>Amazon is a B2C player.
Glenn, What's your take on the latest Forrester spiel?
It makes it sound very pro Amzn...as usual.;-)
Forr is about 25 points off its high. Go figure?
>Washington, July 21 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Internet shoppers spent $4.02 billion in June as they bought more electronics, toys and sporting goods for Father's Day and graduation gifts, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation and Forrester Research Inc.
Sales rose 19 percent from $3.38 billion in May, according to the six-month-old retail index. The average amount spent by Web consumers rose 16 percent to $288 in June from $249 a month earlier, the survey said.
Shoppers are expected to spend $38.8 billion on the Internet this year, up from $20.2 billion last year, according to Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Forrester Research. In the first six months of 2000, consumers spent $18.84 billion online, according to the National Retail Federation and Forrester. That includes purchases of airline tickets and other travel services.
``In general we're going to see increased purchasing activity over the Internet,'' said Robert Burgoyne, technology strategist at Monument Funds Group in Bethesda, Maryland. ``It's a trend that will not reverse.''
Online retailers don't issue monthly sales reports, unlike many traditional retailers. The numbers released today were produced from a poll of 5,000 consumers by Greenfield Online Inc.
A number of Internet retailers expect to report increased sales when they announce second-quarter earnings. Amazon.com Inc., the largest Internet store, is projected to announce sales of $585 million for the three-month period, according to analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial. That's more than an 85 percent increase from a year earlier.
EBay Inc., the largest Internet auction site, is forecast to report $95 million in sales, up from $49.5 million in the 1999 second quarter.
Top Categories
Airline ticket sales generated the most business, accounting for $664.3 million of the total. Sales of personal computers and related hardware were $424.5 million, while hotel reservations generated sales of $420.1 million, the poll found.
Sales of televisions, DVD players, and other consumer electronics totaled $219.1 million, while early orders for the newest Harry Potter novel helped push book sales to $197.6 million.
Internet sales remain a small portion of total U.S. sales. Earlier this month the U.S. Commerce Department reported seasonally adjusted retail sales were $201.97 billion in June, excluding automobile purchases.
Greg Konezny, a U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray analyst, said the sales accounted for about 1.5 percent of consumer spending last year. That is expected to rise to 5 percent to 10 percent of sales in the next four years, he said.
``It's a small but rapidly growing segment of retail,'' said Konezny, who on Monday will release Internet spending figures from a monthly survey produced with Harris Interactive Inc.
> CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 21, 2000--
Grads and Dads Send June Online Spending
Soaring, According to Latest NRF/forrester Online Retail Index
The National Retail Federation (NRF) and Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR), in conjunction with Greenfield Online, today announced the results of the latest NRF/Forrester Online Retail Index. According to the sixth survey in this monthly series, sales of spending on gadgets in a number of categories increased significantly, while sales of flowers online dropped from last month's high.
"Father's Day and college graduation sent online sales of small appliances, toys/video games, sporting goods, and tools and hardware through the roof," said David M. Cooperstein, research director at Forrester. "Overall spending in these four categories alone increased by 51% in June."
Other leading small-ticket categories include software, books, and music, which increased from a total of $374.8 million in May to $499.8 million in June, as well as jewelry, which grew from $54 million to $76.8 million. Total spending in small-ticket item categories increased from $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion. Big-ticket items also experienced a boost in sales, with computer hardware and consumer electronics leading the pack. Combined, these categories expanded from $455.2 million in May to $643.6 million in June. Online hotel reservations also boomed from $277.8 million to $420.1 million. Overall, online spending for big-ticket items grew from $2.1 billion in May to $2.5 billion in June. (see Figure 1).
Total spending increased from $3.4 billion in May to more than $4 billion in June, with the average spent per consumer increasing from $249 to $288.
"The strong surge in online spending indicated in the June Index
-- particularly in some of Internet retail's most mature categories such as books and music -- flies in the face of recent reports questioning the viability of the Internet as a shopping channel," said Scott Silverman, NRF's vice president, Internet Retailing. "It's important that retailers take these trends into consideration as they develop their Internet retail strategies for the upcoming back-to-school and holiday seasons."
