Google 2004 – Another Record Breaking Internet Holiday Shopping Season

Now that the Christmas trees have been safely tucked away and the last of the turkey leftovers have been eaten, it’s time to sit back, pick our collective teeth, and take a look at another holiday season where shoppers decided it was easier to do their shopping online using Google than it was to stand in line-ups for hours, brave awful holiday traffic, and run themselves ragged trying to get the last of their shopping done.

Just as 2003 was a record breaking year over sales in 2002, turned out to be another year of record breaking growth for online shopping. The net result, not surprisingly, is a very sunny forecast for the 2005 shopping season.

Although many analysts are looking at the future and shaking their heads in caution, most in the industry are looking at high times in the coming shopping year. 2004 saw a jump of 40 per cent in non-technological purchases over last season, as people decided there was no use trying to run around town finding gifts that they could purchase in their own homes. This according to www.hitwise.com, a company that keeps track of Internet stats such as shopping numbers and search engine results.

Some of the reasons for continued growth in online shopping are due to increased consumer confidence in online shopping sites, the vast selection available to online shoppers, the recent growth and efficiency of courier companies dealing with Internet traffic, and the growth of the high-speed Internet services.

Other factors to include in sales growth include things like baby boomers with free time and disposable income that are learning how to use their computers to do more than write email and play solitaire, and the dominance of companies such as Google and the effect they are having on the Internet as a hole.

Consumer confidence in the ability of online businesses to protect their rights as shoppers is higher than ever before, thanks in large part to pro-active security measures being developed all over the Internet.

Gone are the days when the Internet was a wild west of small and large companies fighting off frauds and hackers while trying to attract skittish Internet settlers to their establishments. The law-men have stepped in, brought order and with it a sense that it is okay to show your credit card in public without fear of banditry.

Not only is it safer, but it is now easier than ever, with companies such as Google who make finding the items you want simple and easy and Companies such as PayPal that act as secure go-betweens for businesses and their customers.

More than that though, it is also things such as online banking, bill paying, and movie ticket buying that has made the Internet feel like a safe place to both the younger generation who grew up watching the Internet develop and with the older generation who could only stand by and scratch their heads.

Once it became safe to do banking transactions and pay bills online, it was only safe to assume that companies would put just as much effort into making sure that it was equally safe to buy flowers, birthday presents, and laser printers.

Selection is a big part of any successful shopping endeavor. The fact that online shopping is now about sitting in front of one’s computer and instantly having access to millions of goods and services from thousands of stores across the globe has not been lost on Internet savvy shoppers.

Why would someone want to go to one store to purchase electronics, drive across town to another store to purchase clothes and school supplies, and then spend the rest of the afternoon grocery shopping with a car load of goods when they can accomplish most of those things easily online in an hour or two?

Plus, the great deals they can receive by shopping online simply though comparison shopping (bouncing from one web site to another to check prices) means that they will be getting the best of both worlds without dealing with pushy salespeople, heavy traffic, or even getting out of their pajamas.

Shopping across the globe couldn’t be easier for savvy online shoppers, and the growth and efficiency of courier companies these days has made it an even more attractive prospect.

Seeing the increase in Internet sales as a great way for growth in the courier industry, shipping companies were one of the first industries directly affected by the rise in Internet shopping over the last couple years.

Many companies now offer special deals for Internet businesses to ship their goods exclusively, and in return they have passed on savings to the consumers in the process.

Insurance and quality are also big issues with courier companies, and they have taken steps to assure that whether goods are going overnight or over the course of a week it can be assured that they will be handled professionally, timely, and with the utmost care.

You can bet that the more growth that is experienced in online shopping, the more courier companies will be there to pick up the slack and make sure things are getting where they are supposed to be.

Another thing that will ensure their continued growth is the advancement of high-speed Internet, a tool that makes shopping at the speed of light a reality.

The widespread development and implementation of high speed Internet over the last few years has made the transfer of massive amounts of information possible in relatively short times. This has been a great boon for Internet businesses, as things like Server Side Scripting (a special type of HTML code that makes web pages dynamic and interactive) have become more widespread.

Being able to instantly communicate with a customer base as well has further boosted consumer confidence, as companies are able to handle, process, and respond to complaints and concerns almost as soon as they come in.

High Speed Internet is also good because with the increased flow of traffic has come an increased flow of potential customers and with it a large increase in Internet companies vying for their business.

Another side of online business has been the pay-for-download sector, a smaller yet still significant aspect of Internet business. By allowing customers to pay for a product, most often movies, e-books, music, and video games, businesses have found a way to ship directly to their customers without having to worry about couriers at all.

Expect this kind of Internet shopping to increase in the future, as piracy and copyright issues are resolved and more consumers gain faith in the type and quality of the downloads.

The bottom line on Internet shopping and its success over previous years is that Internet shopping is easier, safer, and more convenient than at any point in its history and people have definitely stood up and took notice.

Baby boomers, especially, once convinced that they could safely send their credit card or banking information across Internet lines without too many worries about identity theft or frauds, have taken their disposable income (and boy, do they have a lot of it) into cyberspace to get a first hand look at a shopping experience that was only a science fiction dream when they were kids.

Given this, how can anyone not look to the future of Internet shopping and smile when it has already spawned a nearly $2 billion industry that ties nearly ever facet of human living together in one safe and convenient environment – the living rooms of millions of potential customers?

And riding the crest of this massive tidal wave of business is Google, the little search engine that could.

Don’t know? Chances are, if you’re stumped on this one, you know you can always go to www.google.com and get the answer. In fact, while you are there, you can look up just about anything else you could possibly think of during the course of the day and get an answer for it on Google.

The world’s largest search engine, Google receives 200 million hits a day from people looking for just about everything under the sun (and many, many things that never get to see the light of day). What started out as a college experiment on Internet search engine algorithms quickly turned into the worst kept secret on the Internet.

According to a CBS 60 Minutes interview with Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the reason Google was becoming such an incredible force in the shopping world was their ability to link potential customers with potential businesses. A person types in what they are looking for, and along with their search results is a box on the right side of the page that contains a list of possible companies that supply the service customers are after.

These companies pay Google to be one of those companies, and when the 200 million searches a day come up they are guaranteed to have 200 million lists of companies waiting to be served: one customer at a time.

The possibilities are limitless as to the different combinations of buying and selling that can be accomplished, from tiny one-person online auction houses all the way up to Microsoft itself, and just about every company in between.

So what does have four legs and flies? Two pairs of pants. A garbage truck. Take your pick. On Google, the possibilities (and answers to all your questions) are limitless.

Anyone looking for a good holiday discount in the coming year would be well advised to look at where the growth of Internet shopping is headed and put their money there. All the signs are pointing to a very, very Merry Christmas in 2005.

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Bill Schnarr is a single parent and freelance writer who makes his home in Calgary, Alberta. As well as having dozens of on-line and print publishing credits, you can also look for him in the upcoming "Chicken Soup for the Single Parents Soul" due out in February 2005.