One bright spot on the economic horizons around the world seems to be continued consumer spending and ecommerce is clearly a part of this, with sales estimated to be in excess of $9.9 Billion in the next three months according to ACNielsen. But, there is a dark cloud hovering over this sunny ecommerce landscape called poor web site design. Let's explore some of the reasons why consumers are not reaching for their credit cards after perusing an ecommerce web site. There is a huge knowledge gap about how the web is really driving online and offline commerce. A recent ecommerce Pulse survey of more than 33,000 surfers conducted by Nielsen/Net ratings and Harris Interactive indicates ecommerce sites are driving more purchases offline (phone, catalogue, retail store sales) than online. Many consumers are using the web to effortlessly compare features and pricing then, calling the company or visiting their local retail store to make a purchase. Clearly many companies need to factor this information in when analysing their online and offline marketing expenditures and related ROI.
