Online sales lose steam as buyers grow Web-weary

Online commerce has enjoyed hypergrowth, but now that growth has slowed sharply in a trend analysts call a turning point.
The New York Times

The story "Online sales lose steam as buyers grow Web-weary" published June 17, 2007 at 2:49 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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Missing lots of issues!

One major reason online shopping has slowed is because of abuses by many online retailers. These retailers have used tactics and deceits that most bricks-and-mortar companies abandoned long ago, including:

- Hidden charges or deceptive pricing: I've run into this even on "reputable" sites like Amazon, where shipping fees are stated to be one thing on the front page, then turn out to be completely different on the final order.

- Intrusive advertising: even to the point of obstructing the sale. Imagine if Wal-Mart made you sit through a 30-minute ad session just to buy a gallon of milk. That's how some web sites are cramming the purchase loop with new gimmicks to upsell. The only problem is that it adds time and inconvenience to simple orders, without much thought on the customer's buying experience. There are many sites I have dropped because it takes FOREVER to find a product and make a simple purchase.

- Spam. Many sites send their customers spam emails, whether it is opt-in or opt-out doesn't matter. And my Yahoo spam filter always allows spam in from name-brand companies like Kohls no matter how many times I flag their messages as spam.

- Mandatory accounts. I have over 100 different "accounts" at different online sites, and it is ridiculous. I am supposed to choose a different name and password for EACH account?? If online retailers don't fix this problem, it will block future growth. There are several simple answers, but they just won't listen. BTW, Google IS NOT THE ANSWER, they are the devil when it comes to privacy abuse. To hand them your shopping info for resale to the highest bidder is a Faustian bargain at best.

Online retailers will have to innovate to get to the next level of acceptance, and those innovations have to be centered on the user experience, not just maximizing revenue.

[Broward Horne]

Internet Growth Memes

The overall growth rate of the Internet itself is probably topping out, leading to declining profit margins and another shake-out period.

Here's a set of graphs with circumstantial evidence...

http://www.realmeme.com/roller/page/realmeme?entry=internet_state_change

http://www.realmeme.com/roller/page/realmeme?entry=internet_state_change_part_ii