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ONLINE RETAIL UPDATE: F-COMMERCE FLUNKS, JEWELRY OUTPACES GENERAL RETAIL ONLINE, MORE February 22, 2012 (0 comments)
It’s Official: F-Commerce Is a Flop
New York, NY—Facebook may be the world’s most visited website, but it’s not where people want to go to shop. The debut of shopping via Facebook (“F-commerce”) was originally hailed as a serious threat to Amazon.com, but in fact it’s proving to be quite the opposite. Within the past year, major retailers such as JC Penney, Gap, Nordstrom, and GameStop all closed their Facebook stores shortly after launching them. Says Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru in a recent article on Bloomberg.com, “it’s like trying to sell stuff to people when they’re hanging out with their friends in a bar.” But even as F-commerce flunked, advertising on Facebook remains tremendously viable—fourth-quarter 2011 ad sales surged 55%, says the article.
Five Cents of Every U.S. Dollar Spent Online
New York, NY—It’s no secret that more and more Americans are shopping online, but the speed at which they’re migrating there is worth noting, says this article in the Wall Street Journal. According to recent figures from the U.S. Commerce department, $61.8 billion of retail sales were conducted online in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 16% increase over the previous year. By comparison, total fine jewelry sales in the United States are approximately $66 to $68 billion annually. Not surprisingly, the introduction of iPads and smart phones has been a game-changer in online commerce. The categories most likely to be purchased online—and whose brick-and-mortar retailers are feeling the biggest pinch from digital—are sporting goods, hobby, books, and music stores. For fine jewelry, the figure is slightly higher than general retail: online accounts for just shy of 6% of the total market, says industry analyst Ken Gassman.
Groupon Tests Premium Loyalty Program
Tampa, FL—Groupon, the online daily-deal couponer, is testing a new premium loyalty program that will charge members $30 annually in exchange for privileged access to certain deals, plus the ability to request refunds for vouchers with one click. It’s similar to Amazon’s Prime service and LivingSocial’s Plus, says this article on InternetRetailer.com. Programs such as these are designed to build shopper loyalty, observes Greg Sterling, founder of Sterling Market Intelligence, in the article.