E-commerce Trends

E-commerce -- the buying and selling of goods and services over the Internet -- continues to expand at greater than 20% per year according to latest research available from Shop.org. Categories with products purchased largely by women will see the most growth this year. These include online sales of the following:

• cosmetics and fragrances (33% growth)
• over-the-counter medications and personal care (32%)
• jewelry and luxury goods (31%)
• flowers, cards, and gifts (30%)

The report entitled The State of Retailing Online 8.0 is a detailed survey of 137 retailers that explores the opportunities and challenges facing retailers selling and marketing on the Web, including store-based, catalog-based, and Web-only retailers.

These online retailing trends bode well for Web developers with e-commerce skills. To learn more about how to work with clients who might want you to develop an e-commerce Website access a five-lesson tutorial available from Web Monkey, The Web Developers Resource. Topics include the following:

• Lesson 1 -- Making a plan
• Lesson 2 -- Sales techniques
• Lesson 3 -- Online transactions, taxes, security, credit card processing
• Lesson 4 -- Software solutions
• Lesson 5 -- Attracting customers