The Inside Scoop About Online Shopping

Online shopping is a college student's best friend and enemy. Having a busy class and work schedule leaves little to no time to get to the mall and shop. Unfortunately, this poses a big problem for an avid shopper like myself. So, online shopping is the answer to my problem- it allows me to buy all of my unnecessary purchases from the comfort of my own bed. But, online shopping is my enemy because it allows me to spend so much money with the click of my computer mouse. The worst part is, many of the online sites I shop on, like Amazon, already have all of my credit card information. They definitely do that so you'll purchase more items effortlessly!

I came across an interesting article about mind-blowing statistics regarding online shopping. Online shopping is considered to be a multibillion-dollar revenue stream that plays a huge role in a business' success. Online marketing strategies have to be extremely specific to your target audience, particularly their shopping patterns. Based on what we have learned in class, marketing messages need to be tailored differently to an online audience.

An interesting statistic I read in the article was that "72% of millennials research and shop their options online before going to a store or the mall". I find this statistic to be extremely accurate, because I always search online for options or ideas when I need to make a purchase decision. This can directly relate to the consumer decision journey, because this gives online marketers an opportunity to influence millennials during their pre-purchase stages, specifically their "Search for Information" and "Evaluation of Alternatives".

There was a very surprising statistic in the article that stated that "Adults 50 years and above represent the Web's largest constituency, comprising one-third of the total 195.3 million Internet users in the U.S". I think that it must be a stereotype that only "younger" consumers do shopping online. When you think about it, it makes sense that a lot of online shoppers are 50 years or older because it is all about convenience. When you reach a particular age, you don't want to spend hours at the mall walking around looking to buy things. This reinforces the fact that you need to have a full, accurate understanding of your target market when creating a marketing message. Their demographic information may not be as stereotypical as you would think!

A final interesting statistic from this article is when it stated that satisfaction with online shopping is extremely high at a number of 83%. I found it interesting that consumers are not satisfied with flexibility to choose delivery date and time. I wonder if this will inspire businesses to offer more particular delivery options, but would this increase the price? Maybe this is where the drone delivery concept came from.

But, all of this talk is tempting me to go on Amazon and continue to do my Christmas shopping! Like I said before, online shopping is just TOO convenient sometimes.