 |
About the Author
Mitch (@mitchellharper) is the co-founder and CEO of BigCommerce. Way back in 2007 he built what eventually became BigCommerce as you know it. Today he runs the company alongside Eddie and along with our 100+ team members, is passionate about helping businesses succeed with e-commerce. Mitch spends time between our Sydney and Austin offices and is giving the keynote at TechConnect 2012 in Sydney on April 19th. |
A few weeks ago we sent out an invite to a few thousand randomly selected BigCommerce clients for the 2009 Internet Retailer Survey. We had an excellent response to the survey and the results were quite interesting. If you sell online then you should definintely read through the responses (embedded below) to see how other online retailers responded.
If you’re in a rush, here’s a summary of the survey responses:
After analysing results of the 2009 Internet Retailer Survey, conducted by BigCommerce, it’s clear that the vast majority of online retailers are new to selling online. Apparel, software and computers/accessories are the most popular products being sold online and the overwhelming majority of sales for those surveyed come from their online store as opposed to a traditional bricks and mortar business.
In regards to the next 12 months, the majority of online retailers take a hopeful view towards improving sales from their online store and haven seen the best return on investment from email marketing (37%), Google AdWords (37%) and social media (15%). Email marketing (71%), Google AdWords (60%) and blogging (42%) comprise the major marketing strategies which will be implemented by those online retailers surveyed going into 2010.
34% of respondents use FaceBook to communicate with potential customers, while 32% use Twitter. The typical online retailer posts between 0-2 tweets per week and when asked how Twitter affects their online sales, the majority (39%) reported that they weren’t able to track the results Twitter has had on their sales. Similarly, 34% of online retailers who reach out to prospects and customers on FaceBook reported they didn’t have a way to track sales made from their social media efforts.
Try BigCommerce free for 15 days and see why it's loved by over 10,000 successful businesses.
