Christmas has always been a lucrative time for high street businesses, with a lot of them relying on this time of year for up to 50% of their yearly profits. The same can also be said for those businesses trading online, and this year sees the highest level of competition ever among websites in terms of visibility and sales. But which websites stand the greatest chance of turning a healthy product this Xmas?
Supermarket Websites. The recession has taken its toll on a number the small and weak online and offline retailers and the spaces have to a large extent been filled by the more powerful supermarket sites. There is a real risk that supermarket sites will begin to monopolise the markets as they continue to increase the amount of products and services they offer. That said, their approach is certainly very effective and their shareholders are likely to be very happy come January.
Affiliates. As the number of online retailers has increased over the last decade, so has the prevalence of online affiliate sites. These sites tend to advertise the products of larger successful internet sites such as IWOOT, and the larger sites then pay the affiliates commission on each lead they receive. As these affiliate sites are often owned by skilled internet marketers, they frequently get large traffic numbers and can therefore make large profits themselves, especially over busy holiday periods.
Niche Sites. As people can find more and more specialised products and services online, niche sites that have marketed themselves well, promise to clean up in certain markets this year. Sites such as I Want One of Those, who sell gadgets and boys toys, will do very well this year as they have a loyal following of customers and can offer more specialised items that the bigger sites simply cannot.
Internet and Business Online
christmas, ecommerce, etailer, internet, online
As no doubt you have noticed online shopping is becoming more and more popular. In this article I write about this new revolution and discuss whether in my opinion this popularity is likely to continue or even increase, or if it is just some sort of short term fashion trend.
I offer a popular stuttering self-help product online, I am also involved with a business to do with becoming a foster carer and also with a business cost reduction specialist.
I was introduced to online shopping a few years ago when a friend of mine advised me that a certain electrical type company was offering their products with a discount of ten percent, when they were purchased online. This fascinated me and I then started to investigate if this was a trend which other retail outlets were offering. I found that quite a few others had similar online discounts and I soon started to catch the online shopping bug.
I have to admit that a few years ago I bought approximately eighty percent of my Xmas presents on the internet. I was certainly grateful and relieved that I did not have to travel to the shops, that I did not have to trawl round trying to locate a suitable car parking space and that I did not have to wade through the mass crowds of Xmas shoppers – this is without doubt the best way to shop for people such as myself.
My family even now buy our weekly food shopping online. My wife prefers doing the food shopping in this way as she does not have to wait to have her items scanned and does not have to put up with the children asking if they can have this or that.
I believe that this online shopping revolution has only just started. I think that more and more companies are going to offer this service and that their websites will become even more impressive and easy to use for the consumer.
In around five years time most households in the UK will have access to the internet therefore introducing even more potential customers to the option of online shopping.
Internet and Business Online
christmas, online shopping, online shopping bug, shopping, shopping crowds, shopping online
Ever since Christmas became the somewhat commercialised event that we know it to be today, high street traders and retails have relied quite heavily on it to provide a large chunk of their annual sales. This is also the case in the online domain and given the huge competitiveness of websites these days, there will inevitably be big winners and some losers this year. But which sites are best placed this year to make the most money?
Supermarket Sites. The recession has taken its toll on a number the small and weak online and offline retailers and the spaces have to a large extent been filled by the more powerful supermarket sites. Many experts have warned that these ‘super-sites’ will eventually completely monopolise the markets as they eat up and put out of business the smaller independent sites. That said, their approach is certainly very effective and their shareholders are likely to be very happy come January.
Affiliates. As the number of online retailers has increased over the last decade, so has the prevalence of online affiliate sites. These sites tend to advertise the products of larger successful internet sites such as IWOOT, and the larger sites then pay the affiliates commission on each lead they receive. As these affiliate sites are often owned by skilled internet marketers, they frequently get large traffic numbers and can therefore make large profits themselves, especially over busy holiday periods.
Niche Internet Sites. As people can find more and more specialised products and services online, niche sites that have marketed themselves well, promise to clean up in certain markets this year. Sites such as I Want One of Those, who sell gadgets and boys toys, will do very well this year as they have a loyal following of customers and can offer more specialised items that the bigger sites simply cannot.
Internet and Business Online
christmas, ecommerce, etailer, internet, online