The garden supplies category was added to the Retail Index in May. Although the category contributed $31.8 million to the total spending online and was reflected in May's total number, $3.4 billion, it was not represented on the graph. We apologize for the error.
About The Index
The NRF/Forrester Online Retail Index measures, on a monthly basis, the growth and seasonality of online shopping based on data collected from online shoppers. The Index is based on 5,000 responses during the first 10 business days of the month from an online panel developed by Greenfield Online. The survey results for June 2000 were fielded from June 1 through June 5, 2000.
>CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 18, 2000--An easy-to-use Web site and excellent customer service helped 800.COM emerge as the No. 1 electronics site in the latest PowerRankings(TM)announced today by Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR). Forrester PowerRankings combine survey data from online consumers and unbiased shopping tests to provide objective rankings of leading eCommerce sites. Following 800.COM are Amazon.com, buy.com, and Egghead.com.
"800.COM's keys to victory were its quick and simple shopping experience and first-rate customer service," said Tom Rhinelander, senior analyst at Forrester. "But despite the win, the company can't rest -- Amazon.com and buy.com are nipping at its heels. To stay on top, 800.COM should address its greatest weakness, which is delivery and returns."
By a narrow margin, Amazon.com and buy.com take second and third place. Shoppers are most impressed with Amazon.com's top-notch search engine and clear return policy, but the site's lack of inventory information can leave customers frustrated. buy.com has a reputation for excellent prices, and it also earns high marks in customer service. Its glaring weakness continues to be the absence of convenience features like address book and gift wrapping. Egghead.com is well off the pace; its scores reflect problems like an ineffectual search engine and dead ends during the first-time checkout process.
"The top three electronics sites are in a pitched battle, with any site capable of victory given a few improvements. The real laggard was Egghead.com," added Rhinelander. "Consumers ranked the site last in all criteria but one, and the Forrester shopper wasn't impressed with many characteristics including its restrictive return policy and restocking fees."
For the updated PowerRankings, Forrester surveyed 19,000 consumers from Greenfield Online's 600,000-person online panel. These consumers identified the eCommerce sites that they had purchased from most recently and rated their experiences. A team of Forrester shoppers then evaluated the shopping experience for sites with a statistically valid number of consumer respondents, performing a series of rigorous tests in six areas. The consumer data and Forrester shopper scores were then synthesized and weighted, with consumer views accounting for two-thirds of the overall PowerRanking. A complete set of PowerRankings results -- both consumer and Forrester shopper data -- are made available to all ranked companies for no charge.
In the coming weeks, Forrester will be announcing results in additional PowerRankings categories. Information about each of the categories, including a complete set of rankings and scores, can be found at the PowerRankings Web site -- powerrankings.forrester.com.
>
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 17, 2000--Over the next two years, successful online pharmacies will move beyond improving infrastructure to providing high-level services that will enable patients to comply with drug therapies. According to a recent Report from Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR), pharmacy sites will use patient compliance programs to add $1.3 billion to their top lines by 2004. ePharmacies will proliferate as they specialize to maximize penetration and establish partnerships to master markets.
Although online demand for prescription drugs is growing rapidly, ePharmacy leaders are struggling with underdeveloped infrastructures. One reason is that although many insurers have relatively open retail pharmacy networks, most limit patients to a single mail-service provider to concentrate bulk-buying discounts. Additionally, delivery delays, often increased by time required to verify first-time and renewal scripts, encourage many patients to fill prescriptions with their offline pharmacies instead of buying them online. Finally, a fragmented regulatory system continues to cost online pharmacies resources for complying with divergent state regulations.
"Forrester believes that online pharmacies will rise to the challenge of selling prescription drugs online -- ringing up $15 billion in sales in 2004," said Elizabeth W. Boehm, analyst at Forrester. "To meet growing demand and capture market share, ePharmacies will build a strong foundation to deliver products and leverage compliance services that boost revenues."
In an effort to build a strong foundation, ePharmacies will strengthen relationships that support online prescription sales. During the next 12 months, online pharmacies will forge stronger ties with insurance partners by integrating with insurer systems to provide the same real-time copay information that offline stores provide. ePharmacies with brick-and-mortar parents will go beyond order-entry systems and unify customers' experiences across channels. Online pharmacies will also help drive electronic prescription adoption by creating a standard interface, as well as lobbying for standards across state regulations.
