3.2. Shopping at the online version of a retail store

Multichannel retailing: Overview

Originally, Web sales were dominated by pure-play retailers - retailers that only sold goods online like Amazon.com and Pets.com. As many of these companies went out of business due to overspending and the stock market correction in 2000, multichannel retailers rose to fill the gap in sales left behind by those retailers. And as multichannel retailers fine-tuned their online selling strategies, consumers became comfortable shopping online with these retailers that they knew and trusted. Online sales now closely mirror offline sales: With the exception of online sellers Amazon.com and eBay, the majority of online sales are closed by the same retailers that dominate offline sales.

Who are these multichannel retailers?

They are the same retailers that succeed offline - Target, Wal-Mart, and Sears, for example. Offline, these retailers have average sales of approximately $11.8 billion. Of the top 100 retailers, 66% currently sell online, with average sales hitting the $100 to $250 million range. Over the past two years, these multichannel retailers have altered their online selling strategies dramatically in response to consumer demand.

Multichannel retailers dominate Web sales

Multichannel retailers have grown by leaps and bounds because of the nature of business which allowed so many people to sell online. It is only a logical conclusion that a retail shop which is doing well offline is technically and financially more equipped to sell online. This is no rocket science this is just simple calculation, I have got it all in offline sales now I just need a mirror to give a reflection of my services online and my business will boom.

Hence, the future of multichannel retailers is very sound. With more technological advancements they are only bound to grow and what's more they will then be in a better position to leverage their advantages to the end consumer. It will happen because even competition among multichannel retailers is immense and with the online shopper becoming smarter by the day there will not be a scope of judgmental error on the face of it.

It's like selling a candy to a child, if he finds out by the word of mouth that the same candy is available for a bit less in the other store you cannot stop him from buying from the other store. Hence, multichannel retailers will sooner or later try to provide all the benefits which every seller is providing.