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© LennyLemon

The Sydney Morning Herald had a very interesting report which gave me an insight into the added cost of online shoes shopping after checking out the preferred sample in the neighborhood retail store. I identified myself with probably hundreds of people, indulging in online shoes shopping after trying out different sizes and fits, at the shoe stores and then buying them at cheaper rates on the web. Customers are definitely trying to benefit at the expense of retail outlet owners.

The news clip reports the protests by the shop keepers who are tired of perspective buyers indulging in trying on ski shoes without any intention of purchase. This act has compelled them to levy a fitting charge which is subtracted from the final bill if the customer proceeds to seal his decision to buy from the store rather than go in for online shoes shopping later.

The retailers are facing a major recession with the sales plunging everyday. The volume of online sales has gone up tremendously with customers preferring the comfort of their homes and easier online payment modes to travelling to brick and mortar stores that incur time, energy and fuel costs. A simple example of online shoes shopping proves that more boots, sandals, ski boots, floaters and footwear accessories are sold online through the e-retail outlets than through the establishments of the same companies in malls or stand alone stores resulting in a very hard time for shop owners.

© dpstyles™

The eradication of intermediary services in commercial transactions seems to be in the offing- as online shopping of products and services is on its way to becoming one of the fastest growing sectors in the economy.

Online shopping websites like www.ebay.com, www.amazon.com ,etc have become one stop shops for the current generation who would like to research, buy and pay online in their own comfort zone. Retail companies have had a tough 2011 as far as the annual turnover is concerned but online shopping has been among the top sectors that have shown marked improvement in performance.

Online shopping has managed an increase of 10.2 % which is roughly around $10.4 Billion as per released statistical figures. This escalation in earnings through online shopping by consumers represents 5 % of the total income of the retail industry. Biotechnology, Motor vehicles manufacturing, gemstones and diamonds mining are some of the other sectors that have recorded growth along with online shopping.

Online shops have managed to take advantage of the changing purchasing habits and preferences of the shoppers who are getting hooked on to the ease of upgraded technology usage in making their purchase decisions. This has added to the growing popularity of online shopping and the numerous online malls, forums, e-shops, virtual stores, e-malls which are fast replacing the conventional brick and mortar stores. Online shopping is here to stay as the retail marketing sector struggles to cope up with the changed scenario.

© Ed Yourdon

Women are definitely the authoritative gender in the matters of online shopping and their constancy leads to company profits, revealed a report. The results of a recent survey showed that women overpower men when it comes to online shopping.
Analysts of a New York-based company said that 51 percent women in the United States are responsible for 85 percent of all online shopping decisions. Women spend 10 percent more time on the internet as compared to the men who consume 58 percent of all their time on online shopping. Laura Martin, the managing director of the investment banking firm based in Pasadena, California was of the opinion that , "The fairer sex is in control of the ongoing online shopping trends"

Facebook as well as Twitter are considered to be the leading social networking sites where women influence each other's picks on several goods and facilities available online. Delia Passi, the founder and former group publisher of Working Woman and Working Mother magazines opined that "Women love the feasibility of the Internet, as it provides services based on their approvals." Women have dominance over 11 shopping categories which include online clothing, jewelry, travel, books etc. The data suggests that women indulging in online shopping are crucial to Internet companies, marketers and program designers.