America has definitely gone digital; have you?
Brian Carroll, E-business Editor -- Furniture Today, February 13, 2005
The new year marked a decade since Nicholas Negroponte advocated a sweeping switch to digital media and networked intelligence. In his 1995 bestseller, "Being Digital," Negroponte hailed the potential of a future centered on "the smallest atomic element in the DNA of information," the bit.
That was revolutionary in 1995, the year the Web, Netscape and AOL went mass market. Now, in 2005, even a cursory analysis of the past year indicates that America has indeed "gone digital."
Exhibit A: According to Merriam-Webster, the word "blog" topped the list of the most looked-up terms in 2004. CBS and Dan Rather's "Memogate" troubles helped put it there, as did Howard Dean's blog-happy primary campaign. But even discounting the election, bloggers were everywhere, writing about everything, including furniture. (Based purely on anecdotal evidence, Ikea appears to be the most blogged-about furniture company.)
Exhibit B: The year-end holiday sales season provided convincing evidence of an increasingly digital consumer. E-commerce sales during the season increased an estimated 29% compared to 2003's November and December. According to comScore Networks, consumers spent nearly $15 billion online between Nov. 1 and Dec. 26, which compares to $11.5 billion during the same weeks in 2003.
More specifically, Amazon.com reported a one-day record of 2.8 million orders, or 32 items plucked from online shopping carts per second. And those 32 items weren't all books. Electronics was the online giant's top-selling category, one rich in complexity and often characterized by big tickets.
The trend can be found in nearly the whole of retailing. An early 2005 Shop.org survey showed 91% of merchants across all categories reporting online sales growth during the holiday season. About 17% of that majority put their Internet sales at least twice that of 2003's totals.
Obviously, consumers are more comfortable online. They are more confident. And thanks to broadband that now connects more than half of those with Internet access, they are much faster.
I can report from the not-quite-independent laboratory of my wife's computer armoire that those making the household purchasing decisions welcome the convenience and the respect most of the Web's retail denizens pay to price-conscious, information-gathering, image-downloading gift buyers like her.
Exhibit C: iPod. Need I say more? A chic, iconic mascot for the revolution that is digital music, iPods are everywhere. Although it fits into my palm, actually getting my hands on the popular item proved quite difficult this past Christmas. (And now there's a $99 version!)
The evidence is in, and it begs the question: Are you being digital? Consider how to leverage the itty-bitty bit in 2005 to better your sales.
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America has definitely gone digital; have you?
Feb 14, 2005
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