Driving Force #1--Soaring Fuel Costs
The rapid rise in fuel prices over the past few years seems to have been an
important initial factor in starting this revolution.
After reaching a low point of $16 per barrel in early 1999, oil prices steadily
climbed to a maximum of $147.27 per barrel on July 11, 2008. There is evidence that the rising costs of driving associated with this increase resulted in an initial influx of new online shoppers. A survey of 2,363 adults conducted by business software supplier, iCongo, in April, 2008 showed that one-third of them said that the high price of gasoline made it more likely that they would shop online, rather than at retail stores.
"It's fair to say that consumers may be looking to fire up their computer more often than their car or truck when it comes to retail shopping," said Irwin Kramer, iCongo CEO, in a statement.
The advantages of being able to shop from home at any time, free shipping, and lower prices were also cited by a majority of respondents as contributing to why they preferred to shop online.
Driving Force #2--The New Frugality
A second very major factor that has driven this shift in shopping behavior is the economic meltdown that suddenly occurred during the closing months of 2008. This has caused consumers to become markedly more frugal and bargain-conscious in spending their rapidly shrinking supply of dollars and has propelled them in ever-increasing numbers into shopping online where they can maximize their savings.
In the U.S., online retail sales topped $208 billion in 2008--a 40% increase from 2007. In spite of the current recession, these sales are projected to grow by an additional 35% in 2009. Another telling indicator is that, in spite of the sharp economic downturn, Amazon.com had it's most profitable holiday shopping season ever in 2008.
Independent research shows that 80% of U.S. customers have shopped online at least once and that 64% shop both at offline stores and their online counterparts before making purchases.
Given that about a million new users gain access to the internet daily, this migration from "bricks and mortar" to online "click and order" shopping is highly likely to continue progressively. Not surprisingly then, online merchants are becoming increasingly sophisticated and competitive in marketing to this new breed of online consumers.
Driving Force #3--Increasing Eco-Consciousness
Increasing eco-consciousness is a third major impetus to increased online shopping. Although it is still in an early stage of development, this factor is likely to become increasingly significant as environmental concerns continue to grow in importance.
Increasing numbers of people are realizing that not only do they save money on gas by shopping online but they also help the environment as well. The more that people shop online, the less traffic we have on our highways, which results in lower greenhouse gas emissions. Shopping online, then, can be a great way to go green and save money at the same time.
Here are some additional environmental advantages of shopping online:
- It avoids the enormous energy costs of housing mostly identical merchandise in thousands (or tens of thousands) of stores across the country by having them stocked in a few central fulfillment centers.
- Since merchandise does not have to be displayed for sale in centralized warehouses, it can be stored much more efficiently, resulting in further savings of energy.
- A study by Carnegie Mellon's Green Design Institute showed that "shopping online via Buy.com's e-commerce model reduces environmental impact by 35% less energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions as compared to the traditional retail shopping model."
- By shopping online, eco-conscious consumers can easily gain access to a much wider array of "green products" than is typically available to them in their local environments.
Driving Force #4--A New Wave in Online Shopping
Companies such as Amazon.com, eBay.com, Shop.com and Buy.com have clearly led the way in the first wave of the online shopping revolution. However, just as Sam Walton developed a "better mousetrap" in bricks and mortar marketing, entrepreneurial innovators are now similarly developing superior online marketing models that are contributing significantly to the current online shopping revolution.
An outstanding leader in this e-commerce "second wave" is DubLi, billed as the world's first Global Online Shopping Portal. Founded in Europe in 2003, it has become highly successful there, with over 2.5 million members, since it was launched in 2006.
As of October, 2008, it has expanded to the U.S. where it has been growing over
four times as fast as it did initially in Europe.
One of DubLi's many highly attractive and unique features is it's "reverse auction" platform where customers purchase "DubLi Credits" at 80 cents each and then use them to bid the prices DOWN, instead of up, on a wide range of the most highly sought-after brand name products. DubLi also offers quick comparison shopping to get the lowest possible prices on hundreds of thousands of products that are available on its vast online shopping mall.
In addition, it awards "DubLi Points" to customers for all of their online purchases. These points, worth $1 each, can be accumulated on a specialdebit card that be used to make purchases anywhere.
Driving Force #5--A Revolutionary New Form of Embedded Giving
DubLi's most outstanding new e-commerce innovation, however, consists in its unique Partner Program, which offers an unprecedented opportunity for fundraising groups of all kinds to get a very generously-sized slice of the online shopping pie.
Here's how it works: For only $199 per year, any organization can get its own branded DubLi website which provides its members/supporters full access to DubLi's reverse auctions and online shopping options. The Partner organization then earns 30% commissions on all of the DubLi credits purchased by its members, as well as 30% of DubLi's profits on their online purchases.
Through this painless and highly simplified form of "embedded giving," fundraising groups can potentially generate huge amounts of revenue while their members simultaneously get the best bargains on all of their online purchases. For people who are committed to supporting their favorite charitiy, this is clearly one of the most ingenious examples of a win-win solution that they're likely ever to find.
The Huge Potential of Embedded Giving for Environmental Charities
This remarkable solution can have special appeal for those who want to help save the environment while also saving dollars by shopping online. Along with reducing fuel consumption and gaining access to a much wider selection of "green" merchandise than is typically available on a local basis, eco-conscious customers can now simultaneously support their favorite environmental organization through DubLi's Partner Program.
The potential attractiveness of this general type of program to environmental organizations is illustrated by the decision of the World Wildlife Fund to sign on with clickgreener.com to access a new source of online donations and also to influence consumers to engage in more eco-conscious shopping. As Monica Da Ponte, the fund's manager of marketing alliances, stated, "Sometimes we're telling people to ride your bike to work. Here we're telling them to shop online via clickgreener.com."
Those customers who wish to spread their support over a range of environmentally-oriented charities can do so by participating in a broad-spectrum embedded giving program, such as one that has been developed by HealthyLife Foundation. Instead of providing embedded giving to a single environmental charity, this foundation divides and distributes approximately 70% of its profits equally to several such charities.
By helping to preserve the environment, this clever new embedded giving invention serves a function that is quite similar in effect to that of buying carbon credits to help pay for the hidden environmental costs entailed in the production of most consumer goods. For consumers, however, it offers the attractive advantage of allowing them some latitude in choosing specifically how their contributions are channeled.
For further information, contact the author and/or check the resources below.
George Shears
DubLi Business Associate
651-204-0523
yodaspal@gmail.com
HealthyLife Foundation
DubLi Partner Program video
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