A study has revealed that people are shopping on-line because they believe it is “greener”. The new e-Customer Service Index (eCSI) survey conducted by IMRG and eDigitalResearch shows more than a third of people who use e-commerce sites do so because they see it as a way to reduce pollution.

The other major reason for shopping on-line is “convenience”.

The survey of 2,000 people in the UK found:
•    36% prefer to shop online for “green” reasons, such as a reduced carbon footprint
•    83% prefer to shop on-line for speed and ease.
•    53.5% say on-line shopping provides a wider choice of environmentally-friendly alternatives
•    56% are concerned with green issues when they shop online – an increase of 12% since January.
•    70% say that environmental and efficiency information about products is important.

Chris Russell, director of eDigitalResearch, is reported as saying: “The survey indicates that it isn’t just price and convenience that is encouraging people to shop on-line, but because it provides better access to information so that they can make more informed decisions on environmentally friendly products.”

The warmer, brighter weather has brought out the carefree in shoppers, as more logged on-line to a range of e-retail sites and enjoyed a little spending. Top of the e-commerce sales list were products for the home and garden, as well as new summer clothing.

The latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index shows that on-line consumers spent 15% more in March compared to last year, amounting to some £4.5 billion worth of sales.

In particular, 42% more was spent on-line on items for the home and garden as compared to 2009. The sunshine also prompted buyers to spend 27% more on-line on clothes, when compared to the previous month.

As Tina Spooner, of IMRG, said: “The 15% yearly growth in on-line sales is very positive and is evidence that e-retail continues to outperform the high street.”

According to those experts in the know Facebook is going to change the face of e-commerce. Doron Simovitch, the CEO of comparison shopping site Sortprice, is reported as saying: “Facebook is now the most trafficked website in the country, with an audience of hundreds of millions of people that is growing every day… More and more retailers are experimenting with tools to reach these Facebook users, and incorporate social networking into their operations overall.”

It’s claimed that as e-commerce sites and on-line shopping continues to gain popularity, social networking sites will be utilised by even more people. And in particular Facebook will be the favoured social media outlet.

It’s likely, too, that more e-commerce platform vendors will start to offer Facebook apps, making the space increasingly competitive.

It’s also the case that more customers like buying on Facebook because it’s perceived as a “trusted” site already. “People feel comfortable with Facebook,” said one social media expert.

Meanwhile, another area that is likely to grow is Facebook shopping via mobiles.

So e-retailers, you know what you should be investigating.

A report has predicted that the European on-line retail sector is set to grow by 11% by 2014. In America the figure is set at 10%. Forrester Research suggested that in Europe the e-retail market will be worth $156 billion in four year’ time, while in the US the figure will be $250 billion. The hottest products are predicted to be clothing.

So, what are you waiting for? If you are thinking about setting up an on-line business then now might very well be the time to go for it.

A study has revealed that shopping via your mobile phone is so frustrating that many consumers give up trying.

The e-Spirit survey showed that while the number of shoppers using e-commerce sites on their mobiles will double this year, these consumers still make up a minority (14%) of overall on-line shoppers.

The study of 400 people found that every single respondent was frustrated with mobile shopping. Their complaints included worries about security, annoyance at the slowness of the e-commerce sites and difficulties with use.

So it seems that while there has been an explosion in mobile use over the last few years – and with this the promise of easier on-line access anywhere, anytime – the frustrations of actually using a mobile phone as a shopping platform is putting consumers off.

In turn, this means that e-retailers are potentially missing out on many sales via mobiles as consumers are put off using e-commerce sites on what should be an extremely handy gadget.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

December 7, 2009, marked a record-breaking day for on-line shopping as e-consumers spent £1.4 million at 13:43 in just one minute.

This was the busiest minute for on-line retail sales and represented a 61% like-for-like rise on the same time last year.

The on-line sales results was recorded by Retail Decisions (ReD), a leading company in card fraud prevention, payment processing and card issuing.

It also revealed that between 13:00 and 14:00 on-line sales topped out at £33 million, which is an increase of 21% on 2008.

These results show that increasing numbers of consumers are buying on-line and taking up a wealth of discounted offers in the run-up to Christmas.

Other research has showed that in 2009 three quarters of internet shoppers will buy half or more of their total Christmas shopping on-line.

Expert predictions are that if spending continues as shown, total on-line sales will exceed £5 billion for the month of December.