order from any international site. By Google’s initiative, tomorrow, on the 11th of November and on the 12th the following day, a 48 hour sale celebration will be conducted in Israel, under the name “Shopping IL”. The event will feature hundreds of online retailers with major discounts and its purpose is to encourage more business and consumers to work with the local market.
But that’s not the only shopping event happening tomorrow. Actually, one of the largest shopping events in the world is happening tomorrow, under “Singles Day” celebration. The holiday is known as the Chinese anti-valentine day. On that day, single women and men in China are celebrating their singleness with extravagant parties and meet-ups. The day – 11/11 – was chosen because of the number one that represent solo, but also the shape of the numbers, in Chinese, “singles day” literally means “Lonely Sticks day”. But how big “singles day” shopping event online can be?
Last year, Alibaba site reported almost 6 billion in earnings after one day only!
In the states, Black Friday is coming up! But even Black Friday, a day that in recent years has disproportionally turned into a shopping madness festival, is changing!
“Cyber Monday” is the day to shop online now! The Monday after thanksgiving provides thousands of online discounts by major retailers. The online discount event of the year is taking over the traditional store openings. People slowly understand they can receive wonderful deals from the comfort of their home, without pushing and shoving and without waiting in insanely long lines to enter the stores.
Ironically enough, due to cyber Monday, some companies are actually going back to tradition. Huge companies like REI and Staples decided to NOT open on Thanksgiving night and allow their employees as well as consumers to enjoy the holiday fully. That’s a huge statement for the companies, realizing they do not have to lose money by using their online stores and providing awesome discounts for loyal consumers on the rest of the month, while allowing their employees to spend time with their family on this national, family-oriented holiday.
As Part as the IBL code I created and in my book “The IBL CODE - The International Business Language”, I discuss in-depth the importance of branding our image as a business and as an individual. The step that companies like REI and Staples went through, allows them to project a family-style, American brand by sending a clean message of anti-greed and appreciation to the simple things in life. The message they convey to their clients will send those clients back to the store the day it’s open and will lead them to utilize and use the online stores more often.
Another aspect of e-commerce arrives when you are the business owner itself. Understanding the a great online store will lead to conversions that is translated into sales but also effect the client-brand relationship and create more channels for effective communication and brand loyalty. Mobile and web marketing for e-commerce channels are expanding by the day, don’t let your business get left behind!
May you have a great online shopping experience this season, wherever you may be in the world!
This article is based on my book, “The IBL Code”, follow the link for more details: Amazon or The IBL Code: International Business Language.
If you have any questions regarding e-commerce and online image branding, feel free to write me on my site at http://bit.ly/AskTami,
To inquire about my etiquette & personal brand image related lectures, keynotes, workshops and professional training courses please visit my website at: www.tll.co.il
You are welcome to visit my blog, with plenty of articles on the subject of business etiquette: http://bit.ly/TAMITLL