BY JACK G. HARDY
Q: I've been told that Internet retailers are growing faster than traditional ''bricks and mortar'' stores. Is this true?
A: Yes, according to the U.S. Commerce Department: ``Total retail sales (excluding petroleum, autos and restaurants) grew 3.7 percent last year. Retail stores grew 3.1 percent (one-quarter of a percent after inflation). By comparison, e-retailing grew 22 percent and remained by far the fastest-growing component of the nation's retail economy.''
Forrester Research (Forrester.com), an independent technology and market-research company, points out: ``U.S. online retail reached $175 billion in 2007 and is projected to grow to $335 billion by 2012.
Business-to-consumer (B2C) eCommerce continues its double-digit year-over-year growth rate, in part because sales are shifting away from stores and in part because online shoppers are less sensitive to adverse economic conditions than the average U.S. consumer.''
eMarketer.com forecasts: ``B2C e-commerce sales in Asia and the Pacific Area will grow at a 23.3 percent annual rate, reaching $168.7 billion by 2011. Japan is currently the largest market, by far, and South Korea ranks second. But by 2011 both will lose share to two up-and-comers -- China and India.''
Here's info from China Internet Network Information Center's Survey Report on Online Shopping in China 2008. They say, ''The total amount of online shopping in 19 big cities in China reached $2.35 billion in the first half of 2008.'' More than 40 percent of the online buyers surveyed shop online at least once a month.
India's largest online retailer, FutureBazaar.com, is a subsidiary of FutureGroup, a $1.2 billion holding company that operates Pantaloon Retail, the country's largest retailer.
You'll spot many valuable differences in marketing techniques. CEO Sankersen Banerjee reports: 'A full 45 percent of our orders come from outside our large metropolitan areas. Local couriers deliver packages since India's postal system only accepts documents. Address standardization is a major problem. A typical address might read something like `The apartment above the store on the corner.' ''
An economic boom in Brazil is changing the lives of millions. Wal-Mart opened its first store in Sao Paulo during 1995 and now has 152 stores in 14 states. Their sales in Brazil have grown at more than twice the pace of sales in the United States, reaching $9.04 billion in 2007. Now they're plunging into eCommerce with plans to invest $722.8 million to keep up with country's fast-growing consumer demand.
How about you? Your brightest idea will fail to attract profitable revenues if you fail to create an eCommerce store that provides uninterrupted shopping with an assurance of a secure online transaction.
There's an African proverb that encourages learning: Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter if you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better start running.
So, how fast are you running?
Special to The Miami Herald
Q: I've been told that Internet retailers are growing faster than traditional ''bricks and mortar'' stores. Is this true?
A: Yes, according to the U.S. Commerce Department: ``Total retail sales (excluding petroleum, autos and restaurants) grew 3.7 percent last year. Retail stores grew 3.1 percent (one-quarter of a percent after inflation). By comparison, e-retailing grew 22 percent and remained by far the fastest-growing component of the nation's retail economy.''
Forrester Research (Forrester.com), an independent technology and market-research company, points out: ``U.S. online retail reached $175 billion in 2007 and is projected to grow to $335 billion by 2012.
Business-to-consumer (B2C) eCommerce continues its double-digit year-over-year growth rate, in part because sales are shifting away from stores and in part because online shoppers are less sensitive to adverse economic conditions than the average U.S. consumer.''
eMarketer.com forecasts: ``B2C e-commerce sales in Asia and the Pacific Area will grow at a 23.3 percent annual rate, reaching $168.7 billion by 2011. Japan is currently the largest market, by far, and South Korea ranks second. But by 2011 both will lose share to two up-and-comers -- China and India.''
Here's info from China Internet Network Information Center's Survey Report on Online Shopping in China 2008. They say, ''The total amount of online shopping in 19 big cities in China reached $2.35 billion in the first half of 2008.'' More than 40 percent of the online buyers surveyed shop online at least once a month.
India's largest online retailer, FutureBazaar.com, is a subsidiary of FutureGroup, a $1.2 billion holding company that operates Pantaloon Retail, the country's largest retailer.
You'll spot many valuable differences in marketing techniques. CEO Sankersen Banerjee reports: 'A full 45 percent of our orders come from outside our large metropolitan areas. Local couriers deliver packages since India's postal system only accepts documents. Address standardization is a major problem. A typical address might read something like `The apartment above the store on the corner.' ''
An economic boom in Brazil is changing the lives of millions. Wal-Mart opened its first store in Sao Paulo during 1995 and now has 152 stores in 14 states. Their sales in Brazil have grown at more than twice the pace of sales in the United States, reaching $9.04 billion in 2007. Now they're plunging into eCommerce with plans to invest $722.8 million to keep up with country's fast-growing consumer demand.
How about you? Your brightest idea will fail to attract profitable revenues if you fail to create an eCommerce store that provides uninterrupted shopping with an assurance of a secure online transaction.
There's an African proverb that encourages learning: Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter if you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better start running.
So, how fast are you running?
Even electronic products can be sold in all parts with good branding and shipping facilities.
Create an Online Store