With a secure online retail foundation in place, online pharmacies will focus on compliance programs that expand the industry. Nearly half of all patients fail to take their medication as prescribed by their doctors, and unfilled scripts cost pharmacies about $25 billion annually in lost sales. Forrester projects that ePharmacy-based interactive compliance programs will add $1.3 billion in incremental drug sales by 2004. In addition to boosting sales, driving compliance will improve patient care and enhance communication with physicians.
To capitalize on the opportunity that compliance programs offer, online pharmacies must take advantage of the Internet's interactivity to strengthen ties with customers. ePharmacies will connect with patients by encouraging them to take their medication and sending email reminders to refill prescriptions. Online pharmacies must also offer patients interactive treatment tools and site-sponsored support groups that complement drug therapies.
The Internet will introduce a level of coordination between pharmacies that doesn't exist offline. ePharmacies will specialize to maximize penetration by defining their audiences according to insurance plan, locality, or condition and hone their services to address the specific needs of a community. In an effort to maximize reach, insurer sites will rely on brick-and-mortar interface sites to serve customers who prefer in-store pickup, while brick-and-mortar competitors with a complementary geographic reach will form online alliances that create national brick-and-mortar networks.
For the Report "The ePharmacy Opportunity," Forrester surveyed 3,000 online consumers to explore their attitudes toward purchasing prescriptions and other health products online. Making up 5% of online users, online prescription purchasers outnumber those who have bought flowers online (4%). With 100% growth expected over the next six months, these users are catching up to those who have bought more popular items like videos (9%) and music (14%) online.
>CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 29, 2000--Exceptional customer service propels drugstore.com into the No. 1 slot in the Health category of the latest PowerRankings(TM)announced today by Forrester Research, Inc. (NASDAQ:FORR). Forrester PowerRankings combine survey data from online consumers and unbiased shopping tests to provide objective rankings of the leading eCommerce sites. Following drugstore.com are more.com, PlanetRx.com, MotherNature.com, Vitamins.com, VitaminShoppe.com, and HealthCentralRx.com.
"drugstore.com and more.com both offer consumers a wide variety of products and a quick, efficient online shopping experience," said Tom Rhinelander, senior analyst at Forrester Research. "But drugstore.com comes out on top because of its excellent customer service, full-featured Web site, and reliable delivery."
PlanetRx.com trails the leaders but offers consumers many ways to find products, real-time inventory information, and the ability to save multiple health profiles. Fourth place MotherNature.com has an inconsistent shopping experience. For example, it allows customers to track orders online, but its search engine often misses relevant products.
"Except for drugstore.com and more.com, most of the health sites offer a limited product selection, focusing on vitamins and some all-natural products like toothpaste," said Rhinelander. "In addition, most of them also lack features common in top consumer eCommerce sites, like online order history and customer reviews of products."
Vitamins.com is in fifth place. It offers the best shipping price for any US order -- free -- but it is hindered by an unclear return policy and the absence of features like an address book. VitaminShoppe.com has speedy customer service but lacks images for most products and inventory information. Coming in last, HealthCentralRx.com, the sister site of Vitamins.com, offers the shortest return policy and extremely poor customer service.
For the updated PowerRankings, Forrester surveyed 19,000 consumers from Greenfield Online's 400,000-person online panel. These consumers identified the most recent eCommerce sites that they purchased from and rated their experiences. A team of Forrester shoppers then evaluated the shopping experience for sites with a statistically valid number of consumer respondents, performing a series of rigorous tests in six areas. The consumer data and Forrester shopper scores were then synthesized and weighted, with consumer views accounting for two-thirds of the overall PowerRanking. A complete set of PowerRankings results -- both consumer and Forrester shopper data -- are made available to all ranked companies for no charge.
In the coming weeks, Forrester will be announcing results in additional PowerRankings categories. Additional information about each of the categories, including a complete set of rankings and scores, can be found at the PowerRankings Web site -- powerrankings.forrester.com.
IS THAT ENOUGH ??? |
