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With
the general economy in complete disarray nearly
all of the "experts" are predicting a dismal Christmas
season for retailers - with one exception, and I
bet most of you will guess
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what
that is before I even say it - that's right,
merchants who sell online are expected to
enjoy double digit growth over last year,
despite the current financial meltdown. Time
Magazine has all of the details in an article
released today titled Will Online Sales
Brighten a Bleak Holiday Season? Author Kristina
Dell wrote, "Holiday forecasts predict zero
to 2.2% overall sales gains for November
and December, according to respective estimates by
Bain & Co. and the National Retail
Federation (NRF), the world's largest retail
trade association. By comparison, online retail
sales are expected to grow 12% to $44 billion
according to Forrester Research.
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Dell
went on to delineate the reasons why online merchants
continue to gain ground despite the current recession:
"Rising financial anxiety and tight credit
availability are making holiday shopping this year an
exercise in self restraint, and the web offers a quick,
clean shot at purchasing 24 hours a day. Moreover,
with websites like FatWallet and SlickDeals
featuring bargain basement prices, hunting around for the
best value is a convenient mouse click away. That's
an easier proposition for many than slogging to the mall
and fighting traffic, crowds and parking problems."
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I will be the first
to give Dell a big Amen! on that one.
Even though I knew better, on Black Friday
last year (the day after Thanksgiving Day
that some say is the busiest shopping day of the
year) I succumbed to all of the newspaper ads
touting phenomenal bargains at the local |
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The
joy of holiday shopping at a local mall |
malls.
In search of a new flat screen TV I braved the
crowds but after hitting multiple brick and mortar
outlets within the first hour they opened, I
went home empty handed as none of the
stores actually had the TVs they advertised in
stock. I (and millions of
others) won't make that mistake again. In
writing about my
experience a year ago, I summed it up
by noting, "After five stops and a couple of
hours of wasted time I went home and did what
I should have done in the first place -
ordered a TV online. It will be delivered
to my door - no fuss, no muss - and for a cost
that is just a tad more than |
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the come on prices
the local stores tout, "bargains" that
virtually no one actually receives." The
previosuly unwritten follow up to that is the TV
was indeed delivered the next business day (free
delivery too!) and I have been enjoying it ever
since. |
When
I think of holiday shopping at brick and mortar stores
now, the same old adage keeps coming to mind - "Fool
me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
To quote The Who's Pete Townshend, I "won't
get fooled again."
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While we are on the
topic of the continuing shift of brick and mortar
businesses to the web I have to mention still
another example of that in the newspaper business.
The local Tampa Tribune announced
the layoff of 18 more newsroom staffers today,
including my favorite columnist, Daniel Ruth.
The rival St. Petersburg Times
quoted the Tribune's executive editor, Janet
Coats, as saying "many newspapers are
finding their print product becoming a secondary
outlet to their website." Though many of
us who have worked in |
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Internet publishing
for years have seen this coming, it is still
stunning to me to see the editor of a major paper
essentially admit that the war is over and the
web won.
(Posted Nov.
11,
2008) |
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