CHALLENGES AND BEST PRACTICES FOR ACHIEVING ONLINE SHOPPER LOYALTY: A Look Inside the E-Commerce Consumer Experience
October 4, 2007

The Internet has revolutionized the way people shop. According to the United States Census Bureau e-commerce sales in the U.S. for the year 2006 were estimated at $108.7 billion; an increase of 23.5 percent from U.S. e-commerce sales in 2005. Just during the last quarter of 2006, e-commerce retail sales were estimated at $29.3 billion.

There is enormous opportunity for businesses to cash in on this rapidly expanding market. Today, e-commerce sales account for only 3 percent of total retail sales, up from only 0.6 percent in 1999. As businesses establish their e-commerce solutions, it is imperative that they understand how the online environment has morphed into the current online shopping landscape – and how it will continue to evolve.

Between March 29 and April 12, DoubleClick Performics, in association with the shopper-centric, e-commerce consultants at the e-tailing group, inc., conducted market research to gather feedback from 1,000 online shoppers who spend at least $500 annually and make online purchases four times per year or more to educate merchants on challenges and best practices for establishing online consumer loyalty.

In utilizing findings from the Consumer Loyalty Survey, merchants will improve their online strategy and will be better suited to identify and improve key factors that impact merchant loyalty, including: what customers want, why customers return to a particular Web site and the deterrents for shopping on a particular Web site.