by ahazel on September 14, 2009
In today’s economically depressed climate, many retailers are feeling the affects of limited consumer spending first hand. Online retailers, in particular, have been offering sales, special deals, and promotions in an effort to attract buyers, and are expected to increase their efforts as the 2009 holiday season approaches.
But what about those consumers who don’t have or use credit cards and/or debit cards? Believe it or not, there are quite a lot of them, about 72 million in fact, according to eBillme.com. Ebillme is trying to capitalize on this demographic by offering them the option to pay for their online purchases in cash.
How does this work?
Through the site’s “walk-in” payment option can purchase items online from 840 different ecommerce sites, and then pay for their purchases in cash at one of Ebillme’s payment locations. Once payment is confirmed, the merchant is notified, and the product is sent.
If this service catches on, more online retailers may have to rethink the types of payment options that they offer their customers, and expand these options accordingly.
While paying in cash for online purchases may allow customers to take advantage of special online deals, critics also point out that it may also be time-consuming and confusing for some “cash only” customers who are, according to eBillme CEO Marwan Forzley, primarily seniors or recent immigrants without access to banking.
by Chaosmap on December 1, 2008
As Black Friday ushers in the official start of the holiday shopping season, online retailers like Amazon.com are doing their best to attract and retain customers. I’ve personally seen many online deals advertised (some in my own inbox) with promises of deep discounts, free shipping, and other incentives.
Amazon.com announced recently that it has formed a “Holiday Customer Review Team” made up of six of its top customer reviewers, who were given early access to Amazon’s Black Friday deals in order to share their favorites with other customers. This customer-generated feedback will help to drive Amazon’s marketing strategy this season.
“Amazon’s customer reviews have revolutionized the way that people shop, helping consumers make informed buying decisions,” Russell Dicker, senior manager of community at Amazon.com said in a recent statement. “Our customers have to come to rely on the the third party expertise our customer reviews provide, and the Holiday Customer Review Team is an extension of that resource over the holidays.”
Recent studies have shown that consumer reviews play a major role in the purchasing habits of frequent Internet users, and after an online forum that I participated in the other day about the influence of product reviewers on blogs and websites I’m inclined to believe that this is the case. What does this mean for you if you have an e-commerce site? It’s time to pay attention to the reviews, and the reviewers on your site, because it’s clear that visitors to your sites are paying close attention.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=0003cf0d-1284-4d59-9b3b-ae6b70351f69)
