According to a report released today by the National Retail Federation, a growing number of retailers have plans to modify their webstore within the next year. The report is based on responses from 150 online merchants that responded to a survey sent to several thousand retailers. With online sales growing every year as a portion of total sales retailers feel pressured to ensure that the shopping experience is unique and matches their branding strategy. Online sales are forecasted to grow by 18% this year. Neiman Marcus and David Yuman led the way by modifying the look and feel of their websites with better product detail and more lifestyle photography. The retailers are also adopting web 2.0 trends and adding user-generated content such as customer ratings and reviews. Another 48% of the retailers polled said that they plan on letting customers tag product detail pages to allow other users to find them. Although the report forecasts online sales of 18% the number of brand-new consumers is beginning to slow down according to Scott Silverman, executive director of NRF’s Shop.org group. The report also stated that retailers are still putting most of their marketing dollars into email and search but about half of the respondents said they plan on expanding into blogs, message boards, and social networks. Another 50% have identified efforts to increase or expand customization as a priority for the next 12 months.
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