Did you know that over 90% of all online orders are processed by credit cards and that web sites that offer customers the ability to pay with credit cards can achieve up to 300% more sales than those that do not?
It's a fact. Not only do more customers buy, statistics prove that customers actually buy more when given the option to pay with their credit card. Here are some recent trends that will reinforce the need to sell your product or service on the internet- if your business is not yet doing so:
•At the end of 2000, over 400 million people- world-wide- had Internet access. That number passed 1 billion in 2005!
•Almost 100 million people in the U.S. are now making a purchase after using the internet to conduct their research.
•A study conducted jointly by Goldman Sachs, Harris Interactive and Nielsen/Net Ratings pegged holiday season sales up 25% from the previous year. This comes at a time when traditional retail sales are growing in the low single digits.
•Forrester projects that total e-commerce sales in the U.S. will increase by approximately 20% per year, growing to $229 billion in 2008, making online retail transactions 10% of total U.S. retail sales by 2008.
In addition, in a survey conducted among more than 500 businesses with e-commerce enabled sites, the overwhelming majority indicated that they were either very satisfied or at least somewhat satisfied with their company's e-commerce return on investment (ROI).
It's no wonder- when compared to traditional forms of direct marketing such as mail order catalogs, the cost of establishing and maintaining an e-commerce website is more cost-effective. Additionally, user-friendly storefront applications simplify the task of establishing and maintaining a professional e-commerce enabled site.
What’s more, if your company sells products to consumers or businesses and you don't have a fully automated e-commerce website, your business is simply not operating at its full potential and you're sending customers to your competition!
It is no longer a luxury for businesses to have an e-commerce enabled site-but a necessity to stay competitive in the marketplace.
Rick Caraballo is Director of Business Development for e-volution Digital Marketing, a multicultural full service interactive agency with offices in Europe, Latin America, and the US. In his current role, Rick is responsible for the acquisition and retention of Fortune 500 accounts that target the US Hispanic Market, as well as, the markets in Latin America.
