BizRate.com Says Holiday 2001 Will Be ``All About the Buyer'' and a Healthy Season for E-Commerce.Business Editors LOS LOS Length of stay, see there ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 25, 2001 Mainstreaming of Online Shopper Reveals New Growth Opportunities for E-tailers Looking to Stay in the Game Despite the chilly investor sentiment toward e-commerce, consumers are still warm when it comes to online shopping, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. BizRate.com, the No. 1 comparison-shopping site on the Web. BizRate.com predicts that online sales will increase by 34 percent in the fourth quarter, with $12.4 billion in sales, a healthy growth rate vs. the hyper A Greek work meaning "above" or "more than." It is used as a prefix to technical concepts and products to convey a more advanced or more automatic capability. growth rate seen in prior years. E-commerce "winners" will comprise companies that adapt to shifts in online consumer behavior, says BizRate.com. BizRate has identified the winning formula for e-holiday success this season: Women will be powering online shopping; exceptional customer service is key to winning consumers' business, and companies must utilize multichannel Using two or more paths for transmission or processing. It can refer to a variety of architectures including (1) multiple I/O channels between the CPU and peripheral devices, (2) multiple wires in a cable, (3) multiple "logical" channels within a single wire or fiber or (4) multiple touch-points to rise above the holiday clutter. "This is the year when online shopping goes mass -- with more than 25 percent of Americans shopping online," said BizRate.com President and Chief Executive Officer Chuck Davis  This article or section contains information about one or more candidates in an upcoming or ongoing election.Content may change as the election approaches. Charles E. . "In a maturing market, e-tailers need to focus on the consumer, especially female buyers, in order to continue to thrive." Are You Doing Enough for Women? Since holiday 2000, women have become the majority buyer at key gift-giving occasions, and they are expected to continue to power online growth during this year's holiday season, according to BizRate.com. Additionally, more than half of the retail categories such as Gifts & Flowers, Health & Beauty, Food & Drink and Home & Garden are female-dominated and continue to grow twice as fast as other categories. "E-tailers and manufacturers operating within these female growth categories need to give serious thought to how they will reach out to women," commented Davis. Holiday Season % of Women Online 1998 39% 1999 49% 2000 55% Female-Dominated Categories: Gifts & Flowers 65% Health & Beauty 65% Food & Drink 62% Home & Garden 61% Apparel 59% Toys & Games 55% Office Supplies 51% Source: BizRate.com Point-of-Sale Database, March 2001 Customer Service Comes First "Customer service is not just a `nice to have,' but a key growth driver," continued Davis. BizRate.com has found a strong correlation between good customer service and increased transactional volume -- and vice versa VICE VERSA. On the contrary; on opposite sides. . In fact, three out of five barriers to repeat purchase intent are all customer-service-related: late delivery, poor customer support and no/poor order tracking. Top Five Barriers to Repeat Purchase: No. 1 Late Delivery No. 2 High Shipping & Handling Charges No. 3 Poor Customer Support No. 4 No/Poor Order Tracking No. 5 High Prices Source: BizRate.com Point-of-Sale Database-Q1, 2001 Multichannel Makes Multidollars Merchants that offer multiple channels to their customers will maximize revenues. BizRate.com found that more touch-points equate e·quate v. e·quat·ed, e·quat·ing, e·quates v.tr. 1. To make equal or equivalent. 2. To reduce to a standard or an average; equalize. 3. to increased spending and first-time shoppers are more likely to be influenced by a cross-channel presence. Number of Touch-Points Average Purchase Amount 1 Channel $100 2 Channels $200-$300 3 Channels $400 Source: Channel Surfing: Measuring Multi-Channel Shopping Report, BizRate.com, NRF and J.C. Williams Group -- September 2000 Davis concluded: "Even in the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?" midmost of a softening softening /sof·ten·ing/ (sof´en-ing) malacia. softening a change of consistency, with loss of firmness or hardness. economy, e-commerce is where the real consumer growth is occurring, which is good news for the industry at large." BizRate.com offers a wide range of customer acquisition and customer satisfaction tools to e-tailers and manufacturers. For information, contact sales@bizrate.com. About BizRate.com Founded in 1996 and based in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , BizRate.com (www.bizrate.com) is the No. 1 comparison-shopping site on the Web. Connecting millions of buyers to thousands of sellers in a single, organized location, the site provides the best efficiencies for both buyers and sellers. In BizRate.com's marketplace, shoppers have access to a powerful product search engine, standardized standardized pertaining to data that have been submitted to standardization procedures. standardized morbidity rate see morbidity rate. standardized mortality rate see mortality rate. checkout, exclusive deals, "hot" product listings and gift guides to empower empower verb To encourage or provide a person with the means or information to become involved in solving his/her own problems consumers to "shop smartly" across 20 popular store categories and more than 1,500 merchants. Through BizRate.com's unbiased consumer rating system, compiled exclusively from point-of-sale and fulfillment ful·fill also ful·fil tr.v. ful·filled, ful·fill·ing, ful·fills also ful·fils 1. To bring into actuality; effect: fulfilled their promises. 2. surveys of participating merchants, shoppers can compare merchants across 10 service dimensions. BizRate.com ratings appear on Consumer Reports Online and in Consumer Reports magazine. Note to Editors: Tips for Holiday Online Shopping are available. To schedule an interview with a BizRate.com executive, contact Helen Malani, 310/305-3506, ext. 120, hmalani@bizrate.com; or Leslie Barry, 310/305-3506, ext. 186, lbarry@bizrate.com. |
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