On Line Shopping and Singaporeans: They click

More inclined to shop on the Web, with budget exceeding that for brick-and mortal stores.

SHOPPERS in Singapore are not only thronging the streets for holiday gifts, they are also trawling the Web - with an online budget that exceeds what they plan to spend at brick-and-motar stores.

Oneline shopping is gaining favour among Singaporeans.  A recent  survey commissioned by MasterCard World-wide put the number of people intending to shop online for holidays gifts this year at 60%. Only 35% said they shopped on the internet last year.

Respondents also indicated they would spend more online, with an average age per-person spending of $1,148 compared with $1,045 at physical stores.

The survey was conducted by the United States-based research consultancy firm Ipsos-Insight Corporation between late September and early October this year. It polled about 500 people in Singapore aged 18 and above.

Figures from newspaper reports showed that in 2005, at least 27% of Internet users here bought at least one item online with each online shopper spending an average of $1,1068.

Online shoppers are attracted by the wide variety by Web offers.....

itham@sph.com.sg

Articles on Straits Times, Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Increase Your Business' Net Worth

Harness the benefits of e-marketing for more successful sales strategy.

In a very short time, the Internet has become a very powerful platform that has changed the way we live, do business and communication. The internet, like no other medium, has given a "globalalised" dimension to the world. 

The internet is actually the most democratic of all the mass media available. Almost  any business can reach very large market quickly, directly and economically, no matter what its size or lcoation.

According to Internet World Statistics, there was a global population of 1.25 billion people on the Internet as of September this year.

Any company must systematiclly evaluate a variety of e-marketing vehicle to integrate their existing marketing mix with the Web to lower marketing costs while building relationships with their customers.  These include B2B (business to cumsumer), B2E (business-to-business) and B2E (business-to-employee) audiences.

The Internet provides many opportunities for building your branding that just aren't available offline. It lets you put out your products and publish photographs at a tiny fractions of the cost......

Articles by Gary Gopinathan