E-commerce (or electric commerce) refers to the buying and selling of goods and services via electronic channels, primarily the Internet. Online retail is decidedly convenient due to its 24-hour availability, global reach and generally efficient customer service. (Mashable)
“Online shopping was invented and pioneered by Michael Aldrich in the UK. In 1979 he connected a modified domestic television via a telephone line to a real- time multi-user transaction processing computer.”
Pizza Hut was one of the first major brands to experiment with online commerce, starting in 1994.
Here are 20 interesting and mind blowing e-commerce facts that you were probably not aware of.
1. 89% of shoppers have stopped buying from online stores after they’ve experienced poor customer service.
2. On the other hand, 33% of consumers would recommend a brand that provides a quick but ineffective response.
3. Love your new customers, but never forget to appreciate your old clients as well: it’s 7x more expensive to get a new customer than to retain an existing one.
4. 70% of complaining customers will do business with you again if you resolve the complaint in their favour.
5. Men are actually more likely to purchase online through their mobile gadgets. Last year, 2014, 18% of women bought an item on their smartphone, compared to 22% of men.
6. By the year 2016, online sales driven from social media will grow 93% per year.
7. 53% of customers expect brands to respond to their Tweets within an hour, so better get replying to those mentions of your online store!
8. Social commerce sales are expected to reach $30 billion per year by the year 2015, with 50% of the online sales happening through social media.
9. 74% of consumers depend on social media to guide their purchases.
10. If your online store isn’t optimized for mobile, get ready for a lot of rejection. 30% of mobile shoppers abandon a transaction if the shopping experience is not optimized for mobile.
11. 61% of people have a better opinion of brands when they offer a good mobile experience.
12. 71% of mobile purchasing decisions are most influenced by emails from companies.
13. Mobile users are more likely to convert into customers. 78% of searches for local business information using a mobile device result in a purchase.
14. 54% of shoppers will purchase products left in shopping carts, if those products are offered at a price lower than its original.
15. By the year 2015, there will already be 3 billion Internet users worldwide. This figure is already 42.4% of the entire world’s population!
16. 43% of consumers will visit a competitor’s site next after a negative mobile shopping experience
17. 79% of the shoppers desire a tracking option while ordering anything online.
18. 26% of the shopping carts are abandoned due to forced user registration and are never purchased.
19. 71% shoppers believe that they will get better deal online than in stores.
20. India is home to the fastest growing e-commerce market in the world and France is the slowest.
