ClarityWEB Article
eCommerce – the revolution continues…
The past few months have seen some of the worlds largest clothing retailers address the decline of High Street spending by finally moving into the world of eCommerce and releasing the potential of the online environment.
eCommerce sites are becoming increasingly important revenue streams for high street business due to the forecast that spending online in Western Europe is set to almost double between 2009 and 2014.
The latest in a long list of fashion retailers to open stores last month were Zara, a Spanish based retailer that has been in the UK for over 10 years, and Swedish based H&M.
Both chains will be selling fashion and home ware to attempt to cater for the busy modern lifestyle. An increase in the number of users with higher speed connections and time-pressed consumers, as well as the planned VAT rise are all having a detrimental effect on the High Street.
Zara and H&M have now moved to become competitive on the Internet, coming in line with other retailers in offering a new avenue for their products to be purchased.
Other leading retailers, including Arcadia owned TOPMAN and TOPSHOP, New Look, GAP and Banana Republic, are already online having established eCommerce sites earlier this year.
This trend is increasingly being seen as the way to develop a real, sustainable future for any business, and it is something that ClarityWEB has noticed with our own development and design work over the past year. The number of online shops being requested is constantly rising, as is the number of clients looking to improve on what they have through redesign, additional graphics, online advertising and SEO work.
Since the launch of Zara and H&M online, Google has reported a 70% increase in traffic looking for ‘Zara shop online’ as well as an 80% increase for ‘H&M shop online’.
This colossal rise in traffic is immediate proof that going online is providing massive hits to the site for each of the respective companies. Is it therefore proof that every retailer should be looking to invest in the eCommerce side of their business before the horse has bolted and someone else is sat in the saddle.
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Primark?
One of Britain's biggest clothing retailers, owned by Associated British Foods, is looking to make the move online, but are currently behind their competitors that have already created online stores.
After continued growth last year and healthy profit margins, further expansion plans have been put into place by Primark to embark on their online adventure, but as of yet, they remain stuck in the traps.
This comes despite a huge rise of 400% by online consumers searching for 'Primark online shopping'. Evidently the market is already waiting for Primark to make the move, it is now simply a case of the retailer supplying demand.
First Time Online?
Can you remember the first time you used the internet?
