Precision Shopper: Retailers need to be online

Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of a new report on Multi-Channel Retailing:

“Today, online consumers think nothing of shopping across a retailer’s stores, Web site and catalog. As a consequence, online product research is driving more in-store sales than online sales.“

The report says that for every USD 1 in online sales, the Internet influenced USD 3.45 of store sales in 2007.

Forrester Research, in contrast, reported that Web-influenced store sales plus e-commerce sales accounted for 27% of retail sales in 2007 - almost twice eMarketer’s estimate. - Grau:

“As much as online shopping is a convenience and the online shopping experience continuously improves, people are not about to abandon stores anytime soon.”